Visual novel

A visual novel (VN) is a form of digital interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves.^[1]^[2] They combine a textual narrative with static or animated illustrations and a varying degree of interactivity. The format is more rarely referred to as novel game, a retranscription of the wasei-eigo term noberu gēmu (ノベルゲーム), which is more often used in Japanese.^[3]

Visual novels originated in and are especially prevalent in Japan, where they made up nearly 70% of the PC game titles released in 2006.^[4] In Japanese, a distinction is often made between visual novels (NVL, from "novel"), which consist primarily of narration and have very few interactive elements, and adventure games (AVG or ADV, from "adventure"), which incorporate problem-solving and other types of gameplay. This distinction is normally lost outside Japan, as both visual novels and adventure games are commonly referred to as "visual novels" by international fans.

Visual novels are rarely produced exclusively for dedicated video game consoles, but the more popular games have occasionally been ported from PC (or a hardware equivalent) to systems such as the Sega Saturn, Dreamcast, PlayStation Portable, or Xbox 360. The more famous visual novels are also often adapted into light novels, manga, or anime, and are sometimes succeeded or complemented by video games such as role-playing games or action games set in the same universe. The market for visual novels outside of East Asia is small, though a number of anime based on visual novels are popular among anime fans in the Western world; examples include Clannad, Danganronpa, Steins;Gate, and Fate/stay night.

^ Cavallaro, Dani (2010). Anime and the visual novel: narrative structure, design and play at the crossroads of animation and computer games. McFarland & Company. pp. 8–9. ISBN 978-0-7864-4427-4. As a form of interactive fiction, the visual novel overtly calls upon players to participate in the production of the text as integrated agents.
^ Lebowitz, Josiah; Klug, Chris (2011). "Japanese Visual Novel Games". Interactive storytelling for video games: a player-centered approach to creating memorable characters and stories. Burlington, MA: Focal Press. pp. 192–4. ISBN 978-0-240-81717-0. Retrieved 10 November 2012. Visual novels (or sound novels, as they're sometimes called) are a popular game genre in Japan.
^ 七邊信重 (2006). "文化創造の条件 -2つのゲーム「場」の文化生産論的考察から-". 早稲田大学大学院文学研究科紀要. 第1分冊, 哲学東洋哲学心理学社会学教育学. 51. 早稲田大学大学院文学研究科: 65–73. hdl:2065/27549.
^ "AMN and Anime Advanced Announce Anime Game Demo Downloads". Hirameki International Group Inc. 8 February 2006. Retrieved 1 December 2006.

[1] Cavallaro, Dani (2010). Anime and the visual novel: narrative structure, design and play at the crossroads of animation and computer games. McFarland & Company. pp. 8–9. ISBN 978-0-7864-4427-4. As a form of interactive fiction, the visual novel overtly calls upon players to participate in the production of the text as integrated agents.

[2] Lebowitz, Josiah; Klug, Chris (2011). "Japanese Visual Novel Games". Interactive storytelling for video games: a player-centered approach to creating memorable characters and stories. Burlington, MA: Focal Press. pp. 192–4. ISBN 978-0-240-81717-0. Retrieved 10 November 2012. Visual novels (or sound novels, as they're sometimes called) are a popular game genre in Japan.

[3] 七邊信重 (2006). "文化創造の条件 -2つのゲーム「場」の文化生産論的考察から-". 早稲田大学大学院文学研究科紀要. 第1分冊, 哲学東洋哲学心理学社会学教育学. 51. 早稲田大学大学院文学研究科: 65–73. hdl:2065/27549.

[4] "AMN and Anime Advanced Announce Anime Game Demo Downloads". Hirameki International Group Inc. 8 February 2006. Retrieved 1 December 2006.

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