ken2260

I believe anything can be transcended into art if the author are perfecting his/herself in the processes. Sadly, I think most of them are merely commercial-oriented for superficial amusement and simple pleasure.

I do think it is life mentor nonetheless; some serious stories really stroke the innermost chord with me.

They are multi-media novel essentially, messages and emotions are coming from voices, words, graphics, and effects. These kind of presentation, of course, coming from Japan, but it's like entertained by a storytellor with illustration or watching a drama with close interaction.

It is a wonderful art form full of potential...

I do hope people outside Japan can find out ita beauty...

It's not necessary to be an only-for-otaku thing...

Yet, I am pessimistic about its future because less and less seriously written VNs and the production cycle of most producers is too short resulted in mass production of repetitive and skin-deep moege, netage, charage.

And let's not forget it's originally a masturbation-aid production with little content.

Tenco's has prepared to release its  EiyuuSenki(英雄＊戦姫) in English (translated ver.), which is deprived of H-scenes and will be released on PS3 instead of PC. 
 
Meanwhile, Nitro+ is going to open its online store on the next Wed dedicated to serve international customers.
 
Do you think more and more Japanese VN makers are responding to the international market? 
 
I think if Nitro+ have succeeded in earning a handsome amount of money by the online store, more producers will just follow the way. And a solid international market can then be formed.
 
Do you think this is too optimistic? I am always worried about the H-scenes would have stigmatized the whole industry and thus being unwelcome to foreign countries...
 
I surely hope Nitro+ can bring more hope to us...

Tenco's has prepared to release its  EiyuuSenki(英雄＊戦姫) in English (translated ver.), which is deprived of H-scenes and will be released on PS3 instead of PC. 
 
Meanwhile, Nitro+ is going to open its online store on the next Wed dedicated to serve international customers.
 
Do you think more and more Japanese VN makers are responding to the international market? 
 
I think if Nitro+ have succeeded in earning a handsome amount of money by the online store, more producers will just follow the way. And a solid international market can then be formed.
 
Do you think this is too optimistic? I am always worried about the H-scenes would have stigmatized the whole industry and thus being unwelcome to foreign countries...
 
I surely hope Nitro+ can bring more hope to us...

Even in Japan, VNs have only really exploded beyond ero-fans in the past decade and a half.  In previous decades, 'serious' VNs were a rarity.  However, the relatively recent (the last fourteen to fifteen years) expansion of the plot-focused side of the industry is slowly altering the way they are seen, both over here and over there.
 
As the thread author states in the video, VNs will never be other than niche, precisely because more people are functionally illiterate (they can't sit down and read a book and feel that it is enjoyable) than ever before.  Anime fans that never get beyond dubs are classic examples of this type of person... they don't want to read subs, so they live with sub-par English voices instead.  You have to be introduced to reading for fun pretty early, if you want to be able to enjoy it.  With more and more kids raised by their televisions, I doubt this trend will reverse itself anytime soon. (incidentally, studies have shown that the human brain's cognitive functions develop faster the more you actually read, rather than watching videos or listening to lectures)
 
I started out as a speed-reading bibliophile... and so becoming a VN-lover was just a natural step, once I was introduced to them. 
 
I've watched the fanbase and market for VNs expand rapidly over the last five years here in the West, but I've yet to meet a person who started their otaku life as a VN fan, who was born in the West.  Almost everyone enters into otakudom through role-playing games, anime, or manga.  So, it is only natural that VNs would be the weakest branch of the otaku tree here.
 
Like the author says, the biggest barrier besides the reading aspect (which is ultimately the biggest one), is the sexual aspects.  One of the most ironic things about the VN industry is that better than 90% of the best VN plots come out of the eroge (VNs with erotic content) part of the VN medium.  This sometimes gets me to thinking about whether good writers just want to write about sex... or good writers are using the sex to get people to pay attention to their writing. 
 
Another barrier is that, unlike manga and anime, there are relatively few VNs that appeal to both genders.  Otome games are basically unplayable to the average guy, outside of a few truly excellent entries, and only the best male-oriented VNs are enjoyable to both sexes.  For the otome game side of things, the issue is really, really simple... DIDS (Damsel-in-Distress-Syndrome).  Almost every otomege I've tried has had this fatal flaw, where the protagonist spends most of her time either afraid of the guys, looking to be saved by the guys, and/or actually being rescued by the guys.  Since I grew up respecting women as equals, this pisses me off when I have to deal with it - especially when the female protagonist is otherwise capable and strong-willed.  The reason behind this seems to be that otome games get the same treatment as romance novels as a genre over there.  Who takes romance novels seriously as a genre here?  There is a reason why most of them sell for less than the other genres, whether in paperback or hardcover. 
 
Another problem blocking growth of the market is translator burn-out.  Fantranslation is an incredibly thankless job.  If you do badly as a group, people bash you for your horrible translations, and if you do well, you get other translators nitpicking about your mistakes.  Not only that, but you are basically giving up dozens of hours of your time for free.  Volunteer spirit only takes you so far, and the appreciation of the community starts to feel empty after a surprisingly short time.  Even passion eventually burns out entirely.  In my case, what was left when all of the above occurred was the simple fact that I want people to be able to see what I've been seeing for the past five years, as I've delved into the depths of the VN abyss.  I don't like people... but even I want to be able to share my passions on occasion.  Since I've spent most of my free time on niche hobbies for the past twenty-two years, that's definitely been lacking overall, but with untranslated VNs, it has gone to another level. 
 
Now that I've ranted, a few serious thoughts.  VNs in the US will ALWAYS be balanced on the precipice, for several reasons.
 
1.  Erotic content: A society influenced by Christianity or Islam is inevitably going to be prudish... and democratic political parties are always looking for the next social lever to use at the bully pulpit
 
2.  Piracy: The entire medium's growth in the West beyond nukige is due to fantranslators making patches, thus resulting in mass piracy.  Since game piracy is seen as a big issue and the government is always looking for a new criminal issue to distract people, all fantranslators are taking a risk to a greater or lesser extent by working on such projects.
 
3.  Niches tend to narrow when times are hard
 
4.  For those who aren't in the last stages of Otakuitis (the disease that causes one to become an otaku and grows worse as one indulges the accompanying impulses), VNs are difficult to get into.  As such,  if there was a movement to get VNs out of Western markets, there is a good chance no significant opposition would even be put up by the otaku community. 
 
5.  Most bibliophiles, those most likely to enjoy VNs, would rather read actual pure-text literature. 
 
These define both the limits and dangers that will always keep the medium on the precipice in the West.