User Profile

I'm dedicating this Livejournal to dating sims, bishoujo games, ren'ai games, visual novels, life simulations, and the like. It will be my way of providing information and insights about this material.

My eventual goals are to invite more people into the fandom, help new fans discover more and better games, and promote my interest so that there are more and better translations. Despite my lack of skills, someday I might find a way to help out. In the summer of 2005, I posted several ideas related to licensing advocacy and how to rebuild fandom, so that it might improve as manga fandom did around 2001-2003.

At the end of November 2005, I finally created a site for my articles and files. I've slowly added content to it ever since... and I'm trying to improve it. Find it at http://www.visualnovels.com.

Looking for the basics? For a full overview of fandom, try the Megatokyo Dating Sims FAQ. It is opinion-filled and not all that easy to read, but there are some helpful sections.

Looking for free fan games with good writing? Start at http://www.renaigames.net. The PK Girl (http://mysite.verizon.net/dlgoodwin/bob/pkgirl) and Tales of Lemma (http://www.lemmasoft.net) are recent classics. Mikey's ATP Projects (http://atp.manga.sk/games/games.htm) has provided seven stories as of January 2006. Finally, Hanako Games (http://www.hanakogames.com) has one free game available for downloading, and several other titles available in trial editions. All the Hanako titles are games directed at girls.

Looking for fan translations of Japanese games? Try http://www.insani.org (and http://altogether.insani.org/2005) for several very good demos and several complete though brief stories. Most of these require Bit Torrent, which works best with a broadband internet connection. Please note that Planetarian requires an online purchase, and the freeware game Io Christmas Eve must be downloaded from another site.

As of April 06, you can find complete info about fan translations at http://www.shii.org/translate and http://www.visualnews.net.

Looking for pro translated games? First, read some reviews at http://www.animetric.com, http://www.hentaineko.com, and http://www.jmate.com. I disagree with some opinions at the sites (Heart de Roommate was funny and you know it!), but they're pretty well written. However, I should note that the reviews at Something Awful earned a sort of notoriety for not understanding the concept of story-as-game. They're a sort of fandom w--k.

Anyway, then start shopping. Right Stuf (http://www.rightstuf.com) has some sales here and there. J-list (http://www.jlist.com) has more pictures and details than most sites. My favorites: Ever 17, Kana Little Sister, Private Nurse, Snow Drop, and Heart de Roommate. All except the first should be discounted as of this writing.

As of April 06, Peach Princess (http://www.peachprincess.com) is slowly finishing two games I consider "meh." It appears that the fandom-expanding Enzai was finished ahead of schedule. None of the upcoming titles sound great, but I'll consider buying a few more soon. Hirameki (http://www.hirameki-int.com) is working on its first PC exclusive titles, including the shoujo title Anima Mundi (delayed to May 2006). Hopefully there will be few cancellations, and few titles that require a patch to work. G-Collections (http://www.g-collections.com) may license more, but it's looking less and less likely.

Most of what's discussed on this site is PC based. Most home consoles, except for portable ones, have regional restrictions. Keep that in mind before you browse import sites such as http://www.himeyashop.com or http://www.ncsx.com.

If you're like me and you have a recent Mac, then you should be able to get most games to work without sound using Virtual PC. I have a version of Windows XP Home running on my iBook (1.2 ghz, 512 MB RAM), but I'd recommend using the more efficient Windows 2000 on a similar Mac.

Most of what's discussed on this site falls into the categories of visual novels and ADV games. I tend to call them stories, since there are rarely traditional game elements. In fact, all my talk about "re-marketing" can be boiled down to the idea of getting away from gamer!attitude and instead emphasizing things visual novels do well: stories with point of view characters. As well as helping people appreciate both shoujo and seinen.

I've seen maybe five or six titles that are stat-based, calendar-based, or complex enough that I can honestly call them simulations. A few even centered around the POV character's dating, and were thus dating sims. Do I like these titles? Somewhat. But I'm not sure if I like them just because they have a lot of game elements. After all, I've never complained about the fact that VNs are at least 90 percent story.

I've seen some seemingly good dating sims secondhand... that is, through anime and manga spinoffs. Air TV has been wonderful! Refrain Blue OAV was also a masterpiece, even with only three episodes. Kanon TV didn't seem awesome, but it had fairly good pacing. Da Capo TV didn't amaze me, but it was fairly creative and avant-garde. Green Green TV was the ultimate guilty pleasure. And finally, the bishounen game Harukanaru Toki no Naka de didn't get to a great start in its TV spinoff, but it wasn't bad at all.

The name Taiyaki Fan? Well, as I explained in some of my early posts, it took me a few tries to find Kanon more than slightly amusing. I began to like the game after a scene in which Ayu ran into a tree. Ayu is slightly obsessed with the snack food taiyaki (which I haven't tried yet). So that's where it's from.

The Kanon LJ icon was created by Sarajayechan, and the Toshibo and Marutan (both from Heart de Roommate) icons were created by Mojotmonkey. The Potato icon was created by missatralissa. The Yukito and Michiru icon was created by moonlit_curse and ninj4_graphics. The Kana Little Sister icon was created by Starchanchan. And the Shuffle! icon of Kaede was created st40611.

Not each and every item in my interest list has or will be discussed in this blog, but each keyword is relevant to the fandom. I have not intended to deceive search engines or LiveJournal.

For some obscure reason, I can't place the title "Wind -a breath of heart-" in my Interest list. Sorry to anyone who was searching for that title.

Finally, as of May 06, I'm still trying to finish my love simulation Drifing Leaves. Once I get done with this project, I'll be working on a loose remake of "Winn." Lots of other good ideas, including some that would be best in Ren'py, some that would be best in RPG Maker XP, a few that might work with Adrift. Here's a quote that is a vague idea, and one that's influencing my ambitions:

"...the real reason was because I wanted to test myself. I wanted to see whether I could rise to the challenge of delivering an original love-sim game scenario that would meet the 'special needs' of even themost demanding player. The carefree daytime world filled with campus absurdity and wit. The tender romance. The heart-wrenching moments of truth. Could I do it? Would I pass muster?"

-Yosuke Kuroda on "Yumeria" (Newtype US March 06)

Friends (54):

Friend of (35):