[Legolas813]

http://www.buy.com/prod/Hotel_Dusk_R...tml?adid=17662

$27.99 + $4.40 shipping = $32.39 - $10 Google Checkout discount (first-time user only) = $22.39

[Atlantis]

thats great and all.. But I use £'s

[SoccerDude28]

Thanks Legolas. Just ordered it

[Spiwak]

Nice job. Getting it with that.

[Legolas813]

They need to start making adventure games for Wii. I don't have a DS.

[mrdriller]

Cool, thanks for that. Probably will end up doing that if someone in this town doesn't manage to get it in this week.

[Spiwak]

Originally Posted by Legolas813

They need to start making adventure games for Wii. I don't have a DS.

Hmm, I can see that working but I'm also kind of afraid that Nintendo wouldn't want to publish niche games on their big console product that's still rather undecided. In the US, anyways; apparently in Japan "interactive novels" are popular.

[Legolas813]

I was reading USA Today and noticed a huge half-page ad for Hotel Dusk! This has got to be one of the first adventure game advertisements I have seen in print. I was pretty impressed. Here is a reduced-size scan (the ad is so big I couldn't even scan all of it):

[MoriartyL]

According to Wikipedia, adventure games are actually called "visual novels" in Japan. Makes sense that they'd call it an "interactive novel" here instead- they don't want it confused with "graphic novels"!

[eXo]

I picked it up for 25 bucks at Frys - not a bad deal, although I think frys is relegated to texas, california, and a few spots in between (arizona/nevada)

[sethsez]

Originally Posted by MoriartyL

According to Wikipedia, adventure games are actually called "visual novels" in Japan. Makes sense that they'd call it an "interactive novel" here instead- they don't want it confused with "graphic novels"!

Yep, visual novels (which are pretty much the exact same thing as adventures) are a pretty big deal in Japan. They tend to focus more on plot and character interaction, with less attention being paid to mechanical puzzles. The challenge comes from finding the right thing to say, rather than the right lever to pull, and unlike most western adventures you typically can't go through the entire dialog tree in one sitting. It's quite possible to talk yourself into a different ending.

Hotel Dusk fits this mold pretty much to the letter. It's also an extremely good example of it and I'd recommend it to most adventure fans right now.

[Legolas813]

It seems they suddenly raised the shipping for some reason, so the price will be slightly higher than stated in the original post.

[Terramax]

Originally Posted by Atlantis

thats great and all.. But I use £'s

You should consider buying a US copy. You can save quit a great deal. Even at $35 it's about £20. Take away $10 then add another $10 shipping and it's the same price.

My local computer store IT buy DS games from the US every so often and they must make a killing charging £35-40 per copy (considering they must bulk buy an all).

Originally Posted by sethsez

Yep, visual novels (which are pretty much the exact same thing as adventures) are a pretty big deal in Japan. They tend to focus more on plot and character interaction, with less attention being paid to mechanical puzzles. The challenge comes from finding the right thing to say, rather than the right lever to pull, and unlike most western adventures you typically can't go through the entire dialog tree in one sitting. It's quite possible to talk yourself into a different ending.

Yes, I've always liked this method. I've always wanted to play Sakura Wars for one thing.

Japan is a country that loves the social aspect of gaming - the idea of multiplayer, arcades as a social event and games based around characters and interaction with other characters (RPGs being the major focus). This is why games in Asia are considered more of a way of live and part of normal culture than in the west.

My main reason for adventure games is the interaction element. I get more enjoyment out of that element than puzzles. Unfortunatly, Japanese games in recent times are quite typical if not stereotypical if you've played them for a number of years.

Makes me wonder, what's the likeliness of Snatcher making its way to the DS or SP?

[AdrianWerner]

Originally Posted by sethsez

isual novels (which are pretty much the exact same thing as adventures)

uhh..no I must protest visual novels are just that: more or less interactive novels. they don't have much gameplay. they are more like "choose your own adventure" books that were popular 20 years ago. Most of all, there is almost no gameplay there, currently most visual novels just tell the story by themselves and every now and then they give you choice of few actions. The genre has unforunately lost a lot of interactivity it had back in Seasons of Sakura days.

[SoccerDude28]

Originally Posted by eXo

I picked it up for 25 bucks at Frys - not a bad deal, although I think frys is relegated to texas, california, and a few spots in between (arizona/nevada)

There are 3 Frys here in the bay area in california

[XXJ]

Originally Posted by MoriartyL

According to Wikipedia, adventure games are actually called "visual novels" in Japan. Makes sense that they'd call it an "interactive novel" here instead- they don't want it confused with "graphic novels"!

This is visual novel.

Last year, I discussed about this topic with other japanese PC adventure gamers.
And we concluded that japanese visual novels are not normal adventure games.
Reason
1,Visual novels are novels with multiple ending. (like book)
2,Almost all of Japanese visual novels belong to Otaku Culture(seek to moe"萌え").
and concentrated to characters(heroines).
(And these games are normally called bishojo game (it means cute girl game. but suggest hentai game, dating sim )
"visual novel" is not normal usage in Japan, I think.
3,In visual novel, player can't act freely(walk,examine.etc...)

(Note)
In bishojo game field,traditionaly novel games(bishojo game) are called as adventure game in Japan.

I heard the word "interactive novel" for the first time.
Hotel Dusk is not seek moe(萌え).
Yes, Hotel Dusk is adventure game.

[Legolas813]

Shipping on the game has been lowered/corrected, so the deal is now back to how it was in the original post.

[eXo]

Originally Posted by SoccerDude28

There are 3 Frys here in the bay area in california

Yea... as I said, Texas, California, and a few places in between. Dallas has 3 as well.

[MoriartyL]

Originally Posted by XXJ

This is visual novel.
...

I stand corrected.

[Spiwak]

Well, I went ahead and bought it. Once I heard it was close to 20 hours long and with a few different endings I was sold.