So, what's happened to Hirameki?

[GreatSaintLouis]

Aside from an announcement of their presence at a convention in May, the last real update of any sort to the site happened around the time of the Piece of Wonder download edition release. Anyone know what the cause for the lack of updates could be? No updates on account of no news would be one thing (especially if they're hard at work on a new project or negotiating rights), but considering Hirameki's shaky past, I'm hoping it's not any sort of ill omen.

Not much to say really. Hirameki is still alive, although an online presence has virtually disappeared. Fans who've spoken with them are saying that:

- no new licenses have been picked up
- there's still one license remaining, and Princess Nightmare hasn't been ruled out as that title (a new otome game from Karin Entertainment.....doesn't interest me one bit, unfortunately....)
- Hirameki planned on licensing two NitroPlus games last year, but nothing became of it
- ditto for two KID games, although that had to do with an unexpected bankruptcy (Hirameki came knocking on KID's door only after the fact). Never7 was one of the games considered, while the other is said to have been either Remember11 or a Memories Off game, depending on whom you ask.
- they're considering a PS2 game line (sounds like a long shot to me, given the complications involved with approval, console life cycle, and distribution)

So yeah, things aren't exactly looking up. Let's just hope that they hang in there for longer.

Another sad thing (because I'm not anti-Hirameki or anything like that) is that they don't even moderate their own forums anymore. Not going to spell out why.

There's only one *current* Hirameki game, among those that interest me at least, that I haven't bought and played yet, so hopefully they don't sink and actually do bring more games over. It's a bit of a useless hope, but a hope nevertheless.

I've bought a couple of Hirameki games in the recent past, and believe me, I'm not happy about the prospect of their going down and out.

[dovac]

When I was their store in city of industry a few weeks ago they were having a 50% off sale of all their inventory (except their own games) and I asked the clerk there about having a panel at AX and they said its unknown...

It'd be sad to see them go... but unfortunately also not unexpected.

I was hoping to see if they could make something of 12Riven...

[DaFool]

This sounds like bad news to me. I'm pretty sure this is related with some employees (maybe web admins, forum moderators?) losing their jobs. But perhaps they can just lay low for a while to tide things over, or maybe a chance that they get bought by another company so they can keep on running.

It's a shame, though, I just bought Pieces of Wonder, and it seems the 18+ portion of English commercial VN scene (Peach Princess, G-Collections), is going well. This company brings much-needed diversity to the market.

[Demian]

Originally Posted by rg4619

- Hirameki planned on licensing two NitroPlus games last year, but nothing became of it

A little part of me just died inside. The only chance I ever had of being able to play any more Nitro+ games was Hirameki licensing them, but now that's gone. Kind of a shame, too, because Hirameki really would of had a chance to sell big with Nitro+ games. I wonder what two they were, since Hirameki's no porn rule rules out a lot of their games. Maybe Phantom Intergration and the all ages Demonbane?

[GreatSaintLouis]

I think everyone's kinda jumping the gun here--from what I'm reading, it seems Hirameki's just laying low for the time being and working on stuff inside the company, not shutting down completely.
And besides, with Cyberfront picking up KID's properties, there could still be a chance yet that we might see a few more localizations. No idea about Nitroplus, though.
Anyways, it's good to hear that Hirameki is still hanging in there, but let's not close their doors before they do, huh?

[Misu]

Originally Posted by Demian

I wonder what two they were, since Hirameki's no porn rule rules out a lot of their games. Maybe Phantom Intergration and the all ages Demonbane?

The two titles that Hirameki had where Nitro+'s Vjedogonia and Hello World. Both were lost to the DVD to PC format switch (amount countless other titles). They were also going to be porting the DigiTurbo DVD versions of the game, which was all ages.

Theres a very interesting story behind the whole Nitro+ licenses, but I'm not sure it would be the best to recant it so I'll just leave it up to your guy's imagination =P.

[Demian]

Originally Posted by Misu

The two titles that Hirameki had where Nitro+'s Vjedogonia and Hello World. Both were lost to the DVD to PC format switch (amount countless other titles). They were also going to be porting the DigiTurbo DVD versions of the game, which was all ages.

Theres a very interesting story behind the whole Nitro+ licenses, but I'm not sure it would be the best to recant it so I'll just leave it up to your guy's imagination =P.

If it's not too much trouble I'd love to hear what happened. Vjedogonia was one of the games that really got me interested in Nitro+, so I'd love to hear what happened to it. I don't like the dvd format, but I could of set that aside to play it

[Misu]

Well, its just as I said. Essentially Hirameki had acquired Digiturbo DVD versions of Vjedogonia and Hello World to produce under the AnimePlay DVD lineup, but when that was sacked, they could not get the licensee to transfer the license to the PC version. Nevertheless, Hirameki should had been able to get the PC versions of Nitro+'s games because of their status, but things went awry somewhere down the line (which the details I think its best I keep to myself) and they could not get the transfer.

I personally think the switching of formats hurt pretty badly (though I'll ask them specifically at AX), even if a lot of the titles they had were not great ones. It still had cost money to acquire them and now they cant use those licenses.

Well, its just as I said. Essentially Hirameki had acquired Digiturbo DVD versions of Vjedogonia and Hello World to produce under the AnimePlay DVD lineup, but when that was sacked, they could not get the licensee to transfer the license to the PC version. Nevertheless, Hirameki should had been able to get the PC versions of Nitro+'s games because of their status, but things went awry somewhere down the line (which the details I think its best I keep to myself) and they could not get the transfer.

So there's no longer any chance of a working relationship between Hirameki and Digiturbo/Nitroplus? Things don't sound very good.

I personally think the switching of formats hurt pretty badly (though I'll ask them specifically at AX), even if a lot of the titles they had were not great ones. It still had cost money to acquire them and now they cant use those licenses.

Yeah, I don't see why they couldn't have released some of the better DVD titles instead of scrapping the line entirely. I guess they were banking on much greater success with PC games, which never happened.

[Misu]

Originally Posted by rg4619

So there's no longer any chance of a working relationship between Hirameki and Digiturbo/Nitroplus?

No... there is still a decent probability of some future licenses..., but it probably wont be soon and until Hirameki sorts out some things.

Originally Posted by rg4619

Yeah, I don't see why they couldn't have released some of the better DVD titles instead of scrapping the line entirely. I guess they were banking on much greater success with PC games, which never happened.

The DVD versions were extremely difficult and expensive to work with. It is probably cheaper for them to release PC games instead of DVD ones because of the less cost of developing them. Plus, the fans like it a lot better... (even if the brick and mortars don't ><).

[Demian]

While it's nice to have a company that even puts out visual novels, sometimes it's hard not to criticize Hirameki for their series of bad business decisions. Whether it be overestimating the market, cutting out several titles, or difficulties in marketing. I guess this is an instance where fans running a business doesn't work out well. I hope they can set things straight in the future.

[Misu]

They unfortunately faced a lot of internal issues within the company initially... which most of them have been sorted out now..., but I think that their working out the last bits of optimizing the inside of the company right now, which might be a reason for their silence.