FORT90 forum

Looks like ESPGaluda II is next (http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=27056) on the list. Between that, Deathsmiles and Mushi Futari, I'll be sitting pretty even without Ketsui (which is hopefully still on it's way). If we're really lucky though, we'll start seeing rumors of DFK being on it's way. That game looks like a gorgeous combination of ESPGaluda II and DOJ:

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a160/davidlory/daifukkatsu.jpg)

I've been pretty happy with Space Invaders Extreme, Ikaruga(never played the DC or GC versions), R Type Dimensions and Galaga Legions so far.

Although, I'm not a really good shmup player so Ikaruga really kicks my ass, and luckily there is a "I suck at shmups" mode for R Type Dimensions. Although, I have to say, making it past level 2 in any R-Type somehow feels like an achievement.

i forget where i read it today but they say ikaruga is on Live right now for five bucks

The 360 version kinda blows, and this coming from a Jeff Minter fan, who supplied the backgrounds. Get the superior DS version instead. Or just wait for part 2, also on the DS.

Speaking of Minter, when the hell is Gridnrunner +++ coming out? Seems like it was announced ages ago.


That is true. And given how it's more or less become the new shmup system of choice, I still don't understand why Treasure doesn't try to make a few extra bucks my porting Radiant Silvergun onto the system.

Yeah, this is the first time I played it, so I really don't have a previous version of it to base an opinion on. I'll probably pick up Part 2 when it comes out just to see why it is indeed superior.

Raiden Fighters Aces (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raiden_Fighters_Aces) came out two months ago. I know that games in this compilation are rather old (1996-1998), but I had a lot of fun playing them. Not really for the fans of bullet hell madness, but hardest difficulty setting provides a lot of challenge (at least for me). Full XBLA support, along with ability to save your replays and nice score attack modes. New copy can be bought for $19.95.

In other news
Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet (http://michelgagne.blogspot.com/) will be heading to XBLA (HD trailer (http://www.gametrailers.com/video/exclusive-extended-insanely-twisted/52779)). Game in itself looks rather simple, but visuals are thing to behold.

That looks a lot like the new PixelJunk shump. A LOT. Just saying.

Probably due to the use of vectors. It's kind of hard to make things look unique with them if you want them to look clean.

No, he's right. It's that Solar Jetman look that you don't see too often. The vector style certainly isn't helping though.

If anything vectors are probably being underused in games. You can do some pretty amazing things with vector graphics, some very stylized stuff.

pixels > vectors

:)

But, vectors are so much easier to play with. :(

That's none of my concern. I just want stuff to look awesome.

So I'll be talking about it a bit in my big-ass Otakon report that's due to go up sometime tomorrow or the next day, but just wanted to say real quick that I got the chance to play the new G.rev title for the 360, Mamonoro. Loads of fun, especially if you were a fan of Pocky & Rocky. Any interest Dave?

Oh, they also had Otomedius, but never got the chance to play it.

It definitely looks a little different, and could be cool, but I'm not interested in investing $70 to import it.

Hey drozdal, hear about this yet?

http://kotaku.com/5319774/raiden-iv-release-powers-up-with-limited-edition

... Not the biggest fan of the series myself, but I've always heard that 4 was the best of the bunch. and those extras sound neat.

I think I played Raiden IV in the arcades once when I was in Japan. I do hear good things about it, so I might pick it up when it gets a domestic release if it isn't region encoded.

i've never really played a Raiden game very extensively.  i'm sort of interested in buying this only for the vague and misguided idea that if i buy a shooter, more might be released here.

That always struck me as an awful reason to buy games, "supporting the genre." Especially when you consider all the shmups I hate, even some made by CAVE.

So I just came SO close to getting the ALL CLEAR 1cc in DeathSmiles with Death Mode (suicide bullets that show up when you choose Rank 3 for all the levels), and I netted myself ~ 145 million points in the process. I know I can beat this, in a few more runs I should be able to do it.

Nice, I took a week off the internetz (trip to europe) and this happened. :D

I was waiting for UFO to announce US release of Raiden IV since 2008 (when the japanese version hit the market), Amazon has a pre-order page up (http://www.amazon.com/Raiden-IV-Xbox-360/dp/B0029MAXPE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1248483727&sr=8-2) and release date is set for Sept 8th. $40 for a port of 2 year old arcade game seems reasonable.

Also, this isn't surprising since everyone already expected it, but DeathSmiles 2 has been confirmed for the 360 as well. Too bad the game looks like shit. :/

How so? Not saying that people should buy stuff, just because, but if X sells well enough, that it will encourage certain publishers to release more stuff that's just like it. Sometimes. And yes, I realize that it doesn't always work that way.


Again, how so?

I bought Raiden Fighter Aces partly because of nostalgia and partly because like isfet, I want to vote with my (allmighty) dollar on a genere that I'd love to see more on a console I own.

Destructoid (http://www.destructoid.com/otakon-09-shmup-report-hands-on-with-3-hot-japanese-stgs-140777.phtml) posted a report about japanese shmups on 360 that they played at Otakon. We all know how cool Death Smiles is, but Mamoru-kun wa Norowarette shimatta (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCM1t-8DQys&feature=related) from G.Rev looks at least interesting with it's control scheme that reminds me of Under Defeat and Otomedius (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1TiTKQ8q4Q) - really pretty new installment in Parodious series.

Yeah, as noted in my own Otakon report, I really dug Mamoru-kun, since it felt like a cross between Pocky & Rocky and a Cave-like shmup.

I would really like to try it out, but the thing is, G. Rev's stuff usually isn't my cup of tea. Even Under Defeat, which is my favorite of theirs, isn't something I can play over and over again. It's mostly just making me want to load up Guwange on the cab.

For those who missed it, there's a doujin shump available on the 360, under the re-branded Indie Games section, called Crescendo Symphony. But it totally blows and really isn't worth the bother (though at least you can nab it, along with some visual novel by the same author, which I can't make heads or tails about).

Anyone else is waiting for Duality ZF (http://xona.com/dualityzf/)? Looks like a steal for 400 Microsoft Points ($5 USD). Out (probably) this summer.

Looks like a ton of fun, but man, that art style is kinda yeesh.

One of the two guys that is making it posts on the shmups forums. I'm actually responsible for the name of the caravan mode being "Score Rush" (http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=25068), at least if it ends up being called that in the final product. This thing was supposed to come out back in April and just keeps getting pushed back. The art style is kind of awful, I actually asked the guy if he was looking for an artist, but the game looks sort of cool. Not my thing exactly, but they're really trying to make a fun game and have some idea about what you need to make a shmup fun.

Duality ZF art style reminds me of Radilgy on Dreamcast, that game also looked like no other shmup back in the day. But what won me over is Dualiti's unusual (for a shooting game) choice of horizontal game plane (seen also in Mars Matrix / GigaWing), that nowdays, when almost everyone has widescreen TV, makes perfect sense.

So Dave, which version are you getting?

http://www.siliconera.com/2009/08/17/mushihime-sama-futari-ver-1-5-locks-on-to-november/

Already pre-ordered the regular. It's expensive enough as it. If I'm dying for the soundtrack I'll just steal it.

Hey, it's worth a shot I guess...

http://kotaku.com/5343835/bullet-hell-developer-is-considering-your-requests

Yeah I emailed them.

http://www.shopncsx.com/futariarcadestick.aspx

It was be an insta-get for me, but that green base... yeesh.

Forget about it. There's a new PS2->360 adapter in town, and preliminary reports are good. I'm buying one to test it out, and it's much better deal being $30 shipped instead of $65 - $70 as the Max shooter is. I'll let you guys know how it is.

(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2563/3847439755_6e327022bd_o.jpg)
http://sdtekken.com/tech-area/converters/xconverter-360/

So my hopes of using the PS2 Arcana Heart stick on a 360 might be realized? Sweet.

Forget if I've mentioned it already, but Raystorm is getting a HD face-lift for the 360. I recall enjoying it back in the day...

http://www.siliconera.com/2009/08/31/raystorm-hd-vs-raystorm/

... Remake looks a bit on the bland side, like most tend to be.

Dave, your emailed worked!

http://www.siliconera.com/2009/09/02/maybe-mushihime-sama-futari-will-be-region-free/

Actually, what I emailed them about was which games to release on XBLA. I was hoping for DFK or Muchi Muchi.

ATTN: Fort

How does it feel to know you'll die a happy man?

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=27943

Please God let this game be region free, please, please, please...

Mushihime-sama Futari Arrange PV...

http://bit.ly/2HDVa

Mushihime-sama to be (most likely) region free

http://www.destructoid.com/tgs-09-yes-mushihime-sama-futari-is-region-free-150134.phtml

Keep an eye on the moon, I'm kind of worried it's going to fall out of the sky or something.

Here's hoping that enough people in the end actually buy enough copies for the experiment to be considered a success. Enough to reprint Death Smiles 1 with region restrictions lifted.

BTW, Dave, been meaning to ask: did you ever get that controller converter? I need an excuse to buy that Arcana Heart 2 stick, which they apparently have at VideoGamesNewYork.

Yes, I haven't tested it with my HRAP, but it works really well with my PSX padhacks!

I think I'm gonna order another one of these. Should I just order one for you as well?

If you could, that would be awesome. Though I gotta ask... PSX padhack? Do I have to do anything similar?

Also, how much are they? If they're not much, I might ask for two, since I might have two sticks eventually.

My main man McWhertor always gets the info that truly counts...

http://kotaku.com/5370354/cave-wants-to-bring-its-manic-shooters-global

... Capcom Vs. Cave? YES.

I think I paid $23 + $7 shipping for my adapter.

i'd drop some dosh for solid pc ports of some of cave's offerings.

You're more likely to see them on Mame first.

Seems kinda weird, considering how strong the shump scene is so strong on the PC side, thanks to Kenta Cho and Touhou Project, no?

I could be wrong, but I think the PC market in Japan sucks.

Considering how no one is into FPSs and MMOs, I think you're pretty much right.

aren't MMOs rather popular all over?  or is that a misconception?

anyhow, yea, more Cave shooters available to US customers makes a lot of sense.

and to be honest, i've never heard a reasonable argument as to why Japanese companies region-lock their games.  aside from some possible vague kind of nationalism or something, no response to the question ever really makes sense.  which leads me to believe there has to be some reason that these companies can't state (like pressure from above or something like that). 

otherwise, what reasonable excuse could they have for not wanting to sell more copies of a game?

well depending on who is publishing the games, the further up the food chain you go, the more you want to lock down who can get at what.  Both from a profit point of view (controlling where your stuff goes & can be played) and from a quality point of view.  Localization/globalization is a big deal, and if they want to make sure their stuff doesn't turn into All Your Base level horrible translation, they probably keep it locked down that way as well.

my wild ass guess:

cave-style manic shmups are already a niche, and one whose enthusiasts are stereotype as, for better or for worse, being given to bouts of fancy a la the calm of the icy, to pick an obvious example. spending a lot of time and money on localization, marketing, etc wouldn't make a lot of sense if you're going to undermine part of your own draw.

plus, how many copies of, let's say, a donpachi pack would really sell in america? 30k? 50k? 10k? 5k? i'm betting closer to 5 to 10k total. having to do a decent retail box version would be nearly out of the question, even if it was a cheap ass printing and retailing at nearly $29.95. direct download would make more sense, but may lack the romance.

i may be entirely wrong, but that seems plausible to me.

i think everyone is misunderstanding what i wrote (or thought i wrote).  i totally understand why a company like Cave won't localize most of their games.  what i don't understand is why they not only don't release the games in the US, they also put a region lock on the games that prevents them from being played on US 360s.  that's a conscious choice they've made, as it isn't automatic.  the fact that Mushihimesama Futari will be region free is a phenomenal first step, but i never quite understood why any of their games were region locked in the first place.

They like to hold out in the hopes of getting more cash later (see Senkou). I wonder if the current economic situation has anything to do with this decision, or if there are simply enough people clamoring for their games over here.

This pretty much blows...

http://kotaku.com/5382083/dont-expect-maniac-shooter-ketsui-on-xbox-360-anytime-soon

yea.  though honestly, if it came down between a shitty port of the game or it just never seeing the light of day, i'd prefer the latter.

but it doesn't sound totally like a lost cause, so...

Did that just go up? Isn't this old news, or was Asada talking about it again? I think Cave will port it though once Mushi Futari and Galuda 2 sell as well as Death Smiles did.

I'm assuming this is a recent development, but it's Kotaku, so you honestly can't say.

yea, actually, i wouldn't really be surprised if it's old news.  i mean, one of their news articles a little over a month ago was about how Mega Man 9's DLC adds Hard mode options and how that's unusual.  like this is news to anyone?

Wasn't sure where else to put this, but does anyone have any 360 wired controllers they want to sell me at a reasonable rate? Only one of my two wired controllers works with my adapter, and that one just died for no apparent reason. And I need two since I have a second adapter now. (two player Death Smiles if anyone wants to try that out).

I think it's time to move Mushihimesama Futari discussion back here :)

I played Mushihimesama for about two hours today, messing around with different modes and such. It's really neat, I dig original mode the most so far - really nice difficulty scaling.

NeoGaf (http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=376352) has achievement list (for those who care), at the beginning it seems like game just showers you with them and some of them are rather silly (start the game, wait for time to run out on selection screen or pick up a power up), but the ones that actually require some skill will take quite some time to get.

My download card worked with US 360 (version 1.01 is on the disc btw) and I kinda hope that MAYBE US players will be able to purchase Black version straight from the game menu without using Japanese points.

Does anyone know when is Black version supposed to hit DLC?

Good find digging up this thread. Black Label will drop before the end of the year.

So ESPGaluda II BL got some more blog time recently. Apparently the LE will include a faceplate, and the game will include a new playable character I guess (Se se)? That one I may buy the LE for just because I think that game is going to be much better.

Not gonna lie; DEFINITELY gonna get it for the faceplate if it's awesome enough, and given that I love the art for the game thus far, it's a safe bet.

So ESPGaluda II BL will be coming out in March, I hope against all hopes that Cave will look at the numbers Mushihimesama sold (I assume they did rather well knowing that few days after the release they are already pushing second print) and maybe will drop region coding. Hey, everybody loves money, right?

even if Futari hadn't sold as well as it did (according to Play-Asia), you would think that any extra sales of the game would be worth it to Cave.  it's not like region locking the game saves money or anything, right?  it's just something encoded on the disc.

regardless, i played a whooooole lot of mushihime last night.  so far my favorite modes are Arrange and v.1.5, though i don't really understand the scoring system in Arrange yet.  it allows you to switch between the two characters and they each have their own score gauge and somehow the switching is what affects everything, but i haven't spent enough time with it.

1.5, though, is pretty straightforward with its scoring system and it actually adds a lot of fun to the gameplay itself.  Arrange mode just seems easier in general, though.  not only because you autobomb, but there's something else i haven't put my finger on yet (maybe different bullet patterns?).

anyway, as for Black Label, i dunno.  when i clicked on it, it brought me to the screen where i would purchase something if it were available.  apparently if you try to do that with any other JP game, the menu will freeze up on you or something.  so, the fact that it loads at all is maybe a positive indicator that we will be able to purchase BL with US points.

If it's region free that makes it less likely (probably not at all likely since these don't require translation) for a publisher to pick it up for sales overseas.

Hopefully I'll have my copy by tomorrow. Thanksgiving probably slowed things down though. :/

I've noticed that too.  What sucks is that people without DLC cards and with US360 most likely won't be able to purchase 1.01 mode (since it's not available as a menu option like Black Label is, it just shows up when you punch in the code).

I kept coming back to Mushi four times yesterday, it was just too much to put it down.

One more thing about ESPGaluda II, there is still about 4 months left till release date and that leaves Cave more then enough time to make a decision about region lock before game is off to press (production cycle is probably 2 months, maybe less, depending on how big the printrun is).

(http://cave-game.cocolog-nifty.com/photos/uncategorized/2009/11/28/esp2bl_3.jpg)
(http://cave-game.cocolog-nifty.com/photos/uncategorized/2009/11/28/seserifp.jpg)


Less than three. The official word is that sales of Futari will decide future localization not region encoding, but I think it will probably have an effect on region encoding as well. This seems like a tight window to make a decision though, so I'm starting to think I won't be surprised to see ESPGaluda II region encoded Japan. It would be a shame since that game is going to be way better than Futari.

Seriously, what the fuck is Cave's problem. You know, it's great that they gave us Futari and all, but it seems less like a warm, inviting hand of friendship and more of a "here, now please just shut up so we can go on with our business" type move.

Perhaps I'm overreacting, but honestly, why act in such a manner? This perhaps more than anything else in recent memory speaks volumes of how ass backwards Japanese game companies are these days. Oh and that face plate looks pretty eh, so I guess I'll be passing.

no, really, i think i agree in this instance.  the business decisions of these companies are simply perplexing on so many different levels and it hardly makes any sense no matter how you look at it.

i understand not region locking makes a game less marketable to be released overseas by a US publisher, but wouldn't just having people import a region free game make more money in the long run?  if only because you wouldn't have to pay out to any other 3rd party to produce the game elsewhere?

You don't pay out to a publisher, they pay you for the rights. So Mushi Futari sold 15k units. How much of that was overseas? A few thousand at best. So do you go for that quick cash or hold out in the hopes of getting a publisher to buy the rights? It's not like they were doing this for their fanbase. Their fanbase is mostly in Japan. This is just a market test, and hopefully it will be enough to tempt them into going for the quick cash.

What you say is totally true, but considering how various other parties have tried releasing Japanese shumps already (like whoever the hell brought out Raiden), and how all of them failed, Cave should know by now that their best bet to make people happy... and most importantly, make profits that would be otherwise nonexistent... is to forgo an American publisher and in essence address that marketplace themselves.

Plus, considering how small of a company they are, and how poorly games are doing in general in Japan, even though few extra thousand units they're selling overseas has to count. Note: I am not privy to their books, and come to think of it, they also make lots of money doing pachinko machines, which is the real life blood I would have to assume. But still...

Okay, it's been almost two weeks, where the fuck is my copy of Mushihimesama Futari?

Joe I forget, who did you order from? Since I saw you playing this game via XBL last night. Don't tell me it got lost in the mail...

PA's website says 5-14 days, and in the past it took about a week to get to me, but it will be 14 days on Wednesday. I'm starting to wish I had just paid the extra ten bucks or so to get it from NCSX.

So you haven't gotten yours either? That makes me feel a little better I guess... I just have such rotten luck with mail delivery these days.

Unrelated, but the new Fed Ex guy left someone's super important next day letter right in the middle of the street where I live, near the a parking meter. Even though it wasn't mine, it could have been, and it really pissed me off.

Yeah, it didn't come in today's mail, so who knows where it is. The PA page has a caveat that it can sometimes take 4-5 weeks to arrive if something goes wrong.

they didn't give you guys a tracking number? Isn't that pretty standard with PA? Anyway, I ordered from NCSX since I figured it would get here faster since I ordered so late. Sorry to hear the PA copies didn't arrive yet.

We went with the cheap airmail shipping (otherwise it's $15) which does not have a tracking number.

Meanwhile, NCSX hasn't returned my emails or phone calls regarding something else that went missing (and is far more expensive than Futari, as well as harder to replace). So, yeah... Hooray for customer service and mail order these days.

man, shitty.  well, if i've never not gotten something from P-A eventually, so i'm sure it'll arrive.  but yea, transporting things from Asia can take up to a month if done super cheap :\

Apparently this is the problem (http://www.hongkongpost.com/eng/misc/specialnotice/20091204a/index.htm). So I guess it might be another week yet? :(

This one's for Katie in case she wants to get Matt some more anime girl dolls for Christmas!

I'm selling all my limited Mushi PS2 stuff, that's the LE of the game and the OST. TWO RECO DOLLS! And one of them is a little upskirt girl! Yay!

(http://i.ebayimg.com/10/!BhKd+O!BWk~$(KGrHqMOKkUErzHnjBojBLH9Uv15Rw~~_12.JPG) (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180443588685)

Not gonna lie, grown up Reco is hawt. The younger one, not so much! I like young anime girls and all, but not THAT much. Also, I'm actually far more interested in Futari's soundtrack at the moment; been playing this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gslCMU3y2_Y) YouTube vid over and over again, mostly for the first part.

Dave, is that on the original OST or the enhanced one that came with the LE? If so the latter... I kinda wish I had broken the bank for the deluxe package.

BTW Dave, for a guy that gives me shit for liking animu, you sure do have a lot of it handy. Just saying.

Not anymore! I just sold what was my doll collection! Someone grabbed all that at the Buy It Now price. The soundtrack is just the official soundtrack. It was sold separately. Mushi 1's soundtrack is much better than Futari imo :/

I was looking into the G.Rev shooter, Mamoru-kun ha norowareteshimatta!, and after watching a superplay vid, I don't think it's something I'd be into. I think I'll finally grab Raiden IV though. I had forgotten about that, but my brother has been asking what he can get me for Christmas.

Psych, just looked it up and Raiden IV for the US is region locked so it won't work in my cab. Whatever.

Dave, check your mailbox cuz my copy just arrived! And I got the copy with the DLC card! Sweet. But it's no nice looking, I almost don't want to use it!

Just got it. Does NOT have the DLC card. Time to start sending the angry emails. >___<

And I definitely ordered AFTER you, correct? Damn...

Judging by what I've read on the forums, I think people who ordered earlier were LESS likely to get the DLC. I sent them a pretty stern email. Looking forward to what they have to say.

Black Label is OUT NOW! You can get it with a US account and US points!

oh man, that sucks dude.  sorry to hear it.  hopefully they'll reimburse you in some way, though who knows.

anyway, i plan to get BL as soon as i get home.  so, essentially, with Black Label, there's not much point to playing 1.5, is there? unless you just happen to like that version, i mean.

I don't think I'll be going back. It's easier than 1.5 because they give you more bullets which means more slowdown, and you get the sound effect, and in Original you only swap every 2k. But if I want a tougher experience once I 1CC BL Original, I'll probably go to Maniac instead of 1.5 Original.

well, at least they got back to you pretty quickly via e-mail.  that sucks.  i can understand how you feel; it's like when i preordered the TE stick for SF4 and there was so much doubt as to whether or not i'd actually get it.  and then when i kept calling and asking the store about it, they said they didn't have it when they actually did ("oh, i saw the box, but i didn't know what it was").

Just came so close to 1CC'ing BL. I got to Larsa with 3 lives and somehow completely blew it. It was ridiculous, I was having such a good run in Stages 4 and 5 and then I just wiped out at Larsa hard. 400 million points.

edit: Got the 1CC. Only 350 million points though. Downloading BL introduces a weird stuttering problem to the game that people on the shmups forum confirmed. It happens randomly, only a few times in a full playthrough. It's not too bad, but it is a little annoying. If you're content with 1.5 then hold off until there is a fix for it, but I certainly don't regret downloading it.

I decided to give Arrange Ultra a spin, and the last boss is surprisingly hard. They throw the TLB into the mix too and I didn't manage to beat it. Where are the high scores at? I'm mostly playing BL Maniac right now, but I'm also trying to get a BL Original 1CC that tops 400 million. I don't know how I got that score because now I just keep getting around 360 million.

I mentioned this already in my latest blog post, but I'm sure it was easy to miss, so I'll ask here:

Got the Futari DLC card but haven't used it. Sorta just wanna hold onto it since it's pretty, plus I figure I can sell it as a collector's item down the road if I needed the cash. So instead, wanted to buy Black Label with my own points, since you guys seemed to indicate that it's possible.

Well, when I go to the screen that supposedly allows one to do so, it lists the content as free. But when I choose confirm, I get an error message stating that I can't do that. Huh? Even if I wanted to use the DLC card, how would I even input the info? Other than going out to the main menu and choosing redeem code. Anyone know what I'm talking about?

From the dashboard, go into My Games -> Mushi Futari -> DLC -> It's right there.

And PA agreed to give me $10 for not getting me a copy with DLC, so they're back to being alright in my book. Let me know if you want to sell that DLC card. I'm not going to mention is on the shmups forum though because PA would probably hate me if I did.

Gonna give it a shot in a bit, but next issue: what's this about slowdown? Does it affect all modes?

Are you referring to the stutter where it will occasionally freeze up for about a half a second? It stopped doing that to me when I installed the game to the hard drive. It's pretty annoying, but never got me killed. It's not super frequent, and not everyone is having the problem.

As for slowdown, that's there on purpose, although the word on the street is that Black Label has a little more slowdown than the PCB, enough that high scores will probably will have two separate score boards (PCB vs. 360).

I made this 'shop for the shmups forums but thought you guys might enjoy it too: NSFW (http://www.dmauro.com/pub/deathsmiles.jpg)
Source photo is just as NSFW. (http://www.dmauro.com/pub/notdeathsmiles.jpg)

Source please.

So I downloaded Black Label for Futari, plus installed the game onto my HD, and thank goodness that the stuttering is practically non-existant! I was convinced that I was going to have rotten luck and have an unplayable game on my hands.

Though I'm still extremely confused by all the various different kinds of systems. Dave, you should really write a FAQ or something, if only so I can keep track.

0 Day Attack on Earth (http://xbox.joystiq.com/2009/10/01/hands-on-0-day-attack-on-earth-xbla/) - the game that got almost no coverage anywhere comes out (hopefully) today on XBLA. Square Enix twin stick shooter - seems a bit slow and repetitive, but art direction is decent.

Hey, I wrote about it at least! Anyhow, I too am looking forward to it as well.

BTW droz, sorry to be lazy, since I'm pretty sure the answer is already spelled out elsewhere in this thread, but if I wanted to get one of the Raiden games for the 360, which should I pick up?

I'd go with Raiden IV. 40$* for a arcade port with soundtrack thrown in seemes like a good deal.

If you like the game you can always get Fighter Aces later (it's worth it just for this one crazy train level alone) and it will only get cheaper with time.

Unless you're on a really tight budget, then get used RFA for like 10$ or less ;)

* add few extra bucks on top of that, because there are two extra ships sold as DLC for about a dollar each (Fairy and a Ship from first game). People were flipping out about it, but to be honest few extra bucks for few more hours of gameplay is not that big of a deal (at least for me).

Everyone on the shmups forums will tell you to go with RFA over RIV.

Sure, I enjoyed RFA more than RIV, but IV for me feels way more approachable (easier). I assumed that Matt never played any of them, so for me it seemed like a better suited choice.

So might be going back to Japan sometime next year! Which is awesome. Though sucks it could not have been last week or whenever this was held...

http://kotaku.com/5435313/underwear-to-shoot-em-up-in

Holy shit...

http://www.siliconera.com/2010/01/15/deathsmiles-magically-gets-stateside-release/

The site is down, but apparently siliconera isn't reporting anything more than what GaijinPunch said back in December:


Which he heard from the horse's mouth so to speak. So it looks like it's legit although we know nothing about who is doing it. It will probably have a bad cover, but if the price is right I will probably buy it again.

Yeah, the cover will indeed blow. But so long as I can play the game on my American system, I could give two shits.

But, considering how these things go, I'll only satisfied when it finally shows up in the mail, via Amazon. I'm expecting tons of stupid and unexplained delays, and a possible cancellation when all is said and done.

I picked up a copy of the infamous DOJBLEX for cheap on eBay since there will definitely not be a second printing and a patch is supposed to drop this week or next that will help smooth out some of its problems. Anyways, the load times are amazingly bad, and the graphics filters are shit, but if anyone is interested in checking out black label, I've got it now (you wouldn't notice a difference unless you played the original a lot, it basically just gives you more hypers, I can get two in the first stage before even getting to the boss).

I have to play for six hours before X mode unlocks. It's the arrange mode that's apparently pretty fun.

Yeah, I'm definitely gonna want to check this out.

Stupid question, but who created X mode? Cave or 5pb?

This is the one that 5pb made by stealing code from Arika's PS2 port.

Yeah, I know, but I was wondering who came up with the mode itself. Did Cave come up with the "script" and simply handed it off, or was 5pb the ones who came up with it? Cuz I get the impression that everyone in that company is an idiot, hence why the idea of them coming up with anything being good sounds odd.

Black Label saw an arcade release from Cave which the game is based on yeah. X Mode is entirely 5pb's creation however.

Raiden Fighter Aces (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16874703001) $9.99 with free shipping on newegg

And it's already sold out? That was fast.

Ketsui has a release date of April 22nd on Amazon.co.jp.
&
Senkou no Ronde Duo is listed as April 28 on Play-Asia.

Here's to Ketsui not being the worst port ever.

Us version of Death Smiles out in July? (http://www.gamefly.com/game/xbox-360/DeathSmiles/141425/)

 Mihara's blog translated from a shmups forumer.

Here's a machine translation. Some of it bolded for hilarious:

New Espgaluda II promotional video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf07VRnjvkw

Man, that arrange mode looks pretty awesome. That red bullet one must be the Yagawa arrange mode (I think there are two this time around, original and black label? fake edit: just double checked, word is that Yagawa's arrange mode might be DLC.)

I love this line...


Anyhow, now that Death Smiles has managed to make it over here, I guess that means the chances of Espgaluda II and Ketsui being region free are pretty much zilch, right?

If not this year than 2011 :D Just like they did with Death Smiles.

Expect region locking bit hopefully you'll see them brought over in a year. I'd be a little more pessimistic about Ketsui coming over though.

Cuz it's so old or doesn't contain any schoolgirls, i.e. a gimmick to at least sell to the quotient that will buy anything wacky jappy?

Because the quality of the port is still unknown and it might be shitty enough to not warrant bringing over.

Oy vey...

http://kotaku.com/5463101/this-buggy-xbox-360-shooter-just-cant-get-patched

A small correction: the port was originally supposed to release in the summer of 2007 along with Ketsui.

In Jan 2010 issue of EDGE, there is small half page article in hype section about Espagaluda II Black Label, with euro release date: "to be confirmed".

According to that short article "European release is doubtful", unless Cave will be able to put ESP II on XBLA, but apparently "there were reports last year that Cave's titles were rejected by Microsoft due to a glut of arcade conversions".

I had never bothered with the ESPGaluda arrange mode on the PS2 port, but people were talking about it on the shmups forum and apparently it's basically a combination of ESP Ra.De. and ESPGaluda. Unfortunately the default button layout is a little wacky and can't be set independent from the main game, but if you take the time to work it out, this mode is really awesome.

It's exactly what you'd expect if you mashed the game up with it's predecessor. The "bubbles" are worth 4x each instead of 1x each when in Kakusei mode, meaning you can get multipliers up to 64x rather than the normal 16x. I'm not sure if the multipliers are for points only or if you get awarded extra green gems and gold ignots based on those (I think probably not).

Oh, and there are lots more bullets. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmMNcySLWE4

Deathsmiles Platinum Edition will be out on April 8th in Japan (http://www.cave-stg.com/forum/index.php?topic=346.msg14552#msg14552).

Espgaluda II standard Edition (http://kotaku.com/5471899/if-you-want-to-play-espgaluda-ii-read-this-post) will be region free. Comes out on Feb 25th.

Man, and just two days after my Play Asia coupon expired. But still, this is AWESOME news.

Wow. Okay, I'm thoroughly surprised by that. Why did they wait until now to announce it?

If i remember correctly there was some talk about it last December, but now it's confirmed.

For all who want to order regular edition (and haven't been burned by NCSX yet), here's the link (http://www.shopncsx.com/espgaludaiiblacklabelregularedition.aspx). Total comes to around 90$ with tax and shipping, you can save few extra bucks by having it shipped by USPS instead of ode day Fedex.

I'm surprised you were able to find that link, considering how Godawful NCS's site is.

Anyhow, instead of doing business with them, I highly recommend Play Asia, where the game is not only cheaper, but with economy boxed shipping, it's only $77.80 bucks. I can stand to wait a few days.

Guys, keep in mind Kotaku is still the only place to have broken this news. The source is Brian Ashcraft speaking directly to Asada. If I didn't have a j360 I might still wait a bit on the pre-order.

And keep this in mind, from a Siliconera-Asada interview:


Obviously this doesn't at all contradict them releasing ESPGaluda II region free, but it is sort of weird, and this was posted only three days before Kotaku's post, which suggests these interviews might have both occurred at the same event, in which case why would he not be mentioning it here.

It just all seems very fishy I guess.

OK, I guess in few days I will know if I got no region version or not :)
NCSX is in the city so, getting money back for the falsely advertised game should not be that hard (who am I kidding).

Matt, I will look into getting stuff from PlayAsia in the future. My hesitation with dealing with them comes from your and Dave's experience with Play Asia's Mushihimesama Futari preorder fiasco.

Confirmation?

Thanx! I also was looking at this Shmups thread :D

http://cave-game.cocolog-nifty.com/blog/2010/02/thank-you.html

Starting to look clear that the reason the LE isn't region free is that they tried to put a region lock on it last minute when Aksys started expressing interest in Deathsmiles.

shitty. Well, maybe not if this means aksys has worked something out with Cave for the future. Which sucks less

Funniest thing about this blog post are "fan" reactions.

I think it's hilarious that people are trying to make everyone who cares about Cave games buy "Espgaluda II" so it will "show Cave that people around the world want to get their games" and at the same time it "would change their decision about releasing all their future games as region locked".

Like it would change anything. If there is a publisher interested in their game, Cave will go for it and region lock it - money is money.

Yeah, it's a good sign. It probably means they've got stuff in the works with Aksys beyond just Deathsmiles. Or it could mean that the Aksys/Deathsmiles deal just made them greedy and nothing is in the works and nothing else will get localized. Entirely possible looking at their history.

Interesting...

http://www.siliconera.com/2010/02/24/is-konami-seriously-thinking-about-localizing-otomedius/

Nobody even likes that game though. It's supposed to be pretty boring.

My ESPGaluda II order from PA shipped. Should have it in about 3 days.

Maybe they are counting on more interest in those kind of shooters (with otomedius) due to Death Smiles US release?

My ESPGaluda II copy will be shipping tomorrow, because NCSX had some delays (so I won't see it till Monday - Tuesday). Should have ordered it from PA.

:/
That remains to be seen because it sounds like they might have pulled that bullshit about not shipping stuff in the order it was pre-ordered. And if you don't get the first print, you don't get the OST.

i would get Otomedius if it were realllllly cheap.

maybe if it came with that weird controller.


anyway, i got my Esp II from NCSX, so i guess i'll have it next week.

well i just got an e-mail saying they shipped it out, so shipping from Flushing to LI (the parents' house), i guess it'll arrive on Friday or Saturday?

Ok, I also got the shipping confirmation from NCSX. Hopefully I'll get it tomorrow.

What did you end up paying on it with shipping and tax from NCSX?

about $86 with priority mail

Another wonderful example Kotaku scrambling its facts/not aware of an in-joke, or at least conveying it to the reader...

http://kotaku.com/5480777/buggy-shooter-port-makes-game-exec-want-to-die-not-really-die

Forgot to mention that Deathsmiles II Hell's Merry Christmas is coming out for the 360 on May 27th (my birthday). I think I'll pass on this one. I kind of like the cover though:

(http://www.famitsu.com/image/6883/PV85kqrmaP8FGmC6zwRl95l1yQLMGK1Z.jpg)

Glitter, anime goth lolis, crushed snowman, what's not to like?


And here's the Ketsui cover art:

(http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/8268/2132408469view.jpg)

Apparently straight from a flyer, but all the art for Ketsui was awful. I like it better than the Ketsui DS cover though.

This just in:
http://twitpic.com/15k5zp

Guwange, aka GaWang, will be coming out on jXBLA sometime this year. The nice thing about this is that you can't region lock, or at least they don't, XBLA games. So you should be able to pick this up with jXBLA points.


edit: reposting my last post since I bottom-paged myself

Forgot to mention that Deathsmiles II Hell's Merry Christmas is coming out for the 360 on May 27th (my birthday). I think I'll pass on this one. I kind of like the cover though:

(http://www.famitsu.com/image/6883/PV85kqrmaP8FGmC6zwRl95l1yQLMGK1Z.jpg)

Glitter, anime goth lolis, crushed snowman, what's not to like?


And here's the Ketsui cover art:

(http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/8268/2132408469view.jpg)

Apparently straight from a flyer, but all the art for Ketsui was awful. I like it better than the Ketsui DS cover though.

The shooting festa is happening right now which is where this news is coming from.
http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/02/28/x360_shooting_festa_stage_report/

Check this out:
(http://www.andriasang.com/blog/2010/02/28/x360_shooting_festa_stage_report/images/2132408542_view.jpg)

Yeah, am pretty excited for Climax. Won't be as much fun without the sweet cab, but hey, beggars can't be choosers!

Also, re: the new Ketsui boxart, the official illustrations have always been weird, but at least it wasn't stupidly generic. Seriously, looked like they got some kid from Minnesota on the strength of his DeviantArt to do it. Yikes.

And I just find it so odd that for a system that supposedly NO ONE owns or plays with in Japan is getting all these games.

so Espgulada 2's scorin system is sort of above my head. Or, at least, it isn't as obvious to me as Mushi's. On top of that, each mode is totally different. Arrange has a cool bullet eating mode though and I gt how to rack up points

Now the special attack/bomb: is that just unrelated to scoring? Do you build it up to take out harder enemies?

Waiting for Dave itt

Strat thread for the original game. (http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=6281)

Watching top scoring replays is also a good way to figure out how the different modes work. That's what makes these ports so much better than the PS2 ones even though they can't do proper low-res.

As to your specific questions, if this is anything like ESPGaluda I, bombing does not affect your score beyond it killing enemies that would otherwise get you points. It's not like Mushi Futari where it hurts a multiplier, but just watch your ignots and gems when you bomb and see. Bomb in the first game is used for survival/killing some mid-boss enemies faster so that more popcorn enemies spawn.

Everyone is still kind of making sense of Black Label as it is significantly different, but you can get a general idea if you check out the ESPGaluda II thread in the shmups forum chat section. Arrange mode is quite different too, as is Omake, but everyone says Omake is not any harder than Novice mode and is an easy 1CC unfortunately. :/

Omake unlocks by beating the game once, even with a credit feed I think.

edit: I don't have my copy yet. Expecting it tomorrow or Tuesday.

Once again Dave, according to the folks at the shmups forum, Deathsmiles 2 sorta sucks?

To be honest, after watching the trailer, I'm a bit unimpressed. Is it just me or part 1 looks much better?

yea, that's the main complaint with DS2.  essentially because it's ALL polygonal and no sprites. 


so i 1CC'd Novice 360 Mode with Gloria last night (Black Label doesn't have a 2-player mode) and i'm starting to get a better feel for the scoring system.  there's still a LOT that seems mysterious, though.  the way you use the bullet-time mode in every version of the game changes dramatically, essentially making each mode its own game.  which is good in terms of long-term play, but a bit daunting considering the system is so complex seeming.

Black Label is the most fun so far, though, for me.  bullet time is used primarily to create more bullets (by killing smaller enemies who then create bullet spirals) and then you cash in on all the extra stuff you've created.  i'm generally able to get an extend by the beginning of the third stage, although i imagine it's probably you could do this much earlier if you really know what the hell you're doing. 

i'm not sure if i prefer this game's style over Mushi, though.  aesthetically, i mean.  i think the main game is deeper than Mushi's systems, but Mushi is a bit more accessible and immediately engaging whereas this game is definitely a shmup-fan's shmup.  i'm also not terribly crazy about all the 10-12 year olds in the game, but at this point in the shmup universe that would be like complaining about how there are too many bullets.

Yeah, in black label you can get an extend like forty seconds into the first level or something ridiculous like that. And yeah, it's all about bullet spawning by going into zesshikai and rubbing as many bullets as you can then going back to normal and killing the enemies. Again, just download the top replays.

It's a good thing that each mode is so different. :)

DS II is both ugly and a little weaker in terms of gameplay. Apparently it's ALL  ullet milking and no dodging.

Arrange mode apparently increases in rank with each 1CC or something? But you can also increase it by watching a replay at a certain level and then saying "yes" to a diaglog box that pops up after watching I think.

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a160/davidlory/espgaludaii.jpg)

Damn, vanilla label is such a bitch. I think I'm just gonna cut straight to Black Label because I watched a replay of it and it looks a little more simple.

Still waiting for my copy, damn it...

Mine was shipped EMS. I got the soundtrack too. Haven't given it a listen yet though.

Apparently Zesshikai is actually Zetsushikai. Gaijinpunch claims responsibility for probably starting that mistranslation trend. Either way that mode is a bitch. I've just been playing the first level over and over trying to get that first big points section correct. If I do it right I can come out with 7 or 8 million, and my best run on the first level came out at 13 million (2 shy of an extend). Top score is at 30 million, stage 3, but I know I can do so much better, it's just a really hard game to get a hold of. The section at the end of stage 2 just before the boss, I know there are big points to be had, I actually pulled it off once somehow, but I just don't see how because the enemies shoot straight walls of bullets.

This game is so much more demanding in terms of scoring. You have to score when it wants, not when works for you like in ESPGaluda. The way you have to get gems and ignots to come together for scoring opportunities means the stage sets you up for certain sections, and if you're not ready for those, you're fucked. You can't afford to use kakusei defensively at all (I think exiting kakusei might even cost more gems this time around 0_0, it feels like it at least), and I've found myself bombing offensively for score, something I rarely if ever did in ESPGaluda. It's just that if you don't kill that mid-boss in stage 1 faster than you can with just your rapier, you miss out on some of those guys that spit out shit tons of bullets.

Ugg, and those guys too, you have to shoot them just enough to get them to spit out the big bullets, and then they can only take another shot after that, they're so delicate and you're trying to kill popcorn enemies in front of them without killing them so you can go into zetsushikai... man this game is MEAN.

Back to Deathsmiles II, EOJ chimed in. If you don't know him, he runs Cave-stg.com and is probably the biggest Cave fanboy around. He writes great reviews of Cave games (which then get stolen by Icyclam for insomniac.ac).

Getting a little better. I got up to 41 million, had the extend by the beginning of the 2nd stage. Joe, have you been playing this mode at all?

Here's some Ageha fan art to get you psyched about the game, Matt:

(http://fc09.deviantart.net/images3/i/2004/142/0/7/none_yet.jpg)

which mode?  Black Label?  if so, yea, that's all i've played.  i definitely don't get it; getting 13 million on stage 1 doesnt seem feasible to me.  i've had some great chaining moments, but i can't figure out why i did and why i can't do it again.  we'll have to talk a bit and demonstrate, because online descriptions are escaping me.  unless you have a link to a decent superplay video that i could get a better idea from?

ok like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8t4xt8S2mvk

how is he doing this?  are you invincible in the transgender mode?  because how is he just floating up into those bullets like that?

second, after you make the huge bullet spiral by killing enemies in the other mode, how do you cash in?  kill another enemy or, something else?

I was referring to the original 360 mode, which is what I've been playing. Black label is pretty weird. What that guy is doing in the video is going into kakusei to pop the guns off those flying things (killing things in kakusei causes them to spawn bullets), once you pop the guns off they spawn many more bullets, so he then goes back to normal mode, then goes into zetsushikai and rubs all the bullets because you have a certain amount of invincibility (player 2 bomb gauge) and it causes the bullets to split in two. To cash them in, he simply kills the enemies that spawned the bullets in normal mode.

If getting the extend in stage 1 doesn't seem feasible, you're probably not killing those flying things properly. Just before they die, they have an explosion which takes the guns off of their sides, stop shooting them and shortly after that they will start spawning several hundred bullets in an easy to dodge radial pattern. It's essential in white label, although in black label it seems you have other methods of spawning bullets too.

Apparently this is official and from Cave's website:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scVhoSl6tZw

lol

I think you guys should know that I'm kind of a badass at Deathsmiles (http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=27287).

I played an excellent game (well excellent until I choked in the last level) the other day that got me at the #8 spot on the shmups forums. :D

Classics from the shmups forum. If I didn't like this Josie avatar so much, I'd be using one of these:

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a160/davidlory/cave1.png)


(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a160/davidlory/bzgmif7l.png)

If I'm not mistaken, this forum has the option for signatures, and even though I generally loathe them, in this instance, I'm more than willing to make an exception.

I think we disabled them because they're kind of annoying.

Yeah, they totally are. But again, if you want to make it so you're the absolute only person to have one, I have no issues with that.

Joe, I'm destroying your score in Black Label. You better get on top of that. Maybe you and Dongle should come over Saturday afternoon so I can show you how the systems work. Have you played Omake! yet?

Over at the Cave-STG forums, they're under the impression that Ketsui will probably have scanline options like Futari because of this quote. :D

If Ketsui looks as good as Futari's arcade mode I will be very psyched.

And I nearly 1CC'd black label today with almost 700 million points. I had a couple of really stupid deaths so I got to the last boss with only 1 life :/

http://www.aksysgames.com/2010/02/18/look-who-dropped-by-our-office-to-say-hello/

I really like the plain white of the 360, and I wouldn't want a bunch of goth lolis out where anyone could see them, but I'm such a Deathsmiles fanboy that I kind of want to get the LE Deathsmiles US release now.

I have the ESPGaluda II Black Label soundtrack (the one you only get the tracks for the first stage and boss music with the OST that comes with the game) if anyone is interested.

BTW, my copy finally arrived today! And...I have absolutely NO idea what the hell is going on, what the rules area, how to properly play, etc. So much so that I'm finding myself... not enjoying it as much as Futari. Any advice would be super appreciated. Though you kinda predicted this, right?

My advice to you: novice mode. That's how I got started and it helped immensely. Also, Black Label is much, much easier than the regular game. Here's a quick rundown:

In all game modes you're generally going to want to build up your gems and gold to score. You build up gems by killing enemies. If you shoot them point blank with the shot you get x4, if you shoot them from far away with the rapier/laser you get x2, if you shoot them from far away with the shot you get x1. You get gold by canceling bullets, which changes depending on the mode.

Black label: build up your gems and gold and then go into kakusei (press the button once) and kill some enemies, when they die they will spit out a bunch of suicide bullets. Now exit kakusei back to normal mode (tapping the button again) and go into zetsushikai (by holding the kakusei button down for a moment rather than tapping it, you will hear and see the difference), no you are invincible and you want to rub the bullets because this will make MORE bullets. Before your invincibility runs out (the player 2 bomb meter), or your gems, make sure to get to safety because if you do run out of invincibility or gems while rubbing the bullets you'll auto-bomb. Once you're out of the bullets, go back to normal mode (just tap the kakusei button again) and kill some enemies.

In Black Label killing any enemy cancels out their bullets and any suicide bullets on the screen while in normal mode. In kakusei mode it causes them to spit suicide bullets, in zetsushikai actually I think it just kills them (you don't generally kill enemies while in this mode, just rub the bullets)

White Label:
This mode is COMPLETELY different, so I don't recommend going back and forth right away or you will confuse yourself. In this on normal mode is just for getting gems, then in kakusei mode when you kill enemies their bullets will cancel and give you gold and when in zetsushikai when you kill an enemy it will cancel their bullets into new suicide bullets that come straight at you. Zetsushikai is where the money is at but there are two problems with it, it uses up both gems AND gold, and you have a screen full of bullets that are coming for you.

Basically what you want to do is get some gems, then kill some enemies in kakusei to get gold, then wait for some enemies that spit out a bunch of bullets to go into zetsushikai and make the bullets respawn over and over. Just keep moving around the screen so they can't get you. You can move through the bullets when they are in their respawn animation (when they are a circle shape) but be very careful.

It's complicated enough that this might not help you at all, but if you read this, then go watch some replays, then come back and read this again, it might make some sense.

Joe, I can't wait forever for you to beat my high score, so I played a little more Galuda II BL tonight and made the Black Label weekly Seseri top 10 with a score of about 750mil, so feel free to download my replay :)

haha whateeeeeeever dude

i'm at about 580mil with Seseri right now, but watching some replays last night, i've got some more fun ideas on where to milk points.  just wait buddy.

anyway, still haven't 1CC'd it yet.  i need to reach the final boss with more than one life, but i keep ending up losing a life on stupid things and not dying on parts where i'd expect to die.  anyway...soon.

The last boss isn't as easy as YOZ makes it look. I was just practicing stage 6 over and over last night and never did manage to clear it (and that was with 5 lives after the two extends 0_0). The trick is getting to the last form with at least ~200 gems in stock because if you can't kill it right away you're fucked since you don't get gems when you die.

Just broke 1 billion and came inches away from the 1CC. I would have had it but I got nervous and choked on stage 6 despite having it down pat in practice mode. My score would have been about 200 million higher + whatever you get for the all clear. I got to stage 6 with 4 lives, so I don't know how I managed to fuck that up so royally.

Yeah, you should totally burn your Japanese Xbox Dave. Such an embarrassment.

... Meanwhile, I've been trying all the tricks (i.e. fundamentals) you showed me when you came over, and... I still need LOTS of practice.

You should download my replay from the weekly top 10 and check it out. You can ignore the first level because I do use some more advanced techniques, but after that I pretty much abandon zetsushikai and just stick to keeping my chain going. I don't think we really got into that, but once you get the hang of things, what you want to do is go into kakusei as a bunch of zakko (the enemies that only take one hit to kill) show up and let purple bullets build up, then go normal and kill them all, then go back into kakusei, repeat. This keeps your chain going.

I find stage 4 is actually the hardest level because you have a bunch of larger enemies to kill along with the little ones and Seseri's laser actually takes a little while to kill them, but in stages 5 and 6 you can see that I just constantly go kakusei, wait, go normal, kill a bunch of enemies, repeat, over and over.

So I won the PAX East Deathsmiles contest on Friday and got an extremely limited Deathsmiles faceplate (possibly one-of-a-kind even). I put it up as a 7 day auction on eBay and it's already at over $150. It's a pretty sweet faceplate, but I knew it would fetch quite a bit, so I couldn't justify NOT selling it really.

Here's a pic from the Aksys blog (a photo of the actual faceplate I ended up with I'm pretty sure):

(http://www.dmauro.com/pub/img_2503.jpg)

And the auction for anyone interested in bidding :P
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180487651507

Shit. I should have done a 3 day auction. Now I'm never gonna get paid by the top bidder:

http://www.aksysgames.com/2010/04/01/deathsmiles-limited-edition-get-not-an-april-fools-joke/

The Strike Witches shump ain't looking too hot thus far...

http://zepy.momotato.com/img/1003/sutopan.jpg

You could always advertise it as the prototype/first faceplate that you won. If that was the faceplate they had on their blog post, and at that point in time was the only one out there and nobody knew about it, it's very likely a prototype/one-off faceplate that will look a little different from the mass-produced ones.

in theory, anyway.

Just found out it is a prototype via Kaneda (Aksys employee) on NeoGAF. The current high bidder said he was going to pay because he didn't want to be a jerk, but I gave him the option to back out if I get my eBay fees back.

Not for the 360, but obviously related...

http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2010/04/cave_releasing_espgaluda_ii_to.php

At $5 I will definitely be picking that up. Surprised to see it so soon after announcement.

ESPGaluda II on the iPhone is actually really good o_0. The movement isn't so bad, and your thumb/finger will sometimes get in the way, but that's not so bad, the tricky part is getting used to the four button layout (shot ON/OFF, Awakening, Bomb, Shot type). The arrange mode is really good and makes perfect sense. Nice to see them making use of the touch screen which is otherwise a liability for the game.

If you need to get this working on a 32/64GB 3rd gen iPod Touch:
http://forums.toucharcade.com/showpost.php?p=997013&postcount=174

yea, i totally want to download this game, but having a first-gen iphone kind of prohibits that, unfortunately.  oh well, i'll just upgrade in the next iphone iteration, whenever that is.

This is the first and only time I have ever of users figuring out a way to iron out the kinks in an iPhone/Touch game. Absolutely amazing.

And yeah, I'm also blown away by how good the port is. Only just started playing, but holy shit...

One of the great things about the shmups and Cave-stg forums is that there are so many people that know the hardware down to a ridiculous level of detail:

Wait, it's finally come out?

http://ncsx.blogspot.com/2010/04/x360-ketsui-kizuna-jigoku-tachi-extra.html

Not really, one of their suppliers got lucky. They don't even actually have those copies yet. My Play-Asia order still hasn't shipped.

Looks like Play-Asia got some of these early copies too. My order is in the "preparing order" stage. I've got the 2-4 day shipping option. I'll probably actually have it on the official release day. :)

My copy of Ketsui is scheduled to arrive tomorrow.

This calls for the cool smiley: 8)

Just got my copy and...

it's a really great port! There are NO load times anywhere in the game, there is a nearest neighbor filter that makes everything look great (unlike DOJBLEX), and of course Ketsui is a great game. If anyone wants to come play a few credits, you're welcome to visit.

Strike Witches video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEi5SxheJkc

I had heard that it looks like shit, but, man... that was rough.

Thought I'd join in this thread. I stumbled upon a mention of our game Duality ZF and found my way here!

Hope this doesn't come off as spam to the forum software (or to you guys) but here's the latest video footage of Duality ZF:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_73E8Z_DjM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_73E8Z_DjM&hd=1 (in HD)

It's showcasing 4 players playing with 8 fighters via G-MODE, an unlockable control mode. Duality ZF also has DUAL PLAY which also independent (not multidirectional shooting) of 2 fighters at once, too. As well as SOLO PLAY and MULTIDIRECTIONAL which are both single fighter action.

An update: We are talking to XBLA publishers and trying to get our game onto XBLA. Wish us luck. The visuals will be improved... :)

I've definitely been keeping up on the progress of your game on the shmups forum. Good luck with the XBLA process!

Love the support! It makes it a fun challenge instead of a grueling one! :)

Was gonna mention this in the E3 thread, but since it's shump related: Otomedius Gorgeous has been announced for a domestic release! Sweet.

That's not E3 news anyways, we've been not caring about that announcement for some time now :)

So the US version of Deathsmiles doesn't work on Japanese consoles, so I'm probably just going to get the Platinum Hits version of the game so I can play Mega Black Label. :/

Gotta say, it's nice to finally be able to play a Cave shmup and know what the heck is going on, story-wise. Not that it makes any bit of sense or is actually "good"...

Fingers crossed that their new game will make it onto the 360 (and it'll be region free as well, of course)...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-Y2dbEydD0

So glad this isn't Deathsmiles II all over again.

Release date is August 19, I will be playing this when I'm there for sure :D

oh sweet you're right!

http://www.siliconera.com/2010/08/15/three-more-cave-shooters-coming-to-xbox-360/

I'm glad DDP DFK didn't fall through for some ridiculous reason. Nov 25th. Definitely looking forward to it. Also a surprise that they lied about how many games they were porting. Everyone was trying to decide if they would rather get MMP or PS if they had to pick, but instead we get a Yagawa double disc! :D So glad I have a j360.

Also, this isn't the proper thread for it, I know, but DDP Resurrection is also getting an iPhone port soon. :)

Yeah, pretty excited for that one.

Also Dave; if I give you the money, will you get my a Japanese 360?

I really doubt I'll be able to make room for something that size in my luggage.

YES, YES, YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfakyXCo_mY

I'm not particularly interested in this, but what the fuck took them so long? Everyone wanted this except me I think.

Cuz it's taken this long for the 360 to properly emulate an old Saturn game?

It's not emulation though.

so... i figure at this point buying a used copy of RSG and a saturn or a 360 and RSG on XBL are about the same? how much does a saturn go for these days?

Heads up: I got the first loop all clear in DDP Resurrection iPhone mode, about 421 million.

BTW, I'll be the best friend of anyone who can provide for me the music from DDP Resurrection. Especially that boss music track!

1CC'd Arcade mode too (both on Hard), so I'm pretty sure I could 1CC the actual arcade game pretty easily.

Wait, so Muchi Muchi Pork & Pink Sweets is going to be region free?!?!

http://ncsx.blogspot.com/2010/12/news-general-updates_08.html

Somewhat relevant...

http://kotaku.com/5736436/is-microsoft-pissing-off-japanese-game-makers

Any word on this game?

http://ncsx.blogspot.com/2011/01/x360-bullet-soul-tama-tamashii-import.html