The Videogame News Thread

[Wandering Swordwoman]

Aniplex launches a brand called Aniplex.exe, which is focused on making all-ages visual novels, aiming for worldwide releases. They announced two visual novels for 2020, one together with Frontwing and other with Liar-Soft. Fate drones may recognize the latter as the old home of both Sakurai and Hoshizora Meteor.

For once some good news instead of "VN maker X switches over to gambling industry!" or "VN maker Y goes bankrupt!".

Funny that now Jun Maeda is making something for mobile

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By not playing mobages.

Damn you're right. But it's hard to stop when you start it
lot of novel I haven't read even though I bought it 2 years ago

[Wandering Swordwoman]

WTF is this???https://mmoculture.com/2019/12/nexon...ars-of-losses/

[Deathhappens]

Liar soft is most commonly known for Hikaru Sakurais steampunk series, aka the ”What a beautiful...” series. Their works are typically recognizable by artsy, super stylized visuals. Worthy to note that its also the company that developed Hoshizora Meteors Kusarihime, which Nasu wanked to so hard he accidentally wrote Heavens Feel.

the WAB series, or Sekien no Inganock in particular, is also behind the old VN community meme war of REAL DEAL VN vs DISNEY VN from ca... 2009 i think it was. Tho you dont see it much these days. A shame, good meme it was.

Oh yeah, Kusarihime. That was it.

[weeblord]

tired of playing shit games? Good news, you can play good games instead:

still crying that the newest project ended up being gacha cancer...

[Wandering Swordwoman]

Nah no gacha no play :v

[Mattias]

If only Japan made games for Mac...

I'd love to play the games, but my completionist mindset makes me have to play the uncut eroge versions of VN's.

[weeblord]

If only Japan made games for Mac...

I'd love to play the games, but my completionist mindset makes me have to play the uncut eroge versions of VN's.

Only the very first utawarerumono was an eroge. Utaware 2 and 3 were all ages from the start, and the remake of Utaware 1, getting eng loc later this year, does not have ero either. So youre not really missing out, no matter which platform you get them on.

[Strange_One]

[Mattias]

Well that's one of big early spring trio down.

[Deathhappens]

Oof. Painful to move the launch date so close to release, but good on them for not pushing the game out if they weren't ready with it.

[weeblord]

KEYs desperate plan of saving themselves from their ever shrinking medium by squeezing money from gambling addicted suckers has met some kind of trouble, and they’ve been forced to delay the release of their gacha kusoge from 2020 to 2021. Not a good sign for KEY, I think. There is history of VN makers trying to sell out with phone gacha but end up going bankrupt because their attempt at scamming drones didnt work out. Shoutout to Dies Irae fans.

honestly would be tragicomical if KEY, maker of many of the best selling visual novels of all time, ended up going this route. Kinda like an ultimate fuck you before the bullet hits the brain.

[Wandering Swordwoman]

Is that because Jun didn't really make anything for several years?

[weeblord]

He wrote the kusoanime Charlotte in 2015 so it hasnt been THAT long. Theyre probably having problems on the development side.

[Deathhappens]

VNs always occupied a somewhat awkward niche between books and videogames, and with more and more videogames incorporating VN-length stories and elements such as route choices and dating sim mechanics, there's just not much room left to compete. You either go low cost low quality and start mass producing (which would probably tank the goodwill they've built over the years) or you adapt your medium.

[Wandering Swordwoman]

But, games with multiple routes has been there for years...

[weeblord]

In my opinion that mixture of mediums is what makes VNs so great. I dont think any game that features visual novel elements is able to reproduce the charm of the medium, cause most of the time they only copy the superficial elements of a VN: the cost saving tachi-e display. And if they do capture that VN feel, its because theyve leaned so far into VNs that theyre literal VNs despite the general public considering them games. So where do we draw the line? Is Rance, Baldr Sky, Eushully games or Utawarerumono no longer VNs because theyve got gameplay? Hell, Sengoku Rance and Baldr Sky have better gameplay than the majority of REAL GAMES i've played despite being, completely and undeniably, VNs. Not just any VNs, but the oh so dreaded "HENTAI GAME".

In the first place I dont think games replacing the need for VNs is the issue at all, but rather the platform that houses the lions share of VNs has lost popularity in Japan. Then theres the nature of the community. VNs in the 2000s were a niche medium but had super closely knit community where word of mouth through eroge boards and erogamescape reviews had ridiculous influence on what eroge sells and even the more general bishoujo culture. The word tsundere actually comes from eroge discussion forums in early 00s before making it to mainstream usage, can you believe it? But this hyper focused sekrit club community, while a boon to the medium in its heyday, i guess ended up backfiring with time because no new blood enters to customer pool and old bloods become riajuu or just die. And lets be real, as sad as it is suicide is probably over-represented here cause its such a hardcore loser nerd hobby. Then theres the gacha menace. Built from the same building blocks as VNs, but rather designed to be addictive and a social experience in todays ever-connected social media landscape theyve usurped the single player experience VNs. In fact, in Japan these phone gambling simulators are called "soshage", from social game. The west adopted the term mobage, its a case of reverse wasei-eigo much like "hentai". Tweeting about how much le salt face you are after putting 500$ into FGO and still didnt got that elusive Jalter, and your internet friends join you in laughing at how le epic salt that is and you have a jolly good time, ahhh that sweet social interaction.

In the west VNs have their own struggles: steams monopolization of western PC gamers requires VNs to be on steam if they want to sell well, but steams inconsistent guidelines for allowed content is an everpresent fight for localizers. Then there's the peculiar, extreme disdain for paying for the product thats rampant within eng lang VN community. i can only try to guess what the hell is up with that. Maybe its cause the old heads are used to all VNs being fantranslations and the new heads got into it through free OELVNs like DDLC so theres this kinda idea that VNs = FREE in the community, i dont know. Maybe this also ties to the basement dweller fanbase thing, maybe VN players just dont have money cause theyre NEET hikkis. Im just spitballin here, but its a fact that piracy is severely crippling the localization of VNs.

[Deathhappens]

But, games with multiple routes has been there for years...

And the VN market has been shrinking for years and years.

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I'm just spitballin here, but its a fact that piracy is severely crippling the localization of VNs.

You will very rarely see people pay for anime, either. It's an ingrained mentality from the times where 99% of everything that got translated was done by fans. Crunchyroll, hulu and co. are beginning to get some traction, but VNs don't really have the luxury of a dedicated service.

[LegalLoliLover]

Didn't Crunchyroll start out as a fan sub group?

[Wandering Swordwoman]

AHAHAHAHA thrash company. You still want to buy more of their scam?

[Deathhappens]

Wut, they relaunched WC3? Why am I only hearing this now lol.