In which Shingo opines on the disastrous release delays of futanari games, notes some other February titles of interest, takes a look at what’s in the release pipeline for the next few months, and indulges in some shameless self-promotion.

Release Delays

Ahh, the best laid plans of mice and men… of the four games I was anticipating for release in February in this update, two have been bumped back to March:

• Resort Boin has been moved to a March 16th release, quality up no tame
• Narimono was shunted back a week to March 2nd due to the discovery of an “inappropriate line” in the game text

Why is it only the futanari games that this happens to? We covered the untimely retraction on similar grounds of Deepblue Soft’s Futari just days before release in April of 2005, which led to the game being cancelled entirely and the ultimate disappearance of the company.

In an industry where the critical failure of just one title can mean financial ruin, it’s up to us fans to support companies that take risks with niche themes like futanari. That said, there’s not much we can do when they keep shooting themselves in the foot by not letting their products go to market - get with the program, people.

alas, you never saw the light of day…

Other February Releases

• 02/09 - Waffle’s Shirudaku Settai has been getting mediocre reviews over at Erogamescape, but it’s still hot in my book
• 02/16 - West Vision’s Uwaki Tsuma came out yesterday, and is a possible contender now that Resort Boin has been bumped to March
• 02/23 - Silkys’ Hime Kishi Angelica is still slated for February 23rd release and has gone to the printer for replication, but who knows what could happen

February Budget Titles

• 02/02 - Black Lilith’s Hitozuma Dorei Keikaku, with art by Zundarepon
• 02/23 - Kurohina’s Kasei Otto Onihei
• 02/23 - Wendybell’s Gohoushi Princess

Coming Attractions

A list of titles I’ll be keeping my eye on over the next few months:

• 03/23 - Skunkworks Nano’s Youkan, tentacly goodness in a budget title
• 03/23 - A.S.S’s Mesudoreitachi no Inya, another eroero budget title
• 04/13 - Black Package Try’s Taijoku no Ori, typical BPT fare with a pregnant twist
• 04/20 - Trust’s Fuhou Shinnyuu, mostly for the art
• 04/27 - Mini Mam’s Okami Shizuka, gorgeous, unique art, bb
• 04/27 - Score’s Yaku-chu!, mediocre designs, great coloring
• Spring ‘07 - Anim’s Gyakushuu Ni ~Miko no Saidan~, with bbsacon on art duty and Mumu contributing to the limited edition pamphlet
• Spring ‘07 - Tech Arts 3D’s 3D Custom Shoujo, atrocious 3D work but interesting to see where it goes
• Summer ‘07 - Discovery Mars’ Chichi Ijime, bb, that’s about it

Nothing really amazing there, but hopefully that’ll change.

The English Scene (shameless pimpage alert)

Yume Miru Kusuri Yume Miru Kusuri Status Report

The main translation has arrived, and we’re now working to convert menus and other design elements before pulling the whole thing together for some serious beta-testing. While my contract stipulates that I can’t give away many details in this regard (the penalty was something along the lines of subjugation to Unit 731) I’d say a release before early summer is a very realistic prospect.

Why You Should Buy This Game:

• I’ve played through an early draft of the translation, and it’s really well done. The game’s genre is described on the official site as “downer-type”, but it’s not going to make you jump off a bridge - if I were to describe it more accurately it’s more of a jaded, postmodern tender romance in a realistic pastel fairyland dystopia. Something like that. There’s a reason the game is subtitled “drug - bullying - interpersonal relationship”, and if you like helping girls with problems this is the game for you.
• The art is great. It’s by Haimura Kiyotaka. If you have eyes you can form your own opinion on this, of course.
• Japanese people like this game. It has a whole bunch of reviews, many of them good. This means you will like it too, if you are a Japanese person with DNA made out of statistical averages! Also, apparently the script writer Tanaka Romeo has a rather cultish following. This is a good thing.

In sum, if applied moetics interests you and you like heartful stories that may or may not make you cry, you should probably check out Yume Miru Kusuri.

In the interest of being fair and balanced, it seems that some other company has licensed and released Bible Black in English. You can buy it if you want!

I think my pimpage skills are a bit rusty…