At yesterday's 2013 Anime Expo, JAST USA announces that they would be adding the Japanese science fiction visual novel to their official catalogue. Inspiring the critically acclaimed anime series of the same name, Steins;Gate originally saw life on the Xbox 360 in 2009 and was later ported to other consoles in the following years. An unofficial English patch was released subsequently released for the iOS and PC versions in 2011. JAST USA took notice and later worked out a deal to release the PC version officially, with a reworked translation.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interes ... -n-america

To anyone who has even a slight interest in visual novels, I implore you to pick up a copy when it's released. Steins;Gate is one of, if not the best video games ever made. The story is nothing short of pure genius, with amazing characters and scenarios. Visual novels hardly get released in the West, so Steins;Gate is a rare treat!

All ages means no buy... Just kidding. Kinda.
I'll definitely pick it up if it means more VN/eroge Western Releases!
Well.... Except If My Heart Had Wings... that localization's an abomination.

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"All ages" just means that there's no explicit pornographic content. Steins;Gate isn't something that's for kids. The science fiction plot can get really confusing if you don't pay attention, there's the occasional descriptions of graphic violence, strong language, suggestive themes, and some of the thoughts that the main character has in the various routes can get pretty intense. To me, this is the best visual novel I've ever played. Like I mentioned before, anyone with even the slightest appreciation for the genre should check it out. The anime is one of the few VN adaptions that gets everything right and is simply just a good show on it's own. Still, the full experience is with the visual novel.

I'd be interested in playing eroge if I lived on my own. If you look at my age, you can guess that I still live with my parents. I wouldn't want to be caught playing what's essentially interactive porn.

Yeah, I've heard that those changes for If My Heart Had Wings were pretty controversial. It's probably because the company thought that "censoring" it would allow it to reach more people. If you have to censor it, why not just release two versions? An "all ages" release and an "18+" release? Still, Anime News Network had a contest to win a copy of the English version; so I entered. Hey, free is free right?

I know exactly what All Ages means. I like my VNs to have H-scenes in them, but if they're made as an All Ages game from the start then I'll still play it. You can still play eroge even if you live with your family. I know I do. Just make sure you don't reach any of the awesome H-scenes while anyone's around :D

I absolutely hate censorship. Removing kissing, panty shots, dirty jokes, and most of the H-scenes in a game all about romance is a big no-no in my book. I wouldn't even pirate that game.

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If the story calls for them, then I have no problem with H-scenes. If it's all just H-scenes but no story, than I don't see it as worth my time really. Most people unfortunately give visual novels the unwarranted stigma of being porno games. That, or they just call them boring because there's almost no gameplay. It's a very niche and unappreciated genre.

Yeah, censorship is really terrible. If something is intended for a certain audience, there's no need for censorship. Australia in particular gets the short end of the stick because they've only very recently adopted an 18+ rating.

By the way, if you want to go back to the very beginning of visual novels; you should check the Portopia Serial Murder Case, Snatcher, and Policenauts. All three have amazing stories and gameplay that still hold up today. I'd go on and on about them; but there's plenty of info online. I'd say check em' out. There's plenty of time until Steins;Gate is released.

I usually play the silly eroge dedicated to pure H after I play something like Muv-Luv Alternative. Something like My Girlfriend is the President is a nice way to get your emotions back the way you want them to.

I'm a little iffy on playing older games solely because of the artstyle. Some VNs back in the day are pretty ugly. Dunno if I can stomach them.

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Portopia may be considered a bit ugly, but that's excusable since it's the first game of its kind and it was originally released on the 8-bit Famicom. Since English text takes up twice the amount of Japanese text, the game was never released outside of Japan (though a fan translation exists). Plus, the game was really daring in its story, especially for the time. This is probably the first ever console game to have graphic violence, blood, sex, drugs, and strong language. Snatcher and Policenauts still hold up very well. The former has a nice pixel art style, while the newer versions of the latter have a crisp and clean look.

Snatcher was originally released on the PC-88 and MSX2 home computer systems in Japan. Due to hardware limitations, the proposed third act was omitted and there was no voice acting. A couple of years later, it received an enhanced port for the PC-Engine CD with improved graphics, Japanese voice acting, and the restored third act. This version was later ported over to the Sega CD with an English localization. Finally, the game appeared on PS1 and Sega Saturn, though the graphic violence was censored. In short, the Sega CD version is the one you want to go with. With the exception of one or two minor scenes, it's the definitive version of this classic game. The game is also very reminiscent of films like Blade Runner, Akira, and the Terminator. Hideo Kojima loves his cinema homages! Anyways, here's the intro movie for the Sega CD and an in-depth article on the history of the game. Check it out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuyUShtcn94
http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/snatcher/snatcher.htm

Policenauts is even better. It fully evolves the science fiction film noir aspect of Snatcher and combines it with more streamlined gameplay. It was originally released on the PC-98 computer system, having pixel art very similar to Snatcher; but greatly improved. It was later ported over to the 3DO, Sega Saturn, and PS1. Unfortunately, Snatcher suffered terrible sales; so a localization for Policenauts was subsequently cancelled. In 2009, an excellent fan translation was released; and it's almost unmistakable for an official release. Seriously, this is the best fan translation I've ever seen. Most agree that the Sega Saturn version is the best, though the patch is only available for the PS1 version; which is still amazing. Again, here's the intro and in-depth article.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njMK04xlSf4
http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/police ... enauts.htm

I am extremely passionate about these games, because they represent some of the finest video game storytelling has to offer. And these games were released in the 1990s! Many video games today still can't get it right. That just shows you how amazing of a storyteller and game designer Hideo Kojima is! Please experience these stunning works of art for yourself!

Yep fear of ULTIMATE JUDGEMENT is the reason I watched Catherine as a lets play instead of buying it....on my laptop....with headphones...and pausing and changing tab whenever someone entered the room.


Though yeah Stein's Gate is one of those Novel's I've heard a lot of folks going on about positively so I might check it out.
Anyone know what platform the localisation will be on?

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Even the COVER of that game would be embarrassing to get caught looking at. Imagine the embarrassment I'd have to face if I bought it at my local game store. If the clerk is someone who has no idea what the game is, it could get pretty akward.

If you like science fiction and great characters; you'll probably like Steins;Gate very much. The only confirmed platform for localization is PC. There previously was a fan translation for iOS, though. Anyways, PC-only is to be expected. Outside of Japan, there's no market for console visual novels. Regardless of how great the game is, it's only reading lots of text while making the occasional choice. That can't compete with something like Call of Duty on the same console.

PC's fine I can handle that then.

Though yeah can hardly display a game like Catherine proudly on my shelf without it drawing unwelcome judgements. Reminds me of the time my friend bought a Beyblade DVD as a joke present for a friend's birthday and the clerk offered him "an extra thick bag to hide it".

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Games like Catherine and eroge VNs don't exactly help the stereotypical image of the average gamer, either. A lot of people like to view us as fat, lazy people who spend 24/7 playing games in their parent's basement, while having no social life.

Sad thing is I hear Japan is totally living up to that stereotype with it's 'Otaku's'.

I hope it's not the case but with documentaries and the like done on the subject I'm led to believe it's an actual real problem.

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Countries in Asia have it even worse than America and Europe. In Japan, you have people skipping work and school just to buy the latest Dragon Quest game. And in South Korea, thousands of people are obsessed with Star Craft. I think they even have youth camps specifically designed to make heavy video game players more active.

I heard it was North Korea that had the SC obsession but yeah I've often joked that it's how they are training their youth to be strategic geniuses or at least incredibly dexterous operators for military computers and technology.

XP That kinda gaming in Asia freaking scares me. Doesn't help Korea basically stomps everyone at a wide variety of gaming competitions too.

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I'd buy it. (but why no love for 07th expansion works here guys. so rude. D: )

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PleaseletitbeawolrdwidesteamreleasePleaseletitbeawolrdwidesteamreleasePleaseletitbeawolrdwidesteamreleasePleaseletitbeawolrdwidesteamrelease.

'nuff said.

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I've played their Higurashi: When They Cry games. They're pretty good, but I already know that some people will be turned off by them having zero interaction. The art is decent, but the music could be a lot better. Still, I'm playing it on iOS; so most of that doesn't matter to me. Since a lot of people read eBooks on their iDevices, Higurashi might as well be that.



I doubt that there will be a Steam release. JAST USA always releases there games physically, usually with nice extras like art booklets; etc. It's not like PCs are region locked. Just buy it off their store and it'll work on any machine.

Umineko is the premier work for 07th expansion though. If you say Umineko's music is bad.... I will slap you hard. Because you need to get your ears checked out. (Rose Guns Days' music is quite good too.)

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I plan on reading that when I'm done with all the arcs of Higurashi. I've heard that the various anime and manga adaptions of both series are pretty decent too. I can already tell that these are "cult classics," because a lot of the reviews I've seen for both games have been poor to mediocre. Check out this hateful review of Higurashi. Are me and this guy playing the same game? To be fair I'm playing the iOS version, but there can't be THAT much of a difference can there?

http://rpgfan.com/reviews/Higurashi_Whe ... index.html

hahaha

Good Umineko anime... Good one.

Also, I can't really say anything about Higurashi as I haven't read it yet.

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I'm the opposite because I've only played Higurashi. It can get pretty intense and compelling, so I recommend it. It's available in English for PC and iOS. The first chapter is only $0.99!

Was the anime bad? I'll probably see it anyways. I'm always interested in how VNs are adapted.