Plaidophile

I can't stop laughing at, "As your friend, I demand you get out there and hook up with as many boys as possible."

That's Kiki. She's a total slut.

That was one of the worst screenshots they could have taken for that particular scene. Though I think that was our marketing guy's fault since I think he just went through and took screenshots randomly.

I think it's fun. YMMV.

Or something.

And yes, I find that funny too!

The preview is interesting for several reasons. First, the usage of the dual screen to show both the player character and the non-player character. In most Japanese dating sims, the PC is completely anonymous, to the point that in those illustrations that absolutely have to show the PC, they're almost always obscured by foreground objects, shadows, or reflections. Even when you're not strictly anonymous, games shy away from explicit depictions of what "you" look like. So this will be a change.

Secondly, the art -- it's really not manga-like at all, is it? I didn't expect it to be, but visually speaking, this will feel much different than the other entries in the genre. That's a good thing.

Thirdly, the fact that there are tracks for two genders in the game. This is SUCH a good idea for so many reasons.

Dammit, Fluffy, you must realize I'm going to have to buy a DS just to play this game of yours, both because it's the first US-released dating sim, and because it's Fortified with Fluffycode. Sweet.

Thanks. That's kind of how I felt about it, and why I think it'll be successful whereas the typical Japanese dating sim probably wouldn't do very well over here.

Actually I'm looking forward to a LOT of the DS games, and when the system comes out I'm probably going to go into a buying frenzy and sugar-shock.

Incidentally, this game was originally being developed for Symbian, though the player character was still visible (or at least his face was), but the feel of the game was just totally unlike anything I'd played before, and I wasn't expecting to have so much fun just going through a conversation tree (though the game logic is actually way more complex and interesting than a simple conversation tree; it's really more of a state machine partially guided by a simple AI). One play of the original Symbian prototype sold me on the idea of helping to develop the DS version.

pts

In most Japanese dating sims, the PC is completely anonymous, to the point that in those illustrations that absolutely have to show the PC, they're almost always obscured by foreground objects, shadows, or reflections. Even when you're not strictly anonymous, games shy away from explicit depictions of what "you" look like.

I think part of the reason for that is to help with "immersion" in the game. The typical otaku doesn't want to see themselves reflected in the game, and it's best to leave it to the player's imagination

Most Japanese dating sims and similar games are quite raunchy too. If you've read any of the Japanese game reviews on SomethingAwful, you know what I mean. Example here. This kind of stuff wouldn't go too well with a mainstream audience.

Actually, while it's true that many dating sims are of a sexual bent, most of the big-selling console ones aren't. The sex games typically offer gameplay that is not so much designed to challenge as it is designed to present porn. Games like Tokimeki Memorial are far deeper, with storylines and relationships that extend through all three years of a typical Japanese high school.

And I'm well aware that the PC is anonymous for immersion reasons -- it's a valid gameplay choice, but also one I feel that most Japanese developers make without really considering the alternatives.

BTW, it's actually vital to the gameplay that we show the PC, since the player has to watch out for not only what they say but how they say it. Sometimes you'll be presented with two or three choices which are the same except for their expression. (Which has the testers kind of confused, which means the actual gamers are probably going to be confused too, so in the introductory levels there's some fairly explicit explanations of this, much like how Prince of Persia dwells on how exactly to jump across a chasm only less annoying.)

I can't speak definitively for any games other than Sprung, sorry, and I don't know any more about Nintendo's own titles than what's been posted on Gamespot et al, even if you hadn't confused "dating sim" for "dating replacement" and otherwise ignored that the game has an actual story and plot and isn't just a typical stupid "hey I don't know how to pick up chicks in real life so I'll simulate it" game.