- Simple series
The Simple series are a number of series of budget-priced
console game s, published byJapan ese companyD3 Publisher and developed by a variety of companies, covering many systems. The price of the games inyen (not including tax) is included in the title of the series - for example Simple 2000 is about 2000¥.The games are usually characterised by their distinctive package design featuring artwork surrounded by a black border, with the game's title (usually prefixed by "The" in English) in a plain white font. The series name and volume are also displayed prominently.
The early games in the
PlayStation Simple 1500 series were generic interpretations of common video game themes, such asmahjong ,tennis orracing . However the various series now cover many more original and unusual titles in addition to those based on concepts. Since the games are almost universally created on a low budget with a short development time, developers are able to experiment to some extent with titles such asThe Daibijin , which has attracted attention largely due to its central premise of a giantbikini -clad woman attacking a city, rather than any gameplay or graphical merits.A producer at D3 Publisher has stated that the company will not be able to continue the Simple series on what was then "next-gen" systems (i.e. seventh generation). [Sheffield, Brandon: [http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=12617 D3: Not Just a Simple Company?] ] The "Simple Wii Series" dedicated to the
Wii console was recently created, however. [ [http://www.d3p.co.jp/simple_wii/ SIMPLE Wii シリーズ official website] ]Developers
D3 employs a number of external developers for the series, some of the most prolific being
Tamsoft andHuneX - most are smaller or little-known companies, although several games have been licensed from Taito for a (usually enhanced) re-release.Notable games
Certain Simple series titles have attracted considerable interest outside of Japan for various reasons, either gameplay quality or a particularly unique idea - these include The Oneechanbara and its sequels, as well as Sandlot's
The Chikyuu Boueigun and The Chikyuu Boueigun 2, which were based on theirGigantic Drive engine and were of considerably higher quality than most games in the series. Both of these series' have had sequels for theMicrosoft Xbox 360 video game console, although they were originally labelled under an 'X' moniker (Oneechanbara X and Earth Defense Force X) rather than a 'Simple' one.International releases
Many of the
PlayStation 2 Simple 2000 games have been released in PAL regions as budget titles byMidas Interactive Entertainment ,Agetec or505 GameStreet , usually under different titles and with new cover art; recently D3 Publisher of Europe has released several titles itself under the "Essential Games" brand. Additionally, several of thePlayStation Simple 1500 games were released in the US (by Agetec) and Europe (by Midas and Phoenix Games). Despite the recent establishment ofD3 Publisher of America , the only game in the Simple 2000 series to gain a North American release was "The Bass Fishing " (as "Fisherman's Bass Club "); this is believed to be due toSCEA 's more restrictive licensing policy, however this may be relaxed following the release of thePlayStation 3 , therefore allowing Simple 2000 games to be released towards the end of the console's lifespan, as the Simple 1500 games were for the original PlayStation.List of Simple series games
ee also
*
Success (company) , another Japanese publisher whose "SuperLite" series is very similar to D3's Simple series.External links
* [http://www.d3p.co.jp D3 Publisher]
* [http://www.505gamestreet.it 505 GameStreet]
* [http://fuji.drillspirits.net/simple Simple series list] (includes developer and localisation information)
* [http://www.got-next.com/features_read.php?id=30 Simple 2000 article and reviews from got-next]
* [http://www.paleface.net/cgi-bin/gdb/s.pl?title=Simple&c=go Simple series reviews from the_game_database]
* [http://superfamifreak.14.forumer.com/index.php Simple Series message board]References
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