But I LOVE anthropomorphic characters

[Terro]

Me, my guilty pleasure in terms of shows full of anthropomorphs is Sonic the Hedgehog (the Saturday morning version, not the weekday version).

I was big into the Sonic Comics, since it shared the same universe. So you COULD say the cartoon continued in comic form... But yeah, I was HUGE into Sonic when he first came out, and I'm still a fan now! I've also discovered some awesome anime/manga because I thought the cat/wolf/fox/etc ears just happened to be cute, and I wanted to check it out. But... only cute. I'm not a furry, nor into that culture, but I can still think it can be a neat pieces of art (official art designs, that is). Solatarobo is just one example of that (and one day I'll need to buy Tail Concerto as well...)

But yeah, nowadays there's just bad connatations with the word "furries". When you google image a Pokemon and you come across H content... yeah, then you can see why some people can give it a bad rap^^

[Lumina]

It's interesting to hear that many people think "furries" when they see anthropomorphic characters, that thought hadn't even crossed my mind. From my perspective they just give off a very juvenile or "kiddie" look for the most part.

Hopefully folks can look past that as I have though, because from watching english trailers for this game there seems to be a very interesting story beneath the surface.

[H.Protagonist]

I was going over Jessica 'the boxhead' Chavez's blog on Solatorobo: Red the Hunter (http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=9088029) and all she did was defend anthropomorphism like it was some sort of plague. I know that shooters where you kill virtual people are all the rage right now, but if you like Japan, Pokemon, Xseed and anime and video games in general then you're likely going to buy Solatorobo simply because of the characters. Why is Xseed making such a big deal out of it? Why are you guys trying to promote the 'crushing metal on metal action' instead of the fun platforming and cute characters?!?!?
I know you want to sell big, but this is ridiculous. You want the people who like to 'murder' each other online buy your game and all of this effort feels like Cirque du So Lame just arrived in town.

Sorry to have to highlight something like that, but as others have said, the thought of anthropomorphic characters really turns some people off, even when it has nothing to do the "furry" internet thing. I want to make sure as many people as possible don't write off what is a lovely, high quality, fun game just because the characters happen to be dogs and cats. We're not trying to sell big here (though that would be nice for a change). We just want people to look at what the game has to offer before dismissing it outright with only a glance at the cover.

[Terro]

We just want people to look at what the game has to offer before dismissing it outright with only a glance at the cover.

Well, if many the older crowd is turned off by the "furries" in the game, hopefully some kids with innocent minds will pick it up in the store and think "WOW this game looks COOL!!".

[H.Protagonist]

Well, if many the older crowd is turned off by the "furries" in the game, hopefully some kids with innocent minds will pick it up in the store and think "WOW this game looks COOL!!".

One can only hope. It's always nice to pick up some sales on the reverse side, but since we don't have a big presence in stores, we don't often get casual impulse buys. Every little bit helps, though. C'mon, Solatorobo!

[Zeta]

I'm not really into this Furry BS, but I do love me some:




that being said, give me some Solatorobo =D

[Dusty Starr]

I wish XSEED had a bigger presence in stores. :/ Some of my favourite games were random impulse buys from places like Target (ew) and Wal Mart (also ew).

Either way, I am hoping for the best. X3 And telling people about this game whenever I can.

[Obviously]

Strangely enough I've seen a lot of people fearing that this game is going to suffer from a lot of anti-furry sentiment but I haven't actually seen much anti-furry sentiment over it. That's not to say I don't think there are going to be people who will never play it because it's "furry" and I also think there will be a lot of people who will specifically play it because it's "furry."

If anthropomorphic art styles weren't popular they wouldn't be used. They've always had a major presence in cartoons and video games and they always will. Even with the furry fandom around, anthropomorphic characters continue to have mainstream appeal. Look at the new Thundercats that Cartoon Network just brought out.

The furry fandom is just as good or bad as any other fandom out there. You've got the people who take it too far and make them all look crazy and the people who just like cartoons and art that feature animal people. If somebody wants to hate on Solatorobo for its art style because they're afraid if they like it they'll catch cooties and turn into a furry they're just being immature. There's nothing inherently devious about cartoon animals.