Shmups on the 360

[isfet]

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...

[dmauro]

This pretty much blows...

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

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.

[FortNinety]

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

[isfet]

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?

[dmauro]

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).

[drozdal]

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 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?

[dmauro]

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.

[FortNinety]

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.

[drozdal]

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?

[isfet]

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.

[dmauro]

it's not like region locking the game saves money or anything, right?  it's just something encoded on the disc.

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. :/

[drozdal]

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.

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).

[dmauro]

Espgaluda II, a bullet hell shooter with a fantasy theme, is slated for February 25, 2010. The home version has five modes: arcade, arrange, Xbox 360, novice, and black label plus a two disc soundtrack for 7,329 yen ($85). A limited edition with a faceplate will also be available for 9,660 yen ($111).

One more thing about ESPGaluda II, there is still about 4 months left till release date

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.

[FortNinety]

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.

[isfet]

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?