And so I came to the decision: Not only is Fuwanovel now merely a physical platform, it has become the embodiment of an important message. And it now exists to spread this message. And hence why this reblog. You can find the original article here, taken from falkvinge.net
{important clarification: nothing I write on this blog will alter the final decision that Fuwanovel will be a patch-distributing, freeware-distributing website ONLY.}

They would cut up large blocks of ice from the frozen lakes in the winter, store them on sawdust in huge barns, then cut the blocks into smaller chunks and sell them in the streets. People would buy the ice and keep it with food in special cupboards, so the food would be in cold storage.

(This is why some senior citizens still refer to refrigerators as “ice boxes“.)

When households in Stockholm were electrified in the first half of the last century, these distributors of cold were made obsolete. After all, what they distributed was the ability to keep food cold, and everybody could suddenly do that themselves.

This was a fairly rapid process in the cities. With the availability of the refrigerator from circa 1920, most households had their own refrigerator by the end of the 1930s. One of the city’s largest employers – distributors of cold – had been made totally obsolete by technical development.

There were many personal tragedies in this era as the icemen lost their breadwinning capacity and needed to retrain to get new jobs in a completely new field. The iceman profession had often been tough to begin with, and seeing your industry disintegrate in real-time didn’t make it any easier.

Rather, the distribution monopoly became obsolete, was ignored, and the economy as a whole benefited by the resulting decentralization.

We’re now seeing a repeat of this scenario, but where the distribution industry – the copyright industry – has the audacity to stand up and demand special laws and say that the economy will collapse without their unnecessary services. But we learn from history, every time, that it is good when an industry becomes obsolete. That means we have learned something important – to do things in a more efficient way. New skills and trades always appear in its wake.

The copyright industry tells us, again and again and again, that if they can’t have their obsolete distribution monopoly enshrined into law with ever-increasing penalties for ignoring it, that no culture will be produced at all. As we have seen, equally time and again, this is hogwash.

What might be true is that the copyright industry can’t produce music to the tune of one million US dollars per track. But you can’t motivate monopoly legislation based on your costs, whenothers are doing the same thing for much less – practically zero. There has never been as much music available as now, just because all of us love to create. It’s not something we do because of money, it’s because of who we are. We have always created, ever since we learned to put red paint on the inside of cave walls.

What about movies, then? Hundred-million productions? There are examples of garage-produced movies (and one even has beat Casablanca to become the most-seen movie of all time in its native country). But it may appear true that the argument is somewhat stronger with the blockbuster-type cinema productions.

A recent article of mine dispels this, too; blockbusters can make double  their investment back before a digital copy can even exist in the wild, so it will not be an issue. Investments will  happen.

But I’m going go out on a limb here and say, that even if it is true that movies can’t be made the same way with the Internet and our civil liberties both in existence, then maybe it’s just the natural progression of culture.

I spend quite a bit of time with teenagers through my work with the Pirate Party. One thing that strikes me is that they don’t watch movies, at least nowhere near the quantity I did when I was a teenager. Just like I threw out my TV set 15 years ago, maybe this is just the natural progression of culture. Nobody would be surprised if we moved from monologue-style culture to dialogue- and conversation-type culture at this point in history. Immersive gaming stands out as an excellent candidate to replace movies.

After all, we have previously had operettes, ballets, and concerts as the high points of culture in the past. Even radio theaters (and famous ones). Nobody is particularly concerned that those expressions have had their peak and that society has moved on to new expressions of culture. There is no inherent value in writing today’s forms of culture into law and preventing the changes we’ve always had.

Everywhere I look, I see that the copyright monopolies need to be cut down to allow society to move on from today’s stranglehold on culture and knowledge. Teenagers today typically don’t even see the problem – they take sharing in the connected world so totally for granted, that they discard any signals to the contrary as “old-world nonsense”.

And they certainly don’t ask for a refrigerator fee.

Further Reading:

• What is Pirate Party? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirate_party
  
• What does it cost to buy the Internet? (quite difficult to understand)
• Part 4 of a 7 part series on ‘The History of Copyright’ (difficult to understand. you may have to start from part 1 if it doesn’t make sense.)
• If it is a bit easier, try this video lecture from MIT as an introduction to copyright law.
  http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-912-introduction-to-copyright-law-january-iap-2006/video-lectures/

For the attacks I issued at JAST USA I withdraw those now. Sorry.
I was angry at JAST USA’s official stance on fan translation.
A business only speaks in the interest of a business and sometimes it can be awfully rigid. While fan translations might make Japanese companies hesitant, I don’t believe that they one-sidedly work against the industry. They also induct new fans. Therefore I cannot comply to JAST USA’s view that we should not promote fan translation at all.

Fuwanovel promotes and celebrates fan translation.
It is a repository that links to download patches and extensively assist those who are uneasy about difficult installations. I.e. it is a VNDB sorted list but catered to the needs of the casuals and the first-timers. There will be a method to submit user reviews however you must provide it as a link to your original blog post or website. (Need some more feedback here) This is so that users have access to what other users thought about the games so it helps them decide what to play.

Fuwanovel is intended to recreate the community!
The point of Fuwanovel is to create a place where we can talk and that people don’t get so angry at each other that they never talk again. The way I see it is that the current community is really really bad. Forums.fuwanovel.com is built on love and encouragement. If I ever moderate you, it has nothing to do with what you said but how you said it. 

Fuwanovel will start an Otome-ge translation scene!
This will happen. I will personally make it happen. I think there are still quite a number of good otome-ge on the PC. 

@Ixrec: I still can’t find the quote where I wrote Amaterasu supports this project. Amaterasu does NOT support this project! That banner in the screenshots is placeholder, not their real banner! It was probably part of a draft I was writing. If I find it I will delete it immediately.

So I have been chatting with Makoto from JAST USA…

I said I want to be honest to the companies in Japan. I want to be completely transparent about how the users in this scene actually consume these goods. Right now, only the most hardcore of fans actually pay for their fan translated games. It’s $100 a pop + Japanese proxy, we can’t expect everyone to be able to afford that price let alone newcomers to do the same just to try the game? So instead, I propose we supply pre-installed, pre-English-patched visual novels via torrent so that the average Joe can give it their first spin. Licensed titles we don’t touch, only fan translated titles.

While I was debating with Makoto, time and time again he referred to how my actions will cause licensing to become harder in the future.

He made a good point and since Peter Payne doesn’t support it, I have no place in trying to ‘pretend’ to support the industry and just opt to go the full pirate route like anime-sharing (which I really really didn’t want to do). That was how I thought until 3am last night I woke up and couldn’t sleep. I thought over everything that had been discussed and then … it dawned on me.

I am so naive.

The thing that tipped me off was how much Makoto emphasized the licensing of existing fan translations. You see for JAST USA, fan translations are free dollar signs. Those scripts are cheap, they can be exploited. This is because a part of the cost is negated by the fact that the fan translator was willing to do it for free anyway. And so for JAST USA, it was a matter of harvesting the ‘ripest’ fan translations, matching them with the ‘cheapest licenses’ available from Japanese publishers and then cashing them in for self-gain. What a strategy!

…But that wasn’t it.

 [18:32] <MakotoJAST> The best way for people to get games licensed is to buy the games that are already available from JAST and MG.
[18:33] <MakotoJAST> Because what Japanese companies care about is numbers.
[18:33] <MakotoJAST> And being able to show them sales figures is the only thing that will make them agree.

At the end of the day, the Japanese publishers only care for numbers. Sales numbers. That is how you secure licences.

I see this as an unfair ploy, by trying to convince me to abandon my project with so called issues in future licensing, it is actually self-motivated by a desire to cash-in as many fan translations as he can, otherwise why so much emphasis on licensing current fan translated titles? Why not go translate your own game?? Well… because the fan translation route bring in bigger bucks. And fuwanovel will take some of those free dollars away. Because remember, I already explicitly said I don’t distribute licensed titles! But for JAST USA, licensed or unlicensed, they don’t care. Both of these grab-bags are their candy.

But regardless of whether I see a conflict of interest in their argument or not, there are some much more pressing issues.

 [18:23] <MakotoJAST> There’s also the fact that you are encouraging people to translate  more games unofficially.
[18:23] <MakotoJAST> Which is not a way to make Japanese companies feel secure. [18:16] <MakotoJAST> You’re doing it to attract more fan translators so more games will   get translated.
 [18:16] <Aaeru_> yes
 [18:16] <MakotoJAST> Not to attract Japanese interest.
 [18:16] <MakotoJAST> So more games will get licensed.
 [18:16] <Aaeru_> yes we force japanese interest
 [18:17] <Aaeru_> by increasing demand (*)
 [18:17] <MakotoJAST> It will have the opposite effect.

But what truly infuriates me the most is that JAST USA is discouraging fan translation.

Fan Translation is defined in Wikipedia (and in context of VNs) as localizing titles “that had never been available outside of their original country of origin”. To me, fan translation is amazing!! It is some of the best things to have come into existence in our day and age. Devoted people who fall in love, at the remarkable sight before their eyes, something so special that they know it must not be kept a secret. They volunteer their time not for personal gain but by the urgency to share the goodness that is captured in these works of love.

The spirit of fan translation is irrefutably good…
but now JAST USA argues that they are… bad?

Have you actually ever spoken to the individual Japanese authors themselves and offered them – Here, we offer to spread your game, JP -> EN service included, completely free of charge, to AN AREA OF THE WORLD WHERE THEY WOULD HAVE HAD NO CHANCE OF EVER REACHING ANYWAY. For the true artists the answer is YES. Of course YES! Eroge authors work in the lousily paid eroge industry with its taken-for-granted ultra-long hours and sub-standard pay, it’s certainly not for the money, but because they love what they do! In this job they can create and communicate ideas! They can touch people’s hearts, change people’s lives.

Fan translation is doing just that! So on what ground do you argue for them to go away?

It’s this very method of putting a pricetag on an art piece, calling them ‘products’ and then measuring everyone and everything around them in the vocabulary of dollars and yen that angers me.

‘Youre killing the industry!’ <– is utter bullshit.

What you mean to say is that we are putting you (the publishers) in an unfavourable position because we are reaching out for the actual creators (the artist, the writers, the musicians) translating and distributing their work in place of you. We are doing your job and that’s making you upset. We are giving them free publicity and making their hard work known to the whole wide world so that more people could be touched by its love and become willing supporters.

So yes, in a sense of course we are hurting the industry. ‘YOUR industry’.

You see, the internet is powerful, it can put publishers out of business. The reason why is because with the internet, we can reach out to the actual creators (the artist, the writers, the musicians), [Do you realize they are just one tweet away?] Fan translators have Japanese skills. Is there really anything that’s stopping us from contacting the creators themselves? We can organize the development of a system to interface with their games, and with the properly built checks and balances, we can even ensure that almost 100% of our money goes to the authors and not into the platform itself. But that is much much much further down the line.

So please stop trying to convince fan translators that they are criminals, nothing they do is immoral, we don’t seek to harm anyone’s livelihood. The view you cast on us is so unfair and the logic is twisted.

But STILL no matter which line of reasoning JAST USA employs, it pales exceedingly in comparison to this:

Through the passing months and years, I literally see hundreds upon hundreds of titles that come out for the Japanese market. Really amazing titles, both on the Bishoujo-ge side and on the Otome-ge side. What are the chances that a Grisaia gets green-lit for commercial translation? What about Aiyoku no Eustia? What about Oretsuba? What about Mirai no Nostalgia? Koisora? What about Clochette’s games? Palette’s games? Liar-soft’s games? Alcot branch or Akatsuki branch? Giga? Maybe a Key work? What about Dies irae? Dunamis15? You name one title that has been given a commercial translation, I can name a hundred if not several hundreds that have come and gone that are truly remarkable games (each in their own way). And what are you arguing? You are arguing that fan translations should not expand? WTF?

The more this utter arrogance is forced upon us, the more you convict us to be criminals the more I want to press the Fuwanovel button. You see, the internet is bursting at the seams to bring these games to the West. We can’t help but make visual novels spread! STOP INHIBITING FAN TRANSLATION out of motivations for profit. Fuwanovel’s vision is ‘Visual Novels for the Whole World.’

I’m not writing this to boycott the current industry. Heck writing this piece was the last thing that I had in my mind until yesterday night (just read my original proposal www.fuwanovel.com). JAST USA are pioneers in bringing visual novels to the West but I don’t feel like some of these statements Peter issued have been particularly justified. Yumina license is certainly impressive, but those massive advertising budgets on nyaatorrents and oreno.imouto and a dozen of the biggest piracy sites and then you ask us to stop fan translation from spreading? That’s inconsistent! I congratulate Peter for developing such a successful business model. But sometimes excessive is just excessive.

If you are a fan translator, think about the time when you first initiated your project. It was not motivated by money, it was just so that others can enjoy this work that you enjoyed.

If you wish to sell your translation to JAST USA, sure go ahead. We’re not going to blame you for it. What is yours is yours to do however you so wish. But I feel like selling your translation to JAST USA would be a waste. I have a much greater goal in mind, and I invite you to join this cause instead of losing it to theirs. (Sorry Peter I am selfish I have agendas. I only care about VNs getting more translations.)

Thank you

Aaeru

Please visit fuwanovel.com for the original proposal which is much less neutral in tone than this.
The forums are forums.fuwanovel.com
The wiki is wiki.fuwanovel.com

Fuwanovel is completely non-profit and the expenses are all shouldered by generous  community members. We will not be running any affiliate programs. Banners to JAST USA and Mangagamer are provided for free.

note: I am looking for a web programmer, graphics designer, those with marketing/PR skills, Game hacking skills, and many many more hands and many different skills to help with the development of
Fuwanovel.com Please drop me an email aaeru3@gmail.com. If you love visual novels and you want these things to spread please lend us your aid. Thank you~

Also, SOPA/PIPA must NOT happen.

Sometimes it’s easy to forget but it really is just me on my own with these big ideas. I am just one ordinary girl who lives in the Northern parts of Sydney who is obsessed with visual novels. Thank you to Raide for the support. That made a huge difference. Thank you~
Also here is the full chatlog with MakotoJAST http://pastebin.com/g1awutkp

Visual novels will not be the same tomorrow…

Some mainstream coverage: Kotaku at-length article.
Danny choo article.
Indiegames.com article.
Wikipedia article.
Gamesetwatch.com article.
Japanator.com article.
IGXPro.com article.
Mirrormoon writeup in 2008.

When it comes out tomorrow it can be played on Linux, Windows and Mac devices and be available in 7 different languages! (edit: actually only Act 1 is in 7 different languages for now)

Katawa Shoujo has an artbook which you can order. It is the topic for a vibrant community of fan art. and cosplay. The Japanese translation team even secured a booth at Comiket81. The game has ero content too!
Katawa Shoujo is a unique game. I’ve played the demo back in 2009 and it left a strong impression on me. The characters in this game are injured. They are suffering and it is an unusual experience to try to connect with them.

Tomorrow is a day for celebration. Please download this game for free and then give a word of thanks to the devs for their amazing effort. Katawa Shoujo forum. Congratulations guys! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8Um3ZsL3tQ

Guest writer Aedes reporting in – Covering whatever random VN related stuff big onee-san Aaeru demands to be covered.

Hoshikaka FD (Hoshikaka AA) is coming. February 24, 2012. Official site.

“I really don’t get why they are coming out with a fan disk for Hoshikaka when they can do an Akasaka FD instead or an entirely brand new project. At least Akasaka has Minato! So what’s wrong with Hoshikaka you ask? Well, let’s just say the only aspects that were done right were the pretty graphics in both the game and the anime. Oh yeah, Ayumu and Madoka are the only other redeeming factors with their near infinite moe-ness.”

“Playing through the game was such a drag I didn’t know how I finished it when I feel asleep multiple times in front of the computer playing it. The jokes weren’t funny, the characters are standard stereotypes with a little twists, the episodic structure doesn’t add anything and only forced me to listen to the OP many, many times until I decided to skip them, while the routes have laughable drama with not anywhere near enough romance. Watching the anime is like playing the game on auto mode but animated; it’s the same sleepfest.

So who should be excited for Hoshkaka FD with its promises of more ichaicha and ecchi? Anyone who likes either Ayumu or Madoka, which I think encompasses just about everyone with myself included. Or if you like one of the other characters, good for you. Yes, I will still play the FD even though I just bashed the game pretty badly. Madoka is simply irresistible. And for the rest of you who is able to resist Madoka’s charms, Ayumu should make sure none of you escape.”

Obligatory Ayumu to save this game from oblivion:

Here is some more info:

• Demo release early 2012, depending on mirror sites.
• The AA in the title stands for Another After.
• There is a surprise character!
• Yuo Asaba is the lead designer who has been in 5 year hiatus since「Aster」.
• There will a vertical paizuri scene for Tsumugi.
• This time, the middle price won’t pale in comparison to the full prize. Especially with the 80+ pieces of CG included within.
• There will be fighting game related jokes. source here and here.

Hoshikaka AA trial:

• Size: 635 MB
• Install: Not needed.
• Voice: Partial
• Content: Plenty of Ayumu goodness to start things off. Then you get to know the new heroines more before the demo ends.
• H scene: One with Yocchan, one with Senka in the showers. None with new heroine.

Aedes is the guest blogger for this post. He normally resides at amaenboda.wordpress.com.
His blog has great reviews and really consistent updates! Please bookmark and subscribe!
– Aaeru

Guest writer Belucre here. Since Aaeru is otherwise occupied, I will be posting today’s article.

The desire to be teased, taunted, bullied, and otherwise humiliated is a complex subject. To be demeaned, but not abused. To be hurt to some extent, whether emotionally or physically, and to find it exciting to be “threatened” in a way which poses no legitimate danger to one’s health, but just enough to give the thrill of being in an unbalanced, forbidden, but ultimately safe relationship. Female audiences vicariously engage in such relationships through many sources of fiction, and it remains heavily prevalent in shoujo manga and otome-ge to this day. Couples with power or status differences, such as master-and-servant, teacher-and-student, or doctor-and-patient, are often considered romantic.

However, to label it as such would entirely ruin the original definition of being a masochist, in my eyes. Which is likely the reason behind my disdain for the majority of the otome genre: It is not pure love and stable, open communication which is initially sought, but the knowledge that being devoted to such a partner is wholly unhealthy. It is warped and vicious, harmful and damaging, but one seeks out such cruelty in spite of that. It is not to be glorified, or sugar-coated, but accepted as something wrong, and it is this inherent wrongness that only increases desire: it is the same rudimentary, childhood impulse to do something the more we are discouraged from it.

To one who is not of such leanings, it may be entirely inexplicable. Truthfully, I myself am at a bit of a loss as to how to explain such a desire. Seeking an authority or adult figure, and wanting to be acknowledged as immature by them, to be overpowered, and to surrender control over to the dominating persons…it is both the liberation of responsibilities and the appeal of everything that is taboo, almost like a regression back to an infantile state. To be denied respect, privacy, and personal freedom would naturally inspire frustration, yet this kind of conflict is alluring, and fetishes towards sadomasochism and the yandere character is something one will publicly chafe against, yet privately revel in.

Once again, I must reiterate that I refer only to those who seek out such treatment purely within fiction, and that it must not impose a sense of real danger or fright. In reality, any sane individual would immediately fear for their life, as is rational. If one was having real bruises inflicted upon them, or was actually suffering from a steady depletion of self-esteem, it immediately loses its charm. Only with the acknowledgement of aesthetic distance, can one can freely pursue any kind of lover they please without facing consequences. It’s a careful balance of taboo and believability which must be struck, in order to appeal on a fetishistic level. Too real, and it inspires fear, too tame, and it creates a sense of ennui. It’s a bizarre juxtaposition, but undeniably widespread.

However, perhaps the public opinion is only a pseudo-masochism, as many prefer the rather ridiculous notion that non-consensual sadistic behavior is actually flattering, or meant as a sign of affection. Such inhumane or obsessive behavior may even be viewed as the norm, and that is where one must draw the line. One must acknowledge its imperfections, or else it will cease to be forbidden entirely.

To the average otome-ge fans, I appeal directly to you when I request a little application of common sense, next time you wish to play your favorite game and choose to pursue whichever handsome man whom you’ve taken a fancy to. Know that the dark, brooding young man with a tendency towards violence (Toma from Amnesia, Leni from Under The Moon, Aoi from Gekka Ryouran Romance) is as perfectly viable as the kind childhood friend, but his actions are certainly not to be praised, nor so readily accepted.

Personally, I welcome the more depraved heroes and heroines in my eroge, but only if such relationships are portrayed truthfully: unadmirable, inadvisable, yet unmistakeably attractive.

Right now, not all digitally purchased PSP titles will work on the PS Vita. See this list of (not always up-to-date) marked titles. Outside of the list, it says compatibility is not guaranteed. Also PSOne games are not working yet.

The UMD Passport program works fine. The two games pictured below, Steins;Gate and Second Novel I paid 1,000yen for each. ISO files do not work! you can’t circumvent the system by racking yourself cheap games for the VITA, there is no cheating the system. If you have a CFW PSP, please use the latest version of 6.60 ME in order to run the UMD Passport app.

Here currently it says 73 ADV titles available for UMD Passport which may sound like a lot but it’s not. It is actually so damn pathetic. The reason why is because most games that get released are not even on the download store anyway! E.g. Tenshin ranman and the re-released goto-P game, Omoi no Kakera. 

Just look at this… 546 ADV titles not available on the download store! That’s a lot of visual novels I can’t play…

Sony really needs to step it up with those missing titles before I could recommend the system for anyone, let alone visual novel gamers. but Hey! Little busters is coming out on the VITA in February! You get to pay another 6k yen and this time… this time you will receive absolutely NO extra content whatsoever! (except an A-chan senpai cameo)

hard sell is hard sell.

Price is:

Based on the average weight of 600grams per boxed copy. Please select SAL (unregistered) for  6-13 days delivery. Works out at 1040 yen per kilogram i.e $8 per game. For other services, please use this tool. The reason why it is so cheap is because we are abusing the Small Package service, the cheapest in existence (thanks to @jyuichi for the info). There is Sea mail which is half that price. You must pay by Credit Card. If you want limited editions, please adjust for additional weight accordingly.

.

“Here is where I need some help – I need confirmation. Unfortunately normally I would just do the research myself and then write it up here, but thanks to Yodobashi.com’s hetare, that is not possible for the mean time. Amiami has a number of items up for cheap. Pick one and see if they send it to you. If they don’t, then they will just refund straight away.” Thank you.

Do note that if you select English user interface up at the top, their catalogue shrinks. So it is better to use the Japanese site Amiami.jp. Also Amiami tokuten is quite weak. If you are willing to pay the ‘much larger prices’ for Sofmap and Getchu tokuten, then you will need to use Tenso.com or Yokatta Shopping Service. Note for older releases, amazon.co.jp, sofmap or suruga-ya will always be cheaper.

In the future I will write a comprehensive guide to shopping for eroge. For now you can  refer to relentlessflame’s guides and merry x’mas peoples! And yes it is true I’ve been spending less time on this blog, that is because I’ve been working on a secret project :3

Nitroyss.jp says:
“1-2 hours trial might be a tad short but the amount of content they squeezed into it will make you think otherwise… the mood in this game sucks you in.”

Nitroyss.jp:
“Screenshots do not do this game justice. You really have to see it for yourself. Each time you click the transitions are amazing.”

And also, Aoko is quite the expressive girl.

No word from mirrormoon regarding a translation of the trial or the full game yet. Will have to wait until closer to release.

• Project lead: applehq
• Translation: Silent, dango, ClaymoreSmiley
• Script Editing: Phlebas, Richard_23
• Proofreading: Rive, PieFormation, All of the Goats
• Image Editing: EchoMateria
• Release Engineering: applehq
• Rldev Hacking: Richard_23 aka. the Great Guru
• Scripts and Scripting: Yorhel, applehq, Richard_23
• Director of Bad Puns and Slaughtered Jokes: Phlebas
• External Hosting: Yorhel, applehq

For the English patch, please visit TLWiki.

To download the game, please visit:
[Nyaa.eu torrent 1][Nyaa.eu torrent 2][nyaa.eu torrent 3][Anime-sharing.com] These pirated copies are Not endorsed by the fan translators! They are my own initiative. 

To purchase the game you have 2 alternatives.
1) Have it ship to you directly
2) Use a proxy.

	JList USD$115.00 Accepts Paypal Shipping internationally. EMS, Airmail, SAL or seamail US Customers can use USPS or UPS [JList.com] Number in stock: 1
	Paletweb USD$174.99 Accepts Paypal Shipping internationally. EMS or Airmail [Paletweb.com]

.

The following outlets will not ship outside of Japan. You must use a Proxy: [Tenso.com][yokattaweb.jp]

	Amazon.co.jp 6,318 yen (normal) 7,980 yen (limited edition) Require proxy. [normal][limited]
	Getchu 6,680 yen (normal) 9,240 yen (limited edition w/ jigsaw puzzle) Requires Proxy. [normal][limited]

Other products of interest: (no English support)

Kud Wafter is a spin-off game from LB! first released 25/06/2010
[getchu.com][amazon.co.jp]

Little Busters! Ecstasy is an 18+ re-release of LB! now with three additional routes. 16/09/2008. Team fluffy is anticipating that they will be working on this game next.
[amazon.co.jp][official site]

Little Busters! Converted Edition is basically ecstasy without the 18+ content on consoles: PS2, PSP and PS VITA (23/02/12).
[official site][playasia.com][yesasia.com]

PS Vita will have slightly more content – A-chan senpai makes an appearance [source].

and also upscaled images.

Also see:
Vava explains: why Little Busters never got an anime.

Please please send a tweet or visit the #fluffy IRC channel (#fluffy at synIRC) and give a kind word to team fluffy for this amazing project. Congratulations guys.

And Key fans – this game was made for you. Jun Maeda wrote most of it (Kanon, Air, Clannad, Angel Beats). Definitely play this!

Little Busters! (2007)

My Highest Personal Recommendation:
This game has been a long time favourite of mine, by far the most funny visual novel I have ever played. It’s something to do with the boke (idiot) jokes that are so creative and well-crafted they make the characters. every single one of them brings a smile to my face. Seriously. If you enjoyed the humour in Clannad and was possibly moved by some of the nicer scenes during the anime, Play this. It’s physically impossible to regret it.

And seriously. The girls in this game are moe~! Whoever ditches this because they can’t have their harem are totally in the wrong! It’s like a melding of comedy and moe into one.

^ Haruka is basically Kyou from Clannad but version UP! … not quite… but they both have purple hair and they come to visit the main protag’s classroom all the time.

Maybe you’ve seen images of this girl with the white cape. Little Busters common route is the ONLY place you can find Kud the original as intended by Jun Maeda (the humour and the moe is powerful here).

Her personality absolutely gets slaughtered in the expansion pack Kud Wafter <—do not play! Fortunately, no one will ever translate that piece of crap so consider yourselves fortunate.

The ORIGINAL Wafuu~! greeting. See it give birth in this game…. her English is world-class brilliance!

Sasassasa…Sasasegawa Sasami ace rival and principle tsundere character. Unfortunately you won’t be able to play her route in the upcoming release. She will be playable in the expansion Little Busters! Ecstasy <– which will eventually become fluffy’s new project. (once dango has had his long deserved break. )
Stalk him here: [twitter]
fluffy project home IRC channel is #fluffy at synIRC! 

Jun Maeda major works as writer in the following games:
ONE (1998 co-written with his most respected senpai Hisaya-san)
Kanon (1999)
Air (2000)
Clannad (2004 everything except Kyou)
Clannad Hikari Mimamoru Sakamichi de (2010, few chapters are his. PSP or PS3 version with DLC only) [official site]
Tomoyo After (2005, mostly by Reo) 
Little Busters (2007, main route and Rin) 
Angel Beats (2010 anime)

A large number of the in-game BGM is also written by him as well as the theme songs. More importantly… he is ikemen! (which has kind of become an in-joke now)

Photo on the posted on blog 3rd of Dec 2011.

Currently applying finishing touches to 終わりの惑星のLove song (‘A love song at the end of the planet’) [official site]

Jun Maeda performing in front of a live-audience in 2010.

In many ways Little Busters is a predecessor to Angel Beats.
Air is usually heralded as Jun Maeda’s best work although I have not played it (only watched the anime – which I hear is very bad)

暁WORKS
‘＆’ – 空の向こうで咲きますように
‘&’ – Sora no Mukou de Sakimasu you ni -
Ruitomo team:
Illustrator: さえき北都 Saeki Hokuto
Scenario: 日野亘, 衆堂ジョオ Hinowataru and Shuudoujoo
Genre: New Nostalgic Adventure action movie

Concept
The thrill and strength and wonder of childhood is the main theme for this game. Several years have past, one night, two moons appeared before Kou. He realizes that only him and the other childhood friends can see this phenomenon. In a strange encounter, each of the characters acquire 道具 (Dougu), magical abilities that can grant one’s wishes. And so on a quest to solve the mystery of these supernatural occurrences, Akhenaten’s chessboard and the 3 metre big rabbit that roams at night, a group of friends that were once separated now reunites for an epic adventure that had been cut short so many years ago.

[michoboku][ziguza][joyofman][zerolouise][astarcube]
The trial has been received positively, Astarcube-sama says the characters are eccentric, the plot moves very fast, the mood is a bit less dark and closer to applique works. Lots of ingredients that make this a highly anticipated title. Most of all, the writing is strong. Definitely check this game out.

The one common complaint was that February is too insane with so many good releases! And I agree.

So remarkably well hidden are these things that it is left-off to only the most savvied of iPhone tinkerers. Gift～ギフト～ was the first bishoujo-ge to ever appear on smartphones during November 2008 ― (in contrast M-trix.jp on Android started July of this year. see Guide to visual novels on Android devices.) Ever since, publishers have continued to steadily trickle a release schedule onto the iOS platforms… alas! Unbeknownst to a large number of its potential users!… Hence this guide.

And as we know, Da Capo III has also recently been announced as an iOS and Android title.

VNDB.org
Japanese: For those of us who are moderately in-the-know, vndb.org lets you sort releases by platform. Here is a list of visual novels that have iOS presence sorted by release date. [vndb.org] Click through to find a link directly to iTunes or search for its name directly on the App Store. You have to be careful because iTunes’ search is actually broken and your game may not show up. I suggest using google instead. 

Notable titles: (prices vary based on which region’s iTunes.)
Hatsukoi ~Like Citrus~ [iTunes] 800 yen – iPadあり
Steins;Gate  [iTunes] 3,000 yen – iPadあり
Deardrops  [iTunes] 2,200 yen – iPadない
Id -Rebirth Session- [iTunes]  2,500 yen – iPadあり
Kiss yori Saki ni Koi yori Hayaku [iTunes] 2,500 yen – iPadあり
Chaos;Head Noah [iTunes] 3,000 yen – iPadあり
11Eyes Crossover [iTunes] 2,200 yen -iPadない (Chinese version for 1,600yen) 

English: And here is a lucky list of titles that have been given English translations. [vndb.org] Higurashi (chp1-4), Kira☆Kira (iTunes) and Gift (iTunes).

Some titles missing from vndb.org (for now):
Kira*Kira in English (iTunes) 450 yen

Japan App Store Exclusives
For the most part, releases go international but occasionally some games are exclusive to the Japan iTunes store.

428: Fuusa Sareta Shibuya de [iTunes] 1800 yen – iPhone & iPad versions. Chunsoft’s 40/40 Famitsu scoring game. 03/11/11 relese.
Gyakuten Saiban [iTunes] 0 yen + 230 yen per chapter – iPhone only.
Aka Phoenix Wright by Capcom. Also see Ghost Trick.
Vampire Hunter Hiroshi [iTunes]
There’s a ton of doujin games I will omit. If you want to keep up-to-date with the latest, see: [Famitsu Apps] and possibly here and here.

To shop from Japan’s iTunes, use iTunes Gift Cards. Japan-codes.com has the cheapest cards I can find. Here is a guide to registering a Japan Apple ID. .

.
XNovel
Platform for porting doujin novels into an html format that can be downloaded onto the iPhone as a full voiced game. It’s free. [more info][iTunes]
I don’t see much activity – last game published March 2011.

If-Engine
Plays eroge by streaming them from your safari browser. Development on-hold. No news updates since July. [kotaku]

Jailbreak Option
If you have a Jailbroken iPhone 4 running iOS 5.01, it is possible to run Air and Kud Wafter as well as numerous other Key titles using this hack. I can write an English translation of said guide if there is the demand but the problem I see is that the individual steps truly require someone who is familiar with the Cydia environment: adding a source, downloading the app, using iFile and dragging and dropping into specific folders using iPhoneBrowser or similar.

Guide to running Air on iPhone4. [link]
Waffle App official site.

UPDATE: Please see Sakamoto’s tutorials to porting Key visual novels to the iPhone. http://visuallyneko.wordpress.com/
Easy method: http://visuallyneko.wordpress.com/2012/02/16/key-visual-novels-on-ios-the-easy-way/

The procedures are fairly straight forward (you will need a copy of the PC game at hand). This should work for the iPad as well. If you have specific questions you can try addressing them at me and I’ll see what I can do.

The full list of installable games using the Waffle App as follows:
00. Kanon
01. Kanonデモ
01. Kanon_Sデモ
02. Kanon全年齢版
03. AIR
04. AIRデモ
04. AIR_Sデモ
05. SenseOff
06. SenseOffデモ
07. Ribbon2
08. フロレアール
09. PureHeart
10. 恋愛CHU!デモ（TechGIAN版）
10. 恋愛CHU!デモ（Web版）
11. 好き好き大好き！
12. DEVOTE
13. 檸檬
14. 姉妹妻
15. flowers
16. さよならを教えてデモ
17. ねがい
18. 恋ごころ
19. 白濁姫
20. 継母調教
21. effect
22. さよならを教えて
23. SenseOff体験版
24. すわっぷAふぉ～B
26. いいなり
27. バレリーナ
28. 陵辱同窓会
29. 絶望
30. 恋愛CHU!
31. 魔薬
32. BabyFace
33. 注射器２デモ
34. 注射器２
35. 湮滅
36. JELLY
37. ススキノハラの約束
38. MIND
39. ススキノハラの約束デモ（Web版）
40. 入院
41. 許嫁
42. 満つる月
43. セラフィム・スパイラル デモ
44. 密猟区２
45. 発情カルテ デモ
46. 発情カルテ
47. 最強彼氏
48. DEVOTE デモ
49. 檸檬 デモ
50. 密猟区
51. Queen of Darkside
52. 少女
53. 未来にキスをデモ
54. 雛ちゃんの唄声
55. お姫様だっこ
56. 養父
57. 逃亡者
58. 姉妹妻DEMO
59. Care
60. Repeat
61. 家元
62. 拷問遊戯 *** 動作せず ***
63. 朧月都市
64. セラフィム・スパイラル
65. 未来にキスを
66. 涙
67. 面会謝絶
68. 罪と罰!
69. 陵辱バスツアー
70. アトリエ
71. 偽善
72. 飼
73. CIRCLEMATE
74. SWEETPALACE
75. 僕の為に鐘は鳴る
76. WORM
77. COSTUME
78. めるとも！デモ
79. めるとも！
80. もっとLOVECHU!
81. Siesta ～すすき野原の恋物語～
82. FirstLive
83. 飼育中
84. パラノイア
85. 縛
86. 持ち物検査
87. 犬
88. 八ケ池
89. 蜘蛛つかい
A0. 48-図形の恋-
A1. 吐溜
A2. 無惨
A3. 嬌烙の館
A4. 裏稼業
A5. しーまにあ
A6. みせたがり *** 動作せず ***
A7. 骸 *** 動作せず ***
A8. 玩弄
A9. 箱娘
AA. よこどり
AB. 絶望2000

Kud Wafter on iPhone 4 [youtube].
Very old xClannad tutorial in English. [link]
There is no eroge on the Apple App Store.

How to read Visual Novels in Japanese in 2 years time (step by step guide). Learn to read visual novels through reading visual novels or watching anime.

Introduction
Nowadays learning Japanese has become much easier thanks to the advent of text-hooking software. ITH can extract the Japanese text displayed in the game and copy it in real-time onto your clipboard. Then using software like Translation Aggregator you can parse this text through an electronic dictionary or Google translate. The meanings of the words pop up on the screen as soon as they appear in the game. No need to go looking up physical dictionaries. JParser also highlights syntax for you, a huge reading advantage for beginners. Most dialogue in visual novels are voiced. This is a great bonus to those people who grew up watching fansubbed Anime.

Learn to read by watching Anime
In fact, ITH is not limited to just visual novels. You can use it for Anime with Japanese subtitles too! (or even Jdrama + movies) Unfortunately very few anime released in Japan on DVD or Blu-ray come with a subtitles option (although funny enough it is available when it’s being aired on TV). Please see step 4 anime alternative. 

The Kanji Factor (the greatest challenge)
If you want to learn to read Japanese, you must tackle 2000 Kanji. (updated to 2136 kanji in Nov 2010.) To do this – use Heisig’s Remember The Kanji method, the single most effective method in existence. (see kanji.koohii.com). The mechanic is: Mnemonics + SRS but the true challenge is your discipline.

Note: The methods documented in this article only teach you how to read. It does nothing for your hearing, speaking or listening skills. The objective is to fast-track your reading skills, enabling you to enjoy over 90% of all video games produced in Japan.

Steps
Step One
1)Learn 46 Hiragana and 50 Katakana. Use mnemonics. This will take 7 to 21 days.

• Hiragana http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~if2n-szk/mnemonics.html
• Katakana http://www.canyouchopstick.com/2011/01/katakana-mnemonic/
  or Katakana for iPhone/iPad [iTunes]

Step Two
2) Learn 2000 2136 Kanji. This will take 100 to 365 days 

• 2A) Download Anki
• http://ankisrs.net/ (also available on iPhone & Android devices)
  
• 2B) Open it up, click on File > Download > Shared Deck
• 2C) Select the Heisig’s Remember the Kanji (RTK) 1+3 and click OK
• 2D) Open the deck then click Settings > Deck Properties > then press the Edit button > then Card Layout.
• 2E) Press the Flip button. Done.
• 2F) Register a new account at the Koohii website.
• http://kanji.koohii.com/study
  This site lets you read other people’s mnemonics! Absolutely indispensable!
• 2G) Find yourself a copy of Heisig Remember the Kanji 1. (Try looking on thePirateBay.org or Amazon) then Read it. (or view it here http://www.booksbooksbooks.ru/download/Remembering_Kanji_I.pdf) ty Juraya
  2H) Start reviewing.
• I recommend using the definitions provided on kanji.koohii.com and the user generated mnemonics over Heisig’s because some of Heisig’s definitions are obsolete or incorrect.
• If you select 20 new Kanji cards per day, it will take you over 100 days to memorize all 2136. Adjust the speed of your learning to your own preference. You cannot take breaks. If you do, you will have wasted all your time. You must review at least once a day. When you reach 2136 Kanji, stop (but keep reviewing).
  

Step Three
3) Read all of Tae Kim’s Japanese Grammar guide. This will take about 2~ weeks.

• http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar
• You will need to revise it several times to familiarize with it all.

Step Four
4) Start reading visual novels. Reading is ongoing. This will take the rest of your life.

• 4A) Pick a visual novel with extremely simple language such as anything developed by Union Shift: Blossom (i.e. Flyable Heart, Nanatsuiro Drops).Visual Novels by Language Difficulty 
  Start with something that has been fan translated and the English scripts have been made available somewhere online (such as on TLWiki). You can try asking the individual groups if they would be willing to distribute the scripts. 
• Next, Acquire the game and install it. Try searching on nihonmaru.com or anime-sharing.com (But Please see notice below!) Make sure you set your PC to Japanese Locale.
• 4B) Download ITH (Link)
• Hook the visual novel up to ITH. 
• 4C) Download Translation Aggregator (Link)
• Set up JParser.
• 4D) Create a new deck in Anki and give it a name.
  
• 4E) Start reading and everytime you come across a word you don’t know, add it to Anki.　(Which should basically be every single word when you first start)

Step Four Anime Alternative
4) Alternatively, you can start reading your Anime.

4A)  First download ITH (Link).
4B)  Then download Translation Aggregator (Link).
4C)  Set up JParser. 

• Method 1
• Visit anidb.net and search for a series you are interested in.
• Look for a group that fansubbed it into Japanese. For example, Lucky Star had 4 groups that releases their anime with Japanese subtitles in it. (or use the Advanced search feature and indicate Japanese fan-subtitled shows only)
• Download the anime via torrent (nyaatorrent.org or tokyotosho.org) or DDL (animetosho.com) or if unavailable, visit the fansub group’s IRC channel and download it from their bots.

• Method 2
• Visit http://kitsunekko.net/subtitles/japanese/
• Look for a .srt or .ass for a title you are interested in. (limited selection)
• Download the corresponding anime in raw or fansubbed (doesn’t matter as long as it is not hardsubbed)
• File > Load Subtitle.
• If the subtitle is mistimed, use Aegisub.

• Method 3
• Visit http://npo-masc.org/db/
• This is a database of all DVDs and Blu-rays that have Japanese subtitles.
• Search for a title that you are interested in. For example, Clannad Blu-ray box has Japanese subtitles.
• Acquire the title.

And Finally:
4D)  Open ITH. 
4E)  Make sure: Options > Auto copy to clipboard is ticked.
4F)  Process >  choose: mpc-hc.exe > Attach > OK  (please use media player classic).
4G)  Run the video player until the first one/two lines of Japanese text has appeared.
4H)  Click the large dropdown bar that should say OxFFFFFFFF:ConsoleOutput and change it to TextOutW.
4I)  Every time you come across a word you don’t know, add it to Anki.
For JDrama Japanese subtitles, visit d-addicts.com.

Summary
The guide was designed to fast-track you to a point where you can read. Reading is important. If you have 30 minutes of study time, I would prioritize reading over anything else. If Anki is taking too much time I would suggest cutting back on adding new words and just go read. Read and read and read until the cows come home! In 2 years time (or 1 year if you are fast!), you should be able to understand 90% of what is being said in a standard visual novel. You won’t be able to read everything. You won’t be able to read Rui wa Tomo or Oretachi ni Tsubasa wa nai for example.

Also, you will reach a certain point where reading will grant you diminishing returns. Unfortunately Tae Kim’s will only take you so far. From here on you will need to find your own way to acquire more grammar. Jgram.org and Renshuu.org are places I found quite useful. Also scurry through all the resource found on Koohii forums. Good English explanations for all particles here. 

FINAL NOTE
It doesn’t matter what age you are, as long as you can understand how to use my guide and can understand how to use mnemonics you will do fine. It only takes a person to be a human being in order to learn how to read Japanese. There are no other requirements.

I recommend supporting the companies once you are financially able to do so. I suggest starting with buying only the games you truly truly love.
Update: For the 2136 Kanji RTK method, the reason why we do it this way with Mnemonics is because it is the most efficient way to learn 10,000+ odd bits of very simple pieces of information. Heisig method follows two golden rules:
1. Simple is key  (easy to remember)
2. It gets SRS’d  (it goes into long-term memory)

Feel free to suggest anything else you have found helpful.

This is a translation of an article titled「コンシュマーギャルゲー1998年の奇跡」 [original article] which is held at Otaphysica, a vault dedicated to the storage of all sorts of otaku-related thought pieces and writings.

Some essential characteristics of humanity remain a constant across all the ages. I have heard stories about writing that dates back to the prehistoric era, symbols etched onto ancient stone tablets, hieroglyph vestiges found on millennia old papyrus paper. Their message is a time-worn one: “Young people these days are just plain slackers…”

Even within the much shorter history of the otaku, such sayings are commonplace: “The stuff they make these days are paper thin in content!” or “People just buy on impulse. Content is disposable – use now forgotten later.” or “Otaku just aren’t well educated nowadays. They’ve got no real craftsmanship.”

10 or 20 years ago this sentiment was the same back then as it is in the present and it will repeat itself forever into the future. The younger generation listen to the rantings of old fogeys, they themselves eventually grow old and then begin to complain about the young ones…. that’s why I think when someone is feeling like ‘the world has really changed!’… in most cases they are probably just in delusion.

But as I grow in years, the source of those delusions shared by my fellow otakus became more and more understandable: it was the sharp prick of history in our backsides that leaves us all in such a state!  Take the galge industry for example.

When the second half of the 90s was upon us, consumer-galge (i.e. all-ages galge) exploded from mere single-celled organisms into the innumerate diversity of complex living creatures in one short spurt, a time we now address as the Cambrian era.

You may be surprised at the bouquet of mixed media galge content we have nowadays, the full might of Idolm@ster, of Love Plus and Amagami and its hordes of offshoot material. But for those who have lived the past, this is nothing new. The difference in that, back then it was obscene the number of experimental works that was being battered onto shop shelves… it was utter chaos. Back then the super airheaded ditzy protagonist was an assumed menu item and consumers did not feel the level of aggravation they may cause in present day works.

Particularly, 1998 was just absurd. From memory alone I shall share with you a line up of 10 items that I thought to be particularly mind-blowing to my younger self during the time, the list as follows:

1. Mitsumete Knight
2. Sakura Taisen 2
3. Prism Court
4. 悠久幻想曲
5. Kuon no Kizuna
6. ひみつ戦隊メタモルＶ
7. お嬢様特急
8. 星の丘学園物語 学園祭
9. Atelier Elie ~The Alchemist of Salburg 2~
10. ファーストＫｉｓｓ☆物語

It was in this year the ‘cream of the crop’ emerged, a peak point of the 90s. This year was the full culmination of the years of nurtured creative individuals, and gameplay finally made possible through technological breakthroughs. On closer examination, perhaps some of those 10 titles really did lay the groundwork for a large number of galge to come. (let’s put aside the matter regarding Atelier Elie as galge or not for the time being) But there is more.

In 1998 the super controversial, legendary game makes its debut: Sentimental Graffiti. On the eroge side we had another major work, One ~Kagayaku Kisetsu e~. Although not a galge but just for name drop’s sake, Tokyo Majin was also another phenomenal work.

I suppose my boiling sense of excitement over these old-timer’s only, otaku-neta would not reach a fraction of the young folks today. Even this site you are reading my article on is sort of a survivor from a different age and the lonely feeling that I am all that remains of a large drove of peers makes me want to mortar you all down with in-jokes from my top 3 games (but I will withhold).

These games were: 『みつめてナイト』『サクラ大戦２』and『プリズムコート』(translate: Mitsumete knight, Sakura taisen 2 and Prism court.) If I was asked why I like them so much it would boil down to one shared common denominator. I call it, ‘situational nature’. I will now say a quick word about each of these games. The composition, story and images and characters in these games had been so wired into my brain that they cause instant-euphoria upon being reminded of them… and so you must forgive me if I do exaggerate a little…

Mitsumete Knight (to be continued)….

Sakura taisen 2 (to be continued)….

Prism court (to be continued)….

Original article.

Since Micchi’s internet had died again and monthly previews are arriving a bit late I thought I’ll do a 抜け駆け…

what I mean is, I thought I’ll bring the opinion of a veteran Japanese eroge gamer to the discussion table just for the fun of it. Remember they are the actual target audience for these games, not us. In fact we are not even supposed to exist!

Kikouyoku Senki II Gin no Toki no Corona (16/12)
輝光翼戦記II 銀の刻のコロナ
Company: Eternal
minority-san: it’s finally master up! I’ll buy this game but it’ll go on the stack of unfinished. Whether I will ever get around to playing Aselia the Eternal series and Yumina, etc is a mystery to me. RPGs eat up too much time. If I ever go at it I want to get it all done in one blow… so to speak.
Conclusion: buy.

.

Mebae (16/12)
めばえ
Company: Tanuki-Soft
minority-san: buying cause of brand. my index finger hasn’t been moving so well when it’s the usual docile long haired loli doing it so I am relieved she isn’t in this one. Honestly though Tanuki-Soft has done this same style of game to death so maybe I should just call it quits with this company.
Conclusion: buy. 

.

Star-idol! (16/12)
すたどる！
Company: Abelia
minority-san: this is an idol sim. well the system looks kind of interesting but Abelia’s past titles have been pretty badly made so I never got through one. An idol game has never made it big in eroge before but I am sure someone out there is willing to pay for these games… I guess in eroge they’re not about to make a game where you raise the girl and then she NTR’s on you… pass for me.
Conclusion: no buy. 

.

White Album 2 ~closing chapter~ (22/12)
Company: Leaf 
minority-san: buying this. which means I better get onto finishing no.1 first. although on retrospect, ever since Leaf came out with WA2 they’ve only been doing taking steps away from the ero-industry. really want to see a successor to Kizuato, Shizuku and Kusari type of games…
Conclusion: buy.

.

Bishoujo Mangekyou (22/12)
美少女万華鏡
Company: ωstar
Genre: Occult erotic AVG
Illustrator: 八宝備仁さん
Price: 2,980 yen
minority-san: it’s cheap but that’s cause it’s divided into parts. if the ratings are high I might actually buy this. It might fall into the same kind of trap that games like Oujou Ibun Daiichibun or SIN makes… I don’t like the idea of splitting a game into parts like this… and this is just my rant but the flash on their homepage is so tedious I wish they would stop making those.
Conclusion: undecided.

.

Seifuku Tenshi (22/12)
制服天使
Company: SherbetSoft
minority-san: again this one is the first in a series. they’re only pricing it at 3,150 yen. I was going to buy this but then the delay made me totally lose interest.
Conclusion: undecided.

.

Manatsu no Yoru no Yuki Monogatari (22/12)
真夏の夜の雪物語 -MIDSUMMER SNOW NIGHT
Company: EX-ONE
minority-san: the concept is a mysterious city that snows across all 4 seasons. pretty cliche plot for moege. doesn’t grab my interest so I’ll pass on this.
Conclusion: no buy.

.
Appare! Tenka Gomen (22/12)
あっぱれ！天下御免
Company: BaseSon
minority-san: so this one is like an intense and flashy divine justice smite-evil kind of love-comedy. The Koihime line of games they make me drift to sleep so I’ll just say no to this one as well. Gotta say though, 魏・呉route was pretty good.
Conclusion: no buy. 

.

Nanatsu no Fushigi no Owaru Toki (22/12)
七つのふしぎの終わるとき
Company: etude
minority-san: you have to look for the 7 great mysteries in this. I didn’t particularly like そして明日の世界よりー or Confetti so I’ll only get this if the reviews are strongly positive. Simply put, I have no affinity with this maker.
Conclusion: no buy. 

.

fortissimo EXS//Akkord:nachsten Phase  (12/22)
Company: la’cryma 
minority-san: this is just another example of messing with the fans. I mean if this one is the final version then sure I will hand you the money but who is going to tell me if it’s really the Final? 5 years later when all the additional releases are done, then I will buy it.
Conclusion:  no buy.

.

Hiyoko Strike! (12/22)
ひよこストライク！
Company: Ex-iT
minority: it’s school-life full of chicks! The story sounds baka-ge I think it could be quite funny. but the previous titles written by this author were all pretty shocking so no thanks.
Conclusion: no buy.

.

HOTEL. (12/22)
Company: Akatsuki Black
minority-san: labelled ‘the end is unwinding’. this is the last of the 3 games in 3 months manoeuvre. story intro doesn’t really give you a good idea. I never got around to buying the first two games but I figure I will eventually pick up one or two because the mood is enticing.
Conclusion: undecided.

.

Free Friend 2  (22/12)
フリフレ２
Company: Noesis
Genre: immoral
Price: 3,150 yen
Illustrator: 珈琲貴族-san
minority-san: just as you’d expect awesome art from 珈琲貴族, it’s cheap might end up buying this.
Conclusion: undecided. 

.

Omae no Pantsu wa nani iro da!? (22/12)
お前のパンツは何色だ!?
Company: Molamola Soft
minority-san: talk-battle system. pantsu-ge. doesn’t interest me.
Conclusion: no buy.

.

Imouto Senbatsu☆Sousenkyo (22/12)
妹選抜☆総選挙
Company: Latte
minority-san: the genre is ‘surrounded by imoutos icha-icha-rabu all day.’
I am fundamentally against imouto-characters so… because of that, bye.
Conclusion: no buy.

.

Steam Punk Full voice ReBORN set (22/12)
スチームパンクFull voice ReBORNセット「大機関BOX」
Company: Liar-soft
minority-san: as I’ve said before this is a buy for me but this game I’ll put it on the backburner. the games that come in a set are the ones I am particularly bad at… ciel, Aselia series, Seirei Tenshou, Wiz Anniversary, Maou to Odore, Tsukikagerou,
Kimon Youitan and Double, Generation X, Aoi Umi no Tristia, etc. can’t believe I’ve let it pile all up like this already. I remember around this time 2 years ago I was saying that it was a miracle I even got through Hinakin and Meteo box in one go.
Conclusion: buy.

.

Koisuru koto to mitsuketari! (22/12)
恋するコトと見つけたり
Company: Fizz
minority-san: it says the genre is ‘Love rivals! Midsummer’s romance tale of warriors!’. this is typical moege fodder. nope not for me.
Conclusion: no buy. 

.

Princess Style
Company: Meteor
minority-san: like other moege I’ve seen this one is icha-love in a noblemen’s setting. Pass
Conclusion: no buy.

.

Kuon no Kizuna (22/12)
久遠の絆 再臨詔 フルボイス版(非18禁)
Company: Xuse
minority-san:  hey didn’t we just get a re-release of this not that long ago? I’ve still got the PS2 version left to rot so no chance I’ll buy this. I heard a rumour that THE ORIGIN release made the game even worse, wonder what they will do this time.
Conclusion: no buy. 

.

Tsuyokiss Full Edition (22/12)
つよきす Full Edition
Company: Candy Soft
minority-san:  full version but they haven’t added much new content really. speaking of which I better get around to playing Majikoi and Kimi ga Aruji.
Conclusion: no buy. 

.

Hanasaku Otome to Koi no Grimoire (22/12)
花咲く乙女と恋の魔導書～ギルドのない村にギルドを作ろう！～
Company: でぼの巣製作所
minority-san: did these guys do rogue-likes? I’m somewhat interested in this title but VNs with RPG elements I’ve got a ton of them already so…
Conclusion: no buy. 

.

Shounen Oroka to Fushigi no Mori (22/12)
少年オロカと不思議の森
Doujin circle: Circletempo
minority-san: it’s Circletempo who are well known for well written stories. buying this means I better get moving with their previous game Myth.
Conclusion: buy.

Shortly afterwards, Sofmap tweets for customers to hurry up on Hareten NEW purchases because production had ceased! [source] tweet link not working 

It is normal for games to lose value quickly after release but not THAT Quickly… especially for a high profile release like Hareten.

On the Akiba blog page you can see Strawberry Nauts 3,500 yen/4,500yen, Liar-soft game 5,000yen, Hougako Kitchen 4,500yen, Mashiro Summer 5,000yen, Sonicomi is 3,800yen. This is one day after release. As of this writing (01/12/11) Legend Seven is being bought back for 3,800yen and Mashiro Summer 4,500yen.

And so from the customer’s perspective, why would you preorder to pay full price (9,240yen+) when the game is half price immediately the day after? (or you can argue free because a pirated version of Hareten got uploaded on release day. i.e. 25th Nov). That’s why we have tokuten and tokuten is both a blessing and a curse to the industry.

They need to stop pushing tokuten for every physical purchase and push digital downloads HEAVY. Give users super super special tokuten, heck send them the hug pillow straight to their door steps if they buy digital. Sofmap stop being a big jerk and swallowing up our industry! (or you can buy from places like these)

I’m not saying that Hareten performed poorly (although there are hints of an under performance), all I’m saying is that used box copies of Hareten filled up shops like nobody’s business. The otaku buy it – and then 5 minutes later they sell it back out. The eroge industry is a bizarre market and the act of coaxing otaku is never a pleasant one.

So in Root Double there are two protagonists and therefore two perspectives to the story. Brief Intro: (so incredibly Ever17…)
The year is 2030, on the 16th day of September, 6 o’clock at night. At the outskirts of 鹿鳴研究学園都市 (city name) a mysterious accident occurs within a huge science lab. 9 people (both men and women) are trapped inside the building. While the survivors flounder for an escape route, strange happenings begin to occur… one by one bizarre occurrences… and then a frivolous mass-murder unfolds…

The story can follow two perspectives: Kasasagi Watase, the leader of the rescue team who has lost his memory and who must lead the survivors out of the facility within 9 hours.

OR Tenkawa Natsuhiko a 1st year high school student who experiences the horrors within the lab for six days post-accident.

When the memories of both these protagonists come together will the source of this devastation be revealed?

Although what is even more fascinating to me is that the Drama CD that comes with the limited edition of Root Double is about a 5th grader who is a psychic-power user Kirara-chan! Kirara’s story is set 11 years before the events of Root Double and somehow, her story works as a component to understanding the full story.
 

The game will employ two systems: Senses Sympathy System and RAM system.
You can read about them here. Also you can check out this 3 part interview.

The interpersonal connections and systems and the inner workings of this game are very complex. This is supposed to be Nakazawa’s greatest game yet so if you can somehow get your hands on it then do do so. You probably won’t be disappointed.

did someone say… Shana?

（　ﾟдﾟ　）SUGEEEEEEEEEヽ（ﾟДﾟ）ﾉEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

For Guide to visual novels on the iPhone and iPad – click this link.

Smartphones are getting big in Japan. According to MMRI Research institute, Smartphones are projected to reach 25%~ of total mobile phone market share against Garake (ガラケー i.e. Japan’s native phones) by March of 2012. Current market share was calculated to be 12.2% during July of 2011. [source]

As for Android OS, they have 49% of the smartphone market. Coming up second place is iOS at 44% [Source]. Needless to say the uptake of Android phones has been phenomenal (was only 11% July 2010), and we are seeing companies like CIRCUS acting accordingly.
The Answer:

Android Market Place (NEW)
A small number of visual novels have begun propping up on the default store. Koiken 2 and Chaos;Head. Please refer to this vndb.org sorted list.
Update: If it says “This game/video is not available in your country” You need to use Android Market Enabler (requires root).

M-trix.jp Market
a separate independent market from Google’s. download this app from Android Market to access. houses the reject section which are ero-games that Google have rejected from Android Market… (in fact all of M-trix.jp games have been moved off Android Market). when browsing M-trix market’s website from your internet browser, you will be shown only the latest 10 games. I believe you have to use the app before the rest of the games will show up. opened since 04/07/11. [official site][m-trix twitter]

Eroge-market.com
a separate market from Google’s. this is not on Android Market. in fact it’s not even a market. all the purchasing is done on an ordinary internet browser (on your PC or Android device). there is no eroge-market.com App. instead, you have to register here. the exact step-by-step guide is shown below (scroll down). eroge-market.com accepts VISA & Mastercard credit cards. opened since 01/09/11. [official site][eroge-market twitter]

Moe APP
a separate market from Google’s. have to download the Moe APP from Android market first.
Update: MoeApp games have been merged in to the main Android Market! Games include: Da Capo I, Natsuiro Straight, Suika, Hapi☆sama, Tasogare no Sinsemillia (840 yen), Ore no tsure hito de nashi, Tropical Kiss. Unfortunately we are unable to make purchases, download ends abruptly and then fails. If someone can get this working please leave a comment or msg me. [official site]

v18.jp
a separate market from Google’s. you have to visit this page first from your Android device from where it will ask for your permission to install their app before further entrance. Unfortunately that is all the info I can gleam from their website since I do not own an Android I can’t figure out what there is available next. What I do see is that they’ve got OP movies to all of the latest releases as well as trials up for download. Pricing and catalogue unknown (*looks enormous though). Feel free to leave a comment with any info you can find.

Eroroid.com
seems to be mostly nukige. [official site] <–new

Motto★SP
a browser website being used as a catalogue for Visual Arts games. currently they have Kanon, Planetarian, Clannad -hikari mimamoru sakamichi de- part 1 and Air will soon be up. alternatively, you can use this page. Opened 30/11/11.
[official site]

VNDS for Android
this is a port of VNDS (Visual Novel homebrew program for Nintendo DS) to Android devices. Please visit weeaboo.nl. here is the VNDS forum.

Step by step guide to using eroge-market.com
*instructions can be found here in Japanese.
1. First please make sure that your phone has been authorized to install apps outside of Android market. See this guide.
2. Register a username/password at this screen.
3. Accept the License agreement then click continue at the bottom.
4. In the next screen you need to have a Japanese address.
I used the addressed I was supplied with by Tenso.com. I suggest you do the same otherwise you can google a random address up and use that instead.

郵便番号 is post code. it is 6 numbers long, looks like this: 120-0023
住所(都道府県) one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. e.g. 東京都
住所(市区・郡町村) first line in address. e.g. 足立区 千住曙町
住所(番地・その他) second line in address. e.g. 6－22－22
5. Once you have done that, confirm your email address.
6. Sign in and start buying!
7. Once you have made a purchase and paid for your item, eroge-market will email you a link. Enter that link from a browser from your android device and it will start downloading the App.
8. From here I assume the App will work. I hope all goes well >.<

Important: please make sure before committing to the purchase that your phone is capable of running the App!

If there are other places to download VN for Android devices that are not mentioned in this guide, feel free to share them with me in the comments section below. Thank you.

UPDATE: 01/12/11
regarding moe APP:

<Aaeru_3> how much is applique selling this game for?  https://market.android.com/details?id=net.moeapp.avg.sinsemilla&feature=search_result
<Aedes-> 840 yen for it
<Ignis> hur
<Ignis> it asks to download some data required from the server
<Aedes-> yeah, and thats only the trial version too
<Ignis> can you play it though?
<Ignis> it went 失敗 then 終了 on me
<Aedes-> let me try
<Ignis> mm
<Aedes-> same thing :(
<Ignis> :<
… 
<Ignis> hmm this time I got sinsemilla download/update/whatever to 1/14
<Ignis> though it failed again in the end
<Ignis> oh well

So now you can enjoy Da Capo III from the comfort of your 600gram tablet or take your bishoujo with you on the phone wherever you go! Whichever platform you decide to buy D.C.III on, remember that CIRCUS will pepper and dime you with DLC  and fandisks without question. Smartphones and tablets are merely another means of delivering (read: sneaking) the full CIRCUS experience under your skin before you even know it.

Other D.C.III info include a mini-demo on the 29th of December during Winter Comiket if you purchase the D.C.III Support Disc.

D.C.III～ダ・カーポIII～

If for some reason you still have not gotten around to playing this great little game from Key, it is now available on the App Store for 350 yen (or USD$4.50). iPad version also available. [source]

・[AXL] Princess Frontier Portable　5800円
・[GIGA] Sakagaari Hurricane Portable　5800円
・[Kago Create] Dead End Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dead End　5800円
・[AXL] Otome wa onee-sama ni koishiteiru Portable ~two elders~　5800円
・[Kago Create] Kaitou Tenshi Twin Angel Twin Angel ~Toki to sekai no meikuyuu~5800円
・[AXL] Koisuru otome to Shugo no Tate Portable　4800円

In Japanese
・Princess Frontier Portable　5800円
・さかあがりハリケーン Portable　5800円
・デッドエンド Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dead End　5800円
・乙女はお姉さまに恋してるPortable ～2人のエルダー～　5800円
・快盗天使ツインエンジェル～時とセカイの迷宮～　5800円
・恋する乙女と守護の楯 Portable　4800円

This means for 500 yen you can get the DL version off PSN if you already own the UMDs. This means more games for your VITA and more reasons to buy one. If you wish to preorder a VITA, 24,980 yen at Yodobashi Camera.

• Shikkoku no Sharnoth -What a Beautiful Tomorrow- [vndb]
• Souten No Celenaria ~What a Beautiful World~ [vndb]
• Sekien no Inganock -What a Beautiful People- [vndb]

Be quick because Preorders close on the 04/12/11!
Order it at these places: [sofmap.com] [getchu.com] [amazon.co.jp]. These shops accept foreign credit cards but they will not ship internationally. You will need to use a proxy such as Tenso.com. (Sofmap only charging 8,480 yen and giving out free deskmat)
If you don’t make the deadline, you will be stuck purchasing each game for an RRP of 3,990 yen individually!

The Full voice re-release of three Liar-soft classics include:

1. Gameplay OFF option! The gameplay segments (Celenaria SLG, Inganock 心の声,  Sharnoth escape part) can all be skipped! Although according to DxS you should not skip Inganock’s gameplay because it’s important.
2. 20,000 newly recorded voiced lines!
3. New CGs!
4. Limited set (deadline: 04/12/11) includes 3 soundtrack discs that were only available at the time of release for each of the 3 games.

Nekoneko Soft used to be one of the powerhouses of eroge developers during the early 2000s (Sa.na.na.ra, Scarlett).

The writers of Yukiiro are the main and sub authors of Narcissu (fully english translated) while the sub-author solo-wrote Koi de wa Naku (Shangrila Smart) which was a very very strong human piece in my opinion. I think this game has all the potential to become quite a memorable one.

Yukiro uses the Mizuiro system, which basically means that your choices has not just an affect on which route you end up in, but also how you relate to the characters as you grow up.

Game starts when the characters are all in their infancy and progresses stage by stage forwards until you reach the end of high school.

They also started doing a Nekoneko Soft radio show (called Nekonekorajio). It’s been conveniently uploaded to youtube. 

Hopes are running high that this will be the game that will take a studio that has slumped in the past few years back to the top. 

Introduction
It’s a city that is adorned by snow. Snow preoccupies the landscape 5 months of a year. Within those months, people’s relationships also changes bit by bit.

As far back as I can remember, everyday of my childhood was fun. But the truth is, even a tiny difference in how I ran my life, perhaps a mismatched button and I would probably not have arrived at the present me at all.

The November of this year will see snow start to fall like every other year. But this year… this year perhaps maybe somehow, something about us will be different…

EDIT: forgot to mention, there is a hadaka patch (tachi-e replaced by naked versions)
See screenshot:

wut?

Some quotes from IRC:

<Micchi> she is irresistable
<Micchi> 「あ、あんまり、やられると出そうだ」
<Micchi> 「いいよ、出して」
<Micchi> 「ダメだ、藍が汚れる」
<Micchi> 「いいの、汚して」
<Micchi> 「わたし、お兄ちゃんに汚されたいの・・・」
<Micchi> that voice.
<Micchi> THAT VOICE.
<Micchi> brb.
<Micchi>「お前、早く彼氏作れよ」
<Micchi>「いるよ？」
<Micchi>「え？ええっ？！」
<Micchi>「だって、お兄ちゃんがいるよ？」
<Micchi>「は？」
<Micchi>「超常識！」
<Micchi>「いやいやいやいや！」

<Micchi> ah
<Micchi> love ai's facial expressions
<Micchi> she's got SO many
<Micchi> oh god! I spit out my drink
<Micchi> brb
...
<Micchi> reminder to self: don't drink when ai is talking
<Micchi> 「ぶー、お兄ちゃんのケチ！」 <- ok, that's fine
<Micchi> 「シスコン！」 <- normal
<Micchi> 「妹専用！」 <- ぶっー！

<Micchi> い、入れてください
<Micchi> 入れてください！
<Micchi> い、入れて？
<Micchi> い、入れて・・・？
<EroJun> lol
<EroJun> 入れて what? p0n0s?
<Micchi> い、入れて、お兄ちゃん・・・ーって、ちょっと！意味変わってない？！
<Micchi> it was supposed to be 'let me into your club'
<Micchi> and then the meaning changed

<Micchi> 「あ、あんたは彼方の妹でしょうが！」
<Micchi> 「妹だっていいじゃない。にんげんだもん」
<MasterOot> the dialogue never gets stale, thats for sure
<Micchi> ya
<Micchi> ai is definitely a mood maker
<Micchi> as in, she makes me happy

If you haven’t already, Poco a Poco! is one to put on your playlist.
Join the siscon movement now!

http://omochikaeri.wordpress.com/2011/03/14/micchis-ideal-eroge-harem/

Synopsis: After repeated D-mail experiments, Okarin jumps to a world where 3% shift in world line (世界線変動率3%台のδ世界線) was to be expected. And before he knew it, Kurisu as well as the rest of the members (8 members?!) have been gathered and amidst preparations for a banquet. 

In this world, a new gadget had been created but the group is facing some troubles. They can’t afford to pay the electricity bill due to running too many experiments. Let’s see what this new gadget can do for us (make $$?)… 

The concept for this game is a love comedy with some sweet romance scenes and where 99% of the world is science but 1% is composed of … fantasies?!

Cannot wait!!!  Again, instant buy for me.

『シュタインズゲート 比翼恋理のだーりん』がPSPで2012年発売決定！
Confirmation: [source]

Rest assured because coverage is total. As long as it is a visual novel, it will be on this page. Sorry I can’t do otome-ge and BL games because I know too little about them.  Yes 3DS is also covered. Games are sorted by release date.

..

.

.

Mother Goose no Himitsu no Yakata ~Blue Label~
マザーグースの秘密の館 ～BLUE LABEL～
Company: Quinrose
Release date: 17/11/11
Platform: PSP　(DL ver. not yet announced as of 28/11/11)
Price: 5,985 yen (8,925 yen limited)
[Official site] [vndb.org][amazon.co.jp][playasia.com]
This is a November release but I feel it requires special mention for being so unique. Blue Label is a 50% Japanese comprehension exercise and 50% ADV! Quinrose is an Otome-ge developer probably most famous for Heart no Kuni no Alice and decided to have their hand at Bishoujo-ge for the first time. The seiyuu cast is spectacular: especially Kana Hanazawa who does the genki-girl (so kawaii). Play this game for the super clean art and the voices. I suggest finding a 100% save file (which I have yet to have happened upon) otherwise it’s nursery rhyme time for you,… if that’s your thing.

.

Toaru Kagaku no Railgun
とある科学の超電磁砲
Company: Ascii Media Works
Release date: 08/12/11
Platform: PSP
Price: 6,279 yen (9,429 yen limited/comes with Kuroko figma)
[Official site][amazon.co.jp] [yesasia.com][dengeki]
It’s the first railgun game and it’s being labelled an action adventure (part visual novel part action). This should have been released a whole year ago when Railgun was actually hot! Kadokawa really dropped the ball on this… Anyway if you are a fan of the series you would buy this. Not much more to say apart from that. I’ve included dengeki link so you can look up more on the game. 

.

Konneko ~Keep a memory green.~
こんねこ～Keep a memory green.～
Company: Marmalade, CyberFront
Release date: 08/12/11
Platform: PSP
Price: 5,040 yen (limited 7,140 yen)
[official site][vndb.org][amazon.co.jp][playasia.com]
A re-release of a not so good 2004 PC eroge, 2005 PS2 port and now PSP over 6 years later. EGS average: 48 (data: 5). PSMK2 median: 49 (data: 5). Direct port from the PS2 version. No changes.
Reviewer 1: Felt for the main heroine’s illness and the warmth of family from this game. Enjoyed how there was lots of tachi-e variation. Lacks originality, very cliche storylines. The protagonist’s background with main heroine is unclear. Recommend for players who like family themes. [source]
Reviewer 2: Got so bored while reading it I felt like going to sleep. Characters are too exaggerated for the sake of moe. [source]
Reviewer 3: This game is worth playing. Reminds me of the cuteness in Palette. I think I am weak to these kinds of games, if you are someone who easily tires of games without much change then yeah you’ll probably be not liking this one. Despite the cliche storyline, It is a heartful and earnest development to a happy end – isn’t that all we need? Favourite character, 七海. Score: 79/100 [source]
More reviews: A|B|C

.

Tsugi no Giseisha o Oshirase Shimasu: Shi to Zetsubou o Norikoete
次の犠牲者をオシラセシマス
Company: Boost On
Release date: 08/12/11
Platform: PSP　(DL ver. not yet announced as of 28/11/11)
Price: 3,969 yen (limited 6,090 yen)
[official site][vndb.org][amazon.co.jp][playasia.com]
This is part 2 of a three part Tsugi no Giseisha series on a bunch of people trapped in a place (14 people total), 11 of them are players, 3 among them are serial killers but nobody knows who the serial killers are. It says on the official website illustrator: GotoP (so beautiful) and script writer: ???… who is the script writer…??? It’s very telling when they don’t even include the name of the script writer on the official website but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt. Here are some reviews of the FIRST game on the basis that, if the first game is no good – who the heck is going to buy the second one?

Reviewer 1:  I am a big fan of these kinds of games but I feel like they didn’t take advantage of this kind of premise very well. To begin with the first two deaths were soooooo obvious! Those first two deaths are so throw away. Keywords were annoying, they’re just a grind. The rules and premise are good but this is just a pure waste of potential! Also it was too short, I felt a bit cheated. I’ll probably buy the next volume. TWO STARS [source]
Reviewer 2: First big disappointment – it’s too short for its price! (7hrs playtime) These kinds of games are totally up my alley but I felt like the last half they were rushing too much… suddenly more people dead… huh? And they just didn’t take good advantage of the premise which is a shame. I’ll wait until I’ve played part 2 before I give it a score. [source]
More reviews: minpos (63/100 and 24/10)

.

Tamayura ~Mitamaokuri no Uta~ 
魂響 ～御霊送りの詩～
Company:  Yeti, Cyberfront
Release date: 15/12/11
Platform: PSP　(DL ver. not yet announced as of 28/11/11)
Price: 5,040 yen (7,140 yen limited)
[official site][vndb.org][amazon.co.jp][playasia.com]
The original game released by Akabeisoft(!!) in 2005 was such a horrible piece of shit that Yeti decided to enlist four entirely new writers to redo the ENTIRE script… the end result? marginally better(?).
Artist is Alpha. EGS average: 62 (data: 7)
Reviewer 1:  Super boring! [source]
Reviewer 2:  Music the only redeeming factor. [source]
Reviewer 3:  A fairly playable game all the way through but I think they overdone the ‘trying to make ends meet for every little connection between people’. The heartwarming ending was also a fairly sound conclusion. I enjoyed both the characters and the setting – hoping for a sequel. 75/100 [source]
Reviewer 4:  This was a very interesting game, I completely got sucked into it. [source]
More reviews: Joko (72/100 – data: 7)| B 

.

.

Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru ~Shinjitsu to Gensō no Nocturne~
うみねこのなく頃に散 ～真実と幻想の夜想曲～
Company:  07th Expansion, Alchemist
Release date: 15/12/11
Platform: PS3　(DL ver. not yet announced as of 28/11/11)
Price: 8,739 yen (10,479 yen limited OR 10,290 for set)
[official site][vndb.org][amazon.co.jp][playasia.com]
This is the second Umineko game on the PS3. The first game covers chapter 1-4 while the second game covers chapter 5-8. The advantage of the PS3 version is that it has full voice, all new sprites, all new CGs running at 1080p, definitely worth it if you were a fan of the original doujin. The second Umineko game also came out on the PSP recently but that only covers chapter 3-4.

.

.

Suzukaze no Melt – days in the sanctuary -
涼風のメルト – days in the sanctuary
Company: Whirlpool, GN Software
Release date: 15/12/11
Platform: PS3   (DL ver. not yet announced as of 28/11/11)
Price: 7,329 yen (9,240 yen limited)
[official site][vndb.org][amazon.co.jp][playasia.com]
Whirlpool’s game comes to PS3 for the first time! This is Suzukaze no Melt original PC version stripped of the 18+ content but in return you get… you get nothing! This game is special because Nazuna is the best osananajimi character I’ve ever seen before. Her relationship with Akihito runs deep – verily touched my heart. Unfortunately that depth I speak of they have to stretch it paper thin by artificially bloating the story’s length with mindless fluff and filler. This game has sooooo much pointless text. Anyway this is not worth it if it has no ero. The limited edition comes with an original drama CD. Not a recommended buy in my opinion. I like the music but. EGS average score: 74  (data: 185). [EGS]
Reviewer 1:  79/100. Moege. The god character was cute but Yoshika was the best.
Reviewer 2:  75/100. Some bits I admit were pretty boring but generally I think it is a well crafted story with great art and moments that filled my eyes in tears.
Reviewer 3:  70/100. Works well like a sleeping pill.
Reviewer 4:  70/100. The developments in the story are too convenient, couldn’t get into it much but the last route Suzu route was quite good – it was beyond my expectation.
Reviewer 5:  80/100. A kami-sama like her I’ll do anything!
Reviewer 6:  78/100. The story involvement with the past and the present I found to my liking. The world they have created was quite believable.
Reviewer 7:  30/100. It’s so boring from start to finish I can’t stand it. The writing is so average reading it dulls my mind. 

.

.

Itsuka Tenma no Kuro Usagi -Portable-
いつか天魔の黒ウサギ Portable
Company:  Kadokawa Games
Release date:  22/12/11
Platform: PSP　(DL ver. not yet announced as of 28/11/11)
Price:  6,090 yen (limited 8,190 yen)
[official site][amazon.co.jp][playasia.com]
Game adaptation of a very successful light novel with amazing art (Kamiya Yuu) which had a below-average 6.89 anime adaptation (data: 5499 myanimelist.net). The manga is fairing a bit better. The light novel I do not know (see reviews, 読者meter).

Again, no indication of who is authoring the script in this game (could be the original LN author but I don’t know). The art in the game is delicious – so much better than Ro-kyu-bu game. If you are a fan of the series you would buy this. Period.

.

Omoi no Kakera: Close To
想いのかけら Close to
Company:  Cyberfront
Release date:  22/12/11
Platform: PSP　(DL ver. not yet announced as of 28/11/11)
Price:  5,040 yen (limited 7,140 yen)
[official site][vndb.org][amazon.co.jp][playasia.com]
Originally published by KID for the dreamcast in 2001, Omoi no Kakera (previously ‘Close to ~Inori no Oka~’) finds its way to the PSP ten years later!  EGS Score: 74/100 (data: 36)Looking at GotoP illustrations in this game sends spasms of moe down my abdomen… The image above was used for the PS2 cover.

Above: marketing poster.
Some screenshots:

This is a direct port from the PS2 version, no changes. They didn’t even bother to release the OP song or a trailer. PS2 OP here. Oh Cyberfront… I do love you. (do note that eyes and mouths are animated in this game.)
Reviewer 1: 92/100. Yuuna’s denpa was too much. Scenario astonishing high level.
Reviewer 2:  80/100.  T…too much denpa.
Reviewer 3:  65/100.  I really like life and death themes so this one I was hyping over a bit too much, led to some level of disappointment. Room portion of the game unneeded.
Reviewer 4:  80/100.  Room part was so tedious. This is a finely completed piece of work. I was moved.
Reviewer 5:  95/100.  A tale about the close proximity between life and death and of helplessness. It was more than an emotional experience. This story speaks to my heart. We are but helpless living beings who have no power to oppose the force of death. That person may be here and yet we are so far apart, astronomically out of reach… but I want to tell that person – I am here. Under this cross, can you hear my heart-throbbing pangs of life?
Reviewer 6:  92/100. The room part is completely redundant but the story was truly well thought-out. My only regret that it was too short.
Reviewer 7:  80/100. Out of KID’s entire catelogue, this one has the most gameplay elements. The story is excellent.
Reviewer 8:  100/100. When I beat the game completely, I look back and can say confidently that this was a very well created game. Each and every scenario finely scripted, an invigorating aftertaste. An earnest piece that earns your emotional attachment.
Nobody who gave below 65/100 wrote a comment. 7 of the 36 people gave this game below 65.

.

.

Suigetsu 2
水月 弐
Company:  GN Software
Release date:  22/12/11
Platform: PS3　(DL ver. not yet announced as of 28/11/11)
Price:  7,140 yen (limited 9,240 yen)
[official site][vndb.org][amazon.co.jp][playasia.com]

It’s called Suigetsu 2 but I think it is only sequel in name and not in spirit. None of the illustrators or the writer are a part of this new project. EGS comment says: “The company, the creators, story, characters, none of it has any correlation with the old Suigetsu (which was a kami-ge) what are you tagging your name Suigetsu 2 for you idiots. This piece of work is an insult to the original Suigetsu!”.
All of the writers on this projects are no-name doujin authors except one who helped write Monochrome and Iris. This can honestly go either way. The art is good but.

.

.

Download versions

[PSP] Sakagaari Hurricane Portable PSN Download Version
さかあがりハリケーンPortable (PS Store ダウンロード版)
Release date: 01/12/11
Company: GIGA
Price: 5,800 yen 
Comment: Good for VITA. 

[PSP] Princess Frontier Portable PSN Download Version
プリンセスフロンティアポータブル (PS Store ダウンロード版)
Release date: 01/12/11
Company: AXL
Price: 5,800 yen 
Comment: One of AXL’s best game.

[PSP] Otome wa Onee-sama ni koishiteiru Portable PSN Download Version
乙女はお姉さまに恋してる Portable 〜2人のエルダー〜 (PS Store ダウンロード版)
Release date: 01/12/11
Company: Alchemist
Price: 5,800 yen 
Comment: Took 5 months for DL version.

[PSP] Koisuru Otome to Shugo no Tate PSN Download Version
恋する乙女と守護の楯 (PS Store ダウンロード版)
Release date: 01/12/11
Company: AXL
Price: 4,800 yen 
Comment: AXL’s first cross-dressing game and still the finest.

[PS VITA] all VITA releases have downloadable versions
Dream Club ZERO Portable (PSN Download Version)
ドリームクラブ ZERO ポータブル (PS Store ダウンロード版)
Release date: 17/12/11
Company: D3 Publisher
Price: 5,040 yen 
Comment: I watched a 23minute video of this guy who kept on making his imouto hostess drunk and she would say funny things. Not for me – I got bored. This game is a port of the HD console version, i.e. Dream Club ZERO. The graphics look almost exactly the same as the PSP version except the edges are smoother. [official site] 

[PS VITA][PS3] [PSP]
Shin Kamaitachi no Yoru, Kyokugen Dasshutsu
真かまいたちの夜 11人目の訪問者(サスペクト) (PS Store ダウンロード版)
Release date: 17/12/11
Company: Chunsoft
Price: 4,980 yen 
Comment: There is a PSP and PS3 version as well. Chunsoft is the original inventor of the NVL genre (aka sound novels) which later became what we call ‘visual novels’. This is probably a guaranteed awesome game in its genre but for commoners like me it’s too out of reach. 

How to buy from Japan PSN
To shop from the Japanese PSN store, you need to buy PSN network cards. This place seems to be the cheapest you can get it: Japan-codes.com
PlayStation Network Card 10000 JPY = USD$139.99
if you can find it for any cheaper, please share!

.

Games that will toll Aaeru’s purse in December:
[PSP] Omoi no Kakera: Close To
1x Playstation VITA 
1x 8GB memory card
A few UMD passport games like Tenshin Ranman.

I am Hareten!

UPDATE: the below titles have now got DL version AND has joined Sony’s UMD Passport program! Release on the 01/12/11
(thanks sony, great PR for not letting even Famitsu know this)

・Princess Frontier Portable　5800円
・Sakagaari Hurricane Portable　5800円
・Dead End Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dead End　5800円
・Otome wa onee-sama ni koishiteiru Portable ~two elders~　5800円
・Kaitou Tenshi Twin Angel Twin Angel ~Toki to sekai no meikuyuu~　5800円
・Koisuru otome to Shugo no Tate Portable　4800円

If you have a moment please fill out the form and answer the questions. It doesn’t matter what you say in any of the fields EXCEPT Question 12.

Q12：将来PS Vitaで発売してほしいゲームソフトは何ですか？ 
“In the future, what (kind of) games would you like to buy for your PS Vita?”
Please answer it like this: (as pictured below)

Here it is: (just copy and paste into Q12.)
恋愛アドベンチャーゲーム

It says:  Romance adventure games
(Or you can write 恋愛ADV or 美少女ゲーム or ギャルゲー all the same thing or add 原作恋愛ADV for new original adventure games that are native to the VITA rather than all ports.)

Of course if you have other ideas of your own, write whatever you want but if you agree with me (or if you don’t care), then just listen to what Onee-san says and do it! [here's the survey] – please If you can do this for me I will be incredibly grateful!
ヾ（oﾟωﾟo）ﾉﾞ

Thank you,
Aaeru

and here is a few bishoujo pics just as thanks:
 

And this last one is very NSFW. Don’t click if you’re heart is not ready! (or you’re underage)

Ore no imouto ga konna ni kawaii wake ga nai Portable ga tsuzuku wake ga nai 「俺の妹がこんなに可愛いわけがない ポータブルが続くわけがない」…literally, ‘There is no way there is a sequel to the portable game of Oreimo’.

Of course being a big fan of the series & the LN and the fact that this second game is instant buy for me… I couldn’t let this one slip up. So here goes.

At the discussion table there is Fushimi Tsukasa (the author), 二見鷹介 or Futami  (the producer for the game) and 三木一馬 or Miki (who is Dengeki vice editor-in-chief).

Question 1. How did you decide on creating a sequel to this game? Skipped. (Too formal)

Question 2. How is the second game different from the first?
Miki: Well in the first game, Ayase route and Kanako route were both written by Fushimi-san.
Fushimi: Well in this game I wrote plenty of it too.
Miki: Yes it’s true… there weren’t very many Media Mix authors who were very keen on helping out…
Futami: To speed our readers up, here is a summary of all the pieces of information that have been revealed in previous updates.

• Heroines: Kirino, Kuroneko (Yamineko), Manami, Saori, Ayase, Kanako, Sena.
• Fushimi wrote these himself:  Kirino (sister-in-law route), Kanako route, Saori route, Yamineko route (short story), hidden route (short story), Ayase route (Only Epilogue) and the common route.
• On the get-go: Each of the routes begin with Kyosuke date the girl for the first time.
• Unlike the previous game: Both Kirino and Saori will sport a proper ending.
• What-if scenario: What if Kirino and Kyosuke weren’t actually blood-related sisters? That’s the sister-in-law route.
• Yamineko route: Takes the branch of the story at the end of Ayase route (end of summer comiket) where if Ayase did not actually confess to Kyosuke. What would happen.
• Sena route: Branches off from the LNs.
• Kirino and Sena: already knew each other but Kyosuke had not known this.
• Finally: The concept for this game is ‘Yep. It’s going to continue from this point where you’d expect it to end. Yep, it’s really going to continue.‘

Fushimi: well the truth is, I really really wanted to write the entire game but the director would not let me. I was asked to look over what the other authors had written and that was as hard as me writing it myself…
Futami: I see
Fushimi: but as you would imagine, the two people assigned to our writing team are the same two guys from the last game so now with their solid understanding of the story there was far less hiccup.
Fushimi: they told me, you can’t write all of it Fushimi we don’t have the time and I was told to choose between Kanako route, other routes, Kirino route or Saori route… I said, please let me do Kirino (laughs).
Miki: It’s great you had such initiative on the project.
Fushimi: well in the end I wrote Saori route anyway.
Fushimi: yes and also the hidden route which is locked and can only be played on your second way through the game.

Question 3. why was it that you wrote Ayase’s epilogue only but not her route?
Fushimi: well because this project had been structured in quite a special way, there were segments that I wanted to write more than others so I took that opportunity. I ended up writing Kirino, Yamineko, Ayase and Saori’s epilogue. If possible I would like to have written Minami’s epilogue as well.

Question 4. can you please tell me a bit about each of the heroine’s routes. Let’s start with Kirino.
Fushimi: In the last game Kirino’s route had come to an ending. So instead, we ran with an IF situation. And considering Kirino in the first game had such a short route, we made sure this time to give her a more appropriate length of story.
Futami: honestly Kirino is so cute now I find it hard to hold back…
Miki: and the non-blood related part was a personal desire?
Futami: ah yes. Writing Kirino as a sister-in-law felt like… I was wielding a weapon that could one-hit kill the last boss in a game right from the get-go… it was so satisfying. I hope the reader might share that feeling with me too.

Question 5. what about Kuroneko?
Fushimi: yes, the reason why we split it into two routes (normal kuroneko route and a yamineko route) is that, if I had to read over my own work (in the LN), it would make me want to rewrite the entirety of Kuroneko’s development with Kyosuke.
Miki: I see (laughs)
Fushimi: Yamineko is strictly a kuroneko who has fallen a bit to the dark side so comedy ensures and there is an epilogue for that route too. As for normal Kuroneko, she is the usual lovey-dovey girl you would know so look forward to that.

Question 6. tell us about Minami route. skipped (not interested)

Question 7. what about Saori? skipped (not interested)

Question 8. what will likely happen in Ayase route?
Fushimi: All I can say is, we wrote her in a way that we couldn’t write her in the last game. This route was left to Futami-san to take care of. Do ‘pay attention’ to the epilogue too.
Miki:  when you meant ‘pay attention’, you mean prepare yourself for a bloody bad end where a love-sim game turns into some crazy horror genre? (laughs)
Futami: the Ayase route that Fushimi wrote was brilliant already so I had a hard time trying to trying to reach his level (laughs). Actually there is a cute kind of dead end relationship that they end up in, I think the reader will enjoy it a lot.

.
Question 9. can you speak a little about Kanako route?  skipped (not interested)

Question 10. what about Sena route? skipped (not interested)

Question 11. alright then, to wrap it up – please tell us your favourite parts of the game.
Fushimi: everything that I wrote is great! Especially sister-in-law Kirino and Minami.
Miki: Minami for me…
Futami: for me it would be Ayase. During the date Ayase turns into Ayase-tan!!! She’s super cute. And the fact that what she says and what she does is so inconsistent, if you ever read it I don’t think you could ever remove the smile off your face.

Arigatou-gozaimashita!

Kaminoyu, ‘bathhouse for Gods’ is set for a 24/02/12 release.
Its one distinguishing element, the art. AKINOKO drew for the Sakakoko three part series: Sakakoko, Don-chan ga kyuu~ and Majino Complex (all of these are marketed at the low price tag category i.e. 3,150~ yen). Kaminoyu however is a full priced game 9,240 yen.

There is very to be said about Kami no yu because the writers are both unknown newbies. 太田憂 and 吉藤誉将. What I can gather is that the girls all look crazy and this sounds like it could be quite a bit of fun.

Downloading trial now. If you have the time to check it out, please leave your impressions here or somewhere on the net – it would be greatly appreciated by me (and possibly some others).

Introduction
My apartment blew up, completely at random, without warning. This, to me… is a death sentence. Call me crazy – but I’d much rather go hungry than 

live without my Ofuro !!!… and so I got a recommendation from a friend and began to work at a bathhouse… only…

It’s a bathhouse for Gods!

At my job, bishoujos can turn into monsters… the small one turns into a violent onee-san and the brute girl turns into a shy girl… and then my friend who recommended me the job turns into a girl (wut?)? The best part… they are all trying to blow up the bathhouse to prove their worth!! …Not to mention that guy workers do the job of washing female customers… where did my sanity just go?

So why all the fuss?

Well… I would say it’s probably because it’s a Yuzusoft game.

Yuzusoft have great drawings,  heroines that are attractive and likeable. If you have never played a Yuzusoft game, I would recommend trying out Noble Works (just for the common route) or Tenshin Ranman (Particularly Sana and Hime route). The pacing is not dragged and the banters are always a lot of fun. This is baka-ge set on cruise control!

Introduction
六連佑斗 (the protagonist) is taken along by his friend to Aqua Eden, a special island city (to find some hookers). During their visit
佑斗 by chance tries to prevent a kidnapping but… somehow he got turned into a vampire instead!

And so he starts attending a vampires only school. Interestingly because the perceptions of vampires are different from those of human beings, he found several girls who were irresistibly attractive to him, in a sexual way, for some random reason…
And so begins 佑斗’s new life of ero-happenings!

Latest updates 25/11/11

• If you can afford a place to hang it, pick up the January issue of Dengeki Hime and get Dracu-riot tapestry for free! This tapestry is huge! For 2,000 yen this is a steal. I recommend HLJ.com because they ship adult content internationally. [Yuzu blog]
• Yuzu-live radio have begun! Sessions are scheduled once every Friday 21:30 Tokyo time.
• Getchu.com are handing out store-exclusive dakimakuras for the limited edition of Dracu-Riot!. I don’t think Sofmap can top this one.

The artist Cura is the same but this time Lose has renewed its hand in script writers, opting to go with an unknown newbie and another unknown newbie instead (both of them doujin novelists).

But the true reason why I felt this title deserved a mention is because of the art. This thing is insanely pretty. Click on the picture on the left to enlarge. (hint: that loli is your imouto)

The second reason why would be because the male protag is voiced! Yes visual novels… how can such a simple addition be so attractive?

Introduction
Tooru Sawai and his imouto Natsuha ventures back to their rural home town Monobeno – their first visit in six years. Here they reunite with osananajimi Alice (a bishoujo who labels herself as Tooru’s fiancee), and an apparition (or ghost) in the form of a small child.

After their nostalgic reunion it was not long before the town readies itself for the night of Himemiya流 Summer Festival. During the festival, the Monobeno’s ancient, ‘Face Dance’ was being performed when Natsuha suddenly collapsed and was rushed home. That night, Natsuha grew a whole 10cm, her body undergone rapid changes and her lower body bled for the first time. Tooru, fearing for his imouto’s life hastened in his search for a cure…

The concept is to deliver the original Windmill brand of ‘moe and ecchi’ that made them the successes they are right at the beginning, titles like Happiness! and Yuibashi.

All you need to know is that for Kamigakari (Kamigakari which means being possessed by a God) will bring the writer back from Shukufuku no Campanella and Happiness! while for Witch’s Garden they will bring back Ko~cha. (who is the artist for the images on this page)

Otherwise the staff are the same for both of these games. Narumi Yuu (Onigokko) and Arikawa Satoru (who solo-wrote Kicking Horse Rhapsody), which is probably reason why you can (and should) look forward to these titles.

Aaeru: For the fans in 2008, there was little doubt. A Little Busters’ anime adaptation would soon come to light and that light was going to be KyoAni (i.e. Kyoto Animation)… or so they thought… but far from it. Because KyoAni ended up announcing K-ON! and ever since, an LB anime has not come to pass and almost feels like it never will.

So what happened? Why does a 300,000 strong Mega-Hit game like Little Busters not get the anime treatment? How is that even possible?

And so on the 23rd of November Vava, the president of Visual Art’s spoke at Kyoto University to answer why. Here is a selected transcript of what he said (including some questions he answered on twitter. I have removed all spoilers):

Vava Reason 1. repetition is the problem. In Little Busters, repetition of their daily lives is a structurally integral motif that runs through the story.

Vava: Since then our staff have come up with a solution… but we can’t tell you the solution because it would be a spoiler. So here’s the hint: ”all I can say is that it requires a conciliation between viewers who know the ‘Secret to the world’ and those viewers who do not.” 

Vava Reason 2. negotiations broke down with Kyoto Animation. Because Kyoto Animation esteems itself in the creation of very high quality works, they are sworn only to animate one project at a time. But at that particular time their line-up was already booked out by Pony Canyon and Kadokawa. 

Vava: Because we lost KyoAni, we felt (insecure) about handing out our franchise to another studio. (implied: and so we rejected all other proposals)  Nowadays I am fully aware of the fact that there are other studios out there who are capable of carrying our franchise.

Vava: Anime adaptations of bishoujo-games used to result in inferior products. In fact I didn’t particularly like them. (Vava cites Kanon’s first anime to which he said: “Please stop making these awful adaptations of our games!” He pleaded.) but now they do not. Anime technology have grown leaps and bounds. In fact now they are able to go beyond the original work.

At present the project is on-hold and under active consideration. Its reality really hinges on the amount of fan support they can get. Fans are advised to write letters to Key urging them to reconsider about an LB anime. Please write! Even 10 letters will do a bit to sway their feelings. Vava in person has expressed that he is willing.

Soon after, several producers got together during the after-party to do a very informal video. There was: 鳥羽洋典 (Aniplex), 轟P (FW previously Bandai)、Yamanaka (King Records)、Kawase (Warner Bros) as well as numerous other heads of animation studios such as Yamakan.

鳥羽洋典 (Aniplex): It was during a time when Vava tweeted daily, saying: “Is Little Busters anime ready to go yet?” “Is Angel Beats the game ready to go yet?”

From the way Vava spoke, Angel Beats game was still in very early stages and at that time nobody had claimed Little Busters yet. So I figured 11 to 18 million per episode x 13 plus airing fees = between 3 to 4 hundred million. Given Little Busters sold 300 thousand copies…

…at that point I knew I had my mind set. This is doable! Let’s do it!… So we raced to claim the project before anyone else does… but in the end we couldn’t arrange a team that was strong enough for Key. (implied: Key declined us.)

Yamanaka (King Records):
When asked if he knew what LB was: “I know Little Busters. I was there in person during the Kud Wafter launch.”
When asked if he knew why LB has no anime: ”Huh? Why is LB not an anime yet? Uhh… didn’t they do Kanon and Air already so LB should’ve been done ages ago… in fact I have no idea why, so let me move aside…”

川瀬浩平 (Warner Bros): “Why LB is not an anime… well that is one of the 7 mysteries of this industry! (laughs) Maybe it’s got to do with ownership of rights, money, business and personal relationships, in fact it’s got nothing to do with that, it’s not a business problem at all it’s that the thing is hard to make into anime but in the end I think it’s money (laughs)”

From here on the producers continued their discussion. Unfortunately they were too far from the mic so the rest could not be heard properly. 

Other fragments heard:
“Kyoto Animation’s insistence on their one-project-at-a-time philosophy is a hurdle for us, what can we do to overcome this limitation in the future…”

“We really should have gotten together at that time and spoken about this properly.” (implying a sense of regret at the disorganization).

And also: “It’s clear everyone here greatly wanted KyoAni to do it. Let’s think about how we could have gotten them instead next time… etc.”