History in Video Games: Not For the Faint of Heart

Author

Stephanie Liu
January 10, 2025

Welcome to “Siliconera Speaks Up,” our newsletter for the site! This’ll be a summary of the past week’s anime or gaming news, a little reminder of things to come, and our insight on what games you should pick up next. Without further ado, let’s get into it!

Speak Up Sesh

As a reminder, we have a giveaway for a Nintendo Switch OLED! Signing up for the newsletter automatically places your name into the giveaway and if you’re receiving this, then, congratulations! This giveaway is open to all subscribers in all regions. However, something you might not have known is that you can also receive three extra entries if you refer your friends to this newsletter. Here’s how to participate:

  1. Head to the giveaway page.

  2. Finish your registration if you haven’t already. You might need to pop in your e-mail again.

  3. Click on “Refer Friends For Extra Entries.” There’s a little heart icon next to it if you’re having trouble finding the box.

  4. A drop-down will appear with a link unique to you.

  5. Copy it and share with friends or other social media communities.

For every person who clicks your link and enters the giveaway, you’ll receive three extra entries. So if you refer it to, say, 5 people, that’s 15 extra entries. 100 people is 300 entries. This giveaway will end on January 31, 2025.

Build-a-Bear is one of those stores that most people probably don’t think much about past a certain age. Like, obviously, they’re popular enough that plenty of Build-a-Bear stories make it to the Top 10 From the Past Week ranking. But that’s likely more to do with the product itself, rather than the store or experience. Until stumbling across a Japanese YouTube short introducing a Build-a-Bear, and seeing all the comments talking about how much they’d love to go there, Build-a-Bear wasn’t exactly something I found special. It’s funny how excited they got, considering how much Westeners hype up certain restaurants or locales in travel videos for Japan. I’m sure the majority of Japanese people consider those places ordinary or banal, as well. These little wonders and cultural exchanges are a welcome sight.

Speaking of cultural exchange, the recent drama with Ensemble Stars really hammers home the importance of research if a studio plans to incorporate characters from a specific background in their work. This goes double for cultures and countries that have a troubled history with a studio’s country of origin.

To very briefly summarize the Ensemble Stars controversy: an Okinawan-born American idol (Taki Ibuki) joined Akatsuki, which is a musical unit with a very traditional Japanese-style aesthetic. Akatsuki’s been a 3-man unit since 2015. A lot of their story events focus on them growing together and bonding as a unit (specifically, as a trio). So from a story perspective, the controversy makes sense. You’re adding a character to a dynamic that fans watched develop over the course of a decade. But the problem also stems from the particular idol and group we’re talking about. Ibuki is Ryukyuan, which was annexed by Japan during the Meiji era. Problems between the Ryukyuans and the Japanese government persist to this day. So you can imagine how many fans side-eyed the decision for a Ryukyuan character to beg a traditional Japanese musical unit to let him join. Happy Elements doesn’t have a great track record when writing characters from a different race or ethnic group, either.

While companies making games with a specific target country’s aesthetic or values in mind isn’t exactly new, they really have to be careful if they plan to extend their activities abroad. Look at the HoYoVerse controversies regarding skin color (a controversy that may exist in Asian countries, but definitely not to the same degree as the west). Though it’s from a different angle, Anycolor’s way of handling things during the Selen controversy showed a lack of understanding in western PR, which only further fanned the flames.

Since we’re talking about the Meiji era, there’s another game that’s gaining some popularity at our site that takes place during that time period. Yes, I’m talking about The Great Ace Attorney! For those who haven’t played it yet, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT. I even pulled out the Capslock; that’s how much I recommend it. It’s got a fun and well-paced story, memorable characters, and a fun twist to the usual Ace Attorney gameplay. Unfortunately, poor sales led to a lower budget for the second game, but they made it work. In fact, I’d say that the narrative decisions they had to take thanks to the smaller budget helped to elevate the duology as a whole.

Unfortunately, the game isn’t on sale right now… Maybe in the future, though, since Capcom plans on doing something for the 10th anniversary of the first one!

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Upcoming Releases

  • Donkey Kong Country Returns HD - Switch (January 16)

  • Dynasty Warriors Origins - PS5, PC, Xbox Series X (January 17)

  • Tales of Graces f Remastered - PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PC (January 17)

  • Guilty Gear Strive - Switch (January 23)

  • Ender Magnolia - PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, Switch, PC (January 23)

  • Synduality: Echoes of Ada - PS5, Xbox Series X, PC (January 23)