Eroge is a Japanese
erotic video game. The earliest known commercial erotic computer game is PSK's
Lolita Yakyūken, released in
1982. That same year,
Koei released the erotic title, , which was an early
role-playing adventure game with color graphics, owing to the eight-color palette of the
PC-8001 computer. It became a hit, helping Koei become a major software company. In another opinion,
Yuji Horii recalled in 1986 that he saw a demonstration of a
Yakyūken-like game running on the
FM-8 in the end of
1981, and he considered Yakyūken was the origin of adult games. Some writers say that
Yakyūken produced for
Sharp MZ computers by
Hudson Soft is the first Japanese adult game. Other now-famous Japanese companies such as
Enix,
Square and
Nihon Falcom also released erotic adult games for the PC-8801 computer in the early 1980s before they became mainstream. Early
eroge usually had simple stories, some even involving
anal sex, which often led to widespread condemnation from the Japanese media. In some of the early erotic games, the erotic content is meaningfully integrated into thoughtful and mature storytelling, though others often used it as a flimsy excuse for pornography. After a similar game by
Tactics,
One: Kagayaku Kisetsu e, became a hit in 1998,
Visual Arts scouted main creative staff of
One to form a new brand under them, which became
Key. In 1999, Key released
Kanon. It contains only about seven brief erotic scenes in a sentimental story the size of a long novel (an all-ages version was also released afterward), but the enthusiasm of the response was unprecedented, and
Kanon sold over 300,000 copies. In 2002 a 13-episode anime series was produced, as well as another 24-episode anime series in 2006. According to Satoshi Todome's
A History of Eroge,
Kanon is still the standard for modern
eroge and is referred to as a "baptism" for young
otaku in Japan. Although many
eroge still market themselves primarily on sex,
eroge that focus on story are now a major established part of Japanese otaku culture. Voice actors who have voiced for
eroge have often been credited under a pseudonym. As the visual novel standard was adopted, the erotic parts in
eroge began to become less and less apparent. Many
eroge become more story-oriented than sex-oriented, making story the main focus for many modern
eroge. More and more people who used to reject such type of games began to become more open-minded, realizing that
eroge are not just about sex anymore. A lot of story-focused
eroge tend to have only a few erotic scenes. Another subgenre is called , in which sexual gratification of the player is the main focus of the game. ==Gameplay==