Saori (video game)

Summary

Saori: The House of Beautiful Girls (沙織 -美少女達の館-, Saori: Bishōjo-tachi no Yakata) is an adult-themed adventure video game released in Japan on October 18, 1991 by FairyTale under the name X-Shitei. A controversial event related to the game resulted in the establishment of the Ethics Organization of Computer Software (EOCS).[1] The incident changed the Japanese bishōjo game industry and few games such as Rance remained popular.[2]

Saori: The House of Beautiful Girls
Developer(s)X-Shitei
Publisher(s)X-Shitei
Platform(s)PC-9801, FM Towns, X68000
ReleaseOctober 18, 1991
Genre(s)Adventure, adult, bishojo game
Mode(s)Single player

Gameplay edit

Saori is a first-person adventure game. The player's interaction is confined to repeatedly selecting context-specific options until the next event is triggered. In the beginning of the game the player only has access to one room. Repeatedly visiting rooms triggers new scenes and eventually unlocks other rooms.

Plot edit

A teenage girl named Saori is abducted by a sadistic woman who locks her in a mysterious mansion. By visiting the rooms within, Saori unlocks erotic memories of its inhabitants, ultimately exposing them to the owner's cruel pleasures.

Controversy edit

A copy of the game was stolen by a junior high school student from the Kyoto Metropolitan Area in 1991. Additionally, Japanese authorities authorized a search warrant at JAST and four other resellers in its vicinity due to the amount of graphic content in the game. This resulted in the presidents of JAST and Kirara, the latter being the owner of the FairyTale brand, being arrested by police on November 25, 1991 on charges of possession of obscene material with intent to resell. Shortly after, FairyTale recalled all copies of this game and any others that would be found at fault in the eyes of the law, and re-released them with self-censorship. The titles in question included Dragon City X-Shitei, Tenshi-tachi no Gogo 3: Bangai-hen, and Tenshi-tachi no Gogo 4: Yuko. The incident was named the "Saori Incident" (沙織事件, Saori Jiken).[3]

References edit

  1. ^ "Rating the Games". GameSpy. 2005-09-19. Archived from the original on 2012-02-07. Retrieved 2008-02-18.
  2. ^ "2F 【5月5日販売】ムックコーナー"沙織事件前夜祭" シィルたんは昔も今も人気者" (in Japanese). Mandarake. 2010-05-03. Retrieved 2010-05-12.
  3. ^ Wysocki, Matthew; Lauteria, Evan W. (2015-10-22). Rated M for Mature: Sex and Sexuality in Video Games. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 9781628925760. Retrieved 2020-01-05.

External links edit