Dergonu

Yeah! It's fairly common. There are some who literally do not have PCs who settle for the console versions, though this is rare.
It's common for people in Japan to buy the console version as a second copy. This is also one of the reasons why these versions are usually sold quite some time after the initial 18+ release. If the market was screaming for all-ages versions only, these would probably be more common on day of release. But as far as I know, there are basically no console versions that came out close to the 18+ version on PC. It's just generally considered a secondary platform for many eroge fans in Japan. In fact, only the popular eroge that sells a lot of copies usually gets them. So, the 18+ version selling well is basically what determines if an all-ages version comes out or not.
Japan's market is pretty different from the western one.

As far as I know, this is true. Among the console versions I know of, every single one has been released a long time after the original. Of course, I'm sure there are some that were released at the same time, or close to, the original. But, these are the expections that confirms the rule.
If you know something I don't, do share.

But this is kind of my point, there are two examples that breaks the norm, not ones that sets it. Heck, KID has released mostly all-ages only games, with only some of them being 18+ to begin with. We're talking about console versions of eroge. On the other hand, here are some major examples of companies that DO it the way I said:
Inre, Saga Planets, Harukaze, Lose (seems to be changing this from now on, though previous games have done this), Frontwing, Pulltop, Skyfish. I could go on, but you get my point.

Tl;dr support the industry and buy games! In a niche market like this, individual sales can literally make a difference.

Tl;dr support the industry and buy games! In a niche market like this, individual sales can literally make a difference.

Tl;dr support the industry and buy games! In a niche market like this, individual sales can literally make a difference.

Tl;dr support the industry and buy games! In a niche market like this, individual sales can literally make a difference.

Tl;dr support the industry and buy games! In a niche market like this, individual sales can literally make a difference.

It's completely safe, nothing dodgy about them at all. They are one of the biggest localizers in the business. They sell a wide range of different games, with all sorts of adult content. This is likely one of the factors that keeps getting them in trouble with their payment processors. They also had an incident with a bunch of people cancelling their orders on the site in the past for the steam codes that used to come with the games. But, this wasn't MGs fault, they just wanted to give something extra with the purchase of their games. Scammers sadly saw this as a golden opportunity.
Mangagamer is a totally legit and safe site, so you don't have to worry about it "looking dodgy." I suppose that's just an issue with the design of the website.

Neko Work H (sub-brand of Neko Works) released their debut game - Love Cube - on Steam and Fakku.
You can get all ages version for 10$ in Steam and also 18+ patch for 10$ (or buy from Fakku for 20$).

Game size - 4.5Gb (adult patch) + 1.5Gb (all ages) = 6Gb

It's completely safe, nothing dodgy about them at all. They are one of the biggest localizers in the business. They sell a wide range of different games, with all sorts of adult content. This is likely one of the factors that keeps getting them in trouble with their payment processors. They also had an incident with a bunch of people cancelling their orders on the site in the past for the steam codes that used to come with the games. But, this wasn't MGs fault, they just wanted to give something extra with the purchase of their games. Scammers sadly saw this as a golden opportunity.
Mangagamer is a totally legit and safe site, so you don't have to worry about it "looking dodgy." I suppose that's just an issue with the design of the website.

It's completely safe, nothing dodgy about them at all. They are one of the biggest localizers in the business. They sell a wide range of different games, with all sorts of adult content. This is likely one of the factors that keeps getting them in trouble with their payment processors. They also had an incident with a bunch of people cancelling their orders on the site in the past for the steam codes that used to come with the games. But, this wasn't MGs fault, they just wanted to give something extra with the purchase of their games. Scammers sadly saw this as a golden opportunity.
Mangagamer is a totally legit and safe site, so you don't have to worry about it "looking dodgy." I suppose that's just an issue with the design of the website.

Idk I think sites like DLsite and DMM look super legit despite the nature of their products.

Seconding this I had to do this myself and it ends being much faster.

See, this is why I keep my translation files saved in three different places when working, lol. (Updated daily.) Call me paranoid, but losing tons of work is never fun.
RIP non-pixilated penis power.

I don't really know myself either, to be honest. I totally agree with what you're saying, it makes perfect sense. I just honestly get way too worked up about these kinds of things sometimes, and end up forgetting what point I'm even trying to make, lol. I should save that energy for the Moenovels and SakuraGames of the world, heh.
There are some issues with the store, but it just launched so I am sure these are issues they will address in the future. (Like being unable to sell one of their own games. I am interested in seeing how they go about handling this one.)
I do think they should still offer a link to their patches on the store, or if this gets them in trouble with their payment processor, at least mention that the games have been altered and that there is a patch available to restore the content. New customers finding this store, perhaps through the manga and light novels, won't know what "this is the all-ages version" means. The idea of patches being needed to play the full game is probably alien to them. They will probably get more "mainstream" customers specifically because Sol Press is a more "mainstream" company. I suppose this is the only real gripe I have with the site. The other companies you mentioned do this. KaguraGames offer the patches on their own website, which is linked on their Steam profile, and while CherryKiss does not have a store, we sell our games totally uncut on Steam. The theme here being that the patch / uncut versions of games are easily available and not hidden away on a secondary site that you need to know about to find. That I guess is the only real thing I would like to see them fix.

I don't really know myself either, to be honest. I totally agree with what you're saying, it makes perfect sense. I just honestly get way too worked up about these kinds of things sometimes, and end up forgetting what point I'm even trying to make, lol. I should save that energy for the Moenovels and SakuraGames of the world, heh.
There are some issues with the store, but it just launched so I am sure these are issues they will address in the future. (Like being unable to sell one of their own games. I am interested in seeing how they go about handling this one.)
I do think they should still offer a link to their patches on the store, or if this gets them in trouble with their payment processor, at least mention that the games have been altered and that there is a patch available to restore the content. New customers finding this store, perhaps through the manga and light novels, won't know what "this is the all-ages version" means. The idea of patches being needed to play the full game is probably alien to them. They will probably get more "mainstream" customers specifically because Sol Press is a more "mainstream" company. I suppose this is the only real gripe I have with the site. The other companies you mentioned do this. KaguraGames offer the patches on their own website, which is linked on their Steam profile, and while CherryKiss does not have a store, we sell our games totally uncut on Steam. The theme here being that the patch / uncut versions of games are easily available and not hidden away on a secondary site that you need to know about to find. That I guess is the only real thing I would like to see them fix.

I don't really get what you're trying to argue here. If it's "every eroge localizer needs to have their own store", it would seem to be a silly thing to argue, given there are numerous other examples you can go after (at least one of which you yourself work for!).
Sol Press making a store is independent of Panty Press making a store, for reasons which I think I laid out pretty clearly. Each of those actions comes with a separate cost-benefit analysis; the costs are separate (and quite substantial in both cases), and the benefits are separate (and much larger on one of those than on the other). What fact or consideration are you taking issue with here?
There are lots of eroge loc companies performing this same cost-benefit analysis and ending up on one side of it (Denpasoft, Mangagamer, JAST USA), and lots of eroge loc companies performing the same analysis and ending up on the other side (Kagura Games, Cherry Kiss Games, Panty Press). I don't understand why it's something to get worked up about.

nothing fetishy about this game

Yes, very true.
I guess I have an issue with the fact that they are trying to remain an "all-ages" company, yet they localize tons of eroge, including games as fetishy as Nukitashi. (A game they cannot possibly make an all-ages version of, and therefore CANNOT sell on their own store!) Of course, I guess they could just sell it on sites like JAST and cut their losses for that particular title, but you have to admit, this is kind of weird. Why localize this if they know they can't even sell it.
I just find it so puzzling that a company that wants to stay so mainstream and "all-age" friendly is so dead set on doing eroge in the first place. It really would make more sense for them to use the "Panty Press" brand like a separate company, like Sekai did with Denpasoft. No matter how hard they try, they won't be able to avoid the fact that they ARE selling eroge, lots of them. I just don't see this all-age only site as a good idea, considering the amount of eroge they localize.

The key difference you're missing is that Sol Press is an all=ages company which sells more than just all ages visual novels. They also sell other products (especially LNs and manga) from license holders which will not accept being associated with adult content (unlike most VN license holders, since even those releasing all ages content are typically comfortable with 18+ associations, by the nature of the VN industry).
There could conceivably be both an all ages site for Sol Press and an 18+ site for the separate company which deals with 18+ releases of the associated adult content of some of the VNs for which Sol Press releases all-ages versions. However, said site does not currently exist. Maybe it will in the future; I do not know any more than you. The all-ages shop is a sound business decision, because they will benefit from selling their LNs and manga, and yes their all-ages VNs, themselves. Whether it makes sense for that separate company to make an 18+ site to sell their wares, and to then go through all the associated likely payment processor woes mentioned here, is a separate concern.
I'll also add that, from my understanding, payment processors handling adult content typically charge a great deal more overhead due to the higher-risk nature of the product, especially when dealing with small companies.
Long story short, it's a lot more complicated than you're claiming.

Sure, but you can just save yourself the trouble and buy it uncut on JAST, which is kind of my point. Not to mention, this way new customers won't know that there is a patch, as there is no mention of it on their website. Seems utterly pointless to me, as they already have their censored games on Steam. Why buy from this sore when you can buy A) the uncensored game on JAST or B) exactly the same version on Steam.
The payment processor issue is clearly fixable, as Denpasoft, JAST, Fakku etc etc are all already selling eroge. They clearly chose some processor that's overly strict on adult content, and that's their own fault. They are selling eroge. What the hell are they going to do with games like Nukitashi? That game physically cannot be sold in an "all-ages version." You have no game left at that point.

An all-ages only store. (??) You are actually getting a more complete product buying their games from JAST. They don’t even link to their patches on the store. 

Sure, but you can just save yourself the trouble and buy it uncut on JAST, which is kind of my point. Not to mention, this way new customers won't know that there is a patch, as there is no mention of it on their website. Seems utterly pointless to me, as they already have their censored games on Steam. Why buy from this sore when you can buy A) the uncensored game on JAST or B) exactly the same version on Steam.
The payment processor issue is clearly fixable, as Denpasoft, JAST, Fakku etc etc are all already selling eroge. They clearly chose some processor that's overly strict on adult content, and that's their own fault. They are selling eroge. What the hell are they going to do with games like Nukitashi? That game physically cannot be sold in an "all-ages version." You have no game left at that point.

I would not worry about having your computers/ phones checked. I have never experienced this in Japan, and have never heard of it being done.
 
A couple of importnat tips to start of:
First, make sure you always carry cash around with you! Most places, restaurants and stores alike, won't take cards! And, even if they do, there's a high chance your western cards won't do. Go to a 7-eleven and take out a decent amount of cash when you arrive. (7-eleven ATMs accept most foreign cards.) Japan is a very safe country, so don't feel scared about carrying around a lot of cash; it's very common there. (And there are like no pickpockets in the whole country.)
When you arrive at Narita, (or another airport, if you're landing somewhere else,) go to an internet rental counter and rent a mobile router or a sim card. These are usually quite cheap, and you can get unlimited data usage for periods of 1-2 weeks, depending on how long your stay is. Western phones won't work well in Japan, and data prices are very high if you're not using wifi, so I strongly recommend you get one of these. The staff also speaks English, so you don't have to worry about that.
 
Now, first advice I have for dining in Japan: Don't judge the quality of a restaurant by the outside. A lot of places, even fancy ones, will look extremely barebones on the outside.
If you're looking for cheap dining options, family restaurants are pretty nice. It might seem kind of lame going to chains like Denny's in Japan, but they actually have good, reasonably priced food. (Japanese dishes as well, not just western stuff.) Denny's is also open 24/7, so it's a pretty chill place. Saizeriya is also a family restaurant chain that's quite popular, though they have less Japanese food compared to Denny's.
Ramen places are always nice. You usually get quite a lot of food for your money. It's also very delicious!
Also, contrary to popular belief, you can find some seriously cheap yet good sushi places. Google is your friend when it comes to finding them.
 
If you want cheap hotels, then capsule hotels are your best bet. Though, keep in mind, these are just tiny rooms with a bed, usually nothing else. You could also get a bed in a dorm styled hotel, which is usuaully a little better in terms of bahtroom/ shower facilities, though they will be shared among all the occupants. If you want a private room, then it's going to be a bit pricy, even for smaller ones, assuming you're looking for a place in Tokyo/ Kyoto.
 
As for buying merch, Akihabara. It's basically just a town filled with merch, lol. If there is any specific kinds of merch you are looking for, for specific types of series', you should google the series' name, then akihabara, and see what comes up. Chances are there are several stores selling stuff from it.
Other than that, you have the big named stores like Sofmap, Gamers, K-books, Trader etc etc. Just walk around town and try not to blow all your money on merch. (/ω＼)
 
If you're going in the summer/ spring, bring light clothing. It gets extremely hot in the summer, and the humidity is also incredibly high. Sunscreen and sunglasses!