Train Simulator (トレインシミュレーター, Torein Shimyurētā, or abbreviated "TS") is a Japanese train simulation game series produced by Ongakukan. The game is significant as it was one of the earliest of its kind since the series started in 1995. No titles were released outside of Asia until the 2022 title JR East Train Simulator.
The original Train Simulator series (1995–2000) was designed from technology which was previously used to develop the Ongakukan product "Touch the Music by Casiopea", which synchronized video with audio. This particular game was based on music from the jazz fusion band Casiopea, whose keyboard player at the time, Minoru Mukaiya, was, and is, also the CEO of Ongakukan. With Train Simulator Ongakukan filmed video from the cab of a train on the desired railway and recorded sounds from that train. Later when the simulation had been completed and was running on a PC, the video would be displayed in a silver metallic box and the sounds would be played according to what was happening at that particular moment in the simulation. The video for the original Train Simulator series of games was 308×156 pixels at 30 frames per second using Intel Indeo 2 video compression and AVI file container.
Each game contains Japanese lines and trains, with the exception of four games featuring overseas routes, in Germany, France, Taiwan, and the United States of America. Video shot from the cab of the train synchronized with the computer is used as a basis for simulation. Ongakukan have endeavoured to produce true to life simulation with much technical details, and since 2005, Ongakukan has started producing professional simulators for driver training.[1]
Six distinct series of the game have been produced through a decade:
The original series, starting in 1995,[2] these titles were all released on Windows and Macintosh systems.
(Kamonomiya - Totsuka)
(Chitose Funabashi - Sagami Ono)
(Shichinohe - Noheji)
(Shinagawa - Misakiguchi)
(Takamatsu - Kotohira, Takamatsu - Kojima)
(Seibu Shinjuku - Honkawagoe)
Nagoya Main Line, Inuyama Line (Kanayama - Shin-Unuma), Hiromi Line (Inuyama - Shin-Kani), HSST-100 Test Track http://www.jrtr.net/jrtr25/f58_tec2.html (Ōe - Higashi-Nagoyakō)
(Umeda - Kosoku Kobe)
(Yoichi - Sapporo)
(Osaki - Osaki, anti-clockwise)
(Cannes - Nice - Monte Carlo - Menton)
(Abenobashi - Yoshino)
(Kamata - Omiya)
The Train Simulator Plus series was designed for the Windows system and its releases were limited to Japan. The first episodes were published by Pony Canyon while the last one was published by Ongakukan.
(Yodoyabashi-Demachi Yanage)
(Tokyo-Otsuki)
(Shinjuku - Odawara)
(Kokusai Kaikan, Takeda, Kintetsu Nara)
Released by SCE on PlayStation 2 system.
(Osaki - Osaki, clockwise)
(Misakiguchi-Shinagawa, Haneda Airport-Keikyu Kamata, Shinagawa)
Released on PlayStation 2 system.
Osaka Subway (Nakamozu - Senri Chūō)
(Sakuragicho - Shibuya, Shibuya - Chūō Rinkan, Oimachi - Futako Tamagawa)
(Haneda Airport or Ueno - Aoto - Narita Airport)
JR Kyūshū (Shin-Yatsushiro - Kagoshima Chūō, Kumamoto - Minamata, Kumamoto - Shin-Yatsushiro)
Released on PlayStation Portable system from 2005 to 2006 and available in Japan and Asia (Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore), the first episode was co-developed with rival series Densha de Go! producer Taito. Taito by themselves have also released 4 editions of Densha de Go for PSP.
(Sakuragicho-Shibuya, Shibuya-Chūō Rinkan, Oimachi-Futako Tamagawa)
(Haneda Airport-Aoto, Ueno-Narita Airport)
Railfan is a subseries of Train Simulator designed for the PlayStation 3 system. The first episode introduced in December 2006 was developed and published by Ongakukan in Japan, by Sony Computer Entertainment in Asia (Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore) and by Cyberfront Korea in South Korea.
Chuo Main Line (Mitaka-Tokyo), Keihan Main Line (Demachiyanagi-Yodoyabashi), Chicago Brown Line (Fullerton, Loop, Fullerton)
First version released in November 2022, JR East Train Simulator was the first title in the series to be regularly updated in the West. The base game features full Keihin–Tōhoku Negishi Line, short segments of the Tōkaidō, Chūō, and Ōito lines, with 12 DLC [<nowiki/>[[Tōkaidō Main Line|Tōkaidō]], Chūō, Ōito, Saikyō–Kawagoe, Senseki, Keiyō, Yamanote, Jōban (Ueno–Tokyo included), Shin'etsu Main, Hachinohe, Nambu (Branch included), Tsurumi (Umi-Shibaura Branch, Ōkawa Branch included), and Sōbu (Narita Airport branch included) lines] available on Steam platform to extend these lines to their full length.[5]
A number of external controllers with realistic controls have been manufactured for use with the games: