I can answer this well, having spent most of my teenage years playing digital comics, and being an anime fan.
PC-FX is essentially an otaku's wet dream. You've got games like Sparkling Feather that play to all of your anime triggers, and wrap it up in a nice SRPG.
It's got all of the digital comics / sim games, too. It's just all very anime-centric. This is what sets it apart from PS1 and Saturn, really. Team Innocent is an excellent adventure game.
OK, I get
your particular love for the machine ... and one of the things that it's games are doing better for you than the other 5th-gen machines (at least in their early-years).
I grew up watching things like Marine Boy (
and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_Boy) and even today, if someone announced a video game based on that series, then I'd probably have same kind of warm-and-fuzzies that you have.
I guess that since I don't normally associate games with manga/anime ... I just don't get that same feeling for the quality of the anime that I'm seeing on the PC-FX.
When I see unfamiliar anime these days, I'm looking for something of the quality of the original Ghost In the Shell ... or anything Miyazaki ... or Cowboy Bebop. That's a somewhat unrealistic expectation for a 1990's console ... but it's an example of the frame-of-reference of someone looking at the machine as a newbie.
Unfortunately, if you can't understand what the hell you're reading, nearly every game loses it's charm. An RPG is pretty worthless if you don't even know what the story is.
I totally agree ... both the characters and the story are vitally important.
Seeing SamIAm's dubbed version of the Zeroigar video has made all the difference in my enjoyment of that game.
If PC-FX had gotten a bit more variety to the library, I think it would have kicked some severe ass.
It's a lovely piece of hardware ... I can see Hudson's unique touch in its elegent and powerful design.
It should be able to do wonderful versions of a lot of 90's era games ... as long they don't need scaled sprites or 3D (which weren't actually needed to make a lot of good games ... but were kind of expected by the buying public, and so put in even when they didn't improve gameplay).
To me, the sad reality of the PC-FX is that even though its library is highly focused on a few particular styles of game, it still received neither remarkable quantity nor quality in these styles.
That's what I'm seeing when I load up a PC-FX game (not understanding the language) ... and AFAIK, that just the business reality of being the 3rd-place console right-out-of-the-starting-gate.
From what I've heard, Japan has an "winner-takes-all" culture that's far more pronounced than in the US. Consumers want to be on the winning side ... there's little love for 2nd-place, and none at all for 3rd-place.
If there aren't many potential customers for a game ... then a business can't afford to spend the money in creating a really good game.
The sales figures that you posted are scary!
Many people like Ghost in the Shell SAC because it's plot heavy. It barely kept my interest except for the couple episodes that were character centric. I want to know how the things happening matter to the characters. That's the part that interests me.
I totally agree, which is why I'd like to see translations for Zeroigar and Team Innocent and Zenki ... to see if I'm missing an interesting character-driven storyline.
I wasn't talking about comparisons to other systems. I meant that language barriers in most PC-FX games are no greater than those in PCE games; if anything they're less of a hindrance on PC-FX, as it's easier to follow the story in fmv than in the mostly static cut scenes found in many PCE games.
In other words, if a person enjoys the rpgs, digi-comics, and sim games on PCE, then they should enjoy the PC-FX ones too.
I agree with the logic of that, but I guess that my point is, for most of the game players out there when the PC-FX came out ... or even now ... why should they choose to spend their money on a PC-FX instead of the PlayStation or Saturn?
Arkhan's love of the PC-FX's anime is the best reason that I've heard so far for someone choosing to get a PC-FX.
The original PCE made total sense ... it was unique at the time. Way more powerful than the original NES, and then the first system with CD games ... allowing for larger story-driven games with great soundtracks. It pioneered CD gaming in the console space.
