Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Video games/Visual novels/2010

Unify localization category names?

If we could set aside the discussion of "not all X are VNs" and "not all VNs are bishōjo/otome games (such as 428)", would anyone be against unifying the names of Category:Non-H visual novels available in English and Category:English-translated eroge? Category:English-translated visual novels sounds fine to me. --Remy Suen (talk) 02:34, 14 January 2010 (UTC)

I suppose I'd be in favor of this for the sake of simplification.--十八 02:52, 14 January 2010 (UTC)

No. We don't just group categories because "its easier". Categories are there for a reason, to group things that are of that category. A non-VN should no more be in the category than an RPG should be in an FPS.

Part of this was because even in the west the term "Dating sim" is still commonly used, especially when it uses the mechanics, for example Thousand Arms or Persona games rely heavily on the dating sim aspect. You also have stuff like True Love and Casual Romance Club which are life-sims and dating sims. The second is to remove the hyphenated word "English-translated" which are generally frowned upon.

The dominant (broadly speaking) types of genres recognized in the west that ecompasss most translated (officially or not) items that would be included under our scope are:

1. Life simulators
   1. Dating sims (subcategory)
2. RPGs
3. Visual novels

The other categories are minor. In Japan there are more types, but this is focusing just on English.

And finally a dual-usage category of ergoe. If the item is an eroge category, it would be a seperate category; if not, it wouldn't. Something like Ace Attorney games are not eroge and their format is clearly a VN, but something like Rune Factory cannot really be classified as a VN, but has dating-sim aspects that are integral to storyline advancement. Then there is something like Brave Soul which is clearly an action-rpg with eroge content.陣内_Jinnai 03:30, 15 January 2010 (UTC)

Since the discussion came up I have proposed moving the eroge category.陣内_Jinnai 23:41, 16 January 2010 (UTC)

Narcissu article tagged with Notability and Verifiability; may require Japanese sources

Psychonaut just added the "This article may not meet the general notability guideline." and "This article needs references that appear in reliable third-party publications." templates to Narcissu. Judging from his edit history, we can probably assume it's going to be AfD'd if we don't add some sources. Which would be a shame, as it's one of the most popular VNs in the English-speaking community (#10 on vndb). Unfortunately, an English search for Narcissu seems to only result in tons of fan review blogs and a couple of download sites where the game can be downloaded. I think it's probably easier to find Japanese sources, but I don't speak Japanese, so it'd be difficult for me to find them. Can someone who does speak Japanese try and see if they can find Japanese sources?
Also, a related issue, Narcissu: Side 2nd also has no reliable sources, and it may be more difficult to find sources for that one. Merge into Narcissu or try to find reliable sources? VDZ (talk) 01:03, 26 January 2010 (UTC)

I'll try to find some sources, and I think that the sequel should definitely be merged.--十八 02:28, 26 January 2010 (UTC)

I think that it'll actually be difficult to impossible to find any third-party sources for the games, but there are a couple of recent novel and manga adaptations by Media Factory.--十八 02:49, 26 January 2010 (UTC)

That should work too - if we merge the two articles into one article about the Narcissu franchise, sources about any part of the franchise should count towards notability. VDZ (talk) 13:44, 26 January 2010 (UTC)

But if there aren't any sources for the game(s), then I doubt it would pass an AFD.--十八 18:36, 26 January 2010 (UTC)

Do a merge and then try to roll with this? --Remy Suen (talk) 21:55, 26 January 2010 (UTC)

If you merge the two into 1 article that should be fine. Notability is about the article, not a section.陣内_Jinnai 21:57, 26 January 2010 (UTC)

Visual novel voice actors

Hi,

I'm dropping here two visual novel voice actors i have jury rigged. It's up to you to consolidate them. Hina Kamimura & Yuka Kanematsu.

Thanks. --KrebMarkt 07:45, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

Narcissu as children's literature??

A bot from WikiProject Children's Literature included Narcissu in WikiProject Children's literature...however, last I checked, Narcissu isn't children's literature at all. Should we just revert the edit and ask them to be more careful with their automatic tagging? VDZ (talk) 17:13, 1 March 2010 (UTC)

Seems that way to me. That's actually kinda funny.  ?EVAUNIT^{神になった人間} 18:09, 1 March 2010 (UTC)

User:Kenilworth Terrace contesting notability to some our TFs core topics

Eroge, Otome game and Bishoujo game because he cannot find any or many "English" sources. So far he seems to just be talking, but his claims that the articles need to be improved with refs is legit.陣内_Jinnai 21:11, 30 April 2010 (UTC)

While it is true the articles need references and cleanup, I doubt they would get deleted.--十八 00:40, 1 May 2010 (UTC)

I certainly maintain that some of the articles lack (i) assertion of notability (ii) reliable sources. I have never said the sources need to be "English", but naturally we would prefer English-language sources, where available, for articles in the English-language Wikipedia. Inability to find English-language sources suggests lack of notability. I am disturbed by the use of the word "our". But anyway, what is needed is not talk, but sources, please. Kenilworth Terrace (talk) 11:32, 1 May 2010 (UTC)

Sorry for the late reply. An article isn't not notable because it lacks sources. The sources do not make something notable. You are thinking of it in the wrong way. It is because the subject of the article is notable, there will be sources. Thus lacking the references doesn't make something automatically unnotable.

In addition, as these are genres, their likely exist sources in academic sources that only appear offline.陣内_Jinnai 23:49, 23 May 2010 (UTC)

encubed

Encubed's Website

Wanting to know is this would be considered a RS. They seem to have industry contacts and have been quoted at least once by Wired. I'm asking because I'd like to use them with an Edelweiss article currently in my userspace. Brining here first, but if you guys don't know I might bring this up in WP:Anime (WP:VG's source checking seems slow).陣内_Jinnai 23:37, 23 May 2010 (UTC)

Might want to check that Wired link closer; Encubed merely commented. Anyway, they don't seem to be very reliable.--十八 00:01, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

ANN source. I would also note they have done an interview with MangaGamer and have done press stories at E3 and Anime Expo, both of which are invite-only cons. I do realize at best, it would be marginal.陣内_Jinnai 01:48, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

(Edit) Better yet, i just did a search at ANN: [1] 2 are from news articles.陣内_Jinnai 01:52, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Hmm, borderline at best, but good enough. I'd like to see some of the E3 and AX press stories, though.--十八 04:05, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

E3: MangaGamer, Anime Expo: MangaGamer, Anime Expo: Circus list of their other AX stuff.陣内_Jinnai 01:58, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Went to WT:Anime, and WP:RS/N and no one is helping.陣内_Jinnai 05:29, 7 June 2010 (UTC)

Not really that surprising; I say use it in articles, and if it comes up later in a GA or something, then discuss it then.--十八 05:33, 7 June 2010 (UTC)

prods on articles

A couple days ago we had some prods on a few articles. I removed them not because I felt User:Kenilworth Terrace was wrong, but I think the info could be maintained on a List of eroge translated into English so it is WP:PRESERVED. The list would be relatively small and easier to maintain compared to a listing of visual novels translated in general, although we could do that instead. Lists also aren't required to show notability so this would aliveate the concerns over notability.陣内_Jinnai 05:28, 7 June 2010 (UTC)

I think it'd make more sense just to go with translated visual novels, but then again, this project has had a history of debate on what is and what is not a visual novel.--十八 05:32, 7 June 2010 (UTC)

That is important as if we don't have a definition "visual novel" it will be deleted on grounds of OR or being too vague in definition and thus open to abuse of placing anything under the sun under its roof. It doesn't have to be the same as what our scope is, but it should be close.陣内_Jinnai 18:29, 7 June 2010 (UTC)

Setting aside the definition for the moment, I wanted to see what kind of fields we'd need.

1. Name
2. Japanese release date
3. English release date
4. System/Platform
5. Japanese Publisher
6. English Translation
7. Website link

Other stuff that can be donoted -termated/ongoing/(un)official translation from a color key.

I know there has been some history about noting unofficial translations, but Wikipedia isn't here to make value judgements, just list verifiable facts. We shouldn't turn our head to unofficial translations if they are verifiable (and don't violate WP:COPYLINK by linking to a torrent or the like. As List of video game console emulators links to the actual emulator websites and has not had issues, I think the same could be done here; i also know some of those translations have been given permission and if there is an issue, we can use archives legally, but I'd prefer not to. I don't think we need to list all the various ports of such (Tsukihime is ported on the PSP, DS and i think the iPhone now for the English translation).

With that, I'm not sure if there is anything else we need. If you can think of something let me know.陣内_Jinnai 18:13, 14 June 2010 (UTC)

The website link should be an inline ref instead of an embedded link. As for English translations, it's pretty difficult to get IPs not to add in copy-vio links if you tell them that noting unofficial translations is alright as long as it doesn't violate copyright, specifically because most of these IPs only go to the copy-vio websites to find information on the translations. So, to counteract this, unofficial translations have generally been blacklisted except in certain extreme, case-by-case, circumstances. If you feel you can properly regulate the use of non-copy-vio links, and be willing to get into a few edit wars, go right ahead with the unofficial translations, but I personally think that it's not worth the effort.--十八 21:59, 14 June 2010 (UTC)

I'll have it on my watchlist. I may ask that it have a level 1 flag revision (if I do i'll likely ask for reviewer status).

Now then, any other info that should be on such a list? Also how should it be organized by default (it'll be in a sortable list, but we should have a default). Alphabetically? Chronologically, and ifso, be Japanese or US release date?陣内_Jinnai 02:12, 15 June 2010 (UTC)

I believe general convention is to go by chronological release of the earliest release date, in this case, the original Japanese release. I can't think of any other parameters to add to the list.--十八 09:38, 15 June 2010 (UTC)

fyi, the translated visual novel Three Sisters' Story is prodded for deletion by Kenilworth Terrace. He notes it has one Google Scholar mention. _dk (talk) 22:13, 31 July 2010 (UTC)

Basic List

Okay. I've started a basic framework at User:Jinnai/VN. Let me know what you think. Sources for the moment are on the talk page. How should we divide this because it will need to be divided as one huge list will become unwieldy?陣内_Jinnai 19:18, 16 June 2010 (UTC)

Dividing by decade (90s, 00s, 10s) I suppose would be the easiest, since dividing by platform would probably not make sense, as most of these VNs are only for PC. Failing that, dividing by alphabetical sections could also work: A-J, K-P, Q-Z. Dividing by decade also has the bad side effect that in recent years there have been more and more VNs translated into English, so it would probably become lopsided for the more recent years.--十八 23:08, 16 June 2010 (UTC)

Well one way people deal with that is by dividing later segments into smaller pieces although that hasn't been the case for video games.

I put up a second template based on {{Video game table}}. Plus side is that this table gives us a notes section, but the drawback is its less sortable. I would like to figure out how to add a notes section to the original list as that would preferable. The original list seems more designed for franchises like List of Dragon Quest media. A similar mechanism could be used here for things like titles and unquie release info (such as how Higurashi was released differently than the original Japanese release and other unique items).陣内_Jinnai 06:55, 17 June 2010 (UTC)

Looks like I was able to get some help with template design. How does it look?陣内_Jinnai 01:19, 25 June 2010 (UTC)

Template is now up at {{Visual novel (Eng-t) top}}...well the main one. It is composed of 3 templates to get it to work well.陣内_Jinnai 02:54, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

On the list

I've started working on adding titles to the list. I am wondering for the fan translations with one person should I use "Independant" if they don't have a group or the person's name?陣内_Jinnai 19:30, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

Independent or Amateur works. The latter may have a bad connotation, but the dictionary definition for amateur is something not done by a professional.--十八 21:54, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

Okay. I'll likely only list ones that have a group with 3+ people and a name with such that have released atleast 2 titles (except if they have an article that meets the WP:WEB. I won't be redlinking any of them and I doubt if many, if any at all, have an article on them.

On another note, I've gotten to my first video game with 2+ versions, Snatcher, released in English. I am wondering how I should handle this. Original release date I got that easily enough, but should I list all the different versions? Also, one of the English translations is for a different system than the Japanese. The Japanese version (the first) was for the PC-88 and the second for the Turbographics 16. The first 2 English ones were for the Mega CD, the second for the Sega CD. The 3rd in both cases was the MSX. Should I list the English or Japanese version(s)?陣内_Jinnai 00:58, 1 July 2010 (UTC)

List only the earliest release date in both the original and translated cases. For the consoles, list all of them, with "(Japanese)" and "(English)" to denote which ones were which. So:

• PC-88, Turbographics 16, MSX (Japanese)
• Mega CD, Sega CD, MSX (English)

Something like that.--十八 03:35, 1 July 2010 (UTC)

• Something like what I have now?陣内_Jinnai 15:53, 1 July 2010 (UTC)

Another question: would a title like Knights of Xentar qualify as a VN/RPG or just an RPG? It may have implications for other titles. VNDB lists it as a VN, but gamefaqs lists it as an RPG on their data page.陣内_Jinnai 01:42, 3 July 2010 (UTC)

Any opinion before i continue? I know we have the definition used in our project page, but that definition is OR when applied to wikipedia articles so I'd wonder if we should be includisive or exclusive and ifso, when there are conflicting groupings by different RSes, which one we should use? Should assume we would use an IGN classification over an vndb one because of its mainstream accepatance? Obviously scholarly assements (without justifiable reason to ignore them) should be considered the highest order.陣内_Jinnai 21:31, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

I don't know enough about Knights to say its a VN (or at least has VN elements), but anything that's borderline I suppose could be given footnotes about their status for inclusion. Yes, using a reliable source to cite a title should be used because it's verifiable, and Wikipedia's about verifiability. I guess you could also use footnotes for the case about the different consoles used in different regions. Like use an "[JP]" footnote to denote the Japanese consoles, and an "[EN]" footnote for the English releases; check Key Sounds Label discography for an example.--十八 23:05, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

I'm trying a new way of linking to websites and console listings. First, I will be using the official websites (whenever possible) for fan translations as references (they stand a better chance as staying as sources for verifiability than as ELs imo.

second, i'm doing a second list for system releases (note i may change the columns listed so don't panic with all those windows versions). My question here is do you think I should keep that 2nd list as is or seperate it into 2 lists, one for Japanese release and one for English release. Right now its not sortable (and would be a pain to make it sortable and not nearly worth it by comparison with the other template). That's the only major downside. The other one might be people forgetting which is Japanese/English row. The other alternative would seperate the two out and make it a lot more work and may not seem relevant when the two are seperated (nor easily comparable). On the upside they could be sortable and it would be easier to tell which was English or Japanese.

If I keep it as is, I am thinking of adding a seperating border between each title, but don't know if its worth the extra code this table will eat up.陣内_Jinnai 03:14, 12 July 2010 (UTC)

Why is it that you think we even need a separate list for the system releases? Most of these games were only one 1 or 2 systems. It seems pretty useless to have a huge table where most of the entries are red "No"s.--十八 03:21, 12 July 2010 (UTC)

Actually I'm finding a lot of them were released on many more systems, especially older titles. They were only translated to 1-2 systems though. It really clutters up the OS listing, especially when almost all were released on different systems.陣内_Jinnai 03:30, 12 July 2010 (UTC)

I've gotten several done now. Wanted some more input before I progress. I'm to games released in 1994 now.陣内_Jinnai 19:00, 20 August 2010 (UTC)

The tables look fine, but I'm still apprehensive about agreeing to a system releases table where the vast majority are red "No"s, but I guess there's no better way.--十八 21:48, 20 August 2010 (UTC)

Getchu blocking foreign ips

Seems getchu is now blocking foreign ips and certain proxies.陣内_Jinnai 00:34, 7 August 2010 (UTC)

That's insane, I was just there like 2 days ago looking up info on Kud Wafter. God this sucks.--十八 01:06, 7 August 2010 (UTC)

cl3.getchu.com still works, but I don't know if they'll block that or not.陣内_Jinnai 23:18, 9 August 2010 (UTC)

There are still proxies that allow access, but this still makes it ridiculous to cite anything using the cite, or any cite currently blocking access.--十八 00:07, 10 August 2010 (UTC)

It does make it difficult to cite anything new, but old citations are fine since Wikipedia doesn't require everyone have access to the site, just that it can be accessed if someone wants to (else most books wouldn't be viable for that reason).陣内_Jinnai 01:23, 11 August 2010 (UTC)

They are back up. My guess is that they did some reprioritization method to make Japanese IPs have priority.陣内_Jinnai 20:25, 13 August 2010 (UTC)