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Shop Play-Asia's DS section with me!
May. 4th, 2012 09:51 pm- There's a surprising abundance of these visual novels illustrated almost exclusively in silhouette, usually claiming to be based on Jirou Akagawa books. Despite their low production values, I always find them intriguing but, as is the usual case with esoteric DS titles, am discouraged by the price tag.
(I've never read a Jirou Akagawa book. Are these titles somewhat like the phenomenon of the Agatha Christie Dreamcatcher Studios games - prodigous series, brand-name author, not lacking love but made still somewhat on the cheap?)
- Apparently this (Aibou, or Partners) is meant to be an Again-esque stab at a TV action drama in the wunza-wunza-"they fight crime" mold? But it features this guy:
And that's the important thing, really.
- Obviously, this was licensed and commissioned before buzz tracking began on the movie itself. Such a manifestly no-effort title, too. I can't imagine why any company would bother with this.
- Speaking of which, this has always been a conundrum, hasn't it? I'm not knocking Betty Boop, and it's estimable that the game designers put the effort in and included her far lesser-known supporting cast in the game, but it seems a lot of effort (okay, a non-negligible amount of effort) for little recompense in this particular arena, doesn't it.
- Another Retro Game Challenge-ish affair, it seems, except with mostly real games instead of fake titles and you're playing them in WarioWare-esque snippets instead of full-length. Actually, this seems interesting. Come take a look.
- Disturbing Item #1: There's apparently what essentially is a DeBeers simulation game in development. Disturbing Item #2: You play as a diamond broker attempting to circumvent the Kimberley Process and launder conflict diamonds.
I mean, at least the cartoonish thuggery in the GTA games can be, as I understand it, stupidly fun. This isn't even entertaining malfeasance. It's supposedly from the mind of the same guy who cooked up Passage, that over-obvious indie blip from a few years ago, so presumably he's trying to make some Big Statement that's getting muddled in conception. Thankfully, the publisher seems to have recognized this, and the game by news accounts is currently stuck in development hell, where, given how we're at the near-end of the DS's life cycle, it'll hopefully remain.
- A new PreCure game. Hasn't that been going on longer than Sailor Moon? Those aren't in front the same two girls with which the series started, are they?
- "Florist Shop" (redundancy) - I dunno; I think these two guys' faces might be shopped:
- More wunza action. Wait, wasn't this a live-action Wii title originally? And yet the cutscenes are anime...
- Kachou Shima! I remember reading this in the Mangajin compilations! It seemed quite interesting; it's good to see the title still has life.
- Gauntlet. I wish this were still on. My portables could use some Gauntlet. A stupidly minor thing, but I like the cover art, the old, iconic image reimagined with revamped characters. We see so few black women in gaming, particularly in fantasy titles.
- Paint-by-Numbers for Adults to Calm the Heart. I need this.
(I've never read a Jirou Akagawa book. Are these titles somewhat like the phenomenon of the Agatha Christie Dreamcatcher Studios games - prodigous series, brand-name author, not lacking love but made still somewhat on the cheap?)
- Apparently this (Aibou, or Partners) is meant to be an Again-esque stab at a TV action drama in the wunza-wunza-"they fight crime" mold? But it features this guy:
And that's the important thing, really.
- Obviously, this was licensed and commissioned before buzz tracking began on the movie itself. Such a manifestly no-effort title, too. I can't imagine why any company would bother with this.
- Speaking of which, this has always been a conundrum, hasn't it? I'm not knocking Betty Boop, and it's estimable that the game designers put the effort in and included her far lesser-known supporting cast in the game, but it seems a lot of effort (okay, a non-negligible amount of effort) for little recompense in this particular arena, doesn't it.
- Another Retro Game Challenge-ish affair, it seems, except with mostly real games instead of fake titles and you're playing them in WarioWare-esque snippets instead of full-length. Actually, this seems interesting. Come take a look.
- Disturbing Item #1: There's apparently what essentially is a DeBeers simulation game in development. Disturbing Item #2: You play as a diamond broker attempting to circumvent the Kimberley Process and launder conflict diamonds.
I mean, at least the cartoonish thuggery in the GTA games can be, as I understand it, stupidly fun. This isn't even entertaining malfeasance. It's supposedly from the mind of the same guy who cooked up Passage, that over-obvious indie blip from a few years ago, so presumably he's trying to make some Big Statement that's getting muddled in conception. Thankfully, the publisher seems to have recognized this, and the game by news accounts is currently stuck in development hell, where, given how we're at the near-end of the DS's life cycle, it'll hopefully remain.
- A new PreCure game. Hasn't that been going on longer than Sailor Moon? Those aren't in front the same two girls with which the series started, are they?
- "Florist Shop" (redundancy) - I dunno; I think these two guys' faces might be shopped:
- More wunza action. Wait, wasn't this a live-action Wii title originally? And yet the cutscenes are anime...
- Kachou Shima! I remember reading this in the Mangajin compilations! It seemed quite interesting; it's good to see the title still has life.
- Gauntlet. I wish this were still on. My portables could use some Gauntlet. A stupidly minor thing, but I like the cover art, the old, iconic image reimagined with revamped characters. We see so few black women in gaming, particularly in fantasy titles.
- Paint-by-Numbers for Adults to Calm the Heart. I need this.
