Surviving High School

[The_Confessor]

Natively English-language school-environment dating simulation for the iPhone published by Electronic Arts. Given the platform/publisher, there’s obviously no Eroge content, and subsequent playthroughs become quite tedious for those acquainted with “Skip Previously Read” options, but it’s still a fun game.

One thing I noticed in the game was that, being natively in the English language (and perhaps developed with a “Western” cultural mindset) the choices were more nuanced than in most such games of Japanese origin I’ve played. Even when the player is given a choice less obvious than “pick which female you want to boink next” (as seen in the lineups of Pick Me, Honey, Let’s Meow Meow, and Come See Me Tonight 2) in most such games I’ve played, the effect of the player’s actions on the female characters’ affections is usually absurdly telegraphed, as in the following (greatly exaggerated) manner:

QUESTION: Do you like this food that I have prepared for you?
OPTION 1: Yes. (I would appreciate oral pleasure following the ensuing dialogue.)
OPTION 2: No. (I cannot compliment your cooking because I am anticipating or have already received oral pleasure from another acquaintance.)

[Nargrakhan]

Hmmm… a lot of the thematic gameplay mechanics remind me of Brooktown High. The whole focus of minigames being one of them. Bothers me that native English attempts at “bgames” (and I use the term lightly) are going this route. In any event, this appears to be the 4th title in the series, so it’s doing well for itself.

Vivendi Games Mobile’s Surviving High School Franchise Amasses More Than 7.5 Million Downloads

Surviving High School Series Becomes the Most Successful Original IP in Mobile Gaming History

Vivendi Games Mobile, a division of Vivendi Games, revealed today that the original episodic mobile game franchise, Surviving High School - a story-driven simulation game set in a typical high school - had a breakout year in 2007 with a remarkable 7.5 million episodes downloaded. The volume of game and episode downloads qualifies the Surviving High School franchise as the most successful original IP in mobile gaming history.

“Our on-the-go users expect creative, innovative and fresh new content to keep them entertained between classes, waiting on a ride, or whenever they desire to thumb around in a mobile game,” said Paul Maglione, president of Vivendi Games Mobile. “The success of the Surviving High School series confirms that innovative, original IPs and a constant flow of updated content plays an important role in the future success of mobile gaming.”

The Surviving High School mobile game was originally released in 2005 and its sequel, Surviving High School 07’, was released two years later, boosted by the distribution and marketing resources of Vivendi Games Mobile which acquired the game’s original developers, San Mateo-based Centerscore, in September 2006. The sequel built on the early critical and commercial success of the first title, building out the game’s episodic format and refining its story lines. 2007 also saw the game promoted via a range of Web 2.0 campaigns and viral marketing initiatives. The franchise has become so popular that fans have created their own Surviving High School group on Facebook.

With the latest release of the Surviving High School game, players enjoy improved graphics, additional characters and new storylines, and can even help shape the game’s ongoing plot by submitting their original story ideas online.

Sold more copies than Pokemon. Best selling dating sim ever released in English. IP own is Vivendi Games, which is apart of the monolithic Activision Blizzard corporation, who is just one of many parts to the godlike multi-billion Euro making Vivendi megacorp. So if they ever decided to go mainstream (i.e. DS or PSP) they most certainly have the cash and resources.

[Insanity]

I played a demo of that once on my verizon. It was fun, but ridiculously cliche.

[gekiganwing]

I’m not sure which cellphones would work with the earlier cellphone games in this series. So that’s probably why not many people heard of Surviving High School until recently. (The same could be said for Matchmaker: Love U. If you haven’t heard of it, see an IGN article here: http://wireless.ign.com/objects/142/14243459.html . Speed Daters isn’t well known either. Review here: http://wireless.ign.com/articles/862/862628p1.html ) But now that iPhone and Android OS are becoming viable formats, it’s possible for niche content to get noticed, and get more than a small number of sales.

At least one person on the Lemma Soft forum is creating an originally-in-English ren’ai game for iPhone and iPod Touch. I don’t know if anyone is creating similar content for Android yet.

[gekiganwing]

I got the free demo of Surviving High School on iTunes a little while ago, and finally played it earlier today. The demo covers about the first week of gameplay.

My overall thoughts: not bad, and it will probably be worth the $3 it currently costs on iTunes. I recently purchased the indie game The Flower Shop ( http://www.winterwolves.com/theflowershop.htm ), but I’ll consider this game in the near future.

The art is a decent mix of cartoon characters and photorealistic backgrounds – I like more than I did the art of Brooktown High. There’s no ticking clock in most scenes. Okay, some choices are timed, as in the Sakura Taisen series, Yo-Jin-Bo, or Love Hina Blessing Bell…

My complaints thus far:

1. I dunno what was in the cellphone versions, but the iPod Touch / iPhone version is full of minigames. The demo includes a mock-football game which is fast paced and simple… but which I wish had been shorter. I hear there will be more later on.
2. The characters are kind of dry. If you played Sims Bustin’ Out for the GBA, then you might remember that game had some goofy stereotypical NPCs. The ones in Surviving High School are a little similar…
3. …and their slang doesn’t sound right. After the second time the game’s angry jock called my character “meat,” I started thinking of TVTropes’ “Totally Radical” article. Likewise, the male nerd character’s dialogue sounded awkward.

@The Confessor

…One thing I noticed in the game was that, being natively in the English language (and perhaps developed with a “Western” cultural mindset) the choices were more nuanced than in most such games of Japanese origin I’ve played…

I don’t remember any specific examples where that was true. Early on, the game lets the player flirt with a blonde girl… and then it becomes clear that the jock mentioned above already considers her his girlfriend. But I don’t think if the decisions and outcomes in Surviving High School are trying to be as complex as The Witcher (a western RPG which I hear – http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheWitcher – tries to take main character decisions beyond obviously good and obviously evil).

[Nargrakhan]

Recently noticed the game got a DSiWare release:

http://dsiware.nintendolife.com/reviews … ol_dsiware

Overlooked it because… well… it’s a DSiWare game… who cares about DSiWare?

Dating becomes a focus no matter which path you choose, as all games in this genre do – unfortunately, this is where Surviving High School also reveals its lack of depth. There are only two possible girls to date – Beth, the cheerleader, or Raven, the goth chick. The most successful games in this genre, in Japan, have offered a much greater variety of dating possibilities – heck, even Natsume’s Harvest Moon series of farming sims always offers a least a half-dozen different single ladies. So players of EA’s effort here might feel restricted, and replay value is definitely harmed. (Not to mention the fact that you have to be a boy to begin with – there’s no option to play as a female, so girls wouldn’t be able to get into this one and find any eligible virtual bachelors.)