[Moogs]

So Akai Katana Shin ended up not being region-free.

[Sniper Honeyviper]

[firenze]

[Sniper Honeyviper]

Aksys made it pretty clear that they aren't doing any more business with Cave, so GoD is the only way Akai Katana could secure a release here, unless another publisher steps up.

The language barrier wouldn't be a problem if they just put a guide up online, like Monkey Paw did with the PSN release of Dezaemon 2.

[firenze]

[Sniper Honeyviper]

For the record, the Japanese version of Overlord on the 360 is entirely in English (even the manual, apparently), and provides a link to a translation guide. Somehow that managed to pass certification.

Does Cave even have an office in the US? I'm still not sure they'd be up to the task of self-publishing a retail release here.

[Loki Laufeyson]

i noticed the last time i played strania that the little bonus messages are now in english. huh!

i wouldn't imagine it would cost a lot just to translate the menus and put the game on live. i wonder if there's a good reason why europe hasn't got dsiix (like maybe a disc release?) or if it's the usual reason of "fuck europe"...
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[firenze]

[Isfet]

firenze: just a quick point. KOF94 on XBL is quite literally untranslated. the menus are in English, but nothing else is. it was kind of baffling.

i haven't bough DSIIX yet. is this a similar situation?

anyway, i hope AKS finds its way here somehow, because i really enjoyed the time i spent playing it in arcades.

[kiken]

[firenze]

[Deets]

Or Cave could just bring over one of their many other disc releases with English language menus. Or hey, maybe this is just it for Games on Demand. Has Cave indicated that they're pleased with the sales so far?

[allensmithee]

So I got Strania.

It is truly "off the chain".

Holy shit.
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[firenze]

I kinda like the way they do auto-bomb in AKS. At least on your last life, if you have bombs in stock and you take a hit, the game will save you by auto-bombing. But it uses ALL of your bomb stock, so you might blow three bombs. It's a nice compromise between the sloppiness that 100% auto-bomb allows, but gives a little life saver if you were trying to Be A Man and take a risk instead of bombing through a tricky spot. And of course, on your last life/last bomb you can just focus on dodging and hold that precious last auto-bomb in reserve.

I'm warming up to the game after playing some over the long weekend. At first I thought it was actually a little boring. Adding one more stage in Zetsu/Shin modes makes the game feel slightly too long to me. And believe it or not for a game with such inspired character art, I think the in-game look is very dull. I kinda like Espgaluda's transformation mechanic better, but the Ninja mode in AKS is growing on me - you can use the weak shot and have a defensive shield to protect you from messy situations, or use the laser and get pumped up offense but no defensive protection. I like how you replenish your energy bar (allowing Ninja transformation) by collecting energy items from defeated enemies. I'm still no good at scoring, and barely good at surviving after the first few levels.

The more I play, it's not so much Progear part two as it is Progear + Espgaluda (with some Ninja aesthetics alongside the Steampunk-y Progear style enemies).

[boojiboy7]

[Drem]

How did Otomedius Excellent's box art end up being one of the nicer ones I've seen in a while? Sure, you have to be someone who tolerates the moe-anime art style, but I think it's a rather pleasant design overall. Maybe it's the blue skies that are attracting me, or how happy/silly everyone looks, or Ms. Twinbee.

$30 is really tempting even though I'd like the art book and I don't have a 360 to play it on. Do the used prices of these probably-low-print-run games get higher?

Release date's July 19 (US).

[Schwere Viper]

Jamestown came out yesterday! I grabbed it on Steam.

There were a few issues but Final Form seems to be on the ball, as they released some fixes earlier today. The game can be a bit of a snooze-fest on the lowest difficulty, so I'd recommend the second or even third options for seasoned pilots. The main mechanic seems to be grabbing enough shiny things to get your super meter filled, activate it to get a damage boost and 2x multiplier, then maintain it with a steady income of more shiny things. It's harder than it sounds when all the bullets start flying! The lack of a hitbox on the player sprite seems like a bad oversight, though, especially given how fast the patterns start to get. I can't say anything about multiplayer, but I can only imagine that it is nuuuuuts.

Graphically and aesthetically, I love it. The pixel art is truly top-notch, and while I can understand some people being sick of steampunk, it IS presented tastefully throughout. Sound-wise, it's quality faux-orchestral pieces that fit the setting. While I do love some ear-pounding, synth-heavy aural assaults in my shmups, I'm okay with what's here!

It's damn good for the price, I have to say!
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[skelethulu]

Whoah! Really enjoying Jamestown so far. Definitely feels Western, but does not feel completely gross or anything. Going to get a crew together for some multi at some point soon; too bad (but not so sad) it's offline only.

[EU03]

It's local multiplayer only. Which is kind of odd, because someone gifted it to me without reading the text about it. Oh well.

The game is alright and all, but I have a few complaints about how it's clearly not made of single player in mind. Maybe because I'm still bad at shmups, but a lot of these enemy patterns are way too hard to reach or clear up. The ship speed and shot spread do not compensate for the wide format. And since you're constantly swaying left to right across the screen, the fast bullets slam into your ship pretty often.
That, and some of the enemies require too many shots to take down by yourself, even with vaunt on. Otherwise, what's there in the game is good, I guess. Just not my cup of tea.
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[Sniper Honeyviper]

US release of Otomedius Excellent delayed to Aug. 30. Guess that leaves money for Catherine, at least.

It's getting Gamestop-exclusive preorder DLC. Urgh.

They've also revealed the contents of the special edition. I'm almost disappointed that the case isn't for a full-body fuck pillow, not that I'd use it as such.

[Talbain]

Jamestown is great. Played with some friends, trying out all the ships is a hell of a lot of fun with multiplayer.
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[ninjafetus]

Yeah, I definitely am looking forward to playing co-op sometime soon in Jamestown. Judgement in single player really, really makes me feel the pain of only being able to be in one place at a time T_T

[Youpi]

This solo video of Jamestown brought my froth level way down.
Is this vid a good preview of how it plays, or is it really worth bothering with as a purely one-op game?

[Talbain]

As far as the Vaunting system goes, yeah, but each of the ships are really different and quite interesting (vaunting can be pretty cheesy, but the timing system on it feels fine). It is definitely intended to be a multiplayer game though.
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[Sniper Honeyviper]

uhh, anyone know for sure if the otomedius delay is real? only amazon has the new date listed.

did they enter into some deal with gamestop to stagger when amazon gets the game?

[kiken]

[Sniper Honeyviper]

Otomedius now delayed everywhere, but at August 1, it's still much sooner than Amazon's date.

[Dracko]

Super Psychotic Destructive Ecstasy


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[Schwere Viper]

Sounds like a party, I'll get my coat.
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Blog: Machines That Sing

[Dracko]

It's online right now!
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[Mikey]

Should I finish playing the first one (I sort of got stuck on the 4th level and then got distracted by other games) or just cut straight to the new hotness?

[Mikey]

Alright, I dove in, and I'm not sure what I think. I sort of miss the element of strategy required from the original in placing your satellites strategically before a wave began. But on the other hand, the emphasis on quickly eliminating waves/score leaves me breathless.

I suppose they make worthy companion games to each other - definitely play both, is what I would say to someone.

[Duckzero]

Are there any good shmups for Android? I mean, I don't want to have to rely on psx4droid + wii remote + classic controller fun.
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[Moogs]

The only one I like is Radiant HD, which is a Mizuguchi-esque take on Space Invaders, I guess.

[Schwere Viper]

oh man galaga legions DX is so nuts. SO NUTS.

the enemies are the levels

It's so satisfying to cut through the swarm and nail the Galaga Bomb just at the right moment. Not to mention SPACESHIPS FIRING AKIMBO

This is my kind of Namco. So nice to see their logo alone, not held down by Bandai.
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Blog: Machines That Sing

[Sniper Honeyviper]

Gaplus is still the best galaga.

(I will post it as an SBGC Daily sometime.)

[mauve]

RefRain v1.0, from the Samidare guys, is coming out at C80 next month. There's been demos before but apparently the full thing is hitting. Promo vid here.

[firenze]

Jamestown is 50% off ($4.99) today on the Steam. It's worth that much just to appreciate the art.

EDIT:

Also, Deathsmiles iOS is now out. It's... well, the controls are less shitty than I anticipated, but still certainly suffer on a small touchscreen. It's more finger blocking the screen than I'd like, and harder to deal with than Espgaluda II/Daifukkatsu. At the very least, they really did put some serious thought into the control scheme though.

Touch anywhere control. Default settings are auto-fire, auto-bomb. You have a single button to switch from facing left/right, a button to toggle shot/laser, and a button to use lock shot (icon changes to "power up" when you have enough energy). Four configurations, two put the buttons in a cluster on the bottom left/right of the screen, and two with the buttons in a row on the bottom/top of the screen.

I'll play more of the original iPhone mode later and see if it's more Espgaluda II iPhone mode (i.e. awesome) or Daifukkatsu iPhone mode (nothing special).

$4.99 introductory price. It's still better than the vast majority of iOS games, even if it's not gonna replace a good arcade stick and buttons.

[Moogs]

Amazon now won't have Otomedius Excellent until Sept. 27.

The fuck?

[Deets]

[Sniper Honeyviper]