Preface: Game Criticism (ゲーム批評) was not particularly devoted to a single genre, but as general magazines wound down their coverage of eroge towards the end of the 1990s, relegating the genre to the thriving market of bishojo magazines (Bug Bug, Dengeki Hime, Colorful PUREGIRL, etc.), Game Criticism stood out for its continued writing on the subject. As a sign of things to come, volume 2 included a special feature on “H-games.” Beginning with volume 6, the magazine started publishing Toshihisa Minami’s (南敏久) column, “In the name of Planet Ero” (エロ星の名下に) where Minami briefly discussed eroge. It’s no surprise then that throughout the years, Game Criticism ran special features on eroge. The following article comes from volume 51 which opens with one such feature, “Eroge Theory” (エロゲ 論) and begins with a timeline of notable titles. Given that this was published in 2003, the timeline only runs up until the end of 2002.
The top-half of the timeline depicts the games released while the bottom-half instead focuses on the landmark computer systems of the genre. A few things to note. From amongst the earliest eroge titles of the early 1980s, missing is Kogado’s Emmy (1984). Despite focusing on erotic titles, Konami’s Tokimeki Memorial is included on the timeline as the game which sets off the galge boom yet Sotsugyou Graduation (Japan Home Video, 1992) remains absent. Later on, a title such as AliceSoft’s Daibanchou -Big Bang Age- is included but nothing from Giga’s Baldr series.
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A scan of Game Criticism volume 51 can be accessed online on the Internet Archive here.
