Author Topic: ZUN and Touhou Status 2  (Read 117811 times)

cuc

  • *
  • Probably won't respond 'til this mess is sorted o?
Re: ZUN and Touhou Status 2: ZUN the DIY game advisor
« Reply #90 on: January 13, 2015, 01:49:33 PM »
The site for Taiwan Reitaisai has opened.

Event Name: Hakurei Shrine Regular Grand Festival in Taiwan
Date: June 6, 2015 (Saturday)
Location: Undetermined
Main Organizer: Hakurei Shrine Office (the organizer of Reitaisai)
Supporting Group: GJ
Circle Attendance Fees:
Applying from the Japanese site: 2000 yen (two circle passes)
Applying from the Taiwanese site: 400 new Taiwan dollar

So GJ, an organizer of doujin events in Taiwan, will undertake the Taiwan Reitaisai.

Chinese Wikipedia entry:
http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/GJ%E5%90%8C%E4%BA%BA%E8%AA%8C%E8%B2%A9%E5%94%AE%E6%9C%83

Their website:
http://gjs.tw/


EDIT:
Eh what the heck, apparently a few hours ago they actually had a location on the website, which was later changed into "undetermined". Source: http://www.plurk.com/p/kolpqy

The old location: 国立台湾師範大学公館校区
Which is where the School of Science is located in National Taiwan Normal University.
« Last Edit: January 13, 2015, 02:24:10 PM by cuc »
Touhou Fantasy News: twitter

Re: ZUN and Touhou Status 2: ZUN the DIY game advisor
« Reply #91 on: January 14, 2015, 07:50:46 PM »
Are there no catalogs or an English site?
I'd like to check their doujin works. There were some great ones from Singapore so I'm curious about what they can show here.

cuc

  • *
  • Probably won't respond 'til this mess is sorted o?
Re: ZUN and Touhou Status 2: ZUN the DIY game advisor
« Reply #92 on: January 17, 2015, 08:27:13 AM »
Are there no catalogs or an English site?
I'd like to check their doujin works. There were some great ones from Singapore so I'm curious about what they can show here.
Things are still in early stages. The registration has not opened yet.

They've updated the site with Chinese info. The doujin event organizer 和同會 has been added. The location is still undetermined, but it will be in Taipei.

===========

Judging from twitter, Ruw has been a little troubled by the Touhou Smash incident. He pointed out that part of the problem is that doujinshi is a permission to "make what you enjoy making", but people can get ambitious, turning it into "make a huge, awesome thing". He agrees that there's no proper channel for distributing Touhou fan games outside of Japan at present, "I had thought about it when in Atlanta."

In fandom hearsay, Ruw has the reputation of not being the nicest, or the most open-minded guy. Some of that might be his fault, but I think somebody will always get cast in the role of the bad cop.

However, my attention is caught by this exchange.
Quote
Ruw: So Reitaisai Taiwan is on June 6. And E3 2015 is June 16 ~ 18. That's a nice gap inbetween.

U2 Aki: You got schedule?

Ruw: We still need to organize the Retro Digital Game Expo, so I have to consider our schedule. Seems I can't go...

U2 Aki: I wonder if I can.
So they are considering visiting E3 2015. Maybe they will even go to Game Developers Conference one day?
« Last Edit: January 17, 2015, 03:18:16 PM by cuc »
Touhou Fantasy News: twitter

Mew seeker

  • Find things
Re: ZUN and Touhou Status 2: ZUN the DIY game advisor
« Reply #93 on: January 17, 2015, 03:14:40 PM »
Judging from twitter, Ruw has been a little troubled by the Touhou Smash incident. He pointed out that part of the problem is that doujinshi is a permission to "make what you enjoy making", but people can get ambitious, turning it into "make a huge, awesome thing". He agrees that there's no proper channel for distributing Touhou fan games at present, "I had thought about it when in Atlanta."

I have not heard about the Touhou Smash incident. Is is a Moriya conspiracy? Do you have some links that talk about this matter? I would like to know more.

You can wish for anything!

Re: ZUN and Touhou Status 2: ZUN the DIY game advisor
« Reply #94 on: January 17, 2015, 03:17:32 PM »
I have not heard about the Touhou Smash incident. Is is a Moriya conspiracy? Do you have some links that talk about this matter? I would like to know more.
Have fun.

cuc

  • *
  • Probably won't respond 'til this mess is sorted o?
Re: ZUN and Touhou Status 2: ZUN the DIY game advisor
« Reply #95 on: January 25, 2015, 02:12:00 PM »
I have finally checked off "write about what happened the day before ZUN left for Atlanta" from my to-do list. Give it a read if you didn't know what "Touhou Police" 東方警察 means.


Today I feel like sharing a few unorganized thoughts about some concepts. Good thing this thread is pretty much my column.

インディーズ "indies"
As an English speaker, you know the word "indie" is an abbreviation of "independent (music)". Aside from the material aspect of "music produced independently from the major labels", it also carries connotations of self-reliance, authenticity and rebellous spirit. But in Japan, people are more familiar with the Japanese neologism インディーズ "indies". When they think of "indies", the image they have is of amateur bands not good enough to be picked up by major labels. It is still roughly an equivalent word, but the nuance has changed.

When the indie game movement is introduced into Japan, this has created a little confusion. Should "indie game" in Japanese be インディーゲーム "indie game", or インディーズゲーム "indies game"? On one hand, people are more used to "indies", but on the other hand, that word has a not entirely positive air that the vanguards of the indie movement want to avoid. Even now,  Japanese media are split on which spelling to use, while supporters of the movement tend to prefer "indie game".

インディーゲーム "indie game"
There are more than one way you can understand "indie games". You can say internet distribution has freed the medium from increasingly risk-averse traditional publishers, giving niche products, experiments and diverse voices a chance to flourish. But the media often prefer to view the indie game story as yet another variation of the same "triumph of the enterprising young men" narrative. When Western journalists write about indie games in Japan, they always begin by saying Japan has yet to produce a billion-dollar success like Minecraft; apparently the worth of the indie movement is now judged by whether it can make new billionaires.

So far, the Japanese media have mostly propagated the latter view of indie games. Let me tell you a story.

The grand prize of Independent Games Festival 2013 was awarded to Cart Life, a game that simulates the mundane life of three street vendors. The game, despite its (well-crafted) lo-fi graphics and music, has brought almost everyone who played it to tears. Before winning the prize, several prominent websites had already featured the game and its creator Richard Hofmeier, so there was no excuse for anyone who followed indie games closely to have not heard of the game. Moreover, on the second day of IGF 2013, Hofmeier performed a memorable act of generosity, giving his booth to the text adventure creator Porpentine and her game Howling Dogs.

The victory of an unusual game. A humble and selfless creator giving up his glory to another. These should make for an exciting news story. But every Japanese coverage of IGF 2013 I saw mentioned Cart Life by name only, without even a one-line description of what it is about, as if the writers had never heard of this game.

If I am a doujin developer whose only exposure to indie games is their Japanese coverage, I would definitely regard the movement with suspicion.

同人 "doujin"
The word "doujin" consists of two kanji: 同 "the same", and 人 "people". The actual meaning of the word is "like-minded people", and 同人誌 "doujinshi" means "magazines by like-minded people". The word "doujinshi" was coined by the literary circles of Meiji era to refer to the non-commercial magazines they editted and produced themselves. According to wikipedia, at the beginning of Comic Market, the early otaku actually borrowed the English word "fanzine", referring to their self-published manga as "manga fanzine", and the adoption of the word "doujinshi" took place later.

I don't think the concept of "doujin" is particularly hard to understand if you look at its roots: people who share the same hobby exchanging their self-published writings or drawings. The early otaku would have preferred to exchange their works one by one; they only started charging money to simplify the process and cover each other's expenses. The otaku are far from saints, but they did not, and still often do not make doujinshi while wishing to make money, or let people outside of their own fandoms see their works. The vast majority of doujin creators still do it at a deficit.

同人ゴロ "doujin-goro"
A portmanteau of "doujin" and "gorotsuki" (vagrants), "doujin-goro" initially refers to doujin makers who do frowned-upon things such as plagiarism, or using big name artists to trick people into buying a manga anthology that has little real content (I'm basing this on the Nico encyclopedia entry). In recent years, it has been increasingly used for a different meaning.

By the time ZUN returned to the doujin world in 2002, it has grown enough that Comiket-goers began to call the popular circles 大手サークル "ohte circles", with the same word ohte used to describe powerful companies. An ohte circle's doujinshi always sells out quickly, and their income is often enough for one to quit their day jobs to live on doujinshi (plus freelance work in the anime/manga/game industry). (Note: doujin cannot be used as a way for tax evasion. Ohte circles do have income taxes to pay.)

As the otaku's public image improves, the audience of otaku content keeps growing, and the profitability of a successful doujin circle has only gone up. In today's context, the phrase "doujin-goro" is thrown around as an accusation that a circle is in it only for money, keeps chasing the next big thing that sells well, and has no actual love for the subject matter.

Now you know what the yukkuri Touhou Police on the shirt is saying: ゴロは許さない... 絶対にだ... "Doujin-goro will not be tolerated... absolutely..."

Like ZUN said, there's nothing wrong in trying to make money through doujinshi (but it's not very efficient, he added). I think chasing the latest trend is a valid choice for doujin makers. I'm much more concerned about certain "circles" that are run as fully fledged companies while enjoying the benefits of the doujin world.

Given how much is at stake in the extended anime/manga fandom now, perhaps the best expressions of the doujin spirit is found in those fanzines about unpopular topics like tea or retro video games.
« Last Edit: January 26, 2015, 02:37:35 AM by cuc »
Touhou Fantasy News: twitter

Re: ZUN and Touhou Status 2: ZUN the DIY game advisor
« Reply #96 on: January 25, 2015, 04:13:55 PM »
同人ゴロ "doujin-goro"
A portmanteau of "doujin" and "gorotsuki" (vagrants), "doujin-goro" initially refers to doujin makers who do frowned-upon things such as plagiarism, or using big name creators to trick people into buying a manga anthology that has little real content (I'm basing this on the Nico encyclopedia entry. In recent years, it has been increasingly used for a different meaning.
Interesting. That was not a term I've ever come across.
In today's context, the phrase "doujin-goro" is thrown around as an accusation that a circle is in it only for money, keeps chasing the next big thing that sells well, and has no actual love for the subject matter.
This has interesting implications though. Does that mean circles that tend to release doujinshis based on popular animes of the season are accused as such?
I can understand the appeal of doing so though, because only so many works can be wrung out of an older series, and staying current keeps a circle relevant.

But yeah, those who stick to investing time into making products related to unpopular series truly embody the doujin spirit. I may not be interested in their topic, but their passion has my utmost respect.

UTW

Re: ZUN and Touhou Status 2: ZUN the DIY game advisor
« Reply #97 on: January 25, 2015, 07:12:38 PM »
Interesting. That was not a term I've ever come across.This has interesting implications though. Does that mean circles that tend to release doujinshis based on popular animes of the season are accused as such?
I can understand the appeal of doing so though, because only so many works can be wrung out of an older series, and staying current keeps a circle relevant.

Yeah, in fairness, this relates to 98.7% (I'm making that up) of doujin circles. Pretty much all series, no matter how popular, eventually fall by the wayside as artists move on and gain new interests. There are only a true few that manage to keep real attention for so long. Such as Evangelion, and even that wouldn't have retained so much interest in it without the Rebuild resurgence.

I think there's also something of a catch 22 in the idea of a greedy doujin artist. If you're trying to capitalize on doujin, let alone be so successful that it you're going to make a living off it, let alone be 1% of the ones that can do well enough to be well off (without moving to your own series in a major magazine, I mean), you're going to have a bad time.
« Last Edit: January 25, 2015, 07:15:35 PM by UTW »

Re: ZUN and Touhou Status 2: ZUN the DIY game advisor
« Reply #98 on: January 25, 2015, 08:12:43 PM »
Not all such people are trying to make a profit off doujin work. Many of them are job hunters, drawing whatever is the most popular thing(s) at the moment in hopes that word of their work will reach the ears of some company. A lot of nukige artists are ex-doujin artists who took the first job opportunity they got.

Re: ZUN and Touhou Status 2: ZUN the DIY game advisor
« Reply #99 on: January 26, 2015, 06:39:44 PM »
The whole doujin-goro thing really reminds me of all the cynicism from several fans on Danbooru and 'a certain imageboard' whenever a famous Touhou fanartist or doujin circle shifts their theme mostly to Kancolle. Has anyone from Japan ever accused of these circles as being 'doujin-goro'?

Re: ZUN and Touhou Status 2: ZUN the DIY game advisor
« Reply #100 on: January 26, 2015, 06:49:16 PM »
Yep. Dunno why you would think this is something exclusive to the western fandom.

Helepolis

  • Charisma!
  • *
  • O-ojousama!?
Re: ZUN and Touhou Status 2: ZUN the DIY game advisor
« Reply #101 on: January 28, 2015, 08:59:47 AM »
ZUN just announced something on his twitter with a link to a stream:

ZUN: " 本日、20時より本年最初の二軒目ラジオを放送しますよー。アレやソレの話をする位呑んでもいいでしょうか? http://ustre.am/i8fu "


N-Forza

  • Information Superhighway Robbery
  • *
  • I said it was a steal, but not for whom
Re: ZUN and Touhou Status 2: ZUN the DIY game advisor
« Reply #102 on: January 28, 2015, 09:06:41 AM »
The year's first Nikkenme Radio show, talking about stuff, probably plans for the coming months. He might even touch on the recent fiascos...

cuc

  • *
  • Probably won't respond 'til this mess is sorted o?
Re: ZUN and Touhou Status 2: ZUN the DIY game advisor
« Reply #103 on: January 28, 2015, 09:24:25 AM »
He'll probably spare half a minute of the show to say "I'm releasing a new game this year".

The list of registered circles for Reitaisai 12 is here:
http://reitaisai.com/rts12/uketuke-circlelist

We can see Twilight Frontier and "Shanghai Alice" (not only is the circle name incomplete, it doesn't even have the applicant's name) on the list. This suggests at least Tasofro's Touhou 14.5 will be released there.

There are 3804 circles in total. Tohomemory thinks that while Reitaisai 12 will allow one circle to occupy a double-sized space, making the old practice of registering as two circles to gain two booth spaces obsolete, the number of registered circles has not decreased as much as he thought.
« Last Edit: January 28, 2015, 02:46:25 PM by cuc »
Touhou Fantasy News: twitter

Helepolis

  • Charisma!
  • *
  • O-ojousama!?
Re: ZUN and Touhou Status 2: ZUN the DIY game advisor
« Reply #104 on: January 28, 2015, 09:43:32 AM »
Fuck I will be at work when the stream goes live. I might watch it silently but without any audio.

Also the Circle List blew my mind for various personal reasons. I won't add the noise here.

Flandre5carlet

  • Sister of the Devil
  • "So all I have to do is 'kyuu', and..."
    • flan.moe
Re: ZUN and Touhou Status 2: ZUN the DIY game advisor
« Reply #105 on: January 28, 2015, 11:18:02 AM »
ZUN just announced something on his twitter with a link to a stream:

ZUN: " 本日、20時より本年最初の二軒目ラジオを放送しますよー。アレやソレの話をする位呑んでもいいでしょうか? http://ustre.am/i8fu "
Sadly even if I was able to watch it timing wise, I wouldn't be able to understand at all; so I'll be waiting for a possible transcript and/or translation of what was said there. Or like a condensed summary or something.

cuc

  • *
  • Probably won't respond 'til this mess is sorted o?
Re: ZUN and Touhou Status 2: Reitaisai 12 circle list
« Reply #106 on: January 28, 2015, 03:39:09 PM »
In today's show: ZUN talked about Touhou, but said nothing about what precisely he'll do. He said he would "hate" to release his games to PlayStation, and only fan games will be ported. He said he rearranged his bookshelf specially for the NHK World interview, putting interesting-looking books there (that might explain why we seem to see some of the same books that appeared in the 2010 NHK interview...)

He also watched an official NicoNico live stream of playing PC-98 Touhou games.

In this month's Comp Ace column, he wrote down these words about his prospect of 2015:
Quote
さて、2015年の僕の抱負ですが、今年は望む望まざる関係なく変化の年になると思います。ここ二、三年前から蒔いていた種が生長し、順調にいけば収獲に向かうはずです。ですので、変化に柔軟に対応しつつ、芯を残す事が今年の抱負です。無事に収獲でき、新たな種が自然に蒔かれるように頑張りたいですね。子供も生まれましたし、个人的には楽しい一年になると思っています。そんなこんなで2015年も宜しくお願い致します。

Translating it should be a task for people better than me, but he's saying, whether he likes it or not, 2015 will be a year of changes for him. The time has come to reap the fruits of the seeds sowed two or three years ago. He will weather the changes while keeping his true self intact, harvest the fruits, and plant new seeds. Having already given birth to a child, his 2015 will be an enjoyable year.

This surprisingly candid (but still opaque) declaration for a post-MoF ZUN was what he had in mind coming into today's show: "Last year I made a declaration of changes. This year it will be put into practice." Today's ZUN-quote:
"To keep doing what you have always been doing while you are being changed, this is a kind of change in itself."
« Last Edit: January 29, 2015, 07:38:22 AM by cuc »
Touhou Fantasy News: twitter

Maple

  • Mukyuu!
Re: ZUN and Touhou Status 2: Reitaisai 12 circle list
« Reply #107 on: January 28, 2015, 04:02:12 PM »
Remember the "Marisa dies in 2015" thread from some weeks ago? Did ZUN foreshadow his life events 10 years ago? Will he succumb to despair? Will he make life-altering changes to his works? Is he getting tired of touhou? ZUN confirmed to be Hideaki Anno? Rebuild of Evangelion 4.0 when? :o


Being realistic, what should we expect?

cuc

  • *
  • Probably won't respond 'til this mess is sorted o?
Re: ZUN and Touhou Status 2: Reitaisai 12 circle list
« Reply #108 on: January 28, 2015, 04:22:33 PM »
To answer your question, I read that last quote as saying "I'll try to make Touhou games like I've always done, even if now I have to divide my attention to my son and new businesses."
« Last Edit: January 28, 2015, 04:45:10 PM by cuc »
Touhou Fantasy News: twitter

Helepolis

  • Charisma!
  • *
  • O-ojousama!?
Re: ZUN and Touhou Status 2: Reitaisai 12 circle list
« Reply #109 on: January 28, 2015, 05:46:54 PM »
Basically ZUN doesn't stops being ZUN, but becomes ZUN. I like this ZUN.




N-Forza

  • Information Superhighway Robbery
  • *
  • I said it was a steal, but not for whom
Re: ZUN and Touhou Status 2: Reitaisai 12 circle list
« Reply #110 on: January 29, 2015, 01:51:06 AM »
Translating it should be a task for people better than me
It would be if you wouldn't slip in random simplified kanji :P

cuc

  • *
  • Probably won't respond 'til this mess is sorted o?
Re: ZUN and Touhou Status 2: Reitaisai 12 circle list
« Reply #111 on: January 29, 2015, 07:56:44 AM »
Ouch, that post was made on a phone. The text was copied from a Baidu forum post. I spent several minutes changing the more than a dozen characters auto-converted by Baidu by hand. Seems I missed one (长 vs. 長). The next time I had to post something like that, I'll just leave all the simplified Chinese characters in and tell people to :dealwithit:

Seriously, Baidu's auto-conversion is more annoying than useful, especially considering nearly every Chinese can read traditional characters. Sensible people should always avoid posting Japanese info from Baidu forum, but sometimes you have to.

It is announced a flyer for Taiwan Reitaisai will be distributed at Taiwan's Fancy Frontier 25 convention (Jan 31 to Feb 1). During the same period, ZUN has the NicoNico game advisor thing going on, so he probably wouldn't fly to Taiwan this time.
« Last Edit: January 29, 2015, 10:40:12 AM by cuc »
Touhou Fantasy News: twitter

cuc

  • *
  • Probably won't respond 'til this mess is sorted o?
Re: ZUN and Touhou Status 2: Reitaisai 12 circle list
« Reply #112 on: February 12, 2015, 05:42:46 AM »
At this moment (noon of Feb 12, 2015):
Quote
ZUN: Done applying for Comiket.

ZUN: The Comiket 40th year anniversary questionnaire is so specific. Who's going to spend 500 hours a month on doujin activities... Huh?
The options of the question (how much time you spend on doujin activities each month) are:

a. 2 hours (the only time you spend is for attending Comiket)
b. 5 hours (about 4 days in half a year)
c. 10 hours (one weekend each month)
d. 20 hours (3 hours each week plus one weekend each month)
e. 50 hours (1 hour each day plus one weekend each month)
f. 100 hours (2 hours each day plus two weekends each month)
g. 200 hours (8 hours each day, including all weekends)
h. 500 hours (16 hours each day, including all weekends)

While the question's designer has... questionable arithmetic skills, the joke here should be obvious. ZUN calls Touhou his life's work, so in a sense every hour in his life is contributing to his doujinshi, and the option seems made for him.
« Last Edit: February 12, 2015, 06:38:01 AM by cuc »
Touhou Fantasy News: twitter

Re: ZUN and Touhou Status 2: Reitaisai 12 circle list
« Reply #113 on: February 12, 2015, 06:12:37 AM »
The options of the question (how much time you spend on doujin activities each month) are:

a. 2 hours (the only time you spend is for attending Comiket)
b. 5 hours (about 4 days in half a year)
c. 10 hours (one weekend each month)
d. 20 hours (3 hours each week plus one weekend each month)
e. 50 hours (1 hour each day plus one weekend each month)
f. 100 hours (2 hours each day plus two weekends each month)
g. 200 hours (8 hours each day, including all weekends)
h. 500 hours (16 hours each day, including all weekends)

While the question's designer has... questionable arithmetic skills, the joke here should be obvious. ZUN calls Touhou his life's work, so in a sense every hour in his life is contributing to his doujinshi, and the option seems made for him.

Applause to the questionnaire designer of the con.  :]
Though I think there are other people who do as well, ZUN is the only one doing it without being hardcore.

Helepolis

  • Charisma!
  • *
  • O-ojousama!?
Re: ZUN and Touhou Status 2: Reitaisai 12 circle list
« Reply #114 on: February 12, 2015, 07:44:20 AM »
With my current doujin game, I am dangling between 100 hours and 200 hours currently. ~ 2 - 4 hours a day for weekdays and up to 8 hours per weekend. I stopped having a life until Reitaisai, orz.


cuc

  • *
  • Probably won't respond 'til this mess is sorted o?
Re: ZUN and Touhou Status 2: Reitaisai 12 circle list
« Reply #115 on: February 13, 2015, 03:03:56 PM »
Taiwan Reitaisai update:
Location:  Sanchong District General Gymnasium, New Taipei City
(Chinese Name: 三重區綜合體育館)

Time: 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM, Jun 6, 2015

No. of Circle Spaces (Planned): 120
Touhou Fantasy News: twitter

cuc

  • *
  • Probably won't respond 'til this mess is sorted o?
Re: ZUN and Touhou Status 2: health woes and Touhou's birthdate?
« Reply #116 on: February 17, 2015, 12:40:08 PM »
Time for a twitter update, because there's something you should know.

Three months ago (Dec 9), ZUN had a small accident in the wee hours of the day.
Quote
ZUN: I accidentally sprained my back.

ZUN: Went to a bone-setting clinic. Being surrounded by old ladies is a novel experience.

ZUN: I can move my body freely at last. For someone who'd never held anything heavier than a gamepad, the son is too heavy.
A typical bone-setting clinic is a small private therapy clinic that treats the patient using traditional methods including acunpuncture and Judo-derived techniques. (Reference: Japanese wikipedia: 1, 2)

Since then, while he still seemed to be in overall good health, he has been visiting the clinic for periodical therapy, and the clinic has been an occasional topic of his tweets, for example:
Quote
ZUN: The bone-setting clinic's doctor said my muscles have been slightly atrophied, and for my initial exercise, I should walk more. So I started playing Ingress again.

Or today:
Quote
ZUN: I've come to enjoy listening to the grannies beside me at the bone-setting clinic.

ZUN: The clinic's doctor told me I shouldn't play too much Majora's Mask.
Obviously, the doctor was talking about the 3DS version. Staring down at a 3DS certainly can be bad for your neck, but isn't staring down at your iPhone the same thing?



Famitsu did a report on the "self-made game" area of the Nico game festival, where many landmark amateur/doujin/indie games of Japan were playable, including the PC-98 Touhou games and IaMP, and ZUN played the role of a advisor to junior game makers. Please refer to the article for pictures.

For the advisor segment, the reporter brought a small game he made as a new year postcard, where the player has to jump to dodge incoming sheep. ZUN pointed out the jumping in the game follows a straight V-trajectory, which is unsatisfying. He said the jump can have strong and weak variants, and more than one sheep can appear simultaneously; the player will become more excited if colliding with the sheep can send the player avatar flying; there can be awards for the player, such as "flying through the center results in double score".

Another interesting feature of the self-made game area was its 15 meter-long exhibition board, which displayed a timeline of Japanese amateur/doujin/indie games.

As far as I know, previously, ZUN had only told us that the first Touhou game was made in 1995, which was months before it was publicly shown in a Tokyo Denki University school festival in 1996. According to the exhibition board, Touhou 1 was completed in the August of 1995:




While we are talking about history: recently ZUN has been unclear about whether he quitted Taito in 2007 or 2008. Evidences point to the time being early 2007. He said the direct cause of his resignation was being assigned to do the programming simultaneous for a game's DS and PSP versions. As we know, the DS and PSP platforms are different enough that there were few high-profile games made for both, and one of the exceptions was Taito's Space Invaders Extreme, developed in 2007 and released in 2008.

In all likelihood, ZUN resigned at the outset of the Space Invaders Extreme project. By comparison, the Touhou Bougetsushou project was announced on May 9, 2007, with the first chapter of SSiB coming out only a month later on June 8. A large project like Bougetsushou requires coordination, and its planning must have started very early.

It's hard to say whether the conception of MoF started before or after his resignation, but Touhou Bougetsushou could only have happened because of it.
« Last Edit: February 17, 2015, 02:47:36 PM by cuc »
Touhou Fantasy News: twitter

Re: ZUN and Touhou Status 2: health woes and Touhou's birthdate?
« Reply #117 on: February 17, 2015, 01:12:44 PM »
...I get this weird impression that you're some kind of Touhou archaeologist.

cuc

  • *
  • Probably won't respond 'til this mess is sorted o?
Re: ZUN and Touhou Status 2: health woes and Touhou's birthdate?
« Reply #118 on: February 17, 2015, 01:15:12 PM »
...I get this weird impression that you're some kind of Touhou archaeologist.
Criticism cannot happen without knowing the context in which the work was made.  :flowerpower:
« Last Edit: February 17, 2015, 01:19:12 PM by cuc »
Touhou Fantasy News: twitter

Re: ZUN and Touhou Status 2: health woes and Touhou's birthdate?
« Reply #119 on: February 17, 2015, 02:45:57 PM »


ChoRenSha 68K! A totally underrated shooter!