"Virgin Roster -Shukketsubo-" 19th

Thanks for the suggestions, perigree. I’ll check out those sites, particularly the G-Collections one. I’m still a little hazy as to where exactly the original game comes from - I’d been under the impression that Zyx (or whatever company,) produces the original game, while G-Collections (or Peach Princess, etc.,) translate and adapt them for release to countries outside of Japan and handle the distribution.
Also, I don’t think putting the review here is necessarily a waste - as I say, it will at least provide the gamers who frequent this BBS with a critical overview of the game to help them decide whether or not to buy.

Maybe you can fill me in on something else I’m a bit clueless about, as someone utterly oblivious to Japanese language (): the terms bishoujo - which I sometimes see spelled “bishojo” - hentai, manga, etc. I think I’ve read that manga translates loosely as “comic,” but what are the exact translations of hentai and bishoujo? I’ve also seen the latter truncated as “shoujo” so I’m wondering about “bi” being a prefix of some sort…?

I’ve been using “hentai” and “bishoujo” as interchangeable (rather blindly I admit,) so it would be nice to know whether or not I’m making a complete idiot of myself.

ZB


[
except, of course, for the Three Most Important Phrases in Any Language:
- “Where is the beer?”
- “Where is the toilet?”
- “I love you.”
- in that order, generally.]

[This message has been edited by ZaphodB.Goode (edited 01-22-2004).]

[This message has been edited by ZaphodB.Goode (edited 01-22-2004).]

quote:
Originally posted by ZaphodB.Goode:
Thanks for the suggestions, perigee. I'll check out those sites, particularly the G-Collections one. I'm still a little hazy as to where exactly the original game comes from - I'd been under the impression that Zyx (or whatever company,) produces the original game, while G-Collections (or Peach Princess, etc.,) translate and adapt them for release to countries outside of Japan and handle the distribution.

That's correct, and it's G-Collections that acquired the rights to produce and distribute the English version of Shukketsubo, though perhaps under a contractual obligation.

quote:
Maybe you can fill me in on something else I'm a bit clueless about, as someone utterly oblivious to Japanese language (except *): the terms bishoujo - which I sometimes see spelled "bishojo" - hentai, manga, etc. I think I've read that manga translates loosely as "comic," but what are the exact translations of hentai and bishoujo? I've also seen the latter truncated as "shoujo" so I'm wondering about "bi" being a prefix of some sort....?


I'd suggest you check a good anime glossary for basic definitions. Black Moon is a place to start. Shoujo and shounen are romaji for girl and boy, respectively. The bi prefix denotes beautiful. The ou diphthong is a phonetic convention to indicate a longer vowel sound than o, but the meaning is the same.

quote:
I've been using "hentai" and "bishoujo" as interchangeable (rather blindly I admit,) so it would be nice to know whether or not I'm making a complete idiot of myself.

That's one you'll have to unlearn quickly, especially if you post on boards with Japanese readers. Hentai is slang meaning perverted. It should never be used in place of bishoujo. B-games are not h-games. H is sometimes used as an abbreviation for hentai, and to confuse things even more, it's sometimes written ecchi, which is how H is pronounced in Japanese. Each form must be used in the correct context, of course. [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/redface.gif[/img] In time it will all be clear. [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/biggrin.gif[/img]

[This message has been edited by perigee (edited 01-22-2004).]

quote:
Originally posted by perigee:
Hentai is slang meaning perverted. [b]

Actually, hentai it is even worse than just perverted.
Lamuness usually suggests the translation "freaking perverted".


quote:
Originally posted by perigee:
[B] It should [b]never
be used in place of bishoujo. [/b]

Actually, these two words are entirely unrelated because one simply means "pretty girl(s)" and the other one means "perverted beyond perversion".


quote:
Originally posted by perigee:
B-games are not h-games.

Exactly. Only the adult ones...


quote:
Originally posted by perigee:
H is sometimes used as an abbreviation for hentai, and to confuse things even more, it's sometimes written ecchi, which is how H is pronounced in Japanese.

... and that misunderstanding obviously is still alive and widespread:
No! "H"(ecchi) is not an abbreviation for "hentai". Kagami once had an excellent clarifying page available here, but for some unknown reasons, I can't access it for now...
However, this should explain a few things.

another option for you, Zaphod, is also to submit your reviews to my website…I always welcome contributions

Whoa!! Thank you Perigree and Unicorn for straightening out the language misconceptions - I plan on studying Japanese for knowledge in general and future vacation plans in particular, but right now I’ve got my hands (& synapses) full with Thai.

And LadyPhoenix, I’d be happy to post reviews on your site. Just let me know where it is (you’ve probably got it in another post - but it’s oh-dark-hundred, I just got home from my vampire shift, and I’m feeling righteously lazy, hahaha…) VR is the only one I’ve written so far, and it and “Tokimeki Check In!” are the only two B-games I’ve played. I’m not sure if I want to devote the necessary time to a review of TCI because there are already two fairly good ones posted at the J-Mate site.

quote:
Originally posted by ZaphodB.Goode:
I plan on studying Japanese for knowledge in general and future vacation plans in particular, but right now I've got my hands (& synapses) full with Thai.

I don't know if you did yourself a favor with studying Thai.
I only know that from all the foreign languages that I ever tried to tackle, japanese (at leastthe spoken part) still seems to be the most easy one. So, I hope you'll experience the same thing as soon as you try to take om japanese. And good luck with Thai until then... [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/wink.gif[/img]


quote:
Originally posted by ZaphodB.Goode:
And LadyPhoenix, I'd be happy to post reviews on your site.

You are new to the board. So let me explain you one nice detail: On the top of each post, there are those four icons right besides the date of posting. The leftmost of them shows you the profile of the poster.
And Ladyphoenix-sama (how we FWOBIGOLSs use to call her) has her email-address as well as the URL to her homepage in her profile, and not even applied modifications to them that are supposed to mislead spambots (as you may see in my profile for example).


quote:
Originally posted by ZaphodB.Goode:
VR is the only one I've written so far, and it and "Tokimeki Check In!" are the only two B-games I've played.

I understand your reasons. I felt the same way about Tsuki as you did with VR. Perhaps, not as much because I already knew it was dark and thus expected rape being an essential part of the story, but nonetheless...
(Hmmm, maybe, this was shameless plug to make you visit her website and read my review of Tsuki?... [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/tongue.gif[/img])

That’s a very strong and well written review you posted over at G-Collections. Now you’ll have to wait patiently for Dave to pounce on it and tell you, in no less that 10,000 words, why you’re wrong and he’s right. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a nice guy and clearly knowledgable, but…well you’ll see.

Since you’ve only played two bishojo games, you should ask the friendly (if occasionally weird) bunch of people here for recommendations in order to avoid any similarly unwise purchases

quote:
Originally posted by Interzone:
Since you've only played two bishojo games, you should ask the friendly (if occasionally weird) bunch of people here for recommendations in order to avoid any similarly unwise purchases [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/smile.gif[/img]

Hey! We are not friendly!

Just kidding. But this is a relatively good place for information. Especially recommendations. More often than not, we're able to steer you away from stuff you wouldn't like while pointing you at stuff you would.

Actually, I'm annoyed with myself over Shukketsubo. Since I wasn't enjoying the subject matter, I was taking my time with it. If I had realized how bloody short it was, I would have gone ahead and finished it in one night and gotten the whole thing over with... [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/tongue.gif[/img]

Hah ekylo, well at least extended the precieved value of VR by taking longer to finish it

quote:
Originally posted by wanfu2k1:
Hah ekylo, well at least extended the precieved value of VR by taking longer to finish it [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/wink.gif[/img]


Not really. Like I said, once I realized how short it was, I got very annoyed which brought my perceived value of the game (if I had any in the first place) even lower. It's short, not very complex and dealing with subject matter I don't like. Even the artwork didn't work for me for some reason, and I usually like Zyx's artwork. *sigh* And I stil have to wait till next month for Heart de Roommate...

Yeah no kidding, a whole month before the next bishoujo game release Man I’m going through withdrawls…

quote:
Originally posted by Unicorn:
It's just that I don't like to be used for cleaning up the mess that "Something Awful" creates with official support without even being asked to do it beforehand.

... and exactly that is what I read between the lines when Peter gives them official support while he asks the people around here to write bishoujo-game-reviews for j-mate at the same time. That's where I have to draw the line and quit my voluntary writing support.

[This message has been edited by Unicorn (edited 01-07-2004).][/B]


You have to distinguish between the Japanse goods retailer j-list, from the promotional efforts of j-mate. If there is an internet site that draws a lot of attention, it makes sense for a retailer to buy ad space and place an ad at that site. For better or worse, Something awful has drawing power (although I personally don't visit it b/c I feel it's a waste of my time).

Okay… I just have to say this much… We all have different tastes, and does anyone know how to differentiate between fiction and reality? The overly moralistic tone about how “vile” games like Virgin Roster are is getting tiring, but everyone is entitled to an opinion. Remember, an opinion, not a fact… But I feel like this will fall on deaf ears… I respect everyones’ opinions. I try very hard. Am I a bad person because I like to explore, watch and experience the darker side of sexuality, whether it is through a game, or reality (consenting adults, etc)? Just something else to think about… Thank you for your time :slight_smile:

Not at all Joshua. People are entitled to their views (at least in America as I know it).

So far I skipped out on this game, b/c I’m not into rape fantasies. but the discussion here may push me toward buying it and playing it, mainly so that I could see for myself how valid certain statements posted here are.

blink I apologize if any of my posts had a moralistic tone to them. (They didn’t read that way to me but I’ve learned long ago that what I intended and what people pick up from my posts are two different things.) I was more ragging on what I felt was a lack of complexity of the game than anything else.

Just some input. Everyone here are dedicated and loyal bishoujo game fans. We feel we need to bring a range of games out to the marketplace, and G-Collections feels this way too. There are many people who we talk to at conventions who snap up the hardest core games – many of them are women, actually, which confuses me a little, but what do I know about women? And the hard, cold reality is that Tsuki is one of the top selling titles for G-Collections. I hope that fans who chose not to get these darker games can still give us your understanding.

Tsuki is a top selling title for G-Collections? Interesting. Not the fact that it’s a top selling title in general, just that I was getting the impression that Sensei 2 was more popular than Tsuki. Now I feel less bad that I rank Tsuki over Sensei 2. (Or Shukketsubo actually.)

I ranked tsuki higher than sensei same as you ekylo Wow didn’t think tsuki was their most popular selling game, thought it would be kango1 since it sold out. I had a feeling the more romantic and dramatic series wouldn’t be up there

quote:
Originally posted by wanfu2k1:
I ranked tsuki higher than sensei same as you ekylo [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/smile.gif[/img] Wow didn't think tsuki was their most popular selling game, thought it would be kango1 since it sold out. I had a feeling the more romantic and dramatic series wouldn't be up there [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/frown.gif[/img]

Dude, please reread Peter Payne's post. He didn't said Tsuki was G-C's most popular selling game. If we assume (and I'd admit it's a big assumption) that G-C had the same number of copies produced for each game, and kango 1 is sold out, then naturally Kango would take the "most popular" title. We don't know if Tsuki and Kango 1 had the same production run or not; all we know is that the original production run of kango 1 DID sell out, and Tsuki's didn't.

The fact that Tsuki is a best seller for G-C IS a reflection of their customer's tastes. And viewed in this light, it made sense for G-C to offer Virgin Roster. And I wouldn't be surprised if another game of this genre is released down the road.

Peter did say “one of the best selling titles”, not necessarily the top seller, though. I can’t say I’m surprised - it has lovely art and clearly places sex high on the agenda, making it a no-brainer for many potential customers. None of that wordy, drawn-out romance nonsense I also wouldn’t be surprised if Kango and Horny Bunnies were not big sellers too.

As for games like Shukketsubo; I don’t want to play them myself, but I have absolutely no problem with anybody who does.