Philips Magnavox Videogames and the Entertainment Revolution Trigger Happy - Manual (Page 247)

Trigger Happy
249
media stars for this reason: desire that can never in
principle be reciprocated is thoroughly safe and free of
any possible disappointment.
This phenomenon is known in Japan by the term of
disapprobation nijikon fetchi—literally,
“twodimensional fetish,” though it more generally
covers devotion to any form of manga, anime or
threedimensional videogame characters. An interesting
symptom of this preference can be seen in the reception
of the famous Japanese “virtual idol” Kyoko Date, a
thoroughly digital pop singer who was created in 1997
by software engineers collaborating with Japan’s
leading modeling agency, Horipro. It sounded like a
great idea. But Date’s first CD failed to meet sales
expectations. Why? Because she was not deformed; she
was overly realistic. Kyoko Date was built piecemeal
from existing humans: a singing voice from one star, a
talking voice from another actress, motion-captured
dance routines and a combination of facial features
mapped from photographs of famous models. Date thus
actually looked too human.
The limitations of motion-capture animations
(applying computerized sensors to the body of a human
performer and then applying them to the videogame
character) in a dynamic gameplay context