Wind: where to buy?

Hey, I really want to support the original creators of the game, Wind -a breath of heart-, and I was wondering where I could buy it. I've been looking around, and it seems even himeyashop doesn't have it. Can anyone help?

[Asceai]

Unfortunately it's been out of print for a while. You can still get it from auctions.yahoo.co.jp through an intermediary. There was a discussion on this in the himawari thread, I think.

Oh, and that won't support the original creators of the game. If you want to support the original creators of the game (who, financially, really need your support [or did, the last I heard]), buy ef -the latter tale-, which _is_ available from himeyashop.

[Enerccio]

hmm, what did you hear? about minori? I though they were getting fine...

[Asceai]

ef -the first tale- cost a crapload of money and didn't sell that well (EDIT: it looks like it sold just fine. 40000 copies or so)
plus it was released as a semi-budget title (6800?)

however, I'm pretty damn sure it ended up costing more than the titles that beat it in 2006.

I hope ef -the latter tale- did better, because it is a better title (and feels considerably longer, so I expect it also cost a decent amount)

[Enerccio]

oh, thanks for the info
I always though that people liked millions of cg as ef had

[drmchsr0]

Getchu rankings say the latter tale is selling fine.

[rg4619]

Rankings only indicate relative sales performance though. We don't know if second place means <15k copies or >35k.

At any rate, it's probably an uphill battle for minori. Continuations generally don't sell as well as the original, especially if the latter's reception was mixed (those who didn't love the first game are quite likely to pass on a continuation).

Thanks! I'll see what I can do, although I don't speak Japanese, I might be able to get something along the lines of AGTH working. By the way, what is the news on Minori's games? Specifically, are there any translation projects working on them that haven't closed down? Sorry if I appear to be a noob in this area, it's true. I only just started using these forums...

[Asceai]

I don't think there's any active translations on any of minori's other games.

Perhaps some people (such as me) waited for the latter tale to be released before buying the first tale? For my part, buying what was advertised as the first part only of a game didn't push me into buying it, no matter how good it may be. >_<

[EchoMateria]

Back then I read this on wiki about the financial state of Minori:

"Since the cost of Ef ran too high, most of the profits from Minori's previous titles Wind: A Breath of Heart, Haru no Ashioto, and Angel Type were used for the production of Ef. In fact, it took about 40 million yen (about US$350,000) just to release Ef: First Fan Disc and the maxi single containing the game's opening theme. However, Minori still ran low on money and in the end they had to make a 50 million yen (about US$440,000) loan. Mikage's material gathering trip to Germany through Moscow, Russia came to about 100,000 yen (about US$900)."

[rg4619]

Perhaps some people (such as me) waited for the latter tale to be released before buying the first tale?

That might be the case. However, since the market is primarily driven by first week sales (and the associated anticipation/hype), I'd assume that waiting doesn't apply to the vast majority of consumers. It's very different from the western games industry.

Usually, if something doesn't sell right off the bat, it'll never do big numbers, regardless of critical reception. By then, hype has died down, and newer, fresher games get the attention.

Back then I read this on wiki about the financial state of Minori:

Well, minori probably recouped much of the losses at launch. Prior to release, they were confident in the product's marketability, so they could readily admit to the large investment they made.

Originally Posted by rg4619

That might be the case. However, since the market is primarily driven by first week sales (and the associated anticipation/hype), I'd assume that waiting doesn't apply to the vast majority of consumers. It's very different from the western games industry.

Usually, if something doesn't sell right off the bat, it'll never do big numbers, regardless of critical reception. By then, hype has died down, and newer, fresher games get the attention.

I know how the Japanese erogee market works, thank you very much, but
the first tale was a special case, though, being advertised as the first half of the game itself. The first reviews didn't help either, insisting on the short aspect of the game, since it was only half of the "true" one. Pre-orders pay a good role, but first week hype helps as well. When most of it is "it's very beautiful but short, and you're left hanging, since it's only the first half of the actual game", it doesn't help.