If you’re reading these words, chances are very good that you love visual novels. And if you love visual novels, chances are very good that you wish (desperately) that they were more accessible than they currently are.
In October I wrote a post about how to play tons of classic visual novels on your Android devices using VNDS. I’ve been working through Fate/Stay Night on my android tablet and I’ve loved having this story at my fingertips, whether I’m at home, at work, or en route. It seems natural, and it’s fun. (It also leads to conversations where I get to explain VNs to strangers–a unique, but fun experience) I love being able to choose where I play my VNs.
Well, please allow me to share a new vision: Playing English-patched VNs on your home TV from the couch.
Please allow me to explain: in March 2013 a little box of Android love called the Ouya ships out to consumers. The Ouya is an open video game console built on the Android operating system. It’s openly hackable, and is calling for both innovation and migration from the Android Google Play store to their own library.
Imagination Time: It’s not a huge leap to imagine the VNDS android app I detailed in the post mentioned above being ported over to the Ouya. According to Ouya developers’ guides, it should be a near-painless transition. Should that migration happen, one would simply load up VNs onto SD cards, slip them into the console, and BOOM — instant VNs on the TV.
So… I have to ask? Can you see my vision? Do you want it as bad as I do?
If you do, please make your voice heard! Head on over to the VNDS App creator’s website and send him a message! Let him know that you’re interested in an Ouya port. And, while your at it, let him know that you’d be willing to put a few dollars where your mouth is (you coughed it up for the Android app… let’s cough it up and make Ouya happen as well!).
by Tay
For more info about Ouya, check out: http://www.ouya.tv/
I have been reading visual novels on my tv for many years, first with a 10 meter DVI cable, and now hdmi. To me that’s the best way of reading visual novels. But when I get a tablet with windows 8 pro, that’s gonna be pretty awesome as well.
Exactly what I was thinking. Tablet with windows 8 pro, all VNs, whenever you wish. DO WANT.
Same here. The Windows Surface is nice but it has Windows RT. Once it comes out with the actual Windows 8 its going to be a Visual Novel gold mine. As for tv that’s pretty easy exactly as you described. I already have a pc connected to my 42′ tv but doesn’t the native resolution of visual novels look all pixelated when playing on a tv at full screen?
I think a tablet is the perfect size for a visual novel. Its portable. If on actual Win8 it would be compatible with most Visual Novels without conversion and it wouldn’t look pixelated. after all they are Visual “Novels” so it would make sense to read them as you would read a novel.
Upscaling to 1080p is no problem on my tv, I sit a few meters from it, and don’t notice any pixels at all. And it maintains the 4:3 aspect ratio. I’m more worried how the tablets will handle the upscaling to 1080p, but as long as the aspect ratio is maintained it should be ok.
Upscaling for older visual novels will always be needed, no one wants a tablet with 800×600 native resolution.
The awkward moment when you play a visual novel on your android tab and accidentally pushed the fast forward button which lead you to the H-scene in front of the publick
Porting VNDS to Ouya is definitely painless; it’s just a matter of mapping the gamepad buttons to access menus, save/load functions etc which VNDS doesn’t have currently.
Aw, android. Too bad google are becoming dbags lately by watering down services on non android devices/products.