Next year, those of us outside of Japan will have the chance to experience Cho Aniki – a series of shooters all about oiled up men and phallic imagery – on the PSP.
The benefits of Sony focusing on digital downloads have already been made apparent with Aksys Games’ announcement that it intends to release Cho Aniki Zero for the PSP exclusively on the PlayStation Network in Spring 2010. Cho Aniki was long thought to be one of those series that was either too weird or too extreme to make it overseas, so perhaps the ability to release it through a viable digital download service is making it worth the risk.
Homoerotic innuendo and imagery are at a premium in Cho Aniki, though the gameplay is fairly standard shoot-em-up territory. It’s all done in a very humorous and wacky way, and if you can’t laugh at it you probably need to reinstall your emotions chip. For example, here’s the plotline for Cho Aniki Zero:
The Story So Far…
Since the death of Balzac, the Builder Planet has celebrated a long period of peace.
However, as time goes by, protein becomes scarce, and protein deficiency is soon a serious problem for the Builder Planet. As people struggle for control over what protein is left, Balzac II begins his subtle rise to power…
Learning of his return, Idaten and Benten take up arms and begin their man-tastic voyage…
Yes, they really went there. Players will take on the roles of Idaten and Benten, two incredibly muscle bound men, as they shoot their ways through the forces of Emperor Balzac II. Your goal? Well, according to Aksys, to: “Blaze through five man-mazing levels of love, and bear witness to the birth and rebirth of some of the greatest bromances of all time!” And you better believe you’re going to have to be good to: “Collect enough Man Protein to unleash the devastating attack of the Men’s Beam!”
Cho Aniki Zero will probably not be much more than a novelty, as it almost seems was the purpose for the development of the whole series, so I hope it’ll be budget priced. The series is often considered to be pretty awful in Japan, referred to as a series of “s**t games.” If Cho Aniki Zero hits the $10 mark or so, I’ll give it a shot, especially because it has multiple endings and I can’t wait to see the absurd fates of the oily Idaten and Benten.
