Mainichi Issho
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| Mainichi Issho | |
|---|---|
| File:Mainichi issho cover.png | |
| Developer(s) | Sony Computer Entertainment, Bexide, Game Arts |
| Publisher(s) | SCEJ |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 3 |
| Release | PlayStation Store: November 11, 2006 |
| Genre(s) | Artificial life, Casual game, Mini-games, Multiplayer, News |
| Mode(s) | Single player (online play), Versus (online play) |
Mainichi Issho (まいにちいっしょ, Mainichi Issho, "Daily Meeting" or "Everyday Together") is a November 11 2006 Sony Computer Entertainment online game for the PlayStation 3. It is based on the Toro franchise, a cartoon character which is a mascot for SCEJ. While the game is exclusively for the Japanese market its international title is Everyday Together! as seen romanized in the Mainichi Store.
History
Mainichi Issho is part of the Doko Demo Issho (どこでもいっしょ) game series that resolves around the Toro cat character. Episodes spawned on the PlayStation series of home and handeld consoles starting in 1999 with the original PlayStation. Since then various sequels and sidestories were released including on Windows systems and cell phones such as the imode. Even though the franchise is popular in Japan and known in South-East Asia, no game had a western release yet.
Mainichi Issho is the 12th game in the series and was made available for free download on the Japanese PlayStation Store on the PlayStation 3's launch date in November 2006. It is preceded and followed by two cell phone games.
Characters
- Toro Inoue (井上 トロ): a white cat which is the main character of Mainichi Issho. He is often called Toro but his fullname is Toro Inoue.
- Kuro (クロ): a black cat ("kuro" means "black" in Japanese), Toro's best friend and a rival. He first appeared in the series on the PlayStation 2 episode.
- John Mihara (三原 ジュン): an American-Japanese rose rabbit and a friend of the main character.
- Suzuki R (R・スズキ): a four-face metallic robot and a friend of Toro. His fullname is a chassis code,"TYPE B5W-40".[1]
- Sezu "Ricky" Kouhyou (公表 "リッキー" せず): a green frog and Toro's friend.
- Pierre Yamamoto (山本 ピエール): a French-Japanese brown dog which is a francophile and a friend of Toro.
Game modes
Mainichi Issho includes various features coming from different genres, from news to mini-games to online communication to artificial life which makes it an original crossgenre game. Though SCEJ marketed it as a "casual net" (お気軽ネット) genre game. Among its more noticeable innovations are real time screenshot capture -similar as in Gran Turismo 4- and in-game XMB limited access (friend, Internet browser, BGM selection, etc.).
When no modes are selected, Mainichi Issho runs in autoplay and becomes a traditional artificial life game. Then Toro interacts with available items or do "ordinary" actions such as dancing, cleaning his apartment, reading, playing, phoning, drinking milk from his fridge, sleeping, or going to the toilet (from where he reads a newspaper). Since the game is performed in real time, these actions can vary with the time of the day or the night. New actions are added as new version updates or items become available.
Main menu modes are listed as following:
ToroStation
The ToroStation (トロ･ステーション) delivers a semi-interactive blog like daily news in a parody of the NHK Daily News show. News are presented with humor by Toro and Kuro in the manzai duet tradition.
- Latest News (最近のニュース): daily updated blog-like news regarding general interests from upcoming games to cooking, to special event reports, or interviews. Some news include quizz test or mini-games, a correct answer would unlock exclusive game items (see Mochimono) or won Myaile money. Since August, users are able to rate ToroStation news as on a regular blog.
- Selected News [Archive] (よりぬきニュース): a selection of recorded news listed by month releases.
- Explain-otoku information (おトク情報)
- Recommended Web-pages (紹介したWebページ): list of websites highlighted in some news.
Nyavatar
Nyavatar is a contraction of "nya", the Japanese cat scream (the equivalent of "meow") and "avatar" intended as the alternate identity used to impersonate someone on the Internet.
A Nyavatar is a mini-game avatar for Toro. Creating a Toro avatar is free, various clothes are available and the nyavatar can be previewed in the "Closet".
Mochimono
Mochimono (もちもの) or "personal effects" is the place for items related actions.
- Presents (おくりもの, okurimono):
- Rearranging (もようがえ, moyougae): allows to rearrange Toro's apartment furniture and interior decoration.
- Cosplay (コスプレ, kosupure): to select and preview Toro's purchased cosplay suits.
- Television (テレビ, terebi): this options allows various settings including RSS and BGM selection from the user's own compatible audio files (MP3, WMA, WAV, etc.) stored in the PlayStation 3's HDD.
Okaimono
Okaimono (おかいもの) is the place for shopping game items. Purchased items can be used or send to a friend.
- Mainichi Store (まいにちいっしょSTORE): the Mainichi Store contains various content for purchase, items include several cosplay suits for Toro. A certain sum of Yen in the wallet and a proper "license" is needed to view and buy the Mainichi Store contents.
- Myaile Shop (みャイルショップ): a store with free content only. It primarily consists of food for Toro, interior decoration items, and roulette tickets. Prices are based on the Myaile virtual money. Myaile are obtained by Toro in the ToroStation mode.
Game
Besides ToroStation occasional mini-games there are two full mini-games.
- Mainichi Right Brain Ranking (まいにち右脳ランキング): this IQ test mini-games solo mode is based on Internet ranking.
- Mainichi Right Brain Battle (まいにち右脳バトル): an online versus battle IQ test with level ranking and stats. Nyavatar feature is available in this mode (see Nyavatar).
Friend
Selecting "Friend" (フレンド) allows online communication with other users, including written messages and chat through the XMB standard feature.
Settei
Settei (せってい) or "creation" is the main settings options.
Updates
Version updates
- Version 1: the original version was released on November 11, 2006.
- Version 2: December 12, 2006. Adds ToroStation archives and Mainichi Right Brain Ranking mini-game.
- Version 3: June 2007.
- Version 4: September 28, 2007.
- Version 5: October 11, 2007. It adds Nyavatar feature.[2]
- Version 6: January 2008. Adds option to interact with Nyavatar and Toro in a small yard outside their home.
Add-on content
Several add-on and version update (バージョンアップ, "version up") are released in the PlayStation Stores for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable. All are free of charge downloadable contents.
- PlayStation Store releases:
- Mainichi Issho Add-on: new add-on releases are announced in the PlayStation Store under the form of a new Add-on content icon, however a message indicates that download will be automatically performed on next game launch instead of a store item download.
- PlayStation Store (PC) for PSP releases:
- Mainichi Issho PSP Custom Theme: a PSP XMB wallpaper.