There was a certain type of book that I adored more than others though. Currently it goes by many names.... Choose Your Own Adventure, Pick a Path, and Fantasy Game Books to name a few. The reason these books appealed so much to me was because it allowed me to have some degree of control over the story. No longer was I just a reader, watching the story as it happened ... no, now I was REALLY in the story and the choices I made greatly effected the outcome. I had found a new love, and it was one that would occupy me throughout my childhood clear up to and through high-school.

When I left for college I left these books behind. My collection had grown so large that I had two entire bookshelves filled with over flowing paperbacks of the stories I had grown to love. I was off into the real world now, no longer did I need these stories to entertain me, educate me, and exercise my mind. I was fully sure college in and of itself would do all of that.

Around the middle of my sophomore year of college something happened. As I was glancing around on the net I stumbled across a game. Yes, it was a pirated version of it. In my defense I was young and naive and didn't really think much to the effect that I was harming or destroying a company. That reality would hit me later. For now, I just wanted to check out what this "game" was about. After I had finished playing with "Season of the Sakura" I took the time to do a search on the net for the title. The search took me to the site of a company known as JastUSA. I was overwhelmed with joy when I discovered that there were plenty more games like Season of the Sakura. The vast majority had adult content, but I didn't mind. I was, after all, an adult and the few sex scenes that had appeared in Season of the Sakura didn't distract much from the story. I would venture forth to another website and would learn the horrible news about the effect that pirating was having on these games. I felt ashamed and I didn't hesitate for one moment before I ordered my official copy of Season of the Sakura. A copy that I still have in my Bishoujo game collection and one that I hold very dear to my heart and that, still today, remains one of my most treasure games. I think the reason I place so much love into Season of the Sakura is because it was my first game ... my very first. I vowed to never again play a pirated version of what I came to know as Bishoujo games.

Bishjo, for those who don't know, is a Japanese word which means "pretty girl." The assumption by the vast majority of the American market is that a Bishoujo game is a Hentai game ... that is, filled with sex. That isn't exactly true. Any game that hails from Japan and is done in anime form that contains pretty girls would be, for the most part, termed a Bishojo game. Those games may or may not include sex in it. Hirameki International, as a case and point, brought to the U.S. the wonderful "Phantom Inferno," a Bishuojo game without sex in it. Equally as stunning and as popular among the Bishoujo gaming community is a title by the name of Eve Burst Error which was brought here by Himeya Soft, again a game with no sex. Hirameki International is releasing two more games this year... Hourglass of Summer and Tea Society of the Witch, both of which will be sex free.

Of course, one of the joys for many who do play Bishoujo games is the fact that such games weave together storylines in a way that appeals to adults. These would be games that, yes has some sex in them, but still bring forth a compelling story. None does this better than Kana Little Sister and Crescendo, both titles by G-Collections. These are considered the crop of the cream in the English Bishoujo Game world right now. Kana is so powerful that it has almost never failed to bring tears to a players eyes and Crescendo has just the right amount of nostalgia to it to make you ponder and think back over your own last days of high school.

As fans sit back and cross their fingers hoping that companies bring more games like Kana and Crescendo to the United States shores, they realize that the likelihood is, at present, small at best. Between those pirating games, an economy that has been crumbling, and the mere fact that bishoujo games in Japan make up only a very small percentage of all Japanese games, the likelihood of the better titles ever reaching us are, sadly, slim. Yet, for me, hope still remains and always will.

The problem lies in the fact that bishoujo games, for all intensive purposes, are not exactly well known here in the U.S. The other problem lies in the confusion and prejudices that some people place onto these games. "ALL bishoujo games are about sex and nothing but sex..." "Bishoujo games are all pornographic in nature," "Bishoujo games are perverted and should be banned"........ these, unfortunately, are some comments you are likely to hear from the uneducated masses here in the U.S.

While it is true that many companies do release what has come to be termed dark games by the English Bishoujo Game community, it's important to understand and realize that not all games follow that train of thought. Among the dark games include Virgin Roster, Sensei 2, and Tsuki-- Possession. These game focus on a heavy amount of nonconsensual sex, i.e., rape. These are the games new comers are urged to avoid. For most, it will leave nothing but a bad taste in the mouth and will harm the image that some of the more story driven games can provide.

It's the opinion of this author, that those people who grew up with and loved choose your own adventure games and/or who have found the world of interactive fiction enjoyable, would also enjoy at least some of the bishoujo games on the market. If more interest in these games isn't developed, then the likelihood of seeing the better story driven games will continue to fade further and further from our grasps. Something that I'm hell bent to ensure doesn't happen.

There are other Bishoujo games out there and on the market other than the interactive choose your own adventure type. Take, for exmaple, Brave Soul brought to the U.S. by Peach Princess. This is a true role playing game similar to Final Fantasy and games of those nature. It is also one of the hotest Bishoujo games right now on the English market. Additionally, Peach Princess will be releasing Little My Maid in the near future, which will be more in the taste of a simulator than a choose your own adventure style game. There are, in fact, as many niches in the Bishoujo game world as there are in the English computer gaming world as a whole. There are RPGs, interactive fiction, sims, shooters, and many others. Again, due to the lack of populatory, we here in America are for the most part forced to place our attentions on the choose your own adventure style games. For me, that's fine. There are many out there who do not have a liking for interactive fiction though who would have a liking for say role playing games or sims. The trouble is, again, we can only work with what we have until such a time comes that we can prove that the interest is here to bring forth other games. The only way to do that is to support what is already on the market.

The following games are recommended to new comers and are in no particular order. These are games that tend to be heavily focused on storylines and character development as opposed to sex. They are also games that do not fall into the so called dark game category.

Remember, for ever purchase you make you are helping to support the bishoujo gaming world here in America and that means you are helping to bring some of the better and more diverse bishoujo game niches and titles here as well.

1. Brave Soul (must be 18 to buy)
2. Kana ~ Little Sister (must be 18 to buy)
3. Crescendo (must be 18 to buy)
4. Eve Burst Error
5. Private Nurse (must be 18 to buy)
6. Critical Point (must be 18 to buy)
7. Season of the Sakura (must be 18 to buy)
8. Casual Romance Club (must be 18 to buy)
9. Graduation 2
10. Hourglass of Summer (15+ age group)

For more information on English Bishoujo Games and to help educate yourself on what could be a great opportunity it is suggested you check out the following websites.

1. www.JastUSA.com
2. www.PeachPrincess.com
3. www.G-Collections.com
4. http://engbishoujo.tripod.com/mainpage2.html

Both Peach Princess (highly recommended) and G-Collections have forums where questions can be posted and where you should get some good educated answers from people who have been involved, for the most part, in English Bishoujo (and in many cases Japanese Bishoujo) Gaming for a while.