Visual Art's
Encyclopedia
, formally , is a Japan
ese publishing company specializing in the publishing and distribution of visual novel
s for a large list of game developers. Visual Art's has developed the game engines their brands currently use, including the current engine, called Siglus, and older engines RealLive and AVG32. Visual Art's also handles the selling and distribution of these games. The games published are mostly for a male audience, though they also publish games targeted towards women as well. They are well known for the publishing of games by the studio Key
such as the famous visual novels Kanon
, Air, and Clannad.
The company has coined a new type of visual novel called the kinetic novel
where unlike in visual novels where the player is periodically given choices to make, there are no choices whatsoever and the player watches the game progress as if it were a movie. One of Key's games entitled Planetarian: Chiisana Hoshi no Yume was the first game produced under the kinetic novel name. In addition to games, Visual Art's also releases music CDs
for video game music. Of special note among the artists sold under this label is I've Sound
, a techno
/trance
music production group who was the first in the adult game
industry to perform at the Nippon Budokan
in October 2005.
Visual Art's is also involved with transplanting games they have previously published to be playable on mobile phone
s. Prototype
manages this portion of Visual Art's known as . Visual Art's launched a web magazine called Visualstyle on October 26, 2007. Visual Art's launched a YouTube
channel called Visual Channel in July 2008 where videos are posted which are related to the games and companies under Visual Art's. In October 2008, Visual Art's launched their VA Bunko light novel
imprint
which includes light novels based on games produced by brands under Visual Art's.
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Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese publishing company specializing in the publishing and distribution of visual novel
Visual novel
A is an interactive fiction game featuring mostly static graphics, usually with anime-style art, or occasionally live-action stills or video footage...
s for a large list of game developers. Visual Art's has developed the game engines their brands currently use, including the current engine, called Siglus, and older engines RealLive and AVG32. Visual Art's also handles the selling and distribution of these games. The games published are mostly for a male audience, though they also publish games targeted towards women as well. They are well known for the publishing of games by the studio Key
Key (company)
Key is a Japanese visual novel studio which formed on July 21, 1998 as a brand under the publisher Visual Art's and is located in Kita, Osaka, Japan. Key released their debut visual novel Kanon in June 1999, which combined an elaborate storyline, an up-to-date anime-style drawing style, and a...
such as the famous visual novels Kanon
Kanon
is a Japanese visual novel developed by Key and originally released as an adult game on June 4, 1999, playable on a Microsoft Windows PC. An all ages version for the PC was released in January 2000, and was later ported to the Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation Portable...
, Air, and Clannad.
The company has coined a new type of visual novel called the kinetic novel
KineticNovel
is a brand of the Japanese software publishing company Visual Art's. Visual novels produced on the KineticNovel label are not done like other traditional visual novels in that no choices are given to the player to advance the story in alternate directions, and there is only one end...
where unlike in visual novels where the player is periodically given choices to make, there are no choices whatsoever and the player watches the game progress as if it were a movie. One of Key's games entitled Planetarian: Chiisana Hoshi no Yume was the first game produced under the kinetic novel name. In addition to games, Visual Art's also releases music CDs
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
for video game music. Of special note among the artists sold under this label is I've Sound
I've Sound
I've Sound, or simply called , is a Japanese techno/trance music production group based in Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan. Led by Kazuya Takase, it features the talents of seasoned "sound creators" and many different female vocalists, known as to their fans....
, a techno
Techno
Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...
/trance
Trance music
Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that developed in the 1990s.:251 It is generally characterized by a tempo of between 125 and 150 bpm,:252 repeating melodic synthesizer phrases, and a musical form that builds up and breaks down throughout a track...
music production group who was the first in the adult game
Eroge
An or Ero-ga is a Japanese video or computer game that features erotic content, usually in the form of anime-style artwork. Eroge originated from galge, but unlike galge, they feature erotic/pornographic content.-History:...
industry to perform at the Nippon Budokan
Nippon Budokan
The , often shortened to simply Budokan, is an indoor arena in central Tokyo, Japan.This is the location where many "Live at the Budokan" albums were recorded...
in October 2005.
Visual Art's is also involved with transplanting games they have previously published to be playable on mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
s. Prototype
Prototype (company)
is a Japanese software company established on March 27, 2006 by Toshio Tabeta, a former producer of Interchannel. While still with Interchannel, Tabeta's team was responsible for mainly developing and publishing versions of visual novels originally published by Visual Art's for consumer platforms...
manages this portion of Visual Art's known as . Visual Art's launched a web magazine called Visualstyle on October 26, 2007. Visual Art's launched a YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
channel called Visual Channel in July 2008 where videos are posted which are related to the games and companies under Visual Art's. In October 2008, Visual Art's launched their VA Bunko light novel
Light novel
A is a style of Japanese novel primarily targeting junior high and high school students . The term "light novel" is a wasei-eigo, or a Japanese term formed from words in the English language. Light novels are often called or for short...
imprint
Imprint
In the publishing industry, an imprint can mean several different things:* As a piece of bibliographic information about a book, it refers to the name and address of the book's publisher and its date of publication as given at the foot or on the verso of its title page.* It can mean a trade name...
which includes light novels based on games produced by brands under Visual Art's.
Game brands
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Key (company) Key is a Japanese visual novel studio which formed on July 21, 1998 as a brand under the publisher Visual Art's and is located in Kita, Osaka, Japan. Key released their debut visual novel Kanon in June 1999, which combined an elaborate storyline, an up-to-date anime-style drawing style, and a... KineticNovel is a brand of the Japanese software publishing company Visual Art's. Visual novels produced on the KineticNovel label are not done like other traditional visual novels in that no choices are given to the player to advance the story in alternate directions, and there is only one end... |
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Music related
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Defunct
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Ram (company) Ram is a Japanese visual novel studio under Visual Art's that specializes in the production of adult visual novels. To date, the company has released three games, two in two versions each... |
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External links
- Visual Art's official website
- Visual Art's Motto official website
- Visual Channel at YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
- VA Bunko official website