After the whole Steam debacle over adult themed visual novels many developers began to look for a new home for their games. MangaGamer was very happy to provide this and is having a week of releases celebrating Western developed games.
Here is a quote from John Pickett, Press Director for MangaGamer:
“While recent events with Steam have been unfortunate, we’re glad to see so many promising developers branching out and utilizing our services now. Overall, I think this is a great move for the Visual Novel market. As more developers start to take advantage of the opportunities provided by our retail platform, we’ll be able to see more Visual Novels released as the creators originally envisioned them – without any censoring to satisfy Steam’s nebulous content standards. That’s a great step forward for free speech and free expression in the gaming medium.”
Here are some details about each game releasing this week, but please note the links will take to MangaGamer’s homepage until the games go live on their release day.
Monday will see the release of HunieCam Studio the second game developed by Huniepop creator, Huniepot. In this title, players can enjoy a business tycoon simulation game where they control an adult video studio specializing in online broadcasts. Manage your staff, analyze the market, and invest in your business to become the ultimate adult entertainment provider!
Tuesday brings Razzart Visual’s Wolf Tails, a stunning tale of romance between a human living a solitary life and two wolf girls who stumble upon her cabin – one seeking shelter from her duties, and the other trying to bring her back to the pack. Players can enjoy multiple endings with the wolf girls as either male or female. With excellent character development and cute visuals, it’s a perfect game for romance fans.
On Wednesday, Zetsubou Games’ Tomboys Need Love Too! will teach that true love can sometimes be found close at hand. While Kai has always considered his best friend Chris to be “one of the guys”, she’s torn between maintaining their close friendship and pursuing a deeper relationship with him as a woman. Since Chris will be staying with him while her parents are on vacation, she makes the decision to act and start trying to get Kai to see her as a woman, but can she overcome Kai’s crush for another and win a place at his side?
Also releasing on Wednesday is Love in Space’s Shining Song STARNOVA, a title unfairly prevented from seeing release on Steam for an indefinite period of time while Valve, “implements new features to give people more control over the content they see.”
Shining Song STARNOVA is a tale of seven talented women trying to make it to the top in the cut-throat world of the Japanese Idol business. Though every one of these beautiful characters has talent waiting to be developed, there’s no mistaking the fact that each possesses serious flaws that will or has hindered their attempts to make it big in the unforgiving entertainment industry. As their new producer, it’s your job to manage these women and build a cohesive unit that can soar up the charts.
John Pickett had this to say about the situation surrounding Shining Star STARNOVA on Steam:
“We at MangaGamer think it’s terrible that a retail giant like Valve is using the development of new systems as an excuse to prevent the release of titles. Especially since this gate-keeping seems to apply only to titles with anime artwork, not major AAA titles which also contain greater sexual content.
It is unfair that they are forcing small, indie companies who are the most vulnerable developers to endure this indefinite delay that could ruin their businesses financially. We believe their games deserve to be released when intended, and we encourage any visual novel developer currently facing this issue to contact us via [email protected] We would love to offer our own retail platform to help ensure that these titles see a release so those developing them can continue their great work.”
As English Developer Week continues, Thursday will see a tale of a different stroke with the release of Y Press Games’ BL title – My Magical Demon Lover, a spicy, comedic, gay, fantasy. When the aspiring wizard Tristan finally gets an offer of apprenticeship from Great Grandfather, it turns out to be an excuse for the old man’s vacation, and Tristan is left with three demons to learn magic from – at the cost of sex. Manage your stats and make careful choices to reach the 10 different endings in this funny title. Will you choose the top, bottom, or switch demon to learn magic from?
Lastly, Friday will see the release of Razzart Visual’s yuri title, Love Ribbon, a tale of forbidden love between two sisters. While Iris and Zoey have grown up apart from each other, when fate brings them together at last their personalities clash and an exciting tension begins to grow between them. With several animated sequences and multiple endings, there’s much to explore to and excite in this serious and realistic tale of taboo feelings.
