Messages

1

General Discussion / Re: Some doujin RPGs I probably haven't played.

« on: May 13, 2013, 08:10:10 PM »

As a walking Doujin encyclopedia, can you recommend any which aren't to heavy on the runes so I can get some reading practice in?

If that was directed at me..

I am not a walking doujin encyclopedia. Though I know of a lot of them. I need actual walking doujin encyclopedias to walk into this thread and mention all of the lovely doujin RPGs we are missing out on.

Because I wouldn't be good at doing that.

2

General Discussion / Some doujin RPGs I probably haven't played.

« on: May 13, 2013, 11:34:51 AM »

Well, there's a lot of waiting, and I play a lot of RPGs. I became a bit curious about some parts of the doujin industry I may have missed. There's all sorts of rare doujin games out there that don't seem to show up in any English database.

I'd never even heard of this game before it was Let's Played. And I haven't been able to find any external information about it since. And there's all sorts of rare doujin stuff that shows up on Vysethedetermined's channel. Containing games I haven't been able to find anywhere else that talks about doujin games. this being just one example of a super obscure doujin game I haven't found in any databases. There could be more game databases out there, and certainly more complete ones. For the time being, a lot of these have to spread through word of mouth.

To be honest, I played Fortune Summoners when it was first released. In fact if I'm not mistaken a demo might have come out before the game because I believe I played it before the game was officially released. I though the game was so charming. And considering how vast the doujin industry seemed to be, I figured there would probably be a thousand games just like it I had never played before.

Now the doujin industry is a bit less mysterious because I've had a few more years to know even more about the doujin industry and at least mainstream titles. Titles noteworthy enough to get mentioned on most doujinshi forums, at the very least.

That being said, I'm sure there's still thousands of doujin games I have no idea about. There's a ridiculous library of doujin games yet to be localized. Hundreds of thousands if you count common doujin genres like visual novels. I kind of want to know what's out there. Since Carpe Fulgur does doujin jRPGs, I'm curious to know of some of the other doujin jRPGs out there yet to be localized. Especially ones I or most people probably haven't heard of or played.

Thanks to another user here a while back, I discovered Wander Wonder. And personally, I'm kind of interested in discovering more.

3

General Discussion / Re: JLPT and the Translation Industry

« on: April 27, 2013, 02:14:14 AM »

Just having some kind of familiarity with kanji would be nice for me to have. Only knowing a few hundred of them fluently. I ought go back to studying.

Kana I have known fluently for years. Since 2002 may years. In my opinion it doesn't take very much effort to learn katakana or hiragana at all.

In fact the first thing a beginner learner of Japanese raised in the culture of my side of the world is going to know,  when playing a Japanese video game without furigana, it is that "wow, there is a lot of kanji I don't know" and "wow, this isn't what they taught me in beginning Japanese grammar at all".

The first thing you're going to learn in a Japanese class is "this is a pen". Or "kore wa pen desu." And varying more complicated uses of wa and ga and wo and masu and so forth.

The first basic, rudimentary sentences you're going to hear in anime are things like "so nano ka". Which despite the extreme simplicity is not in your basic Japanese grammar books. What they teach you in those books is all polite business Japanese. Great for doing business with Japanese people if you're an American company. Horrible for translating Japanese video games. Or understanding their entertainment in general.

Though the former is admittedly probably a lot more monetarily useful.

4

General Discussion / Re: So... do we have any idea what project #4 is?

« on: April 26, 2013, 12:04:15 AM »

*pant pant* C'mon. Keep em coming. Eventually we'll get it right.

That was amazing. I just wanted to say that.

I can't believe you actually did that.

5

General Discussion / Re: Anime-Centric kickstarters

« on: April 23, 2013, 10:55:10 PM »

Very happy to see this around.

I know many of you here are not big SHMUPs fans. As Carpe Fulgur has been a place for jRPGs on the PC. But I very much am. In fact, I can get behind this far more than the Class of Heroes Kickstarter.

The project has already almost hit its initial goal, so I have high hopes for this Kickstarter. Also, hopefully this means Nyu-Media projects will start being Greenlit.

6

General Discussion / Re: So... do we have any idea what project #4 is?

« on: April 22, 2013, 08:03:45 PM »

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn.

Square Enix has hired everyone possible to work on the game. And to pay the salaries of all the people involved they are betting the entire company on this game. Hiring thousands of outsiders to Square Enix but keeping the entire project hush-hush and making it look like it is merely being handled by an inside studio with the guidance of Yoshi-P. They're going to defeat Guild Wars 2 and Star Wars: The Old Republic, or fold as a company trying.

Square Enix has assigned SpaceDrake to translate some... questionable text in Ul'Dah and it is driving him to drink.

7

General Discussion / Re: So... do we have any idea what project #4 is?

« on: April 22, 2013, 02:33:51 AM »

The fact that we are talking about Galaxy Angel shows that we really are discussing every remote possibility under the sun.

And we're running out. Somebody compile a list of every single game it would be even remotely possible for Carpe Fulgur to be working on. Then we can check out every entry we have gone over already.

Someone. Yes, someone. Don't look at me.

8

General Discussion / Re: Why has Falcom abandoned the PC?

« on: April 20, 2013, 06:25:37 AM »

Well Falcom has not completely abandoned the PC market :
http://www.esterior.net/2013/04/the-legend-of-heroes-zero-no-kiseki-to-be-released-on-pc-in-japan-on-614/

Now that's good news if I ever heard it.

Well, one thing I'll say about XSEED, I dream of one day, every single Falcom game being on Steam.

Not just the Ys and Legend of Heroes franchises. But lesser known stuff like Zwei and Gurumin. I'm quite certain XSEED's work on Falcom PC titles is far from over. And if Carpe Fulgur is working with XSEED on anything at all, it is surely a good choice.

9

General Discussion / Re: Agarest: Generations of War PC

« on: April 17, 2013, 11:01:12 AM »

Wow.

So, this happened. This is part of a promising future I hope. Despite its shortcomings I am very much going to support it.

Now, there is just the long wait for them to actually port a console game on PowerPC architecture to the PC. That sounds like some serious work and talent. Let's hope to see the game releases as a good port and in less than a year. Oh who am kidding, less than two years.

10

General Discussion / Re: So... do we have any idea what project #4 is?

« on: April 16, 2013, 01:44:22 PM »

I like both. What I'm trying to say is that I miss the 8-bit and 16-bit era. The 16-bit era happens to be my favourite.

Capcom and Mega Man are just a quick example that came to my mind. Considering Mega Man is basically no more...

It is true that I am one of those people who liked the gameplay of Mega Man X better than that of the original Mega Man games. Sacrilege, I know. All of that dashing and wall gliding is fun. I enjoy that sticky-hands feel of the X series.

And that's just one example of how I felt times could be pretty nice then. I miss which genres and types of games were popular in general. I don't think I would be nearly as nostalgic as I am if it weren't for the fact the gaming industry to me today is so alienating. At least, the mainstream industry.

11

General Discussion / Re: So... do we have any idea what project #4 is?

« on: April 16, 2013, 12:36:34 PM »

I think that pixel games are pretty popular on Steam. There's just a vocal minority of people who dislike them which are on Greenlight and so forth.

I think that "anime" is almost more popular on Steam than people give it credit for. It just, again, has a really obnoxious vocal minority that is against it.

I don't actually know if this applies to ever kind of game and aesthetic on Steam. I don't really check the gritty games because they don't interest me. For all I know there could be somebody out there commenting on every first person shooter on Greenlight and saying "Oh God, not another first person shooter. The PC has enough of these diversity pls."

Of course, I like both anime and pixelated games and want more of them on Steam. Pixel art reminds me of the glory days when Mega Man games were huge. I miss the 16-Bit gaming culture.

12

General Discussion / Re: Agarest: Generations of War PC

« on: April 16, 2013, 12:29:23 PM »

This will get Greenlit come April 17th, with little to no room for doubt.

Well, April 17th is almost here.

The moment of truth is upon us. I'm not getting my hopes up to terrible high. But enough that I can't help but anticipate it. This is getting me excited for the future.

13

General Discussion / Re: GOG

« on: April 12, 2013, 01:55:19 AM »

I'd might as well pick up a DRM free version of the game. Bothering with Steam on long trips with little internet connection would lead to more hassle. I also want to support the game. If Recettear is on GamersGate I don't see why it can't be on "good old games". Besides, "Good old Games" doesn't just have "good old games".

I used to use Steam exclusively. Why? Because it's the most popular, honestly. And has the biggest selection. Steam seems to have the brightest future and I doubt will go out within my lifetime. As being the PC game flagship I kind of wanted to specifically promote games I love there.

Though lately, thanks to frustrations with Greenlight I've actually decided to try Good old Games, Desura, and GamersGate. Good old games has some pretty nice games that Steam doesn't and ought to have. There's Guilty Gear X2, Guilty Gear Isuka, and Street Fighter Alpha 2. I wish I could have those on Steam.

Also, Desura has a lot of the games that have been stuck in Greenlight for far too long. I picked up about 10 games on Desura that I was trying to wait patiently to buy on Steam.

Used to be I would wait for and support the Steam version. But my impatience has finally gotten the best of me. Which is sad, because none of these platforms seem all that prominent and none of these games will get all that much exposure outside of Steam. I just hope that these platforms take off well enough that they don't close shop in a few years because everyone is on Steam and not them. That's one of my major fears and (one of the reasons) why I tend to prefer buying games on Steam.

14

General Discussion / Re: Agarest: Generations of War PC

« on: April 09, 2013, 08:08:54 AM »

Well, would you?
73.49$ for just two episodes? That's just madness.

That's part of what I'm talking about with the "service problem". Unreasonable pricing. Both in and out of Japan. Though especially in Japan. Anime are extremely lucky to sell 10,000 DVDs within Japan because of those prices. While they're making more profits, they're losing all customers but the most hardcore of hardcore otaku.

There's also discontinued Western anime releases. Really, the whole industry is in trouble because of pricing and distribution models.

In the United States, you can get most shows digitally for something that more closely resembles Steam sales. $2 an episode or so. And like with video games there is a variety of services to get them from in terms of DRM from no-DRM to horribly locked down. And $2 an episode rather than ~$37 an episode is a big deal and a big difference.

In terms of Steam, the model works. At the risk of sounding like a bad advertisement. $37 an episode, doesn't. You can bet a lot of people who first go to torrent trackers would be more likely to purchase the episode if they could get a digital copy of an episode for $2. And some anime do, but it's pretty rare. Most anime fans keep up with new seasons.

The point is, for recent stuff it's just better to buy a video game (prefferably from related anime franchise) than buy anime. A game will give 50-100x more entertainment time for the same money AND it's interactive.

That it is. And goes perfectly in with my point. Piracy is a service problem and with fansubs and illegal use of roms, I think it shows that a lot of fans of Japanese media like anime and jRPGs, enjoy multimedia consumption from the PC. I don't think that illegal use of emulation and fansubs merely show a desire to pirate as just a state of technology and a disconnect between content creators and fans.

Steam getting jRPGs is a step in the right direction. Hopefully someday a great library of well serviced, reasonably priced anime, manga, and Japanese video games will be available on the PC. Though it'll take a long time and there's a long road ahead. At least we're making progress.

For the variety of reasons, I think it shows that a lot of anime fans, and thus jRPG game players, are on the PC.

15

General Discussion / Re: Agarest: Generations of War PC

« on: April 09, 2013, 06:31:29 AM »

I guess that's logical, too. I'm a "hardcore gamer", if people who are really into cute Japanese games starring and about girls counts as whatever that label means. I spend a good portion of my income on video games.

Speaking of this sort of thing. One reason I think there's such a big audience for jRPGs on the PC, is that the average American anime fan today hardly buys anime and downloads fansubs. In fact that's a part of the reason the industry is in trouble, nobody is buying anime. Anime fans tend to use the PC a lot, get their anime from fansubs, and hardly buy anime either because they don't have much income or because of habit. And are used to getting anime in 720p+ with fancy sub fonts on day one from a fast torrent tracker.

However, those same anime fans who download the fansubs, also seem to tend to spend a lot of money on Japanese video games. Like jRPGs. Meaning that is what their anime money goes to. While a lot of them are also discovering Touhou and doujinshi gaming, or other Japanese PC gaming, most of them pirate games on the PC because it is difficult to buy Touhou and other Doujin games.

There's a particular culture of piracy to the anime culture. Where most anime fans, are, in reality, PC gamers. But don't see themselves as such because of difference with other PC gamers. Anime fans spend a lot of their entertainment time on the PC. Buy Japanese games for consoles. Pirate Japanese games through emulation via the PC. And pirate anime via fansubs. And pirate doujinshi like Visual Novels and Touhou.

These aren't people who refuse to pay. And usually these folks will buy the "next new jRPG" or whatever. It's just difficult for most of them to bother making purchases. They want to watch new anime on the PC with good resolution and subs, but their best way of doing that is streaming sites and torrents. They want to play Japanese games on the PC, but most of them aren't aware of the ones that do exist, and a lot of which that do, are difficult to buy(like importing Touhou games).

I'm with Gabe Newell, piracy is a "service problem" in his words. Anime and manga distribution hasn't kept with the times. And delays in localization, bad localization(like censorship), and poor and behind the times distribution is keeping interest in purchasing anime and manga stagnating. Same with emulation. People want to play these games on their computer, but it is easier to download roms from the internet than legally extracting them themselves.

Underneath the trends of piracy, leaves a huge audience with a disposable income for things like jRPGs on the PC who would often likely prefer to play via the PC if given the chance. And would definitely buy more anime, manga, and Japanese video games with more services like Steam.

I obviously don't know because I wasn't ever a part of this group don't look at me don't look at me.

I think the success of Recettear already shows a piece of this trend. Recettear was cheap, reasonably priced, easy to purchase, and not dubbed or overly localized, and lots of people bought it.

I needed a Japanese PS2 and a PS3 because I wanted to play Japanese games and if I stuck to PC all I would get from Japan is prawn

Shhhhh, don't talk about the evil elephant in the room!