Polygon Maiden Evolution

A historical comparison of the dramatic technological evolution of 3D polygonal anime-styled bishoujo has recently been circulating, showing just how close the goal of a “real” 2D wife is getting for the otaku masses…

The history (given as date – game – publisher – platform):

1993 – Virtua Fighter – SEGA – Sega Model 1/Sega Saturn/32X

1994/12 – Tekken – Namco – Namco System 11/PS1

1995/01 – Battle Arena Toshinden – Takara – PS1
1995/12 – Battle Arena Toshinden 2 – Takara – PS1/Sony ZN-1

1996/04 – Psychic Force – Taito – TAITO FX-1A/PS1

1996 – Dancing Eyes – Namco – Namco System 11

1997/01 – Final Fantasy VII – Square Soft – PS1

1997/12 – Rival Schools: United By Fate – Capcom – Sony ZN-2/PS1

1998/06 – Psychic Force 2012 – Taito – Taito Wolf System/Dreamcast/Windows

1999/11 – Dead or Alive 2 – Tecmo – NAOMI/Dreamcast/PS2

2001/12 – Tokimeki Memorial 3- Konami – PS2

2003/04 – Yumeria – Namco – PS2

2005/04 – Love Death: Realtime Lovers – TEATIME – Windows

2005/07 – THE IDOLM@STER (SYSTEM256) – Namco Bandai – Namco System 256

2007/01 – Shining Force EXA – SEGA – PS2

2007/01 – THE IDOLM@STER (XBox360) – Namco Bandai – Xbox 360
2008/02 – THE IDOLM@STER L4U! – Namco Bandai – Xbox 360

2007/05 – Schoolmate – ILLUSION – Windows

2007/08 – Love Death 2: Realtime Lovers – TEATIME – Windows

2007/12 – Time Leap – Frontwing – Windows/Xbox 360/PS3

2008/06 – 3D Custom Girl – Tech Arts 3D – Windows
2008/12 – 3D Custom Girl XP – Tech Arts 3D – Windows

2008/07 – Street Fighter IV – Capcom – Taito Type X2/Xbox 360/PS3

2009/07 – Hatsune Miku -Project DIVA- – SEGA – PSP

2009/08 – Dream Club – D3 Publisher – Xbox 360

2009/09 – LovePlus – Konami – Nintendo DS
2010/04 – LovePlus i – Konami – iPhone
2010/06 – LovePlus+ – Konami – Nintendo DS

2010/06 – Atelier Totori – Gust – PS3

2010/06 – Hatsune Miku -Project DIVA- Dreamy Theater – SEGA – PS3
2011/08 – Hatsune Miku -Project DIVA- Dreamy Theater 2nd – SEGA – PS3

2010/08 – Hyperdimension Neptunia – Compile Heart – PS3
2011/08 – Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2 – Compile Heart – PS3

2011/02 – THE IDOLM@STER 2 – Namco Bandai – Xbox 360/PS3
2011/10 – THE IDOLM@STER G4U! – Namco Bandai – Xbox 360/PS3

2011/07 – Houkago Custom Time ~Customize Lovers~ – TEATIME – Windows

2011/12 – Ever17: Out of Infinity (Xbox 360) – 5pb. + CyberFront – Xbox 360

The general opinion of the collator appears to be that the current peak was reached some years ago with IdolMaster, although given that the graphical capabilities of the current generation of consoles are now hopelessly out of date, this is perhaps more a reflection of the glacial pace of console hardware evolution than that of the games themselves.