Japanese game magazine Famitsu recently published an article called "The Heart of Horror Games" (part of their regular "The Heart of..." series). I'll post a bit more about the article itself later, but first I wanted to relate the list of horror games that they came up with. You'll notice a lot of similarities to my list, except that Famitsu counts "novel games," while I do not. There are a lot of titles in here that I've never heard of before (though most are not the type of game I am looking for), so I've included the Romanization of each name as well as the original Japanese and a clunky translation for most tiles. I skipped doing this for games that are well known or have been released in the West.

While many of the entries sound interesting, I think it is also interesting that some titles were omitted. Games like Nanatsu no Hikan and The Note seem like they would fit right into this list, yet they are nowhere to be found.

The list is sorted in order of release (oldest games to newest games), and contains only games that were released in Japan (and apparently only console games). I've noted games that are novel games, as well as 3D Exploration games (MYST-style). When I was unable to find any information about a game, I've marked it as "??? Game."

A note about my translations: I'm not a great translator, so while I've made an attempt to translate the names of these games correctly, you'll notice that the results are often pretty weird. In fact, there may already be better translations of some of these names out there; in only a few cases was I able to find any existing documentation in English. So take my translations with a grain of salt.

Title Platform Japanese Notes Sweet Home Famicom Splatterhouse TurboGrafx-16 Otogiriso Super Famicom 弟切草 Sound Novel, "St. John's Wort" Splatterhouse 2 Genesis Splatterhouse 3 Genesis Mansion of the Hidden Souls SegaCD 夢見館の物語 Alone in the Dark 3DO Kamaitachi No Yoru Super Famicom かまいたちの夜 Novel Game, "Night of the Kamaitachi" New Mansion of the Hidden Souls - Somebody's Behind That Door... Saturn 真説・夢見館 扉の奥に誰かが… I think this is the same game as before. D 3DO Yakouchuu Super Famicom 夜光虫 Novel Game, "Noctiluca scintillans" Darkseed Saturn Gakkou no Kaidan Saturn 学校の怪談 ??? Game, "School Ghost Stories" Gakkou de Atta Kowai Hanashi Super Famicom 学校であった怖い話 Sound Novel, "Scary Stories from School" Clock Tower Super Famicom QUANTUM GATE 1 ~Akumu No Jyosyou~ Saturn Quantum Gate ～悪夢の序章～ ??? Game, "Quantum Gate 1 - Preface to a Nightmare" Majyotachi no Nemuri Super Famicom 魔女たちの眠り Novel Game, "Witches' Sleep" Yaku ~Yujyou Dangi~ PS1 厄　〜友情談義〜 Novel Game, "Misfortune ~Discussing Friends~" Alone in the Dark 2: One Eyed Jack's Revenge Saturn Twilight Syndrome ~Investigative Report~ PS1 トワイライトシンドローム 探索編 Novel Game, some exploration Tsukikomori Super Famicom 晦-つきこもり Novel Game Resident Evil PS1 HORROR TOUR Saturn 3D Exploring Game Gekka Kiri Maboroshi Dan - TORICO Saturn 月下霧幻譚-TORICO ??? Game, "Illusion in the Moonlit Fog" Gakko de Atta Kowai Hanashi S PS1 学校であった怖い話S Sound Novel, "Scary Stories from School S" Twilight Syndrome ~Completed Investigation~ PS1 トワイライトシンドローム 究明編 Novel game, some exploration Enemy Zero Saturn Clock Tower 2 PS1 This is "Clock Tower 1" in the US. Kyofu Shinbun PS1 恐怖新聞 Sound Novel, "Fear Newspaper" Yaku Tsu ~Noroi no Gemu~ PS1 厄痛～呪いのゲーム Sound Novel, "Misfortune 2 ~The Cursed Game~" The "2" part of the title is a dumb play on words with the word for pain. Darkseed Saturn I don't understand why Darkseed is listed twice, once in 1995 and once in 1997, by different companies. Is it a typo, or are there actually two different Darkseed games? Moonlight Syndrome PS1 ムーンライトシンドローム Novel Game, some exploration. R?MJ - THE MYSTERY HOSPITAL PS1 3D Exploring Game Prisoner of Ice ~Demon's Descent~ PS1 プリズナーオブアイス〜邪神降臨〜 Adventure Game Resident Evil 2 PS1 Clock Tower - Ghost Head PS1 This is "Clock Tower 2" in the US. ...Iru! PS1 ・・・いる！ ??? Game, "It's here!" This title is impossible to search for because the name is a common word. Daiyuurei Yashiki ~Hamamura Jun no Jitsuwa Kaidan PS1 大幽霊屋敷 浜村淳の実話怪談 Novel Game, "Huge Ghost Mansion - Jun Hamamura's Real Ghost Stories" Yasoukyoku PS1 夜想曲 Sound Novel, "Nocturne" Echo Night PS1 Juggernaut PS1 Juggernaut 〜戦慄の扉〜 3D Exploring Game, "Juggernaut - The Horrible Door" Silent Hill PS1 WEB MYSTERY ~Yochimu wo Miru Neko~ DC WEB MYSTERY 予知夢ヲ見ル猫 FMV Game, "WEB MYSTERY - The Cat with Precognitive Dreams" Inagawa Junji no Kyoufu no Yashiki PS1 稲川淳二の恐怖の屋敷 FMV Game, "Junji Inagawa's Mansion of Fear" Echo Night 2< - Nemuri no Shihaisha/a> PS1 エコーナイト#2 眠りの支配者 "Echo Night #2 - The Sleeping Leader" Resident Evil 3 PS1 Yuuyami Doori Tankentai PS1 夕闇通り探検隊 FMV Novel Game, "Twilight Street Explorers" AKA "Season of Twilight" Yakouchuu 2 - Satsujin Kouro N64 夜光虫2　殺人航路 Novel Game, "Noctiluca scintillans 2 - Murderer's Sea Route" D2 DC Shisya no Yobu Yakata PS1 死者の呼ぶ館 Novel Game, "The House that Calls the Dead" Resident Evil: Code Veronica DC The Ring DC Inagawa Junji no Mayonaka no Takushi PS1 稲川淳二 真夜中のタクシー FMV Game, "Junji Inagawa's Midnight Taxi" Twilight Syndrom Saikai PS1 トワイライトシンドローム 再会 Novel Game, some exploration, "Twilight Syndrome Reunion" Oumagatoki PS1 逢魔が時 Novel Game, "Dangerous Dusk" Yasoukyoku 2 PS1 夜想曲2 Sound Novel, "Nocturne 2" the FEAR PS2 FMV Game Oumagatoki 2 PS1 逢魔が時2 Novel Game, "Dangerous Dusk 2" Silent Hill 2 PS2 Fatal Frame PS2 零　〜ZERO〜 "Rei Zero", a play on words because "rei" can mean "ghost" or (with the character they used) it can mean zero. Kamaitachi No Yoru 2 - Kangoku Jima no Warabu Uta PS2 かまいたちの夜2 監獄島のわらべ唄 Novel Game, "Night of the Kamaitachi 2: Prison Island's Folk Song" Resident Evil 0 GC Clock Tower 3 PS2 Silent Hill 3 PS2 Kyoufu Shimbun Heiseiban Kaiki! Shinrei File PS2 Siren PS2 Fatal Frame 2 PS2 Resident Evil Outbreak PS2 Echo Night: Beyond PS2 Kuon PS2 Silent Hill 4 PS2 Hayarigami Keishichou Kaii Jiken Fairu PS2 流行り神 警視庁怪異事件ファイル Novel Game, "Fashionable God: The Strange Incident at Police Headquarters Case File" Michigan PS2 Resident Evil Outbreak 2 PS2 Akai Ito PS2 アカイイト Novel Game, "The Red String" Resident Evil 4 GC Haunting Ground PS2 Constantine Xbox Higanjima PSP 彼岸島 Novel Game Fatal Frame 3 PS2 THE Noroi no Ge-mu PS2 THE 呪いのゲーム Novel Game, "THE Cursed Game" Rule of Rose PS2 Resident Evil Deadly Silence DS Indigo Prophecy PS2 AKA "Fahrenheit" I wrote some notes about this game. Jyui Dr. Toumajyou Tarou PSP 呪医 Dr.杜馬丈太郎 Novel Game, "Dr. Tarou Toumajyou: Cursed Physician" Siren 2 PS2 Dead Rising Xbox360 Kamaitachi No Yoru x3 Mikadukijima Jiken no Shinsou PS2 かまいたちの夜×3 三日月島事件の真相 Novel Game, "Night of the Kamaitachi Triple: The True Events of the Crescent Moon Island Incident" Condemned Xbox360 Escape from Bug Island Wii Vampire Rain Xbox360 Hikurashi no Naku Koro ni Matsuri PS2 ひぐらしのなく頃に　祭 Sound Novel, "When They Cry - Festival" (literal translation is "When Cicadas Cry").

I'm back in the U.S. this evening, struggling to stay awake long enough to negate horrific jet lag. To that end, I spent much of the afternoon trying out the rather obscure (mostly Japan-only) games I picked up last week. Here are some quick impressions:

• Michigan is a strange game told from a first person perspective, through the eyes of a camera man. Something is very wrong in the city of Chicago, and you and two other employees of a local TV network must travel from location to location, looking for scoops. The game is basically a first-person adventure game, but what makes it odd is that the developers (Grasshopper, the guys behind Killer7) have thrown this weird voyeurism element from way out in the left field. Each level gives you the opportunity to collect points of three types: "suspense," (you find something scary, or, as it appears, find just about anything), "erotic" (you take advantage of the camera to film women in compromising positions, etc), and "immoral" (you allow tragedies to occur for the sake of the story). The suspense and immoral parts are sort of interesting, but the erotic points make the game very weird and uncomfortable.
• The Fear is a strange game told from a first person perspective, through the eyes of a camera man. The interface is very similar to Michigan (though The Fear predates Grasshopper's game by several years), and the game play actually isn't all that different either. The major difference (besides the lack of erotic points) is that The Fear is entirely live-action. However, it's a lot more interactive than I was expecting; it reminds me of a really well-done CD-ROM game from 1993, when everybody went ape over the idea that video could be played back in real time. The Fear is 4 discs long (!!) because there is a crapload of content; every character has lots to say in every situation, and it's all recorded (no text). So far, the story looks like a pretty run-of-the-mill horror movie shlock, but the acting isn't as horrendous as I was expecting and there might actually be things to do. Since there's no text, I'll probably add this game to The Quest. So far the only real problems I have with it are that moving around takes forever and that it still has the potential to turn into a horrible dating game scenario.
• Hungry Ghosts is a strange game told from a first person perspective. I think I've detected a pattern here; I didn't set out to buy tons of first person horror games, but that's what I seem to have ended up with. Perhaps there is a correlation between these games being first person and them not coming out in the States; I suspect that the American market has little interest in first person games that are not shooters. Anyway, Hungry Ghosts looks like it might be a really good game if I can just figure it out. The game pounds into your skull the point that every action you take may change the course of your destiny (there's even a voice over at the beginning of the game to warn you of this feature). Basically, you are a dead guy in a sort of purgatory, and at the beginning of the game you are on the fast track to eternal damnation. However, by doing certain, mysterious things, it is apparently possible to change your destiny and avoid hell. The Japanese in this game is pretty difficult, so I can see it taking me a while to complete.
• I don't know what to say about Kyoufu Shimbun Heiseiban Kaiki! Shinrei File, except that the intro sucks. At least, I hope it was the intro--I "played" the game for a solid 15 minutes before giving up in disgust because the entire time was spent, I kid you not, reading text. Now, according to the manual there's a 3D 3rd person mode hiding in here somewhere, but after 15 minutes of text (with no interactivity, just reading!!) I gave up. I'll have to come back to this one. In the best case, I think this game may turn out to be like Twilight Syndrome Sakai, which is another game I need to get around to adding to the Quest.
• Gregory Horror Show is so far the best game I bought in my latest foray into the East. It's got loads of style, the mechanics look fun, and it doesn't hand out points for looking up women's skirts. The only thing I'm worried about is that some of the puzzles may be difficult for a non-Japanese person like myself.

That's all I have to report right now. Once I get back into this hemisphere's time zone, I'll have more info for you guys.

I've been in Japan for about a week now, and so far this trip has been extremely useful for The Quest. I've managed to pick up a bunch of Japan-only titles without destroying my wallet, which is good. I'm not sure that I've managed to buy any games that are actually good, but my goal here is collection, review, and transcription. So far I've managed to find Gregory Horror Show, Hungry Ghosts, Kyoufu Shimbun Heiseiban Kaiki! Shinrei File, and Michigan. The only games on my shopping list that I haven't been able to locate yet are Nanatsu no Hikan: Senritsu no Bishou (the speed at which Dreamcast games are vanishing from the shelves over here is amazing) and Ghost Vibration.

Last year when I was in Japan, I ran across a game ominously titled The Fear. At the time, I didn't buy it because it was horrifically expensive and looked, well, horrifically bad. I posted about it at the time, and 16bitman tracked down some info about this game. Today I picked the game up for 2900 yen (about $25), which may or may not be a good deal depending on how horrible the game turns out to be. I think I decided last year that this title probably isn't survival horror (as it's probably FMV and text), I'm still looking forward to playing through it. Maybe I'll put together a feature about the game when I am done.

I wouldn't want you guys to think that I flew 5000 miles just to buy potentially-terrible horror games. I've managed to get my shopping done in-between visiting friends in Nagoya and Osaka, chilling with my in-laws, and generally enjoying my time in this awesome country. But hey, this is a horror blog, so you guys get the horror news!

I should be back in the States early next week. Maybe then I can bring myself to finish Kuon once and for all. Ugh. Every time I play that game my opinion of it decreases.

I've added Kyoufu Shimbun Heiseiban Kaiki! Shinrei File to the database, along with all the info about the game that I've been able to find.

I've come across a few more games that may or may not be classifiable as survival horror:

• Kyoufu Shimbun Heiseiban Kaiki! Shinrei File (official site)
• Kowloon Yoma Gakuen-ki
• Asylum. The developer seems to have changed from "DarkBlack Studios" to "HotHead Studios", and the game name appears to have switched to Shadow of the Sun. Some screens available from Jeux Video.
• Obscure. I can't find any info on this game, save these screens.
• Call of Cthulhu
• Tsuki No Hikari("The Light of the Moon")

So if anybody has info on these games (like if they are survival horror and if they should be included in the database), let me know in the forums!