After going into the presentation file and replacing “Anime Expo” with “Otakon”, the presenter was ready to start the presentation. The presentation started with an overview of what bishoujo games were and how JAST USA started in 1997 with importing J-Pop CDs. Next, the releases for the past year were reviewed and this segued into the announcement that Family Project is finally available and shipping now.

The presentation then moved onto future releases, with Cat Girl Alliance entering beta and scheduled for release this fall, Raidy II scheduled for release this winter, and it was noted that the project to bring out Cleavage was frozen due to the Japanese company losing the uncensored artwork. As for some of the games for which they don’t have a date yet, the Moero Downhill Night series of games are expected to be out soon. According to the presentation, the staff who worked on the CG animation for Initial D also worked on the CG animation in this game. Lastly, the presentation covered the Yukkuri Panic series of games, which will each be released in a combo pack consisting of a short bishoujo game and a short arcade game.

However, just like the Anime Expo panel, the panel presentation stops at a “One More Thing” screen, and then proceeds to talk about the previously announced partnership between Nitro+ and JAST USA. After showing the trailers for Zanma Taisei Demonbane and Jingai Makyo, the presenter noted that there’s a third game whose license hasn’t been finalized yet. The main presentation closed out with a statement from JAST USA that they’re really happy about the feedback from fans about which games they want. Furthermore, they claim that Nitro+ is happy to be represented by JAST USA in the US and that there is an American comic book for Saya no Uta in progress. Nitro+ is also supposedly really interested in getting Saya no Uta (which they consider their pet project) made into a Hollywood movie.

After the main presentation, a raffle was held for some items. Apparently a copy of Family Project and a male “stress relief toy” were both won by female audience members.

The question and answer segment, which wasn’t done at Anime Expo due to time constraints, brought forth some interesting information. The first question was about why JAST USA doesn’t try to get their games run through the ESRB. They explained that since they know they’re going to get an Adults Only (AO) rating anyway, the wait and headache involved with getting games cleared by the ESRB was too much of a hassle. When asked about running their games on Macs, the reply was that their games run great on Intel Macs through the use of VMWare Fusion or Parallels Desktop and that they also run well through the CrossOver series of products from CodeWeavers.

When asked about Raidy III, JAST USA says that they let the original publishers know that they are interested and that if the game gets released in Japan, they will be able to get it. Although the panelists couldn’t asnwer directly in response to a question about the budget of games Japan-side, they did talk about how some companies are small with only a few employees and some companies are gigantic, like Nitro+. Furthermore, it was noted that bishoujo game companies for the most part make their own game engines. Then, perhaps in response to recent events in the Japanese eroge industry, it was noted that one of the things JAST USA had to learn was to find game companies that are open-minded about the world who wants their games to be played by Americans. There are issues now with some companies who want to be left alone and don’t see the US as a market.

When asked about whether there was a market for non-adult visual novels, the response was that before the deal with Nitro+, JAST USA wouldn’t have been quite sure about the possibility of an all-ages visual novel market, and that there’s a downside to being an adult game publisher. However, with Nitro+ games, they would consider everything, as long as Nitro+ is interested. For example, Nitro+ is most likely going to want to see good sales numbers on Demonbane before they would consider bringing over CHAOS;HEAD. A later question revealed that CHAOS;HEAD is one of Nitro+’s crown jewels and that the rights lie with Nitro+ and another company (most likely 5pb.). Therefore, it would be tough to get this game.

When asked about otome games, the reply was that there is a market, but what can be released will depend on what JAST USA can get and what they think will be good. As for combo packages of figures and software, it was noted that this was a nice idea, but hard to implement. For example, most of the Nitro+ figures are out of print. However, JAST USA would be interested in doing what it can to do another print run of an Ignis figure.

As for rereleasing Phantom of Inferno, it was noted that the original Nitro+ game had no voices and that an unvoiced game in “this day and age” might not work too well.

Lastly, when asked about acquiring boys love (BL) games from Nitro+ CHiRAL, it was noted that sales results for the two BL games JAST USA has brought haven’t been very peachy. They’re open to the idea of BL games, and suggested perhaps to do a preorder campaign where if there’s enough preorders, they will get the game.

After the panel was over, conversations let loose the rumor that the third game from Nitro+, which is in negotiations right now, is apparently not a visual novel. This would yield a few possibilities:

• the two minigames from Sabbath Nabe
• a 3D mecha sequel to Zanma Taisei Demonbane called Kishin Hishou Demonbane
• a Mario Kart clone based on Demonbane characters called Azathoth D
• a 2D fighting game featuring heroines from Nitro+ games (and Saber) called NITRO+ROYALE

UPDATE: The Nitro+ flap from the JAST USA Dating-Sim Game Catalog that shipped with Family Project apparently has the NITRO+ROYALE title image as the background.

Shortly after the announcement of a collaboration between JAST USA and Nitro+ release games in English, the fan translation patches and scripts of Nitro+ games on TLWiki were taken down mysteriously without comment. The removed material included full translation patches for Chaos;Head and Saya no Uta, as well as partial translations for Demonbane and Sumaga. It appeared to be a gesture on the part of the people who worked on these translations to JAST USA. As of a few days ago, there has also been a message on the top page of TLWiki proclaiming:

ALL NITRO+ SCRIPTS TAKEN OFF OF THE SITE WERE REMOVED AFTER RECEIVING THE CONSENT OF ALL STAFF MEMBERS INVOLVED WITH THEIR TRANSLATION AND EDITING. TLWIKI WILL NEVER DELETE ANY SCRIPT WITHOUT THE STAFF’S EXPRESS CONSENT.

Today, the post on the gemot indicated that the fan translators are trying out working with JAST USA and have stated that by doing so, they hope to increase the speed of releases, to make sure true fans are working on the projects, and to bring over more Nitro+ games. They will be giving their current scripts over to JAST USA and will help with finishing up translations.

We were also able to reach Peter Payne, owner of JAST USA, afterwards for comments on the matter. When asked about what brought about this collaboration with fan translators, Mr. Payne replied:

In addition to the quality of their titles, part of what attracted us to the games of Nitro+ is the great passion many fans already feel for their games. We’re open to having any talented translators help us with the game translations, regardless of their place in the fan community. Bottom line, anyone who wants to help and can do a smooth, professional translation will be considered.

When asked about whether this would have an effect on the release date of their upcoming Nitro+ products, he said:

Possibly, we’re still trying to make a guess about this. We need to talk with the programmers in Japan and find out what their schedule is like.

We also asked him about whether the completed fan translations — Chaos;Head and Saya no Uta — would be brought over as well in addition to the two currently announced titles, and he had this to say:

We certainly would like to bring these games out to fans, and will try to get them added to the release schedule. Nitro+ is especially interested in the prospect of getting Saya no Uta out to fans (actually there will be an American comic of the story made). We can’t say any more at this point although we are open to taking any positive step that will get these games out into the hands of fans.

Lastly, Mr. Payne commented on the removal of the projects from TLWiki by saying:

We didn’t ask that the projects be taken down, but it’s a good idea to be proactive since the Nitro+ staff likely would have soon.

Shingo started the panel with news that rumors of his death have been greatly exaggerated. Amidst the numerous double entendres being inserted into various parts of the panel presentation, JAST USA did present information on their releases in the past year, titles coming up, future projects as well as a new website revamp they have been working on.

For upcoming titles still under production, Cat Girl Alliance is expected in Fall 2009 and Lightning Warrior Raidy II is expected in Winter 2009. Cleavage, as noted before, is now officially frozen; they will continue production if the original game company locates the missing uncensored images. Translation is finished for the Downhill Night series and a few technical issues still need to be solved before release. It is mostly waiting on the Japanese side and if things turn out well, it can be out as early as fall.

The panel presentation then unveiled a quasi-new announcement concerning a game they hinted at during the panel at Anime Expo last year. It will be a new series of games called Yukkuri Panic. Each release will consist of a visual novel game bundled with an arcade-style game. The point of the arcade game is to reveal parts of an image by tracing out those sections without hitting an obstacle. The first release in this series is going to be Escalation, a heavily lesbian-themed game taking place in a Catholic school. These games are from the same people who made the Downhill Night games.

Noting that the panel would be a bit short if it ended right then and there, the presentation proceeded with a large “One More Thing” on screen. This was followed by showing a promotional video for Nitro+’s game, Zanma Taisei Demonbane. Following the video, Shingo explained who Nitro+ were and some other games they have released. Early 2010 was given as a goal for this release. The presentation followed with a promotional video for Jingai Makyou, the second title JAST USA has licensed. The presenters noted that Nitro+ “produces incredibly high budget and high quality games” and that JAST USA is “confident [they] can represent Nitro+ adequately in [their] partnership with them.” If the reception for these games are good, they’ll continue with more games. There’s currently a third title currently under negotiations, but no details have been provided. JAST USA says that they hope to have the two announced games available by the next Anime Expo.