Where and how do you purchase your visual novels?

[Tamaki Sakura 101]

I was wondering about the purchasing habits of the visual novel community, more specifically, where and how it buys visual novels.

The polls covers both English and Japanese releases. This is about visual novel purchasing habits, as such, please don't respond regarding how you obtain pirated games.

Personally, I've gone fully digital and my preferred shops are Steam (if all-ages or officially patched) and company websites. I've done a few Kickstarters in the past at low tiers, but don't anymore.

Edited January 3, 2018 by Tamaki Sakura

[Narcosis 1,193]

If there's a title I really want, I will get it.

Might be slightly biased, but for the really good ones, I prefer a physical version over digital download.

[Plk_Lesiak 2,086]

Pretty much Steam and Itch.io. I didn't buy a physical copy of any game in years, pretty much for as long as Steam grew into the main PC storefront and my internet connection became bearable when donwloading full games. At some point in the future I'll be buying the translated SonoHana titles, which don't have all-ages versions and thus are not on Steam, so I'll have to add Mangagamer store to the list.

I generally focus on translated, all-ages titles and OELVNs though so my perspective is super-skewed when compared to more experienced/hardcore VN fans.

Edited January 3, 2018 by Plk_Lesiak

[Ningen 106]

For Japanese games

Physical: online with amiami.com, amazon.co.jp global shipping, proxy shipping from japanese stores etc

Digital: Dlsite, dmm, etc.

 

For English localized ones

Physical: backed some Kickstarters for the boxes

Digital: bought some bundles from the humble store and similar sites because they were cheap

 

Usually playing in Japanese, so the English ones are pretty much decorations (haven't even bothered to download most of the English digital ones).

 

[bakauchuujin 420]

Personally I mostly buy physical.

English versions I buy from the site of the publishers namely Mangagamer and Jast USA

I also pleged for the collectors edition of Newton and the Apple Tree so I gues I could also count kickstarter, though I do keep away from kickstarters from SP.

Last time I went to Japan I also bought a bunch of physical eroge from Sofmap and Traders.

I have also bought physical editions for PS Vita and PS4 of many VNs based of different series that have had an anime, like nisekoi yomeiri, New Game The Challenge Stage, To Love Ru Darkness True Princess and many more. For this I have used both amiami and playasia.

In cases where there is no physical version available I will go with digital if I really want to play it, but usually will wait for a sale in that case. 

[NowItsAngeTime 444]

Considering I dont have a CD Drive, I dont buy Physical copies besides for collectors purchases for my absolute favorites

Anything else is digital

[DarkZedge 1,041]

I usually buy digital, if it's all ages only then I don't mind buying from Steam but if the choice is there to get an 18+ ver or the all ages I'll go to the localization company site or wherever and buy from there.

[WinterfuryZX 283]

I usually preferred physical copies until Grisaia opened my eyes. NEVER MORE. I prefer to avoid steam when possible and purchase from Mangagamer or other specialized sites.

I also purchase japanese copies of fantranslated games, less and less, though, since the games I'm interested in are more and more released officially.

[bakauchuujin 420]

What about Grisaia opened your eyes? From my understanding the problems with Grisaia were things like endless delays and not being 18+. Though I don't know why this should discurage you from buying already released physicals from places like MG. Or is there more about the Grisaia physical that I don't know about? The lesson I think should be learned from the Grisaia problem is don't trust Sekai Project or be carefull when dealing with kickstarters.

[WinterfuryZX 283]

8 minutes ago, bakauchuujin said:

What about Grisaia opened your eyes? From my understanding the problems with Grisaia were things like endless delays and not being 18+. Though I don't know why this should discurage you from buying already released physicals from places like MG. Or is there more about the Grisaia physical that I don't know about? The lesson I think should be learned from the Grisaia problem is don't trust Sekai Project or be carefull when dealing with kickstarters.

I spent 160 USD on that crappy physical release of all the 4 games (trilogy + chiruchiru) and I'm still waiting for labyrinth.

I could have purchased all that crap for less then 30 dollars by now. (I pledged when the trilogy was already funded)

Edited January 3, 2018 by WinterfuryZX

[Beichuuka 38]

With the exception of Majkoi A-1 (which I don't believe had physical copies at that time, and was bought from dlsite or dmm or whatever I can't remember),
all the games I've bought are physical copies from a physical store.

Edited January 3, 2018 by Beichuuka

[r0xm2n 232]

I purchase off Steam. Unless a +18 version of said novel exists on another store (I've only used DenpaSoft so far).

[MaggieROBOT 913]

Digital always!

And guess I'll be the hipster one: the one I use the most is PSN, because I play a lot of console ports. For PC, I use itch.io the most to find indie stuff.

[snowbell55 84]

Steam, and digital. I prefer to have my PC games on Steam, and doing it that way avoids issues with Kickstarters, not being able to find a copy, or the VN going out of stock etc. I'd do something from Humble Bundle or another site, but in both of those cases, I'd want a Steam key. It seems to mean only getting all ages versions, but I don't mind that.

[Dergonu 2,489]

The past 4 months I have been buying Japanese physical editions only, as I've been studying here in Japan. But generally, I only buy physical editions of certain games, because of the import laws in Norway and the expensive shipping costs. So generally I buy digital editions, mostly Japanese. The stores I tend to use are DMM and DLsite. I do also buy some localized games, as I like supporting the western industry as well. I'll only use Mangagamer, Denpasoft and other company websites for that, and never buy from steam unless it is the only option. I'm not a big fan of steam in general, and I also don't think it's the right place for eroge to be sold. Business models like the one used for Subahibi really triggers me, as it's clearly a game not suited for Steam, and yet steam is the only platform where it's available as of now.

[Clephas 3,624]

Originally, I purchased well over 70% of my games through a friend in Japan (I still do so for brand new games, getting them through him at resale prices, though without the tokuten extras), but I now get almost all of them as digital content from online retailers in Japan, because it is cheaper (especially if you wait for a discount day).  DMM is a pain in the rear, and I generally avoid them.  However, I use dlsite (I have several accounts) on a monthly basis, especially for older releases, doujin releases, and games where the downloadable version is at least 20% cheaper.  A lot of this is I simply don't have room for more physical releases (which is why most of my collection is floating around the city), but some of it is simply because physical copies of Japanese games are so... big. 

For translated games - which I generally only buy if I really liked the Japanese version - I use whichever medium is convenient.  I don't go to conventions, though...

[finiteHP 37]

I only buy digital and generally buy from steam because their regional pricing is WAAAAY better than the exchange rates the credit card companies use (but worse than the real exchange rate).  If it isn’t available on Steam or doesn’t have a patch, then I buy it from the publisher’s site- specifically mangagamer so far.  I do have a few from Denpasoft (Grisaia), but those were from the Kickstarter.  I’ve got a few others from Kickstarter as well, or will if when they come out to be more exact.

Edited January 4, 2018 by finiteHP

[Funyarinpa 1,305]

5 hours ago, finiteHP said:

I only buy digital and generally buy from steam because their regional pricing is WAAAAY better than the exchange rates the credit card companies use (but worse than the real exchange rate).

Yep.

Almost all of the stuff I play that isn't on Steam isn't officially localized, and it is beyond my means to afford shipping/exchange rate of those sites, so I just pirate a lot of shit (esp. nukige).

I don't pirate if it's on Steam though.

[Freestyle80 157]

I like to keep my steam library free of VNs because reasons 

[Tamaki Sakura 101]

4 hours ago, Freestyle80 said:

I like to keep my steam library free of VNs because reasons 

Hiding games is an option, you know.

[Hetzer123 19]

.

Edited October 2, 2019 by Hetzer123

[Acrylic7 10]

I buy my game via Steam because of regional pricing. It can be half price compare to US price. 

Edited March 5, 2018 by Acrylic7

[Okarin 265]