Simple Series

yes indeed. a handy reference for fans of obscure japanese budgent games everywhere. so, me, and that guy over there. yeah, you. hi! but what is the simple series, you ask? maybe i'll tell you. it's a series of japanese budget games published by D3 Publisher, starting with the PS1's Simple 1500 series (so-called because the games cost 1500yen) and spanning many different formats. recently the PS2's Simple 2000 series has attracted attention for various reasons, mainly somewhat original concepts and the genuine excellence of the Chikyuu Boueigun series. this here page catalogues the lot of them, including titles, developers and european localisation info.

LAST UPDATE ~ 21 FEB 2010

PlayStation
Simple 1500 - the original series
Simple 1500 Jitsuyou - "utility" series, non-games
Simple 1500 Hello Kitty - short-lived hello kitty licensed series
Simple Character 2000 - joint venture with bandai, using anime licenses

PlayStation 2
Simple 2000 - successor to simple1500, the largest series
Simple 2000 Honkaku Shikou - table games and such
Simple 2000 Hello Kitty - another short-lived hello kitty licensed series
Simple 2000 Ultimate - mainly re-releases and other oddities
Simple 2000 2in1 - combines two previously released Simple2000 titles

Handhelds
Simple 2960 Tomodachi - the first handheld series, for the GBA
Simple DS - and the second. touch stuff!
@Simple DS - or download stuff and touch it! if you have a DSi
Simple 2500 Portable!! - PSP series. definitely

Wii
Simple Wii - wii games with white boxart!
Simple 2000 Wii - wii games with black boxart!
@Simple - wii games with no boxart! (because they're on wiiware)

Other Systems
Simple 2000 DC - the dreamcast only gets dating games
Simple 500 - and the PS3 gets downloadable stuff

Developer Index

** NOTE - Several of the European versions listed from 505 Game Street have not yet been released (as of 14/6/07), and it looks like they never will be, so keep that in mind if you're looking for these titles **

Finding the games
If you're in the UK, Midas games can be picked up from pretty much any supermarket, game shop, or anywhere else for that matter. Agetec used to be about the same, but they've suddenly become pretty damned rare - they still show up in unexpected places though, so keep an eye out. 505 titles seem to be more common in the UK than they used to be - I've seen a few of the newer ones in Virgin Megastores, and play.com has most of them now. Some of their earlier releases are pretty widely avaiable in the usual places now, and any you can't find will probably be on either amazon.fr or dvd.it (who definitely ship to the UK, not sure about outside of Europe, and don't miss the "english version" link on the bottom of the page like I did). As for the Essential Games releases, they're not out at the time of writing, but amazon.co.uk and hmv.co.uk (ships internationally!) seem to have them. Elsewhere in Europe, you're on your own, I'm afraid. But dvd.it and the various regional Amazons should serve you pretty well, if nowhere stocks it locally. The US is a different matter - most European retailers don't ship there. gameplay.co.uk should do it, Amazon definitely won't, dvd.it and play.com -might- but you'll have to check up on it. Otherwise try ebay. And if you're in Asia, just get the bloody Japanese (or Korean) version.

Note - Midas and Agetec PS2 PAL versions don't have a 60Hz mode, but most 505 and some Essential releases do. So bear that in mind if you're importing to an NTSC region.

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