:TITLE:About us :INC:index :SUB:Goal

Our primary goal is building a large, comprehensive and up-to-date database for information about all existing visual novels. VNDB aims to be a central place too look up general information about the visual novels themselves, as well as practical information around it, like available releases, localisations and producers.
Our secondary goal is to promote the wonderful medium called visual novels to a broader audience, an audience not limited only to people who can understand Japanese, but to anyone interested in literature, anime, manga or games, regardless of their geographical location or cultural differences.

:SUB:Genesis

It all started right after yorhel finished reading Ever17. Highly impressed by the masterpiece, several questions came to his mind: After learning about visual novels, why did it still take several months to find this game? Why hasn't he ever heard about it before? How can a visual novel of that quality go by unnoticed in almost all online anime and gaming communities? And more importantly: Are there more visual novels like that out there?

VNDB was born to answer that last question. The complete lack of any central resource for, or even a simple list of visual novels made it very hard to find new games or get a good overview of what was available. Having a central and well-organized place where everyone can share their information and knowledge about visual novels would solve this problem.

After a short three weeks of hard work, the first version of VNDB saw the light of day in September 2007. The obscurity and small fanbase around visual novels, combined with the bare minimum of features and the rigid contribution system in use at the time, made that the database only grew at a slow pace. But with time more people learned about VNDB, new and advanced features were being introduced, and in response more visitors started contributing information. The introduction of an improved and open contribution system in February 2008 motivated even more users to submit information, and as of September 2008 - a year after the initial version of VNDB - the database catalogues more than 1000 visual novels and 2000 releases, which still continues to grow in size and quality today.

:SUB:Credits

Code development

Yorhel
Main developer.
3dB
Wrote the current user authentication code and implemented post throttling on the discussion board.

Translations
Czech
Nya-chan Production
Hungarian
Bikfalvi Máté
Russian
Dmitri Poguliayev

Skins
applehq
Little Busters! (pink), Neon (black)
EchoMateria
Eien no Aselia (falu red), Gekkou no Carnevale (black), Jingai Makyo (peach-orange), Ever17 (bondi blue), Fate/stay night (seal brown), Fate/stay night (pale carmine), Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (orange), Little Busters! (lemon chiffon), Primitive Link (pale chestnut), Saya no Uta (dark scarlet), Seinarukana (white), Sora no Iro, Mizu no Iro (turquoise), Tsukihime (midnight blue), Tsukihime (black)
Yorhel
Angelic Serenade (dark blue), Touhou (grey)

Top 5 Contributors :TOP5CONTRIB: ...and many more.