New Shmup for Xbox 360

[Flak Beard]

I haven't been too interested in the past by Otomedius and Parodius, but man I am this close to breaking down and buying a JP 360 just for the Raiden games, Ketsui and DDPDOJ. If just one more great shooter gets released, I'm there.

And yes, unfortunately it is the US and "Asia" region games that are more likely to be region-free. Japanese games are almost never region-free from what I've seen.

And yes, that is ridiculously expensive for the stick. Maybe if Konami had a third-party developer make and distribute it, the price would have been better. But maybe they'll make a whole new genre of games requiring a stick and touchscreen.

I really like Parodius Da! on SNES, but the other games never really grabbed me. I doubt we'll see Otomedius in the US, but I'm with you on maybe getting a Japanese 360. I'm assuming you could take your gamer profile back and forth on a memory card or something. Let's hope some publisher decides to at least take a chance on Raiden Fighters and Raiden IV in the US. Who knows, Onechanbara is coming so why not all these SHMUPs?

I'm not sure why MS even bothers with region lockout on the 360. Maybe they'll take it out eventually with a system update or something, if at all possible.

[Doctor Fugue]

I'm not sure why MS even bothers with region lockout on the 360. Maybe they'll take it out eventually with a system update or something, if at all possible.

Microsoft "claims" that the system is not really region-locked, but the games are. They say it is entirely up to the publishers to decide.

I don't understand region lockouts. If a publisher sold just one more copy of a game because it was imported, wouldn't they be happy? What is this frowning upon importing? Why did Lik-Sang get sued out of business? The publisher still makes money if Play-Asia buys the games and imports them to the States. And then why are the DS and others region-free?

[RackGaki]

I'm not sure why MS even bothers with region lockout on the 360. Maybe they'll take it out eventually with a system update or something, if at all possible.

Microsoft "claims" that the system is not really region-locked, but the games are. They say it is entirely up to the publishers to decide.

I don't understand region lockouts. If a publisher sold just one more copy of a game because it was imported, wouldn't they be happy? What is this frowning upon importing? Why did Lik-Sang get sued out of business? The publisher still makes money if Play-Asia buys the games and imports them to the States. And then why are the DS and others region-free?

Many publishers erroneously believe that they can sell the rights to North American publishers. That could be tens of thousands of dollars, I would suppose. A lot more than the ten or twenty bucks that makes up their cut on the imported copy.

[Doctor Fugue]

That's it! Death Smiles (latest hori shooter by Cave) is being brought to the 360 and is even being published by Cave. ARGHHH! I'm gonna start looking at prices...

[Flak Beard]

That's it! Death Smiles (latest hori shooter by Cave) is being brought to the 360 and is even being published by Cave. ARGHHH! I'm gonna start looking at prices...

You and me both. I'm assuming if I could find the core system and power brick, I could use my memory card, AV cables and controllers. The "arcade" pack is about to drop to $199 in the US, so maybe that'll be a good time to get look for that version in Japan.

[mrtie]

I'm already looking for one as well, 3 Cave shooters, raiden fighters and raiden 4, SnS III, and otomedius Gorgeous. How in the fuck did the J 360 become the new dreamcast, shmup producers are insanely weird, there are like almost no 360 in japan, it just does not make sense. Either way gentleman, may we all enjoy Cave for the bargain basement price of couple hundred bucks.

[Doctor Fugue]

How in the fuck did the J 360 become the new dreamcast, shmup producers are insanely weird, there are like almost no 360 in japan, it just does not make sense.

That's exactly what I don't understand. Is it because, like the Dreamcast, the 360 is relatively easy to program for? Many arcade boards today are PC-based, and perhaps it is easier to port? But why go for easy ports when there is a larger installed user base of PS3s? AND when Cave already has a previous relationship with Sony, why change it?

Play-Asia lists the hard drive console for 400 and the arcade console (with memory card) for 330. Both have the new HDMI connection. Any better prices out there, and from a good store?

[Bootaaay]

SHMUP developers are just bizarre, the PS3 is clearly the best place for Cave SHMUPS - simply because it's 100% region-free. In a genre where people importing must surely add quite a bit to sales, you think they'd want to make it as easy as possible for Westerners to get their games. Yeah, theres a chance that they could be region-free on the 360 anyways, but not a single NTSC-J game released so far for the 360 has been region-free, so it doesn't bode well for DDP, Ketsui & Death Smiles - which is a real shame, as now it looks like i'm going to have to buy a JP 360 or a modified 360

[RackGaki]

Sorry Bootaaay, modified 360s still haven't sidestepped the region coding. I don't know exactly how Microsoft did it, but their region locking is air-tight.

[Flak Beard]

I'm already looking for one as well, 3 Cave shooters, raiden fighters and raiden 4, SnS III, and otomedius Gorgeous. How in the fuck did the J 360 become the new dreamcast, shmup producers are insanely weird, there are like almost no 360 in japan, it just does not make sense. Either way gentleman, may we all enjoy Cave for the bargain basement price of couple hundred bucks.

It breaks my heart just thinking about this handful of SHMUPs being unaccessible to me. I really hope a smaller publisher picks up on some of these. Come on D3! Go for it!