AnimePlay
Anime Play is a trademark used to refer to the visual novel games distributed by Hirameki International and a discontinued magazine profiling these games.
Anime Play DVD
Anime Play DVDs are the only English-language visual novels that are playable on standard DVD players; they can also be played on PCs with DVD-ROM drives or video game consoles that can play DVDs like the PlayStation 2 or Xbox. The restrictions of the DVD format mean that these games are missing many features present in most visual novels such as separate volume controls for music and voices; controlling the speed at which text is played; and ability to save the game at any point.The following games have been released in Anime Play format:Phantom of Inferno, a crime/romance dramaAmusement Park, a romantic dramaDay of Love, a high school romanceTea Society of a Witch, a magical fantasyHourglass of Summer, a time travel romanceIshika and Honori, a spiritual detective dramaDragonia, a fantasy adventure gameExodus Guilty, a three-part adventure taking place over three time periods
Hirameki International announced in 2003 that having released Phantom of Inferno earlier that year, they would be releasing fifteen more titles in AnimePlay format in the fourth quarter of 2003, and described all sixteen on their website; however, in summer of 2003 most of these titles were removed from the website. Phantom of Inferno, Amusement Park and Day of Love were the only games released in 2003. The full list of visual novels to which they apparently acquired the rights is:Phantom of Inferno: released in 2003Day of Love: released in 2003The Sixteenth Night Love Song, a love adventure game: status unknownThe Bride of Ergeners, a marriage adventure game: status unknownLying on Yoshia Heights, a fantasy adventure game: status unknownKoimusubi , a romance story: status unknownAmusement Park: released in 2003Snow Talk, a fantasy simulation game: status unknownSeparate Blue, a school love story: status unknownAzrael, a ghost story: status unknownSweet Legacy, a cooking love story: status unknownFive O One, an action story: status unknownCanary, a school love story: status unknownHooligan, an action love comedy: status unknownTea Society of a Witch: released in summer 2004Hourglass of Summer: released in summer 2004
In late 2005, Hirameki announced on their blog that after releasing the remaining two volumes of Exodus Guilty, the Anime Play DVD series will be discontinued, and all of their visual novel titles will be released on PC.
AnimePlay PC
AnimePlay PC games are the visual novels released in the United States by Hirameki International. Currently, they include:Ai Yori Aoshi, a port of the PlayStation 2 game.Animamundi, a gothic horror game.Ever17, a mystery/suspense/romance game.Piece of Wonder, a strategy game/romance.Yo-Jin-Bo, an action/romance game.Hirameki has announced that all of their future releases will be on this product line. It is unknown whether any of the 15 titles announced for DVD release in 2003 are currently slated for a PC release.
As of January 2, 2008, Hirameki "has decided to bow out of publishing Interactive Visual Novels". The only retail store selling Anime Play products has also gone out of business.
Because of this, no more Anime Play DVDs or PC games will be sold.