December 10th, 2008

Imagine: Success On The DS

Filed under Games

Ah, the Imagine series, published by Ubisoft.  Somehow, amidst all the parodies and belittling, someone out there is buying more and more of the games, and so, more and more games keep coming out under the line.

If you’re somehow not acquainted with the Imagine series of games, they’re games published by a company called Ubisoft, meant to ’supposedly’ target little girls and tweens.  What with such themes as Imagine: Babyz, Imagine: Figure Skater, Imagine: Dream Wedding, and Imagine: Fashion Model, it’s no wonder most females who game tend to cringe at the prospect that this game is in any way appealing or fascinating to anyone, with it’s narrow-minded-feeling stereotyping.

But fascinate they do, at least that’s what it seems like, since Ubisoft is continuing to churn out these games like there’s no tomorrow.  On the Imagine wiki list page, in 2008 alone this is what released:

With still more trying to catch up for release come 2009:

It’s quite interesting how such a series can have a stigma, especially among girls who feel that the themes degrade their gender to little more than fashion candy and homemakers.  And yet, with its humbling ideals, it continues to thrive and flourish.

I see the displays whenever I pop into a Game store here in the UK.  They’re huge, composed mostly of pink and white, have random women/girl cardboard cutouts smiling all doe-eyed at a pink DS, and completely taking up huge chunks of rack space.  It’s almost on par in size to one console’s latest release section, practically.

Cringe as we might, however, these games occasionally do have merit.  They have actual gaming involved beyond the fake posed boxart, and it comes quite slyly disguised.

In my last article that touched on games targeted towards girls, imagine (lol) my surprise as I tried out a few of the games in the series and actually found them rather amusing.  Okay, granted, I tend to be easily amused, but there were a few characteristics in a couple of them that made them feel like it’d at least last more than an hour (and really, with a kid’s attention span, you’ll be lucky that any game last’s more than a week at best).

One of the most intriguing bits of info I picked up while experimenting was that the few that had substance to them were imports of existing games (that actually aren’t half bad).  Take the recent Imagine: Figure Skater.  It’s actually a practically year old game from Japan called Figure de KiraKira Koori no Angel, developed by Spike.  There’s already a sequel out in Japan (which means, if Ubisoft is as sly as I think they are, they might try to buy the right to publish that as well).  Imagine: Fashion Designer New York?  That’s done by Lexis Numerique.

The US Imagine series website has a disclaimer at the bottom that can help pinpoint which of the series line is done by other developers:

Imagine Master Chef © 2007 MTO Inc. Published and distributed by Ubisoft Entertainment under license from MTO. Imagine Animal Doctor © 2007 Lexis Numérique. Published and distributed by Ubisoft Entertainment under exclusive license from Lexis Numérique. Developed by Virtual Toys and Lexis Numérique. Imagine Babyz developed by Visual Impact. Imagine Fashion Designer © 2007 Lexis Numérique. Published and distributed by Ubisoft Entertainment under exclusive license from Lexis Numérique. Developed by Lexis Numérique. Imagine Fashion Designer New York developed by Virtual Toys and Lexis Numérique. Imagine Teacher developed by Magic Pockets. Imagine Interior Designer © 2008 ANUMAN. Published and distributed by Ubisoft Entertainment under license from ANUMAN. Imagine Ballet Star and Imagine Figure Skater © 2008 Spike. Published and distributed by Ubisoft Entertainment under license from Spike.

And when you compare Imagine: Fashion Designer versus 505 Game’s Fashion Style Icon in terms of gameplay, you’ll find out why Ubisoft decided to try and forget that they ever came out with Designer and went ahead and bought publishing rights to release Fashion Style Icon in the US as My Fashion Studio (which makes me wonder why it didn’t make it under the Imagine series titles).  (If you don’t end up finding out, I’m sure I’ll end up writing an article about it later…)

They’ve also gone on to publish the Ener-G series, as well as the Petz series of games.  While I can attest that one series isn’t as bad as it may seem, I can’t be too sure of the other.  But definitely a case of looks can be deceiving at first glance (especially when it comes to boxart).

Speaking of boxart, what I always forget is that Ubisoft doesn’t make these so-called atrocities.  In fact, after trying a few, again, I’ll admit, they have some addicting (if not simple) qualities to them that make them appealing.  What Ubisoft is guilty of, however, is creating and approving the ridiculous boxart covers to some of these decent games.  Really, I’m not too sure who’s responsible for thinking that girls looking like catalog models against a very white background was a good idea, with their ridiculously cheesy smiles.  It’s no wonder they get these things to sell when it looks like each cover is some form of department store sale brochure.

Yeti did bring to my attention that perhaps this cheesy mundanity is actually working in favor of Ubisoft in making its product stand out.  When you compare all other DS boxart comprised of various bright colors or cartoony characters, the Imagine line would definitely stick out like a sore thumb to parents walking down the game aisles in search of a game for their princess.

But I can see wherein lies the problem in having to deal with the characteristics of the Imagine boxart lineup.  In creating a series line under the Imagine heading, they’ve pretty much doomed any way of using the original art styles from each game.  Why?  Because they’re all developed by different companies, and most of the art styles drastically change from one game to the next.  You can’t tie a random assortment of games with a generic ‘girly’ feel to them if they all look different, and there’s no main girl character you can use since each has their own to choose from.  It’s likely to be confusing, and when it comes to sales, confusing the consumer is the last thing a company wants to do.  So, I suppose the only choice was to use the modeling agency girls with the plastered on smiles.  It’s something repeatable, and (un)fortunately, extremely recognizable for the series.

Ah well, if you look past the mind-numbing boxart, I think you may be mildly surprised at what you end up playing with.  I’m not saying all of them are second glance stunners, but I am reiterating the idea to give the games a chance.  A couple imports under the Imagine line are actually decent enough to look into if you forgive the silly stereotyping and simply play it for what it is: a game.  There’s definitely more to Imagine than meets the eye.

And really, I plan on getting some of the games I’ve tried out in review format soon… ish.


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Leonard Shelby wrote on December 10th, 2008 at 6:53 pm

If there are any tweens on this message board, you might be interested in trying The Fashion Fantasy Game. It’s an online game where you can design clothes and sell them in a virtual industry with other players. Essentially, it simulates what the real life fashion business is like.

Here’s how the game goes — when you sign up, you can be either a designer or a store owner. You have a certain amount of Fashion Buckz (the currency in the game; think of Monopoly money) that you can use to buy materials and other resources. The object of the game is to be as successful as possible, just like in real life. Success is measured by how popular your clothes are or how much wealth you have.

There are also a lot of contests where players can compete to see who has the best designs.

Playing the game is free and is a great way to practice your business skills if you are really serious about entering the fashion industry. No real money is spent, so it is risk-free (unlike going to the mall, where you are compelled to purchase every pretty thing in the windows).

The game is available on http://www.fashionfantasygame.com/.

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