FAQ
What is the main purpose of Osusumay?
The main goal, as of now, is to track Japanese-developed games that have either been released for consoles and handhelds in North America, or that have been announced for future release in North America. Why? Because as a fan of such games, it can be hard at times to keep track of everything that’s come out, remember everything that’s been announced for coming out, or find new games you may not have already heard of.
As the site grows, there are plan to attempt to expand that goal to, for example, PC-based games, titles released in Europe, and/or games from other Asian regions (especially South Korea). As I test those expansion ideas, you may see games pop up in the database that do not strictly fit the “Japanese game released in English in North America” standard.
Why are some of the games listed from other regions if you’re currently focusing on North America?
I’m trying to add other-region games that have English-language support when the game has no official North American release. (Currently conflicted if this should include games that are not natively playable on North American-released hardware.)
Do you plan to cover games on mobile (iOS/Android) platforms?
No. That market is a mess that’s flooded with releases, and it would be a nightmare trying to keep up with everything. While I’d love to include the “worthwhile” games that get releases in the database, that results in a situation that really isn’t fair to developers and publishers with products that aren’t deemed “worthy”.
Why isn’t X dev/publisher/feature/etc. in the advanced search?
Advanced search works on what information is currently in the database. If something is missing, a game relating to that information is not in the database yet.
What do you do if a game’s release date isn’t announced yet?
Any game that does not have a set date will have a placeholder label for “Release Date” in its info box (a better system is currently being worked on for this). As I have to give every database item a date, I use the following placeholders depending of the release window:
- February 28th (Winter)
- March 31st (Q1)
- May 31st (Spring)
- June 30th (Q2)
- August 31st (Summer)
- September 30th (Q3)
- November 30th (Fall)
- December 31st (Year-only, Q4)
Why does the Advanced Search have some options that seem irrelevant/already understood?
I’m trying my best to future-proof the site for potential expansions that could come in the future, so for now, some of the data I’m adding will be on every game in the database no matter what.
How does the “playable character” tag work?
In order for a gender to be listed on this tag, it has to allow for that choice to be an equal and fully playable part of the game as a main character. For example, an RPG where you can swap out the main playable character for another, even if that character is then not the focal point of cutscenes, would be tagged both “male” and “female”; a game with a male protagonist that has a small segment where you play as a female character (such as Resident Evil 4) would only be tagged “male”.
Information
This site is the property of morning project and Mollie L Patterson. You can reach her (me!) on Twitter @mollipen, or via email at [ADDRESS TO BE ADDED].
Need to fix ASAP
- Fix “Release Date” so it either shows the confirmed date or current release window, not both
- Set game listings to show release window instead of temporary date when available
- Fix the top-of-the-page navigation
- Frontpage is confusing—figure out an alternative that doesn’t break other pages
- See if there’s anything that can be done about the initial lag when loading certain pages
Known issues
- Advanced search does not reset itself after a search has been performed
- Could be confusing if different releases are combined into one entry, but some of those releases are digital only while others are digital/physical
- Since entries are based on date, games may need repeat entries if they release later on a different platform
Future roadmap
- Fill in 2016 releases, then 2015, then earlier
- Work out way to integrate videos into pages along with screenshots
- Better optimize mobile/tablet version
- Decide if having comments on games is appropriate for the site’s goals or not
- Decide if some Japanese games aren’t “niche” enough to be in database
- Figure out if covering PC releases is viable
- Figure out if covering European releases is viable