Xbox 360: Mushihimesama Futari 1.5 (November 2009)

[1up]

whats the cheapest place to import Futari 1.5 to europe? play-asias insured shipping is killing all hope of me purchasing it so far. shipping is as much as the damn game

Anyone have experience with just regular/cheap shipping from play-asia? is it safe or are there horror stories out there?

[emphatic]

whats the cheapest place to import Futari 1.5 to europe? play-asias insured shipping is killing all hope of me purchasing it so far. shipping is as much as the damn game

Anyone have experience with just regular/cheap shipping from play-asia? is it safe or are there horror stories out there?

I can recommend www.videogameimports.com

They also still have the LE with the 1.01 DLC card AFAIK. The regular edition though is sold out/pending restock.

[sjewkestheloon]

Good job I ordered it when I did then!

As for the BL DLC I'm in agreement with the posted sentiment somewhat. I find this kind of DLC to be quite exploitative, although I will most likely pick it up. I could understand this sort of thing being added six months down the line but featuring this in the manual and releasing it immediately basically points to the fact that I have purchsed an incomplete product for £60 and will then have to pay another £15 to open it up.

[CMcK]

whats the cheapest place to import Futari 1.5 to europe? play-asias insured shipping is killing all hope of me purchasing it so far. shipping is as much as the damn game

Anyone have experience with just regular/cheap shipping from play-asia? is it safe or are there horror stories out there?

Being a tight Scotsman I always order from PA with the cheapest shipping option. Never had any problems with it. Most stuff arrives after about nine days. Futari took almost two week but did have the DLC card within.

I would also endorse VGI. I've bought loads of stuff from Lee over the years, he's a really decent guy and tends to deliver stuff quickly.

[Special World]

I really dislike DLC (I think this is the first DLC I've ever bought) but Black Label is one of the best things I've played in years.

Worth the money by a long shot imo.

[Wonderbanana]

whats the cheapest place to import Futari 1.5 to europe? play-asias insured shipping is killing all hope of me purchasing it so far. shipping is as much as the damn game

Anyone have experience with just regular/cheap shipping from play-asia? is it safe or are there horror stories out there?

Being a tight Scotsman I always order from PA with the cheapest shipping option. Never had any problems with it. Most stuff arrives after about nine days. Futari took almost two week but did have the DLC card within.

I would also endorse VGI. I've bought loads of stuff from Lee over the years, he's a really decent guy and tends to deliver stuff quickly.

Took 2 weeks for mine as well from PA - that said I can't play it now anyway since ny 360 has just red ringed

[genetik]

Anyone have experience with just regular/cheap shipping from play-asia? is it safe or are there horror stories out there?

I've always used the cheapest shipping option at Play-Asia (apart for when I ordered a Jpn 360) and I always receive my packages. From HK to Canada it usually take about 2 weeks at the most. But sometimes I get surprised like last week when my Deathsmiles LE got here in about 6 days. So no lost packages from P-A for me in over 5 years of ordering. That's pretty good.

[1up]

Ive ordered from play-asia twice with no problems and each time it took exactly 2 weeks. Will go that route again now that I found that I had a $8 off coupon code

[MX7]

My Futari from PA is still AWOL after three weeks It's annoying stuff as I'm going away this Xmas, and won't get a chance to play it 'til next year at this rate, if it comes at all

[JigsawMan]

My Futari from PA is still AWOL after three weeks It's annoying stuff as I'm going away this Xmas, and won't get a chance to play it 'til next year at this rate, if it comes at all

Mine only arrived 3 days ago, so there is hope!

[1up]

with xmas on the horizon I dont expect my order to arrive till early jan 2010.

I also stuffed a psx to dc converter in there too so my dc can get some action again

[Jockel]

Problem: i saved my gamertag, transferred it via the HDD transfer kit, and now all the saves and the DLC is gone!
Thats not so much a problem with the Black Label DLC, because you can simply redownload it for free.
But i does not seem that i am able to redownload 1.01 because it does not show up with the games downloads. -_-"

[CptRansom]

Problem: i saved my gamertag, transferred it via the HDD transfer kit, and now all the saves and the DLC is gone!
Thats not so much a problem with the Black Label DLC, because you can simply redownload it for free.
But i does not seem that i am able to redownload 1.01 because it does not show up with the games downloads. -_-"

There is a way to access your download history and get it that way, but I'm not 100% on the specifics. Google is your friend. =)

[Jockel]

yeah, it worked. phew.

[Van_Artic]

My Futari from PA is still AWOL after three weeks It's annoying stuff as I'm going away this Xmas, and won't get a chance to play it 'til next year at this rate, if it comes at all

same here, usually when i choose the cheapest shipping method, PA stuff arrives after 3-4 weeks, so if i'm unlucky i'm going to get Futari after Xmas too

but this increase the HYPE for me, i like to wait

[Skykid]

Respectfully guys, Elixir re-opened the thread for game related discussions - best not to have it lapse back into discussions about Play-Asia's shitty shipping methods. We had about twenty pages of that in the old thread and it be boring indeed.
If you haven't got your game, best to send Play-Asia a message of complaint.

Or a letterbomb.

[everlust]

Well i guess to put it back on track (sort-of), i have a small question of which I'm unsure of. I expect to get the game soon, though thinking to immediately buy the Black Label DLC, reading impressions and such, am i right in that it effects all game modes through the odd stutter?

As based on that, I'm unsure whether i should just get it instantly or wait on it. (Probably be the former, don't think i can hold back). Also to clarify things with the title, namely the first print editions (LE or SE with the pink sticker), do the 1.01 DLC cards come inside the game case, or just attached?

Any response would be much appreciated, thanks guys!

[Skykid]

Well i guess to put it back on track (sort-of), i have a small question of which I'm unsure of. I expect to get the game soon, though thinking to immediately buy the Black Label DLC, reading impressions and such, am i right in that it effects all game modes through the odd stutter?

As based on that, I'm unsure whether i should just get it instantly or wait on it. (Probably be the former, don't think i can hold back). Also to clarify things with the title, namely the first print editions (LE or SE with the pink sticker), do the 1.01 DLC cards come inside the game case, or just attached?

Any response would be much appreciated, thanks guys!

If you have a DLC pink sticker on the front, you should get your DLC inside the game case (maybe in the instruction booklet.)
No point in holding back on BL - if the stutter is patched by Cave it won't make much difference. It's not enough to ruin the game according to the guys here - but apparently BL isn't a fair representation of the PCB anyway, it's even easier than it should be.
1.5 will teach you a few things about hardcore gaming though.

[Momijitsuki]

To be honest, I've only experienced the stutter once, and it didn't really interfere with...well, anything.

So yeah, download BL and play some God Mode with me

[Zero Gunner]

tl;dr: I lost all respect for CAVE because I wasn't satisfied with a ~$15 purchase

Get over it.

What you're clearly failing to comprehend is that the BL PCB costs much, much more than approximately a measly $15 of DLC, and the fact that it's now available to be easily accessible and affordable to anyone with the game is extreme generosity on CAVE's part, despite whether or not you enjoyed it. You're being ridiculously petty, and you are by far in the minority when it comes to dissatisfaction. And if you think BL is more of the same just because it looks the same, you're missing out on the differences in BL's scoring systems, which are quite different than 1.5's system, and therefore the main draw to Black Label to begin with-- and if you didn't already know that, it's your own goddamn fault for not doing your research beforehand. Don't go blaming CAVE for that.

To be fair I did only play it once...and I stopped because I didn't want to 1 CC it before I was able to 1 CC the much more challenging 1.5 version. So yes, I missed out on the difference in scoring. Wow! A scoring mechanic update...AMAZING!!!! Now it makes sense why Cave charged for content that should have been on the disc! Oh thank you Cave! THANK YOU so much for minor code changes that adjust the scoring! Truly this is an amazing update for which I should thank the stars above! You're not as exploitative as EA!

And I DID mention that the only redeeming aspect of this DLC is that it costs less than buying a new PCB. Which makes me seriously wonder about the sanity of some of the users here given that they've dropped hundreds-thousands for "remix" BL PCBs. This update isn't worth $15, let alone what some of you have paid to swap out boards.

Furthermore there is NOTHING "generous" on Cave's part in milking an extra DLC fee out of gamers two weeks after release for content that should be on the disc from day one and was ready before the game went to presses. Given that certifing any DLC content often takes weeks or more this content was given over to MS before Mushi shipped. So there's no reason that Cave had to charge extra for something that was ready from day one. It's just plain exploitative.

Hello, you have no clue how game design works, HTH HAND.

And yet it is clearly yourself that lacks any clue about how game design works. I HAVE a background in game design and I could have made most of the changes to BL myself. This wasn't exactly hard work and if you think it was then clearly it is you who is completely and utterly clueless.

tl;dr: I lost all respect for CAVE because I wasn't satisfied with a ~$15 purchase

What you're clearly failing to comprehend is that the BL PCB costs much, much more than approximately a measly $15 of DLC

My thoughts exactly while reading his post.
Try buying a Black Label PCB for 15$.

And if you fail to see the differences between the regular version and the BL... you fail.

So I guess I "fail". Wow, I'm shocked that the Cave-cok-gobblers on this forum can't think for themselves! Shocked I say! It's amazing that people who can't even comprehend what a rip-off this DLC is, let alone how absurd it is to have shelled out the cost of swapping their PCB for BL, are calling me "fail". BWAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH.....silly little shmupbots....

[Taylor]

[TLB]

Hello, you have no clue how game design works, HTH HAND.

And yet it is clearly yourself that lacks any clue about how game design works. I HAVE a background in game design and I could have made most of the changes to BL myself. This wasn't exactly hard work and if you think it was then clearly it is you who is completely and utterly clueless.

calling me "fail". BWAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH.....silly little shmupbots....

lols you know who you're talking to there, bro?

Oslo, yeah, you're t3h f41l

[Jockel]

Seems like the Ketsui DS thread is starting all over again.

I gladly paid the 15$ for the black label because it is SO much more fun than the regular game.
If you don't enjoy it, your loss.

And everyone who has a different opinion than yours is a stupid fanboy or "shmupbot".
I get it.

[dmauro]

But that said the BL DLC is a complete rip-off. $15 for more powerful shots, more enemies (now instead of two flying crab/lobster monsters there's.....three of them!), and a crap ton of slowdown? This is absurd. All these supposed enhancements/changes are simple parameter tweaks that anyone with basic programming skills could have implemented.

Totally. I feel you on this. That's why I don't like shmups because they're so stupidly simple anyone could go ahead and make one. So I only play free Touhou games. They're just as good as Cave and they're FREE!

Seriously though, these are not basic programmatic changes anyone could have made, they are changes that needed to be made by a company/person that knows how to make a shooting game fun and knows exactly how and where to make changes to improve a game. If that subtlety of design is lost on you, then go play some free doujin shmups so you don't have to complain about the price.

(Not trying to diss doujin shmups so much as allude to the varying quality of free games out there)

[Damocles]

The only thing I find curious is why they added 1.01 into the mix instead of 1.00. Why not feature the original game instead of what is, essentially, MF1.5 on hard mode?


Yeah...total oversimplification on that last bit.

[TLB]

1.01 IS 1.00. They just un-broke it.

[Shelcoof]

Elixer I hope you do a write up for ESPGaluda II when it comes out.

Nice info there

[yyr]

And yet it is clearly yourself that lacks any clue about how game design works. I HAVE a background in game design and I could have made most of the changes to BL myself. This wasn't exactly hard work and if you think it was then clearly it is you who is completely and utterly clueless.

I am personally insulted by this statement.

As someone who has personally designed, programmed, extensively tested and released two games on XBLIG (and I'm working on two more right now), I can tell you that arcade-style games, despite being quick to play, take a very long time to put together. This process includes, but is not limited to: designing and implementing the gameplay; designing and implementing all of the levels; making sure all of the levels are playable and fun, then making changes where necessary; and of course, testing extensively for bugs and other glitches. Each of these takes much longer than you'd think.

It is easy to say this or that game "is bad" or "isn't worth the money." But even so-called "bad" or "overrated" games are the result of thousands upon thousands of man-hours, including plenty of blood, sweat and tears. This work can be soul-crushing for many, and although for others it is a labor of love, the "labor" is definitely there. Do not point to this game and pretend like it wasn't the product of a lot of effort.

I have not yet programmed a shmup, but I plan to at some point. Let's look at some elements here:

1) graphics: sprites including animation, backdrops, effects including explosions, etc.
2) sound: effects and music
3) player design: power, speed, how powerful they get, etc. This determines the difficulty of the game more than most factors. Much playtesting is necessary to get this right.
4) enemy design (including bosses): toughness, speeds, where they appear, etc. All of this takes careful planning, and it's all done by hand. It takes a long time to plan this out for the whole game, especially when so many enemies are involved. Furthermore, one small tweak could radically change how the player needs to approach a situation, so tons of playtesting will be required.
5) bullet pattern design. Maybe in non-danmaku shmups or simpler games, this is just "shoot towards the player" or "shoot forward" or "shoot randomly." But in this and similar games, lots of design and thought goes into this. Once again, small tweaks could change a situation drastically, especially when other enemies' bullets are involved. You know those situations that come up during play, like "well, I need to kill this enemy first because their bullets will cut off my escape from the other enemy's bullets if I don't," or similar? Those required thought to design! And there are tons of those situations throughout the five stages. And Cave does all of this THREE TIMES, once for each mode of play!
6) other things like interface, visual options, Achievements, etc.

I'm sure I missed something (probably multiple things), but I cannot even begin to fathom how much time has gone into developing this game. I am positive that it is way more than ANY twenty members of this forum COMBINED will spend playing it over the next 50 years.

Now before you write off Black Label as a 5-second scoring change, let me point out that changes were made to categories 1), 4) and 5). All of these changes were extensively tested in three different gameplay modes, and the gameplay modes themselves were changed as well. Furthermore, all of the bullet patterns for God Mode, to my (admittedly limited) knowledge, are completely new. (Are all of the patterns new in all 3 modes?) God Mode is an extremely fun mode, very challenging but much easier than 1.5 Ultra, so more people can enjoy it. Trust me, you are getting a lot of new content here.

If you do indeed have a background in game design, you will watch some videos of BL and be able to see that you made the wrong call on this.

-----

Question for anyone intimately familiar with BL Original: I see the Achievement for bringing the total counter up to 100k. 100k?!? It seems virtually unreachable to me. How far do you have to go, assuming no-miss and no-bomb, to get it that high?

[Udderdude]

But that said the BL DLC is a complete rip-off. $15 for more powerful shots, more enemies (now instead of two flying crab/lobster monsters there's.....three of them!), and a crap ton of slowdown? This is absurd. All these supposed enhancements/changes are simple parameter tweaks that anyone with basic programming skills could have implemented.

Totally. I feel you on this. That's why I don't like shmups because they're so stupidly simple anyone could go ahead and make one. So I only play free Touhou games. They're just as good as Cave and they're FREE!

Seriously though, these are not basic programmatic changes anyone could have made, they are changes that needed to be made by a company/person that knows how to make a shooting game fun and knows exactly how and where to make changes to improve a game. If that subtlety of design is lost on you, then go play some free doujin shmups so you don't have to complain about the price.

(Not trying to diss doujin shmups so much as allude to the varying quality of free games out there)

I was going to reply but you pretty much did it for me. Just because someone can code does not make them able to design an amazing game. It's like saying someone can paint a masterpiece just because they've learned to hold a paint brush.

The rest of ZG's nerd rage is full crap, so I won't bother but to reply with my own games. Don't really like plugging them at random but oh well.

http://rydia.net/udder/prog/xop/
http://rydia.net/udder/prog/xopblack/

ZG, have you ever made a complete game? I've made several. Play them and enjoy.

[Jockel]

When is XOP Black coming to Xbox Live Indie Games? ^_~