Bakushou!! Jinsei Gekijou
Encyclopedia
The series of life simulator video games that were based on the Japanese board game Jinsei Game
. This game series from Taito
spanned from the 1980s to the 1990s and introduced unique concepts like a randomly chosen career, opportunity for radical hair cuts, and the occasional cameo from Tokyo Disneyland
. In addition to all this, developing the avatar's intellect
, social skills, and strength are major factors in landing a good paying career that pays the player as much money on "pay day" squares as possible. Depending on the game, the character underwent constant change in his avatar and/or his avatar's face. Most games begin with the player as a toddler
and end with the player reaching retirement
and senior citizen
ship.
years to senior citizen
ship. The player must go to elementary school
, junior high school, and high school
. However, the player can elect to either go to university
or start a career
immediately. University requires players to pass a "test" in order to graduate and gain access to the better jobs in the game. Unlike the Super Jinsei Game series
for the Super Famicom, the computer assigns the proper career for the player based on his avatar's intellectual, social, and physical skills.
This game was released exclusively in Japan on March 17, 1989 and requires Japanese
literacy to play successfully. While it lacked in the sophistication factor when compared to other games that are based on the Jinsei Game
board game
, the success of the game eventually lead to Bakushou!! Jinsei Gekijou 2 and Bakushou!! Jinsei Gekijou 3. Various elements that would be added to sequels with the series included the event squares and opportunity for radical hair cuts. Social interaction with other players (computer or human) is possible. However, the player's "parents" can take money away from players entering the next level in the game if they feel that they have too much money. This event is seen exclusively in this video game and it is not seen in its sequels or any of the games in the Super Jinsei Game series. Another feature not passed on to later games is the job interview. In order to get a job in this game, the player must do an interactive miniature game and "audition" for the new career. Failing the miniature game means not acquiring a job and succeeding means acquiring a paycheck and having job-related events appear on rolls of the dice.
for crime
s and gambling in a casino
are introduced in the series for the first time. These events are only experienced by players whose characters have become adults. Even with this limitation in mind, it is next to impossible to find a new career after being released. This is because the player loses their job after being sent to prison and must collect unemployment insurance after being released when he lands on a paycheck square.
By reaching certain squares on the "career" game board, the player can temporarily escape to either an underwater realm or to outer space
. However, players can be "plucked" out of the realm by an unsuspecting fisherman and be forced to return to the "normal" game board. Mini games include a Whack-a-Mole
clone and a Space Invaders
clone that can earn the player valuable game points as well as even more valuable self-esteem (will) points. Even though this game can be considered light-hearted and whimsical at times, there is partial frontal nudity in certain parts of the game. Fortunately, the genitalia are censored and only the other parts are shown. There is no rating on the game, although enough of the genitals are covered up to allow for teenagers to play independently (or for young children to play with parental guidance).
Before the game starts, players must customize their face
s using three spinners to create a random face. Possible careers include game designer, construction worker
, military officer
, rock and roll
musician
, and baseball
player. Unlike its sequel and like its prequel, there is no separate board for attending university. The only difference between going to university and skipping to career mode is that the university graduating player will receive more choices and a higher salary.
Careers and other aspects of adult life however can be manipulated by a series of stars and events.
Yellow stars help the player either acquire a job or change to a different career. Red stars are beneficial events to a player's career while blue stars lead to events that are harmful to a player's career. When the player sees themself on top of a mountain, that means they have been promoted in their career. A spotlight on the player means demotion to a lower pay bracket within the career. Children can be taken away in special "scandal" squares that show the unfit parent holding the child on the television news. At the end of the game, God goes through everyone's financial moves and the most prosperous player becomes the winner.
who goes through childhood
, adolescence
, adulthood, and eventually senior citizen
ship. There are decisions to make (dating, marriage
, telling the truth
, whether or not to peek at Christmas
presents) and sometimes an elderly figure that represents God
intervenes to help players determine their best path in life. Turns can be lost due to illness and bad weather and gained when the player buys an automobile for 15,000,000 yen
(approximately $100,000 USD). This money can be earned back much later in the game at a casino if the player decides to go on a vacation. Once all players reach the "finish line," God tells individual players about their destiny after retiring from work and into the life of a senior citizen. Things that could happen include: the loss of a spouse, becoming a world traveler, becoming terminally ill later in life, and striking oil in the desert.
Marriage almost always results in children but divorce
occurs randomly just in real life and is symbolized by a falling leaf. As the player gets older, the female characters' faces get wrinkles and the male characters' faces get facial hair and the shape of the face become more chiseled. Tokyo Disneyland
is included as a cameo role in one of the squares that the player can land on near the beginning of the game. The game decides whether the player gets lost in Tokyo Disneyland or not, either adding to or subtracting points from the avatar's intellectual strength. In addition to the standard game boards, there are also game boards for vacations, leaving the parents' home by either airplane or train, and incarceration.
Like other games in the Bakushou!! Jinsei Gekijou series, university
education is a completely optional path that leads to all career paths being enabled. Career cards have to be chosen in certain squares in order to represent a successful or a failed venture within the career. However, university education has a mandatory interactive quiz
that must be done successfully in order to enter university. Failing this quiz twice will result in the player being bumped into career
mode. Since the questions are in Japanese
, there is no possible way for a non-Japanese reader to play the game without skipping university and straight into career mode. Choosing this path will offers limited choices and lower pay unless a career book is purchased later in the game for 300,000,000 yen. Only this important tool allows a choice of multiple careers either with or without a university education.
for the Super Famicom
. The player starts in infancy and must progress through the school
years, and to a rewarding career
. The final stage is senior citizen
ship where the goal is to retire as wealthy and as skilled as possible. Steps with hearts on them increase the player's statistics while steps with sad faces decrease the player's statistics. Up to four players can play and the game has anime
-style graphics. Toys can be purchased at a handsome sum that knocks a player back six squares, makes an opponent's wheel spin slower or faster, creates lightning
, among other things. Lightning caused the victimized player to lose a turn and one of the major differences between this game and other games based on Jinsei Game is that the individual "boards" function more as a race than an actual simulation of life. The player who gets to the goal square first in the game gets a generous amount of money
and all players advance to the next level regardless of how well they developed their characters.
s are eventually constructed and the railway system reveals new areas for travel as the players progress through the months of the year and mature. However, incarceration
and having an illness
are included in the game. The circle-style game board would later be used in Daibakushou Jinsei Gekijou - Zukkoke Salary Man Hen, depicted the rut of the workday.
Original elements that are used in this game include meeting the opponents' mother
, enhanced mother-child
interaction like a mother forcing her daughter to wear a long skirt
to school, knowledge of what square the player will land on before making the spinner
come to a complete stop, and cut sequences that cannot be controlled by the player (with the exception for answering questions). Occasionally, a school uniform inspector comes to the players and gives them marks on how closely they match the proper Japanese school uniform. Certain non-conforming items like a long skirt (instead of a short skirt) can cause the female avatar that was forced to wear the outfit by her mother to be penalized. However, bonus points are assigned as long as certain features are similar to that of a Japanese school uniform.
While traveling is initially restricted to using the convienent railroad and transit bus
options in the beginning of the game, eventually airport
travel is unlocked as the players evolve in maturity
and experience
. Traveling to new places in the game constantly increased in cost as players are forced to use more of their in-game currency
in order to maintain a balanced character. Eventually, the player must balance travel
ing "far away" with academics
and spending time in the "local area." There is no formalized year system in the game, the players simply go from January to December and back to January again. The only difference is that new ideas and concepts added during the months help create an illusion
of the players growing older, wiser, and more mature in their outlooks. This game can be played with one to four players with computerized players being completely random. Using a similar system that used to name the player's avatar in The Sims
and The Sims 2
, players must create a given name
and a surname
in either hiragana
or katakana
.
's Warring States
era and not the 20th century unlike most games that are based on Jinsei Game. The object is to live the life of a peasant
in feudal Japan and try to advance socially in the medieval climate of samurai
and ninja
. Expertise in certain skills might bring curiosity
from travelling Europe
ans in random events. Like in all games in the series, being as wealthy as possible and having a successful life leads to victory. After getting married, child
ren either be sold into prostitution
or kept in the family
. Land
can also be purchased in order to gain profits
from tax
es.
workers who must find a career
. Eventually, they must balance work, leisure, and romance. Once the player has employment
, he must raise his earning potential then he must find a mate to become his trophy wife
or her trophy husband. Earning potential is raised by having nicer jewelry, a nicer house, and better quality items. Heterosexuality
is the only option in this game and there are many corporation
s to impress in order to land that job. However, players can get promoted, demoted, or even fired by certain events on the board. Public relations
and relations with the employer can be improved by playing golf
at the country club
.
Jinsei Game
is the Japanese version of the board game that is called The Game of Life in North America. Unlike The Game of Life, the player starts in his toddler years and has to go to elementary school, junior high school, and high school before being allowed to either go to university or start his career....
. This game series from Taito
Taito Corporation
The is a Japanese publisher of video game software and arcade hardware wholly owned by publisher Square Enix. Taito has their headquarters in the Shinjuku Bunka Quint Building in Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo, sharing the facility with its parent company....
spanned from the 1980s to the 1990s and introduced unique concepts like a randomly chosen career, opportunity for radical hair cuts, and the occasional cameo from Tokyo Disneyland
Tokyo Disneyland
is a 115 acre theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort located in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan, near Tokyo. Its main gate is directly adjacent to both Maihama Station and Tokyo Disneyland Station. It was the first Disney park to be built outside of the United States and opened on April 15, 1983...
. In addition to all this, developing the avatar's intellect
Intelligence
Intelligence has been defined in different ways, including the abilities for abstract thought, understanding, communication, reasoning, learning, planning, emotional intelligence and problem solving....
, social skills, and strength are major factors in landing a good paying career that pays the player as much money on "pay day" squares as possible. Depending on the game, the character underwent constant change in his avatar and/or his avatar's face. Most games begin with the player as a toddler
Toddler
A toddler is a young child, usually defined as being between the ages of one and three. Registered nurse, midwife and author, Robin Barker, states 'Any time from eight months onwards your baby will begin to realise he is a separate person from you...
and end with the player reaching retirement
Retirement
Retirement is the point where a person stops employment completely. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours.Many people choose to retire when they are eligible for private or public pension benefits, although some are forced to retire when physical conditions don't allow the person to...
and senior citizen
Senior citizen
Senior citizen is a common polite designation for an elderly person in both UK and US English, and it implies or means that the person is retired. This in turn implies or in fact means that the person is over the retirement age, which varies according to country. Synonyms include pensioner in UK...
ship.
Bakushou!! Jinsei Gekijou
is a Nintendo Family Computer life simulator game that simulates life from the toddlerToddler
A toddler is a young child, usually defined as being between the ages of one and three. Registered nurse, midwife and author, Robin Barker, states 'Any time from eight months onwards your baby will begin to realise he is a separate person from you...
years to senior citizen
Senior citizen
Senior citizen is a common polite designation for an elderly person in both UK and US English, and it implies or means that the person is retired. This in turn implies or in fact means that the person is over the retirement age, which varies according to country. Synonyms include pensioner in UK...
ship. The player must go to elementary school
Elementary school
An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...
, junior high school, and high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
. However, the player can elect to either go to university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
or start a career
Career
Career is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as a person's "course or progress through life ". It is usually considered to pertain to remunerative work ....
immediately. University requires players to pass a "test" in order to graduate and gain access to the better jobs in the game. Unlike the Super Jinsei Game series
Super Jinsei Game (series)
The Super Jinsei Game Series were a series of Super Famicom life simulator video games that allowed players to pick their own career unlike the Bakushou!! Jinsei Gekijou series. The games were released between 1994 and 1996 and consisted of: Super Jinsei Game, Super Jinsei Game 2, and Super Jinsei...
for the Super Famicom, the computer assigns the proper career for the player based on his avatar's intellectual, social, and physical skills.
This game was released exclusively in Japan on March 17, 1989 and requires Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
literacy to play successfully. While it lacked in the sophistication factor when compared to other games that are based on the Jinsei Game
Jinsei Game
is the Japanese version of the board game that is called The Game of Life in North America. Unlike The Game of Life, the player starts in his toddler years and has to go to elementary school, junior high school, and high school before being allowed to either go to university or start his career....
board game
Board game
A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
, the success of the game eventually lead to Bakushou!! Jinsei Gekijou 2 and Bakushou!! Jinsei Gekijou 3. Various elements that would be added to sequels with the series included the event squares and opportunity for radical hair cuts. Social interaction with other players (computer or human) is possible. However, the player's "parents" can take money away from players entering the next level in the game if they feel that they have too much money. This event is seen exclusively in this video game and it is not seen in its sequels or any of the games in the Super Jinsei Game series. Another feature not passed on to later games is the job interview. In order to get a job in this game, the player must do an interactive miniature game and "audition" for the new career. Failing the miniature game means not acquiring a job and succeeding means acquiring a paycheck and having job-related events appear on rolls of the dice.
Bakushou!! Jinsei Gekijou 2
is a Famicom life simulator game that was released on March 22, 1991 and requires Japanese literacy to play. Like all games in the series, an occupation is chosen for the player regardless of whether he goes to university or not. The concepts of going to prisonPrison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
for crime
Crime
Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
s and gambling in a casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
are introduced in the series for the first time. These events are only experienced by players whose characters have become adults. Even with this limitation in mind, it is next to impossible to find a new career after being released. This is because the player loses their job after being sent to prison and must collect unemployment insurance after being released when he lands on a paycheck square.
By reaching certain squares on the "career" game board, the player can temporarily escape to either an underwater realm or to outer space
Outer space
Outer space is the void that exists between celestial bodies, including the Earth. It is not completely empty, but consists of a hard vacuum containing a low density of particles: predominantly a plasma of hydrogen and helium, as well as electromagnetic radiation, magnetic fields, and neutrinos....
. However, players can be "plucked" out of the realm by an unsuspecting fisherman and be forced to return to the "normal" game board. Mini games include a Whack-a-Mole
Whac-A-Mole
Whac-A-Mole is an arcade redemption game. A typical Whac-A-Mole machine consists of a large, waist-level cabinet with five holes in its top and a large, soft, black mallet. Each hole contains a single plastic mole and the machinery necessary to move it up and down. Once the game starts, the moles...
clone and a Space Invaders
Space Invaders
is an arcade video game designed by Tomohiro Nishikado, and released in 1978. It was originally manufactured and sold by Taito in Japan, and was later licensed for production in the United States by the Midway division of Bally. Space Invaders is one of the earliest shooting games and the aim is to...
clone that can earn the player valuable game points as well as even more valuable self-esteem (will) points. Even though this game can be considered light-hearted and whimsical at times, there is partial frontal nudity in certain parts of the game. Fortunately, the genitalia are censored and only the other parts are shown. There is no rating on the game, although enough of the genitals are covered up to allow for teenagers to play independently (or for young children to play with parental guidance).
Before the game starts, players must customize their face
Face
The face is a central sense organ complex, for those animals that have one, normally on the ventral surface of the head, and can, depending on the definition in the human case, include the hair, forehead, eyebrow, eyelashes, eyes, nose, ears, cheeks, mouth, lips, philtrum, temple, teeth, skin, and...
s using three spinners to create a random face. Possible careers include game designer, construction worker
Construction worker
A construction worker or builder is a professional, tradesman, or labourer who directly participates in the physical construction of infrastructure.-Construction trades:...
, military officer
Officer (armed forces)
An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...
, rock and roll
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
, and baseball
Baseball in Japan
Baseball is one of the most popular sports in Japan. It was introduced to Japan in 1872 by Horace Wilson, who taught at the Kaisei School in Tokyo. The first baseball team was called the Shimbashi Athletic Club and was established in 1878. Baseball has been a popular sport ever since...
player. Unlike its sequel and like its prequel, there is no separate board for attending university. The only difference between going to university and skipping to career mode is that the university graduating player will receive more choices and a higher salary.
Careers and other aspects of adult life however can be manipulated by a series of stars and events.
Yellow stars help the player either acquire a job or change to a different career. Red stars are beneficial events to a player's career while blue stars lead to events that are harmful to a player's career. When the player sees themself on top of a mountain, that means they have been promoted in their career. A spotlight on the player means demotion to a lower pay bracket within the career. Children can be taken away in special "scandal" squares that show the unfit parent holding the child on the television news. At the end of the game, God goes through everyone's financial moves and the most prosperous player becomes the winner.
Bakushou!! Jinsei Gekijou 3
is a Nintendo Family Computer board game that was released on December 20, 1991. The game is about a toddlerToddler
A toddler is a young child, usually defined as being between the ages of one and three. Registered nurse, midwife and author, Robin Barker, states 'Any time from eight months onwards your baby will begin to realise he is a separate person from you...
who goes through childhood
Childhood
Childhood is the age span ranging from birth to adolescence. In developmental psychology, childhood is divided up into the developmental stages of toddlerhood , early childhood , middle childhood , and adolescence .- Age ranges of childhood :The term childhood is non-specific and can imply a...
, adolescence
Adolescence
Adolescence is a transitional stage of physical and mental human development generally occurring between puberty and legal adulthood , but largely characterized as beginning and ending with the teenage stage...
, adulthood, and eventually senior citizen
Senior citizen
Senior citizen is a common polite designation for an elderly person in both UK and US English, and it implies or means that the person is retired. This in turn implies or in fact means that the person is over the retirement age, which varies according to country. Synonyms include pensioner in UK...
ship. There are decisions to make (dating, marriage
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
, telling the truth
Truth
Truth has a variety of meanings, such as the state of being in accord with fact or reality. It can also mean having fidelity to an original or to a standard or ideal. In a common usage, it also means constancy or sincerity in action or character...
, whether or not to peek at Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
presents) and sometimes an elderly figure that represents God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
intervenes to help players determine their best path in life. Turns can be lost due to illness and bad weather and gained when the player buys an automobile for 15,000,000 yen
Japanese yen
The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third most traded currency in the foreign exchange market after the United States dollar and the euro. It is also widely used as a reserve currency after the U.S. dollar, the euro and the pound sterling...
(approximately $100,000 USD). This money can be earned back much later in the game at a casino if the player decides to go on a vacation. Once all players reach the "finish line," God tells individual players about their destiny after retiring from work and into the life of a senior citizen. Things that could happen include: the loss of a spouse, becoming a world traveler, becoming terminally ill later in life, and striking oil in the desert.
Marriage almost always results in children but divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
occurs randomly just in real life and is symbolized by a falling leaf. As the player gets older, the female characters' faces get wrinkles and the male characters' faces get facial hair and the shape of the face become more chiseled. Tokyo Disneyland
Tokyo Disneyland
is a 115 acre theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort located in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan, near Tokyo. Its main gate is directly adjacent to both Maihama Station and Tokyo Disneyland Station. It was the first Disney park to be built outside of the United States and opened on April 15, 1983...
is included as a cameo role in one of the squares that the player can land on near the beginning of the game. The game decides whether the player gets lost in Tokyo Disneyland or not, either adding to or subtracting points from the avatar's intellectual strength. In addition to the standard game boards, there are also game boards for vacations, leaving the parents' home by either airplane or train, and incarceration.
Like other games in the Bakushou!! Jinsei Gekijou series, university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
education is a completely optional path that leads to all career paths being enabled. Career cards have to be chosen in certain squares in order to represent a successful or a failed venture within the career. However, university education has a mandatory interactive quiz
Quiz
A quiz is a form of game or mind sport in which the players attempt to answer questions correctly. In some countries, a quiz is also a brief assessment used in education and similar fields to measure growth in knowledge, abilities, and/or skills.Quizzes are usually scored in points and many...
that must be done successfully in order to enter university. Failing this quiz twice will result in the player being bumped into career
Career
Career is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as a person's "course or progress through life ". It is usually considered to pertain to remunerative work ....
mode. Since the questions are in Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
, there is no possible way for a non-Japanese reader to play the game without skipping university and straight into career mode. Choosing this path will offers limited choices and lower pay unless a career book is purchased later in the game for 300,000,000 yen. Only this important tool allows a choice of multiple careers either with or without a university education.
Career options
- professional wrestlerProfessional wrestlingProfessional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
(identifiable with traditional wrestling tights) - military officerOfficer (armed forces)An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...
(identifiable with officers' uniform) - entertainer (identifiable with white leisure suit and matching hat) - has a random chance of drawing a scandalScandalA scandal is a widely publicized allegation or set of allegations that damages the reputation of an institution, individual or creed...
card (he goes to jail by telling the truth and loses one point from his statistics for lying) - fast foodFast foodFast food is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly. While any meal with low preparation time can be considered to be fast food, typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with preheated or precooked ingredients, and served to the customer in a...
worker - computer programmerProgrammerA programmer, computer programmer or coder is someone who writes computer software. The term computer programmer can refer to a specialist in one area of computer programming or to a generalist who writes code for many kinds of software. One who practices or professes a formal approach to...
(identifiable with button-down shirt and khakis) - can make another player lose a turn by forcing them to repair computers after arriving on a random square - businessman (identifiable with men's business suit) - male version of office lady career
- office ladyOffice ladyAn office lady, often abbreviated OL , is a female office worker in Japan who performs generally pink collar tasks such as serving tea and secretarial or clerical work. Like many unmarried Japanese, OLs often live with their parents well into early adulthood...
(identifiable with ladies' business suit) - female version of businessman career - teacherTeacherA teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
(looks similar to businessperson or office lady except for the book) - similar attire to businessman except that the avatar is holding a book - physicianPhysicianA physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
(identifiable with traditional doctor's uniform)
Tools of the trade
- Cupid's arrowCupidIn Roman mythology, Cupid is the god of desire, affection and erotic love. He is the son of the goddess Venus and the god Mars. His Greek counterpart is Eros...
- enhances romance of player's significant other - voodoo doll - brings an illness to a rival player which causes him or her to lose a turn and some attributes
- will power notes - increases player's will power (self-esteem)
- career book - allows the player to choose a new job regardless of education
- vanity drink - increases strength, intellect, and will by five points
Daibakushou Jinsei Gekijou
is a life simulation gameLife simulation game
Life simulation games is a sub-genre of simulation video games in which the player lives or controls one or more virtual lifeforms...
for the Super Famicom
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
. The player starts in infancy and must progress through the school
School
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
years, and to a rewarding career
Career
Career is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as a person's "course or progress through life ". It is usually considered to pertain to remunerative work ....
. The final stage is senior citizen
Senior citizen
Senior citizen is a common polite designation for an elderly person in both UK and US English, and it implies or means that the person is retired. This in turn implies or in fact means that the person is over the retirement age, which varies according to country. Synonyms include pensioner in UK...
ship where the goal is to retire as wealthy and as skilled as possible. Steps with hearts on them increase the player's statistics while steps with sad faces decrease the player's statistics. Up to four players can play and the game has anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
-style graphics. Toys can be purchased at a handsome sum that knocks a player back six squares, makes an opponent's wheel spin slower or faster, creates lightning
Lightning
Lightning is an atmospheric electrostatic discharge accompanied by thunder, which typically occurs during thunderstorms, and sometimes during volcanic eruptions or dust storms...
, among other things. Lightning caused the victimized player to lose a turn and one of the major differences between this game and other games based on Jinsei Game is that the individual "boards" function more as a race than an actual simulation of life. The player who gets to the goal square first in the game gets a generous amount of money
Japanese yen
The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third most traded currency in the foreign exchange market after the United States dollar and the euro. It is also widely used as a reserve currency after the U.S. dollar, the euro and the pound sterling...
and all players advance to the next level regardless of how well they developed their characters.
Daibakushou Jinsei Gekijou: Dokidoki Seishun
is considered to have a different style of game play than most of the games in the Bakushou!! Jinsei Geikjou series. Instead of moving in a linear fashion in order to reach the ultimate goal, the players move in a circle. During the simulated months of game play, new buildingBuilding
In architecture, construction, engineering, real estate development and technology the word building may refer to one of the following:...
s are eventually constructed and the railway system reveals new areas for travel as the players progress through the months of the year and mature. However, incarceration
Incarceration
Incarceration is the detention of a person in prison, typically as punishment for a crime .People are most commonly incarcerated upon suspicion or conviction of committing a crime, and different jurisdictions have differing laws governing the function of incarceration within a larger system of...
and having an illness
Illness
Illness is a state of poor health. Illness is sometimes considered another word for disease. Others maintain that fine distinctions exist...
are included in the game. The circle-style game board would later be used in Daibakushou Jinsei Gekijou - Zukkoke Salary Man Hen, depicted the rut of the workday.
Original elements that are used in this game include meeting the opponents' mother
Mother
A mother, mum, mom, momma, or mama is a woman who has raised a child, given birth to a child, and/or supplied the ovum that grew into a child. Because of the complexity and differences of a mother's social, cultural, and religious definitions and roles, it is challenging to specify a universally...
, enhanced mother-child
Child
Biologically, a child is generally a human between the stages of birth and puberty. Some vernacular definitions of a child include the fetus, as being an unborn child. The legal definition of "child" generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger than the age of majority...
interaction like a mother forcing her daughter to wear a long skirt
Skirt
A skirt is a tube- or cone-shaped garment that hangs from the waist and covers all or part of the legs.In the western world, skirts are usually considered women's clothing. However, there are exceptions...
to school, knowledge of what square the player will land on before making the spinner
Spinner (game)
A spinner is a method of randomly determining something in a game, often movement. There are two types of spinners:#A balanced arrow anchored to a hard backing, usually cardboard, with printed sections. A spinner is used in some games instead of Dice because a spinner provides more space to print...
come to a complete stop, and cut sequences that cannot be controlled by the player (with the exception for answering questions). Occasionally, a school uniform inspector comes to the players and gives them marks on how closely they match the proper Japanese school uniform. Certain non-conforming items like a long skirt (instead of a short skirt) can cause the female avatar that was forced to wear the outfit by her mother to be penalized. However, bonus points are assigned as long as certain features are similar to that of a Japanese school uniform.
While traveling is initially restricted to using the convienent railroad and transit bus
Transit bus
A transit bus , also known as a commuter bus, city bus, or public bus, is a bus used for short-distance public transport purposes...
options in the beginning of the game, eventually airport
Airport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
travel is unlocked as the players evolve in maturity
Maturity (psychological)
Maturity is a psychological term used to indicate how a person responds to the circumstances or environment in an appropriate manner. This response is generally learned rather than instinctive, and is not determined by one's age...
and experience
Experience
Experience as a general concept comprises knowledge of or skill in or observation of some thing or some event gained through involvement in or exposure to that thing or event....
. Traveling to new places in the game constantly increased in cost as players are forced to use more of their in-game currency
Japanese yen
The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third most traded currency in the foreign exchange market after the United States dollar and the euro. It is also widely used as a reserve currency after the U.S. dollar, the euro and the pound sterling...
in order to maintain a balanced character. Eventually, the player must balance travel
Travel
Travel is the movement of people or objects between relatively distant geographical locations. 'Travel' can also include relatively short stays between successive movements.-Etymology:...
ing "far away" with academics
Academia
Academia is the community of students and scholars engaged in higher education and research.-Etymology:The word comes from the akademeia in ancient Greece. Outside the city walls of Athens, the gymnasium was made famous by Plato as a center of learning...
and spending time in the "local area." There is no formalized year system in the game, the players simply go from January to December and back to January again. The only difference is that new ideas and concepts added during the months help create an illusion
Illusion
An illusion is a distortion of the senses, revealing how the brain normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation. While illusions distort reality, they are generally shared by most people....
of the players growing older, wiser, and more mature in their outlooks. This game can be played with one to four players with computerized players being completely random. Using a similar system that used to name the player's avatar in The Sims
The Sims
The Sims is a strategic life-simulation computer game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. Its development was led by game designer Will Wright, also known for developing SimCity...
and The Sims 2
The Sims 2
The Sims 2 is a strategic life simulation computer game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. It is the sequel to the best-selling computer game, The Sims, which debuted on February 4, 2000. It was first released on September 14, 2004 for Microsoft Windows. A port to Apple Mac OS X...
, players must create a given name
Given name
A given name, in Western contexts often referred to as a first name, is a personal name that specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially in a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name...
and a surname
Surname
A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...
in either hiragana
Hiragana
is a Japanese syllabary, one basic component of the Japanese writing system, along with katakana, kanji, and the Latin alphabet . Hiragana and katakana are both kana systems, in which each character represents one mora...
or katakana
Katakana
is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji, and in some cases the Latin alphabet . The word katakana means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana scripts are derived from components of more complex kanji. Each kana represents one mora...
.
Daibakushou Jinsei Gekijou: Ooedo Nikki
is a game in the Bakushou!! Jinsei Gekijou series that takes place during JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
's Warring States
Sengoku period
The or Warring States period in Japanese history was a time of social upheaval, political intrigue, and nearly constant military conflict that lasted roughly from the middle of the 15th century to the beginning of the 17th century. The name "Sengoku" was adopted by Japanese historians in reference...
era and not the 20th century unlike most games that are based on Jinsei Game. The object is to live the life of a peasant
Peasant
A peasant is an agricultural worker who generally tend to be poor and homeless-Etymology:The word is derived from 15th century French païsant meaning one from the pays, or countryside, ultimately from the Latin pagus, or outlying administrative district.- Position in society :Peasants typically...
in feudal Japan and try to advance socially in the medieval climate of samurai
Samurai
is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
and ninja
Ninja
A or was a covert agent or mercenary of feudal Japan specializing in unorthodox arts of war. The functions of the ninja included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and assassination, as well as open combat in certain situations...
. Expertise in certain skills might bring curiosity
Curiosity
Curiosity is an emotion related to natural inquisitive behavior such as exploration, investigation, and learning, evident by observation in human and many animal species. The term can also be used to denote the behavior itself being caused by the emotion of curiosity...
from travelling Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
ans in random events. Like in all games in the series, being as wealthy as possible and having a successful life leads to victory. After getting married, child
Child
Biologically, a child is generally a human between the stages of birth and puberty. Some vernacular definitions of a child include the fetus, as being an unborn child. The legal definition of "child" generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger than the age of majority...
ren either be sold into prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
or kept in the family
Family
In human context, a family is a group of people affiliated by consanguinity, affinity, or co-residence. In most societies it is the principal institution for the socialization of children...
. Land
Real property
In English Common Law, real property, real estate, realty, or immovable property is any subset of land that has been legally defined and the improvements to it made by human efforts: any buildings, machinery, wells, dams, ponds, mines, canals, roads, various property rights, and so forth...
can also be purchased in order to gain profits
Profit (accounting)
In accounting, profit can be considered to be the difference between the purchase price and the costs of bringing to market whatever it is that is accounted as an enterprise in terms of the component costs of delivered goods and/or services and any operating or other expenses.-Definition:There are...
from tax
Tax
To tax is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon a taxpayer by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law. Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entities...
es.
Daibakushou Jinsei Gekijou: Zukkoke Salary Man Hen
is a game in the Bakushou!! Jinsei Gekijou series. Players who play this game become white collarWhite-collar worker
The term white-collar worker refers to a person who performs professional, managerial, or administrative work, in contrast with a blue-collar worker, whose job requires manual labor...
workers who must find a career
Career
Career is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as a person's "course or progress through life ". It is usually considered to pertain to remunerative work ....
. Eventually, they must balance work, leisure, and romance. Once the player has employment
Employment
Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An employee may be defined as:- Employee :...
, he must raise his earning potential then he must find a mate to become his trophy wife
Trophy wife
Trophy wife is an expression used to describe a wife, usually young and attractive, who is regarded as a status symbol for the husband, who is often older and affluent.-History:The term's etymological origins are disputed...
or her trophy husband. Earning potential is raised by having nicer jewelry, a nicer house, and better quality items. Heterosexuality
Heterosexuality
Heterosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the opposite sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, heterosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, physical or romantic attractions to persons of the opposite sex";...
is the only option in this game and there are many corporation
Corporation
A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...
s to impress in order to land that job. However, players can get promoted, demoted, or even fired by certain events on the board. Public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
and relations with the employer can be improved by playing golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
at the country club
Country club
A country club is a private club, often with a closed membership, that typically offers a variety of recreational sports facilities and is located in city outskirts or rural areas. Activities may include, for example, any of golf, tennis, swimming or polo...
.