#pc-98 era my beloved

[centrally-unplanned]

I played silly 90's eroge game VR-DATE Simulator May-Club, which some lunatics made a browser port of, as I saw people mentioning it on the dash. First off, these old eroges occasionally get remasters, and I just don't understand why they toss out the aesthetic of these things when they do:

You got rid of all the bold pixelation highlights! My dithering! You got rid of the framing box UI!? Look at how they massacred my boy -_-

Seriously those UIs are one of the greatest legacies of the PC-98 era, I am curious as to why they were so common (probably due to limitations on resolution flexibility, so they wanted to keep the main screen defined in scale, but I am just guessing). All ports should preserve them, but I do think there is a development limitations there; modern VN engines aren't quite built for it.

I found the game charming because it is a very comedic game - the main dude wants to bone before starting his corporate wagecuck conglomerate job, and finds a VR world where people date anonymously. So hijinks ensue and you spend tickets to go spin some plates, but half the time you meet up with girls you talk about gender discrimination in the corporate workplace? The difficulties of work-life balance? Handy tips on how to double-tap your company expense accounts for some light financial fraud at hostess bars? And those things are also played for laughs, it just isn't what I expected to find given the tone.

Early dating sim games are often funny this way because they were incredibly expensive - I don't have a price source for this one specifically, but they could approach ~$100 USD and that is in 1990's dollars. Which meant that their market was mainly just working adults, this wasn't primarily teens slipping lunch money over the counter. So the work is full otaku, but a niche of otaku such that you get a certain kind of blend of silly tropes and more adult jabs.

By the way, the game was actually localized to the US, in the 90's? I don't have a rock-solid source but apparently the explicit scenes for two of the routes were removed due to the designs of the characters in question. Which uh:

Yeah, not shocked at that choice.

I found it weird that this "VR world" just looks like the regular world?

Explicitly so, our main dude comments on it. Which you would think, okay, its a budget thing right? This way you get to portray the real world and the VR world with the same assets as you walk through both. But you pretty-much never do that; 99% of the game is in the VR world. So why have that plot detail at all? It made me notice it, and now I am questioning why they went with something so un-VR-like for the setting.

It really doesn't do much with the VR setting alas, though I didn't do all the routes. I love 90's era "the future will be virtual" stuff, but this one didn't deliver on much of any vision for what that would be.

I also can't check out all the routes quickly as I could not find any cohesive Let's Plays of the game. Normally that is how you experience all of these games these days, given their propensity for padding and difficulties in emulating. Maybe I should solve that problem myself lol. Since I did have to play it, shoutouts to Ben Woodhouse from 2003 for your GameFAQs guide and beautiful ASCII calendar of appearance times for helping me get through it

Anyway Akiho is best girl fuck your sexist bosses and get 👏that 👏bread👏; she absolutely has the best collection of facial expressions and her ending has a real touch of heart to it, respect.

[sneakyscarab]

hiya! so those of you following me may have noticed that touhou has taken over my brain over the last summer. i’ve been working my way through playing all* of the main touhou titles and after finishing th11 realized that i have many thoughts about these games and no real outlet because none of my friends play touhou so im just gonna start doing these review-esque posts about all the touhou games once ive finished them. as you can tell by the fact i just beat 11 i have a bit of a backlog here so expect to see a handful of these.

if you do not care about all that, thats fine. i just really wanna talk about touhou lol. posts in this series will be tagged “#grimoire of nina” for archival/organiztion purposes. anyways all that said it is time for the actual post

nina’s thoughts on Touhou 6 - Embodiment of Scarlet Devil

it's the first touhou! well it's not obviously there's a big 6 there but it's the first in the windows continuity, the first that ive played through to the end and finished, and supposedly the first in the streamlined danmaku style of gameplay. 

since its the first of them, its lacking in many unique elements that make it easy to talk about, so this one's probably gonna flow way worse than later reviews. it's very simple but not in a bad way, just raw shootin’ and danmaku dodgin’. one interesting “mechanic” unique to this game is ironically it's lack of one. in touhou to make dodging the bullets possible your actual hitbox is way smaller than your character sprite, and later games let you view your true hitbox while focusing. EoSD doesn't have that, so you kinda just have to get a feel for what parts of you can safely take a shot without you getting owned. it's kinda fun not knowing exactly whats safe, but probably rough if you’re used to the later games. of the different player options my favourite was Marisa’s illusion laser setup (i am not immune to master spark) but all 4 choices were pretty fun, and i ended up doing 1cc’s with both of Marisa’s options.

the characters in this one are all really good! it helps a lot that most of them show up frequently in future games and outside media and get more development. if i had to pick favourites though, id go with Rumia, Patchouli, and Koakuma. Rumia is a adorable little gremlin youkai with darkness powers who flies around t-posing, using darkness to create an orb around her during daytime to block sunlight and subsequently bumping into trees cause she can't see anything through the orb lmao. Patchouli is a tired magician youkai who spends all day in a huge magical library reading tomes and being bothered by Marisa. she has like asthma and anemia so she can't do any physical activity ever she's just the ultimate nerd. also her everyday outfit is just some comfy purple pajamas its an absolute vibe. lastly Koakuma is Patchouli’s familiar who's a summoned demon of some kind (usually interpreted as a succubus) who has the unfortunate job of actually managing and organizing the insane labyrinthine library that they live in and assisting Patchouli with personal matters. ironically Rumia and Koakuma have like the least characterization actually in the game (along with Daiyousei) but they get more love in external media and fanon. 

overall EoSD is great. it has a set of beloved characters, and really solid base gameplay. its a bit basic and lacking in a few features but its still great fun :> thanks for reading if you actually stuck with it this far!

(*not sure if i will play the first 5 games from the pc-98 era. i may check them out afterwards but theyre not high priority)

[ilaiyayaya]

Mystia's Izakaya is like, so fun. Like I've never played Papa's Pizzeria but I imagine this is the feeling 8 year old me would've gotten had she played Papa's Freezeria in 2010. I did play other similar games but I don't remember the name of literally any of them but I think there was a spongebob one? maybe? but like, it's like that, and it's fun, and i like it :)

I'm surprised I haven't really played a ton of these types of games since I was really young, like when I think about it I really probably should've? Like, I love games with these type of vibes, like one of my favourite game series is Rune Factory (rare capitalization of a series name that's how much I love it) and while that is a different genre of game, that's more of a farming simulation/dating sim, it's still got like, a similar feeling to this. Like it's mostly very relaxing, but it also can and sometimes does get pretty stressful and tense, even if it's not actually that difficult at all. And I've come to realize I really enjoy that type of game, where it's a generally lax atmosphere, but if I really want to take it seriously and min-max I can absolutely make it as stressful as I want lol. I don't know a ton of other games like Mystia's Izakaya aside from old flash games, like I know a ton of them absolutely exist, they're just so out of my normal scope of search that I just haven't really heard about many, so I may look into some more now, this has opened a whole new world to me, and those are always my favorite games, I love expanding my horizons! I LOVE COLLECTING KNOWLEDGE I LOVE GATHERING INFORMATION I LOVE OBSESSING OVER NEW AREAS OF EXPERTISE AND LEARNING MORE ABOUT MYSELF AND MY INTERESTS AND GAINING A DEEPER APPRECIATION OF THE WORLD!!!

I'm still not anywhere near the end either, so definitely looking forward to slowly making my way through the game, hopefully I don't start getting tired of it and hating it by the end, that unfortunately happens with far too many games... I have like, about 10 hours of actual gameplay put in so far tho, and according to howlongtobeat it's around like 40 hours, and while I do play games exceptionally slowly, it usually takes a lot more than 40 hours to get to the point of exhaustion for me, especially if I pace myself, so I'm confident I can get to the end while still loving the game! AND ONE OF THE DLC ADDS A BUNCH OF PC-98 CHARACTERS I LOVE TOUHOU PC-98 ERA I LOVE SHINKI!!!!! they probably don't add Yuugen-Magan and Sariel my beloveds though :c sigh the coolest weird freak characters never get any good representation kicks a rock, or possibly even a small stone sadly

I DIDN'T EVEN MENTION HOW GOOD THE GAME LOOKS AAAAAAAAA I LOVE THE CHARACTER SPRITE ART IT LOOKS SO FRICKING GOOD THEY'RE ALL SO CUTE!!! I LOVE TOUHOU CHARACTER DESIGNS I LOVE HIGHLY DETAILED PIXEL ART CHARACTER PORTRAITS!!!!!!!!!

[youzicha]

Hmm. I looked in the manga as well: the first chapter (set in 1992) says it is "dedicated in memory of my beloved 9801RX21", and that is what they are using.

In episode 2 of the anime there's some dialogue as they walk past another desk:

Konoha: That old PC is still working! Mamoru: That's a DA, it's not that old.

The PC-9801DA was released in 1990 and also 286-based. The first 386-based PC-98 was released in October 1991, so it would have been quite new at this time. In the next chapter (in 1993), they are still stuck in the 16-bit era:

I'm kindof disappointed, the anime really gives an impression of paying attention to details, so this seems like a big blunder. :(

>16bit Sensation >obviously 32-bit

[aaaaagaronia]

1-9 12-19 24-29 34-39 42-50 58 61-64 66-71 73 76-78 81-84 86 88 91-98 <3

hey bestie why are you drowning me in questions in one go/j

1. coffee mugs, teacups, wine glasses, water bottles, or soda cans?

coffee mugs <3

2. chocolate bars or lollipops?

lollipops ig?? i dont really eat either that much tbh

3. bubblegum or cotton candy?

cotton candy

4. how did your elementary school teachers describe you?

"very well behaved and super mature for [3rr0rs] age, if only every student was a good as [3rr0r]"

5. do you prefer to drink soda from soda cans, soda bottles, plastic cups or glass cups?

soda cans dsnfkjsd

6. pastel, boho, tomboy, preppy, goth, grunge, formal or sportswear?

id Like to dress grunge but im stuck in tomboy because i djldsfsd [weary] dont pass and dont have anything else to wear so

7. earbuds or headphones?

earbuds, headphones have sdjkfsd bad feel on ears

gonna do the rest under the cut because you went dsjlfksd a Lot

8. movies or tv shows?

idk ig movies?

9. favorite smell in the summer?

dirt

12. name of your favorite playlist?

girl help ive been stabbed

13. lanyard or key ring?

key ring

14. favorite non-chocolate candy?

gummy crocs,,,

15. favorite book you read as a school assignment?

uhhh non of the mandatory books but the books we got to choose for reading assignments uhh unwind is very good

16. most comfortable position to sit in?

sitting on one leg and have the other stretched out

17. most frequently worn pair of shoes?

these pair of black sketchers i have dsjfksd

18. ideal weather?

chilly

19. sleeping position?

curled up

24. favorite crystal?

chrysoberyl

25. first song you remember hearing?

idk

26. favorite activity to do in warm weather?

sit under tree

27. favorite activity to do in cold weather?

go for a walk or stay in and draw dsmjlfds

28. five songs to describe you?

i dont really have sorry

29. best way to bond with you?

i dont djskfs really know?? engaging in interests ig i dont sdjkfs socialize much to begin with

34. advertisements you have stuck in your head?

baby bullet batch bowl

35. average time you fall asleep?

midnight at the earliest lately jdfsd

36. what is the first meme you remember ever seeing?

idk

37. suitcase or duffel bag?

duffel bag

38. lemonade or tea?

leamonade

39. lemon cake or lemon meringue pie?

lemon meringue pie

42. jacket pockets or pants pockets?

jacket pockets

43. hoodie, leather jacket, cardigan, jean jacket or bomber jacket?

bomber jackets beloved but im sentenced to hoodies

44. favorite scent for soap?

strawberry and cream

45. which genre: sci-fi, fantasy or superhero?

sci fi!

46. most comfortable outfit to sleep in?

regular clothes <3

47. favorite type of cheese?

i dont jskdfhsd like cheese

48. if you were a fruit, what kind would you be?

passion fruit

49. what saying or quote do you live by?

i dont ndskhfds have one

50. what made you laugh the hardest you ever have?

retelling casino boys

58. four talents you’re proud of having?

uhh i dont really have any [weary] perceiving myself Icky

61. favorite line you heard from a book/movie/tv show/etc.?

"i dont want lone wolves i want capybaras" aliens fireteam

62. seven characters you relate to?

[looks through kin list] herbert west, hector cyr, doc connors, cheryl williams, four, kane, mike tobacco

63. five songs that would play in your club?

hive club, beasts, hive club remix, in my mouth, aunt rosies garden

64. favorite website from your childhood?

dont really have one dsjfds

66. favorite flower(s)?

nightshade pretty and could kill me

67. good luck charms?

dont have any

68. worst flavor of any food or drink you’ve ever tried?

beverly soda is the nastiest soda ive ever had

69. a fun fact that you don’t know how you learned?

you can survive a minute in space without a suit

70. left or right handed?

right

71. least favorite pattern?

idk i guess polka dots

73. favorite weird flavor combo?

idk my diet is kinda weird as it is

76. what’s your favorite potato food (i.e. tater tots, baked potatoes, fries, chips, etc.)?

tator tots beloved

77. best plant to grow on a windowsill?

uhh i have cactus on my windowsill so

78. coffee from a gas station or sushi from a grocery store?

coffee from a gas station

81. fireflies or lightning bugs?

fireflies

82. pc or console?

pc

83. writing or drawing?

drawing

84. podcasts or talk radio?

podcasts? i dont really listen to either

86. cookies or cupcakes?

cookies

88. your greatest wish?

idk

91. boxes or bags?

boxes

92. lamps, overhead lights, sunlight or fairy lights?

i have lamp but i like overhead lights

93. nicknames?

i dont really have any since meat Is one of my names

94. favorite season?

winter

95. favorite app on your phone?

id say bitlife but i uninstalled it

96. desktop background?

is my carrion design

97. how many phone numbers do you have memorized?

one, its my mosm

98. favorite historical era?

uhhhh dont really have any sorry

[sacredandwilduniverse]

All the weird asks

Oof, okay. Seeing as probably no one else would send this to me, I’ll do it. But next time, I would rather do just certain numbers off the list.

1. coffee mugs, teacups, wine glasses, water bottles, or soda cans?

Teacups

2. chocolate bars or lollipops?

Lollipops

3. bubblegum or cotton candy?

Bubblegum

4. how did your elementary school teachers describe you?

Loud but really interested in my education

5. do you prefer to drink soda from soda cans, soda bottles, plastic cups or glass cups?

Glass cups

6. pastel, boho, tomboy, preppy, goth, grunge, formal or sportswear?

Goth

7. earbuds or headphones?

Earbuds

8. movies or tv shows?

Tv Shows

9. favorite smell in the summer?

Early morning when there’s that morning dew on the ground

10. game you were best at in p.e.?

Badminton 

11. what you have for breakfast on an average day?

Nothing

12. name of your favorite playlist?

The Siren (it’s my OC’s playlist)

13. lanyard or key ring?

Key ring

14. favorite non-chocolate candy?

Swedish Fish

15. favorite book you read as a school assignment?

Fear Street: Bad Moonlight

16. most comfortable position to sit in?

Sitting on a recliner with my legs up

17. most frequently worn pair of shoes?

Gym Shoes

18. ideal weather?

Thunder and lightning with heavy rain

19. sleeping position?

On my side with a body pillow

20. preferred place to write (i.e., in a note book, on your laptop, sketchpad, post-it notes, etc.)?

Laptop

21. obsession from childhood?

Doctor Who

22. role model?

My grandpa

23. strange habits?

It’s a tick I picked up from my grandpa, but sometimes when I have too much energy or excitement I end up just shaking to expel the energy for a few seconds.

24. favorite crystal?

Bloodstones

25. first song you remember hearing?

Barbara Ann by The Beach Boys (apparently I would try and sing along and just sing ba ba ba ba ba ba)

26. favorite activity to do in warm weather?

Take a walk or swim

27. favorite activity to do in cold weather?

sleep

28. five songs to describe you?

Kryptonite by 3 Doors Down / The Bullet by Birdeatsbaby / Through The Other Side by Riverside / Branded by Natewantstobattle / Dearly Beloved from Kingdom Hearts II

29. best way to bond with you?

Really it’s just if you feel comfortable with me gushing at you and being willing to listen to me at all because I feel like no one wants to hear me

30. places that you find sacred?

My bedroom away from everyone

31. what outfit do you wear to kick ass and take names?

If I had the body for it, black leather leggings, black leather high heeled boots, and a black corset to match.

32. top five favorite vines?

Aaron Doh, King Bach, Brandon Calvillo, David Lopez, and Patrick Willaim Charlton

33. most used phrase in your phone?

yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasssssss

34. advertisements you have stuck in your head?

ummmm.... none that I can think of off hand?

35. average time you fall asleep?

2 A.M.

36. what is the first meme you remember ever seeing?

I know it’s not the first meme I saw but the free real estate is the first to come to mind

37. suitcase or duffel bag?

Suitcase

38. lemonade or tea?

Tea

39. lemon cake or lemon meringue pie?

Lemon Cake

40. weirdest thing to ever happen at your school?

I guess it was the senior prank my freshmen year. We were stuck in our first period because these seniors greased most of the stairwells and set chickens loose in the school.

41. last person you texted?

My sister

42. jacket pockets or pants pockets?

Jacket Pockets

43. hoodie, leather jacket, cardigan, jean jacket or bomber jacket?

Leather Jacket

44. favorite scent for soap?

Lemon? I guess?

45. which genre: sci-fi, fantasy or superhero?

Sci-fi, but Fantasy is a close second

46. most comfortable outfit to sleep in?

Nothing

47. favorite type of cheese?

Romano

48. if you were a fruit, what kind would you be?

A pineapple, because even though I have defenses all around me, I’m sweet on the inside.

49. what saying or quote do you live by?

I don’t have one.

50. what made you laugh the hardest you ever have?

I was in a call with some friends and we were talking about our rp characters as cats. I found this picture for The Siren and I couldn’t stop laughing at it.

51. current stresses?

Too many to mention here.

52. favorite font?

No clue

53. what is the current state of your hands?

They’re dry and healing cuts because there’s not enough moisture in the air.

54. what did you learn from your first job?

Customers never know what they want.

55. favorite fairy tale?

Little Mermaid

56. favorite tradition?

It was when I was a kid, Santa would leave a note for my sister and me that mentioned all the good things we did during the year.

57. the three biggest struggles you’ve overcome?

I’m better talking to people, I’m better at being onstage, and I guess dealing with my depression better?

58. four talents you’re proud of having?

I can do a British accent, I know how to use photoshop, I can make a grilled cheese without burning it, and I’m learning how to do video editing.

59. if you were a video game character, what would your catchphrase be?

“I might not be as strong as the others, but I believe in you.”

60. if you were a character in an anime, what kind of anime would you want it to be?

The quiet one with a troubled past.

61. favorite line you heard from a book/movie/tv show/etc.?

WEAR A WATCH! Time is precious thread in the fabric of the universe, it deserves it’s own tool of measurement!

62. seven characters you relate to?

Ariel from The Little Mermaid, Donna Noble from Doctor Who, June from Alleluia! The Devil’s Carnival, Crona from Soul Eater, Paula from Black Butler, Camille Preaker from Sharp Objects, and Renfield from Dracula

63. five songs that would play in your club?

Show Me Your Hands / Not A Common Man / Cards / You’ll Be Back / The Reynolds Pamphlet (I’m lame so it’s just musical songs)

64. favorite website from your childhood?

Neopets

65. any permanent scars?

I have one in the center of my head for when I picked at one of my chicken pox when I was younger and I have two around my stomach when I had a gallbladder removed

66. favorite flower(s)?

Honestly I’m not sure.

67. good luck charms?

Nope!

68. worst flavor of any food or drink you’ve ever tried?

Cherry Sparkling Water, because it lied to me. I thought it’d be sweet but nope, just tasted like lies.

69. a fun fact that you don’t know how you learned?

I can’t think of any right now.

70. left or right handed?

Left handed

71. least favorite pattern?

Stripes

72. worst subject?

Science

73. favorite weird flavor combo?

I like Munchos and Vanilla Ice Cream

74. at what pain level out of ten (1 through 10) do you have to be at before you take an advil or ibuprofen?

Well I feel my pain level is pretty low but probably a 5?

75. when did you lose your first tooth?

In Kindergarten

76. what’s your favorite potato food (i.e. tater tots, baked potatoes, fries, chips, etc.)?

Probably Potato Pancakes

77. best plant to grow on a windowsill?

I don’t know, flowers?

78. coffee from a gas station or sushi from a grocery store?

Coffee, because I hate sushi

79. which looks better, your school id photo or your driver’s license photo?

School ID

80. earth tones or jewel tones?

Jewel Tones

81. fireflies or lightning bugs?

Fireflies

82. pc or console?

PC

83. writing or drawing?

Writing

84. podcasts or talk radio?

Podcasts

84. barbie or polly pocket?

Barbie

85. fairy tales or mythology?

Mythology

86. cookies or cupcakes?

Cookies

87. your greatest fear?

Being a failure

88. your greatest wish?

To make my family proud

89. who would you put before everyone else?

My sister

90. luckiest mistake?

Falling on my ass in front of someone that worked at this film company I’m a huge fan of. Since I fell the guy who owned the company came out to see what happened so that was kind of cool?

91. boxes or bags?

Bags

92. lamps, overhead lights, sunlight or fairy lights?

Fairy Lights

93. nicknames?

My sister calls me Bread in her phone so there’s that

94. favorite season?

Fall

95. favorite app on your phone?

Spotify

96. desktop background?

The background the computer came with

97. how many phone numbers do you have memorized?

1

98. favorite historical era?

Victorian Era