Steins;Gate (シュタインズ・ゲート, Shutainzu Gēto) is a Japanese visual novel developed by 5pb. and Nitroplus, and was released on October 15, 2009 for the Xbox 360. This is the two companies' second time collaborating afterChaos;Head. A port to the Windows operating system on the PC was released on August 26, 2010 and a port for Sony'sPlayStation Portable handheld game console will be released in June, 2011. The game is described by the development team as a "hypothetical science adventure game" (想定科学ADV, Sōtei Kagaku ADV). The gameplay in Steins;Gate follows a linear plot line which offers pre-determined scenarios with courses of interaction.
Steins;Gate has been praised for its intertwining storyline and the voice actors have been commended for their portrayal of the characters. A manga adaptation of the story illustrated by Sarachi Yomi began serialization in Media Factory's Monthly Comic Alive magazine on September 26, 2009. A second manga series illustrated by Kenji Mizuta began serialization in Mag Garden's Monthly Comic Blade on December 28, 2009. An anime adaptation began airing on April 6, 2011.
Plot[]
Steins;Gate is set in the summer of 2010, approximately one year after the events that took place in Chaos;Head, in Akihabara. Rintarō Okabe attends a conference on time machines when he discovers the bloody remains of Kurisu Makise, a renowned researcher whom he met earlier. Following this incident, Rintarō experiences various unusual events, leading up to his urge to test a machine he created to — apparently — travel back in time.