Cave (Shooter?) on Android

[Teufel_in_Blau]

http://youtu.be/l4zNtEpctDo

Interview where they first mentioned the game (thanks to chempop for the link):

http://www.pocketgamer.biz/r/PG.Biz/Cav ... sp?c=32570

I have no idea if it's a Shooter, but it's definitely NEXT STAGE!!! WOHOOO!!

[ZenErik]

Looking forward to this. As I said in the Vita thread, I have zero games on my Android phone. It'd be nice to have a few. Honestly, I haven't even checked to see what is already out there.

[Aguilar]

Woot!! Been pretty jealous of all the cave games iOShas been getting.

[dunpeal2064]

I would love to see a decent shooter on the android OS.

Sadly, I have an optimus V, and I doubt that it could handle anyting too crazy. Its like, the weakest smart phone. It can barely run 2 apps before locking up.

[Estebang]

I wouldn't expect the Android to get anything different from the iOS. I'm sure they'll begin by just porting everything.

[dunpeal2064]

I wouldn't expect the Android to get anything different from the iOS. I'm sure they'll begin by just porting everything.

Yeah that would make the most sense. I wouldn't mind a portable dfk or ds though

[Matskat]

I wouldn't expect the Android to get anything different from the iOS. I'm sure they'll begin by just porting everything.

Yeah that would make the most sense. I wouldn't mind a portable dfk or ds though

Just stumbled on Cave's Android tease...

My sentiments (posted on the video's comments as well) exactly...

DDPDFKroid1.5 Hypercomb Edition specifically....

Definitely keeping an eye on this...I HATE iOS devices, but it's the only way to get my DFK fix ...until November (or\and\if the PCB ever bottoms out)

[Necronom]

I wouldn't expect the Android to get anything different from the iOS. I'm sure they'll begin by just porting everything.

Yeah that would make the most sense. I wouldn't mind a portable dfk or ds though

Well, since the Iphone-Mode in Espgaluda 2 just got rebranded as Smartphone Mode it's pretty obvious which of their games is coming to Android first

[DJ Incompetent]

Well, since the Iphone-Mode in Espgaluda 2 just got rebranded as Smartphone Mode it's pretty obvious which of their games is coming to Android first

[Matskat]

Well, since the Iphone-Mode in Espgaluda 2 just got rebranded as Smartphone Mode it's pretty obvious which of their games is coming to Android first

Keen observation.

+10 Perception.

[Ruldra]

Sadly, shmups and smartphones just doesn't work together. I downloaded a bunch of shmups from the market but in the end I ended up deleting them all. You just can't control your ship accurately enough on a small touchscreen. I can't see a small-hitbox shmup from Cave doing any better.

[DJ Incompetent]

Really? I find myself performing better on iphone touchscreen than anything else.
I almost 1CC'd DDPR my first try.

On Android, yes it totally sucks. 10fps doesn't work for anybody.

[louisg]

Really? I find myself performing better on iphone touchscreen than anything else.
I almost 1CC'd DDPR my first try.

On Android, yes it totally sucks. 10fps doesn't work for anybody.

I was amazed at the control in specifically the Cave shmups on iOS. They were very accurate. It got to the point that if I saw a path through the bullets, I could just whip my finger in that shape and I'd move through the cluster unscathed. I'm not sure it feels as *fun* as a joystick (which has also been my beef with mouse-controlled FPS games), but I had no complaints accuracy-wise.

The newer Android phones might be a big improvement. I know my brother had an older Android phone, and the entire feel was like one of those pirate knock-offs of the iPhone. Very Java phone feeling, slow, and choppy. He got a couple of the higher rated games on it (NinJump and something else), and they didn't run any better than games on my free Samsung phone (~15fps or so?). The newer one he got though moves more like an iPhone, so I guess we'll see if games get better on it.

[Aisha]

Looks like Espgaluda II and Dai Fukkatsu are headed to the Android platform: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1G85hOLVBZk

It wouldn't surprise me if Deathsmiles followed some time after.

EDIT: As per @cave_world_en, they are set to be released in Japan and Korea later this month. Wider distribution is planned, but the release date has yet to be determined.

[Necronom]

OK, no surprises here...good news for all the 'droids out there
Btw, does the "2" in the japanese text mean that it's coming to dual core devices only?

[ptoing]

Nope, it refers to there being 2 game modes.

[Zeether]

I hope these will work on my phone. I have a Motorola Bravo and I'd love to have some kind of decent game on it.

[BrianC]

I noticed that new iPad versions of Espgaluda II are out now too. iPad 2 only, though. I still have to stick with the iPhone version for my iPad.

I heard that some newer Androids have processors that are competitive with Apple's products. I haven't played anything on an Android, so I don't know how it compares, though.

[Risike]

Hi,

Sorry for my bad engish, I'm french.

We can play the Lite versions of DDP Resurrection and Espgaluda 2 ^^

With a rooted phone, you can edit the build.prop to spoof a japanese phone and operator. Then, download the lite versions of the games on the GMO Gamecenter market (where Cave sell them). But, we can buy the full version. I've tried a lot of things but nothing works.

[bcass]

I have zero games on my Android phone. It'd be nice to have a few. Honestly, I haven't even checked to see what is already out there.

You and about 99% of the rest of the Android user base. Not sure why Cave are wasting time on this platform. An even tinier number of developers (compared to iOS) are making any money out of it.

[Despatche]

Well, it can't be too much worse than the 360.

[yosai]

Here are the URLs with QR codes for anyone interested.

Espgaluda 2

http://gmo-game.com/famitsu/793/

DDP DFK

http://gmo-game.com/app/781/
http://gmo-game.com/app/779/

[bcass]

Well, it can't be too much worse than the 360.

When you're selling games for just a few dollars, it can be much worse.

[yosai]

^

Handsets running Google Inc. (GOOG)’s Android software captured 57 percent of Japan’s smartphone market last fiscal year, cutting the share of Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s iPhone, MM Research Institute Ltd. said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-1 ... share.html

Also it would have cost them almost fuck all to port.

[bcass]

Yeah, everyone knows that there are far more Androids out there than iPhones. Last time I looked, worldwide it was something like 48% Android, 16% iOS. That's old news. However, that's not what we're talking about here. I'm referring to the fact that Android apps don't sell. Apple has the mobile apps market all wrapped-up. Most mobile app sales are on iOS, not Android.

[Kewne]

Well, it can't be too much worse than the 360.

When you're selling games for just a few dollars, it can be much worse.

Don't overestimate the developer's profit per sale on a standard 360 title. Everything I've seen points to it sitting at around ~15-20% of the final sale price with 5-20% going to the seller, about 40-60% to the publisher and 5-10% to the platform owner (Microsoft/Sony/Nintendo). Of course, things might be quite different for Cave/Arika, especially due to the niche nature of the games they develop/publish.

It's still likely to be more than the mobile sector per game sold, but not much more. Google & Apple's flat 30% cut with the developer self-publishing games is very tame by comparison. And honestly, it can't take more than 2 man-months or so to port a game that was already a port from the iPhone to Android. That's less than 5k sales or so to recoup the full costs. Android might not be iOS when it comes to sales but 5k will happen sooner than later.

[bcass]

Average sales for Cave 360 titles is 20K+. There's not a hope in hell that Android sales will be anywhere near those numbers. My guess is that they're pursuing this avenue as a method of increasing brand awareness. There's no easy way to port from Objective-C/C++ to Java either, so you're talking about a complete re-write. Admittedly, you only have to do it once (to create the game engine) but still, the two languages are quite different so the porting isn't exactly trivial.

[Kewne]

Average sales for Cave 360 titles is 20K+. There's not a hope in hell that Android sales will be anywhere near those numbers. My guess is that they're pursuing this avenue as a method of increasing brand awareness. There's no easy way to port from Objective-C/C++ to Java either, so you're talking about a complete re-write. Admittedly, you only have to do it once (to create the game engine) but still, the two languages are quite different so the porting isn't exactly trivial.

Cave used the Android NDK as far as I can tell; it won't even work on my phone because the CPU's too old anyway, I'm pretty sure you can only achieve that by using the NDK. But yeah, brand awareness is a good thing too, especially with the PAL release of DFK coming up.

[Sumez]

Any idea why it isn't working on an HTC Incredible S?
The Android version should be up to date.

[yosai]

How did you install it? It appears to be blocked from sale outside Japan.

Also these are the supported devices. Android 2.1+ required.

【対応機種一覧】

Xperia arc SO-01C
Galaxy S
Optimus bright L-07C
AQUOS PHONE SH-12C
GALAXY S II SC-02C
MEDIAS WP N-06C
Xperia acro SO-02C
P-07C
AQUOS PHONE f SH-13C
F-12C
Xperia ray SO-03C
Xperia PLAY SO-01D
au
IS05
XPERIA acro IS11S
AQUOS PHONE IS11SH
AQUOS PHONE IS12SH
INFOBAR A01
G´zOne IS11CA
REGZA Phone IS11T
MIRACH IS11PT
MOTOROLA PHOTON ISW11M
htc EVO 3D ISW12HT
Softbank
DesireHD
GALAPAGOS 003SH
GALAPAGOS 005SH
AQUOS PHONE SoftBank 006SH
AQUOS PHONE THE HYBRID 007SH
Sweety SoftBank 003P
シンプルスマートフォン SoftBank 008Z
Vision SoftBank 007HW
AQUOS PHONE THE PREMIUM SoftBank 009SH
ディズニー・モバイル
DM009SH