Machi (video game)

Machi
Developer(s)Chunsoft
Publisher(s)Chunsoft
Director(s)Kazuya Asano
Producer(s)Koichi Nakamura
Toshiki Kobuko
Programmer(s)Hidefumi Itano
Writer(s)Shukei Nagasaka
Composer(s)Kota Kato
Chiyoko Mitsumata
Hideyuki Hayashi
Shoji Morito
Shinichi Itakura
Platform(s)Sega Saturn
PlayStation
PlayStation Portable
ReleaseSega Saturn
  • JP: January 22, 1998
PlayStation
  • JP: January 28, 1999
PlayStation Portable
  • JP: July 30, 2006
Genre(s)Adventure, Visual novel
Mode(s)Single-player

Machi (街, literally "City") is a visual novel and the third entry in the "Sound Novel Evolution" series published by Chunsoft. It was ported to PlayStation (retitled Machi: Unmei no Kousaten (街 〜運命の交差点〜, lit. "City: The Intersection of Fate")),[1] and for PlayStation Portable as Machi: Unmei no Kousaten: Tokubetsuhen (街 〜運命の交差点〜 特別篇, lit. "City: The Intersection of Fate － Special Version").[2]

Gameplay

The game features a branching narrative.

Characters

  • Keima Amemiya: a detective
  • Jintarō Umabe: an actor
  • Masami Ushio: a gangster
  • Yoshiko Hosoi: a part-time worker
  • Masashi Shinoda: a university student
  • Ryūji Takamine: a legion deserter
  • Fumiyasu Ichikawa: a screenwriter
  • Yōhei Tobisawa: an idol
  • Atsushi Takamine: Ryuji's father
  • Norio Aoi: a pariah
  • Isamu Sagiyama: an assistant director
  • Patrick Dandy: a marriage swindler
  • Shōjirō Kaizuka: a politician

Reception

The game sold 164,866 copies in Japan.[3] Famitsu scored the game 33 out of 40.[4] It ranked fifth at the top 100 reader poll of their favorite games of all time.[5]

In 2017, Famitsu readers voted it one of the top five adventure games of all time.[6]

Proposed sequel

A proposed sequel to Machi was cancelled, but a chapter of it was adapted as a 1998 television miniseries Tōmei Shōjo Ea (Invisible Girl Ea).

Spiritual successor

428: Shibuya Scramble is set in the same location with many references.[7]

References

  1. ^ "Sega Teams up with Chunsoft". September 9, 2005.
  2. ^ "Now Playing in Japan". May 4, 2006.
  3. ^ "Game Search". Game Data Library. Famitsu. December 8, 2019. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
  4. ^ プレイステーション – サウンドノベル・エボリ 街~運命の交差点~. Weekly Famitsu. No.915 Pt.2. Pg.5. June 30, 2006.
  5. ^ Collin Campbell (2006). "Japan Votes on All Time Top 100". Archived from the original on January 10, 2012. Retrieved October 2, 2009.
  6. ^ "Steins;Gate is voted the best Adventure game of all time". Japanese Nintendo. June 7, 2017. Archived from the original on June 18, 2017.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. ^ "428: Shibuya Scramble – Hardcore Gaming 101".