New Release: Dengeki PlayStation Issue 094 (January 14 1999)

[kitsunebi]

Retromags Presents!

Dengeki PlayStation Issue 94

January 14 1999

Database Entry!

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[marktrade]

This looks amazing! Thank you very much for this.

[Areala]

Good lord, a Dengeki Playstation to read through! This promises danger, excitement, and really wild things!! Domo arigato, Kitsunebi-kun!

*huggles*
Areala

[gladiator]

Thanks a lot for this wonderful magazine. A lot of japanese game adverts that I'll add to the PSX Datacenter in the future.
The hardest one to recognize was the Meguri Aishite one.

[Areala]

Thanks a lot for this wonderful magazine. A lot of japanese game adverts that I'll add to the PSX Datacenter in the future.

The hardest one to recognize was the Meguri Aishite one.

I got Meguri Aishite, but I'm trying to figure out what on EARTH is being advertised on pages 230-231. Any tips on this one, Gladiator?

*huggles*

Areala

[kitsunebi]

I got Meguri Aishite, but I'm trying to figure out what on EARTH is being advertised on pages 230-231. Any tips on this one, Gladiator?

*huggles*

Areala

Maybe I'm looking at the wrong pages, but do you mean the pages about the stuff for Chocobo no Fushigina Dungeon 2 and Ehrgeiz?　It's just a couple of strategy guides and a soundtrack for each, plus a postcard book and sticker book for Chocobo.

[Areala]

Maybe I'm looking at the wrong pages, but do you mean the pages about the stuff for Chocobo no Fushigina Dungeon 2 and Ehrgeiz?　It's just a couple of strategy guides and a soundtrack for each, plus a postcard book and sticker book for Chocobo.

No, it's further ahead than that. The image files as numbered show them as pages 230 and 231. They're yellow-bordered ads that show a guy holding a controller that is plugged into a woman's head. In the first one, he looks quite happy. In the second page, she's socked him with a spinning back-fist. Are they ads for the various 'Dengeki' magazines (my guess) or is there some specific game they're advertising?

*huggles*

Areala

[kitsunebi]

No, it's further ahead than that. The image files as numbered show them as pages 230 and 231. They're yellow-bordered ads that show a guy holding a controller that is plugged into a woman's head. In the first one, he looks quite happy. In the second page, she's socked him with a spinning back-fist. Are they ads for the various 'Dengeki' magazines (my guess) or is there some specific game they're advertising?

Oh, OK. Yeah, the actual page numbers don't match up to the cbr page numbers due to a number of fold-out pages that the magazine didn't count as separate pages.

You're right the first time, it's an ad for the Dengeki line of magazines at the time.

Dengeki Playstation, Nintendo 64, and Dreamcast are self-explanatory.

Dengeki Playstation D is actually included in the numbering of Dengeki Playstation but was marketed separately due to the large difference in price (about twice as much), since the "D" stands for the PS2 demo disc it came with. I only own one issue of this, but it's much shorter than a usual Dengeki Playstation mag, as the main content is the disc itself, I guess.

Dengeki G's is all about bishoujo games (the G stands for girl), although about half of the magazine is comics. I have an incredibly low opinion of these sorts of games (if you can even call them that) and so don't own any issues, but I'm pretty sure they have a lot of content not appropriate for an all-ages site like this one lol.

I'm a little less sure about the content of Dengeki Ou (or Oh), the "all-round game data magazine" (as the ad puts it). It was a gaming magazine that seemed to be aimed at adults (each cover was a photo of a woman), and it seems to have covered all consoles as well as PC and adult games.

(On an unrelated note, this is the second time this morning that Retromags has gone offline while I'm trying to reply to this thread. I hit submit, and then sit back and wait for 10 minutes of "connecting..." until the site responds. Very frustrating.)

[Areala]

Dengeki G's is all about bishoujo games (the G stands for girl), although about half of the magazine is comics. I have an incredibly low opinion of these sorts of games (if you can even call them that) and so don't own any issues, but I'm pretty sure they have a lot of content not appropriate for an all-ages site like this one lol.

Oh man, I want ALL of these now! I'm a massive sucker for visual novels.

*huggles*

Areala

[kitsunebi]

Oh man, I want ALL of these now! I'm a massive sucker for visual novels.

The text at the top of the pages says something like "In life and games...a system of strategy is needed."

Yeah, there are a ton of magazines about visual novels, but mostly just the porn ones. They're really nothing but magazine-length advertisements full of character art and screenshots. Nothing much to read about, but I'm guessing that's not what people buy them for. It's pretty sad, but there's not a single magazine in existence currently that covers real PC games, but there are 3 or 4 covering adult games. I learned early on living here that I should never tell people I play PC games, since to them that means something completely different.

[Areala]

The text at the top of the pages says something like "In life and games...a system of strategy is needed."

Yeah, there are a ton of magazines about visual novels, but mostly just the porn ones. They're really nothing but magazine-length advertisements full of character art and screenshots. Nothing much to read about, but I'm guessing that's not what people buy them for. It's pretty sad, but there's not a single magazine in existence currently that covers real PC games, but there are 3 or 4 covering adult games. I learned early on living here that I should never tell people I play PC games, since to them that means something completely different.

I think I've seen a few of these pop up on the Internet Archive (BugBug? Is that still a thing?). I always wondered why hentai games were so huge in Japan, and such failures here in the US. It must be a cultural thing. Too much text-reading and mouse-clicking, and nobody getting the joke that the games were SUPPOSED to be played with one hand?

*huggles*

Areala

[kitsunebi]

I think I've seen a few of these pop up on the Internet Archive (BugBug? Is that still a thing?). I always wondered why hentai games were so huge in Japan, and such failures here in the US. It must be a cultural thing. Too much text-reading and mouse-clicking, and nobody getting the joke that the games were SUPPOSED to be played with one hand?

I was just about to mention those issues at the Internet Archive. BugBug is one of the less-classy titles covering adult games (most of them at least put clothes on their cover characters, but BugBug often foregoes such formalities).

I have no problems with visual novels being used as...tools. Or the non-porn variety being used as reading material. It just irks me when they're referred to as games, since they really aren't. Clicking the mouse isn't gameplay, and being given an arbitrary choice of action/dialogue once every 20 minutes or so isn't really gameplay, either.

I'm more interested in why PC games failed to succeed in Japan while there are probably 60-70 porn games released each month. Also, from the moment such games appeared until now, there has been almost no evolution of the genre. The graphics got a little more high-def and voice acting was added, but that happened 20 years ago, and the "games" haven't really changed at all since then. That such a completely stagnant genre hasn't dimmed in popularity while worlds of innovation pass by ignored and unnoticed by the Japanese PC userbase is astonishing to me.

[Areala]

I was just about to mention those issues at the Internet Archive. BugBug is one of the less-classy titles covering adult games (most of them at least put clothes on their cover characters, but BugBug often foregoes such formalities).

I have no problems with visual novels being used as...tools. Or the non-porn variety being used as reading material. It just irks me when they're referred to as games, since they really aren't. Clicking the mouse isn't gameplay, and being given an arbitrary choice of action/dialogue once every 20 minutes or so isn't really gameplay, either.

I'm more interested in why PC games failed to succeed in Japan while there are probably 60-70 porn games released each month. Also, from the moment such games appeared until now, there has been almost no evolution of the genre. The graphics got a little more high-def and voice acting was added, but that happened 20 years ago, and the "games" haven't really changed at all since then. That such a completely stagnant genre hasn't dimmed in popularity while worlds of innovation pass by ignored and unnoticed by the Japanese PC userbase is astonishing to me.

Is it possible this could be the cultural effect of a "self-fulfilling prophecy"? Like, go back in time to the 1980s, and the thinking is, "Why would I buy a PC to play games, when the only people who play games on the PC play visual novels?" Eventually the thinking transforms into, "The only games worth playing on the PC are visual novels," which then becomes, "If I want to play visual novels, I should get a computer," which then evolves into, "Consoles are for gaming, PCs are for work and porn"?

*huggles*

Areala

[kitsunebi]

Is it possible this could be the cultural effect of a "self-fulfilling prophecy"? Like, go back in time to the 1980s, and the thinking is, "Why would I buy a PC to play games, when the only people who play games on the PC play visual novels?" Eventually the thinking transforms into, "The only games worth playing on the PC are visual novels," which then becomes, "If I want to play visual novels, I should get a computer," which then evolves into, "Consoles are for gaming, PCs are for work and porn"?

Actually, in the 80s and early 90s, PC gaming in Japan was quite healthy. Lots of actual games released on the PC88, PC98, FM Towns, etc. Even the adult games back then were actual games. It was the advent and success of the adult visual novel that killed off regular PC gaming as anything other than a super-niche activity for computer nerds.

Granted, a visual novel can be produced on an incredibly small budget, so they're probably much more profitable than having to create an actual game. You get one guy to write it, somebody to produce a couple dozen pieces of background art, somebody to produce a hundred or so pieces of character art, some voice actresses to scream and moan, and you're done. No game engine to create - you just use the same one your company has been using on every game you've released for the past 15 years. Pure cookie-cutter design.

[Areala]

A rather interesting find, since it was just uploaded a week ago, but this video talks about why Visual Novels are becoming more popular in the West:

*huggles*
Areala

[kitsunebi]

When I first clicked play I was like "10 minutes? No way am I watching this," but I actually ended up finding it fairly interesting. Of course, the games he's talking about becoming popular are all console/handheld games. And yes, I said games. I have no problem with something like Phoenix Wright being called a game, even if gameplay consists of nothing but menu selections. There are still puzzles of a sort, making it like a very simple graphic adventure.

It's the "pure" visual novels he mentions that I feel should never be referred to as games. They are a separate animal, and while there's nothing wrong with enjoying a visual novel for its story, it stretches credibility to call something a game when it can be completed from start to finish simply by resting a brick on the keyboard's space bar and taking a nap for a few hours.

[Areala]

When I first clicked play I was like "10 minutes? No way am I watching this," but I actually ended up finding it fairly interesting. Of course, the games he's talking about becoming popular are all console/handheld games. And yes, I said games. I have no problem with something like Phoenix Wright being called a game, even if gameplay consists of nothing but menu selections. There are still puzzles of a sort, making it like a very simple graphic adventure.

It's the "pure" visual novels he mentions that I feel should never be referred to as games. They are a separate animal, and while there's nothing wrong with enjoying a visual novel for its story, it stretches credibility to call something a game when it can be completed from start to finish simply by resting a brick on the keyboard's space bar and taking a nap for a few hours.

I'll agree whole-heartedly with both of your assessments. Visual Novels like 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors on the DS, the Persona series on various Sony consoles, or Akiba's Trip on PS3/PSP that include multiple endings, puzzles, action elements, RPG mechanics, or other bits in between storytelling portions are absolutely 'games'.

I'll also readily admit that "Divi-Dead" (which is my favorite visual novel of all time, despite being damn near impossible to comprehend without multiple play-throughs) is really like reading a long book where you make roughly half a dozen major decisions that can affect the plot. While it's digital entertainment, it's not really fair to call it a 'game' as such. I love it, it's got a phenomenal atmosphere, and I go back to it every few years for another read-through, but in no way does it fit the definition of a 'game' no matter how entertaining I find it.

*huggles*

Areala

[gladiator]

230-231 are not game adverts. It could be a gamepad advert or a japanese shop.

[kitsunebi]

230-231 are not game adverts. It could be a gamepad advert or a japanese shop.

We actually covered this in the posts above. It's a house ad for the Dengeki line of magazines.