Why do Touhou shmups never come to consoles?

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2dvertical
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Why do Touhou shmups never come to consoles?

Post by 2dvertical »

On ps4 for example, the jp psn seems to have many which are always crawlers? or other types but never shooters. I am not a big fan of the fighting/duel shooters either. The only thing close to it I have is Azure Reflections. Whats the deal?
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BulletMagnet
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Re: Why do Touhou shmups never come to consoles?

Post by BulletMagnet »

All the Touhou stuff on consoles are fan games; if memory serves the closest ZUN has come to an "expanded release" of his own stuff is the digital PC release one of his more recent titles got. I imagine he's been asked and has given some reason or other to not go any further down that path, but another member who keeps up more closely with this stuff would have to point you towards it.
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Re: Why do Touhou shmups never come to consoles?

Post by KAI »

cause the original 2hus look like cheap shit, and companies don't want games that look like cheap shit on their modern consoles
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Re: Why do Touhou shmups never come to consoles?

Post by BulletMagnet »

KAI wrote:cause the original 2hus look like cheap shit, and companies don't want games that look like cheap shit on their modern consoles
I really, really, REALLY wish that this was a stronger argument, but We Are All Steam Now.
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Re: Why do Touhou shmups never come to consoles?

Post by Mark_MSX »

2dvertical wrote:On ps4 for example, the jp psn seems to have many which are always crawlers? or other types but never shooters. I am not a big fan of the fighting/duel shooters either. The only thing close to it I have is Azure Reflections. Whats the deal?
I don't know man, I've wondered the same thing myself quiet a few times over the years. Like why didn't he ever release them on ps2 back in the day, when you could basically release anything you wanted on that platform ha. I could see Sony allowing for a touhou collection on PS4 if ZUN approached them about it.
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Re: Why do Touhou shmups never come to consoles?

Post by Despatche »

That's not really how the doujin scene works. Being able to release doujin things on Switch and PS4 like it's no big deal is a huge change from the norm.

This is only for weird fangames by developers who are interested in seeing real money, anyway. ZUN and other touhoulike developers mostly just want to make small fun things for PCs. Anything else is a business decision they don't totally care for.

There's an understanding that putting Touhou characters in your game leads to instant recognition if nothing else. This has irritated ZUN for ages, but he can't just tell people to stop without angering his entire fanbase.
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2dvertical
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Re: Why do Touhou shmups never come to consoles?

Post by 2dvertical »

As far as ZUN goes...

?

https://youtu.be/fOGbOFtZH_s
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Re: Why do Touhou shmups never come to consoles?

Post by Despatche »

This is the "ZUN x PlayStation" announcement that led to all those fangames on PS4. The only real Touhou game on anything that isn't PC is the PS4 port of Touhou Shinpiroku that adds Reisen as a playable character. That was likely Twilight Frontier's idea anyway... much like Melty Blood, the Touhou fighting games are really Twilight Frontier works with ZUN acting as major thematic support and character designer.

i just want the reimu and marisa hori sticks
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Re: Why do Touhou shmups never come to consoles?

Post by Shepardus »

I think a better question is, "Why would they?"
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2dvertical
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Re: Why do Touhou shmups never come to consoles?

Post by 2dvertical »

Shepardus wrote:I think a better question is, "Why would they?"
I dunno, many of them look like fun to me. As opposed to genso wanderer etc.

https://youtu.be/zmyDrJJaLoo

Not everyone wants a PC setup...
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Re: Why do Touhou shmups never come to consoles?

Post by qmish »

2dvertical wrote:
Shepardus wrote:I think a better question is, "Why would they?"
I dunno, many of them look like fun to me. As opposed to genso wanderer etc.

https://youtu.be/zmyDrJJaLoo

Not everyone wants a PC setup...
Doujin scene
People make games as hobby after job
Release it for free or for some money on festival like comiket
It's not "product" it's "way of life"
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Re: Why do Touhou shmups never come to consoles?

Post by professor ganson »

2dvertical wrote:genso wanderer
I recall liking this pretty well.
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Despatche
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Re: Why do Touhou shmups never come to consoles?

Post by Despatche »

It's a good game, but... it has nothing to do with Touhou. It's just some Mystery Dungeon fans making a game like that, but swiping the Touhou characters and setting for free appeal. Even Pokemon Mystery Dungeon has more to do with its IP than that.

The only fangames that really matter are the ones that are actually modelled after the real games. Unsurprisingly, those tend to be the ones released for free. The fangames that just use Touhou characters for appeal can be kinda... scummy. There's this strong impression that these developers abuse the Touhou creator's goodwill for a quick buck, or simply to cut corners in their own work.
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Re: Why do Touhou shmups never come to consoles?

Post by gray117 »

Because it costs time and money... plus, probably most importantly, the personalities involved...

Back in the day the barrier was port making and minimum print runs. Either can prohibitive to a small developer, especially one without a publisher to piggy back with (in terms of further helping with submission issues, and print/distribution options). And aside from some bone-headed blanket early dlc/market place rules you can probably get approval for most games.

These days (more so following the dimise of xbox live indies) there's a significant minimum buy-in for a release. These will be negotiable, but again not insignificant. And there's stringent submission/testing requirements. Even just the (digital) 'paper work' isn't a joke; if this isn't the bag of whomever made the game, then forget it.

At least now it is a bit more of a two way street; there's more and more help from the platform holders, but you generally have to be quite proactive in pursuing it. And, yes, while you can essentially buy-in, the platform holders have these hoops (but are also able to bend/assist the law) to try passively (and proactively) curate the content under their banner to ensure a reasonable level of quality - which thankfully these days doesn't mean turning down a game because it's not widescreen and/or 3d...

If you open up a bit more than most console holders?... well... you see the difficulty steam has had in striking a balance, and/or even working out who their audience is...
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Re: Why do Touhou shmups never come to consoles?

Post by 2dvertical »

gray117 wrote:Because it costs time and money... plus, probably most importantly, the personalities involved...

Back in the day the barrier was port making and minimum print runs. Either can prohibitive to a small developer, especially one without a publisher to piggy back with (in terms of further helping with submission issues, and print/distribution options). And aside from some bone-headed blanket early dlc/market place rules you can probably get approval for most games.

These days (more so following the dimise of xbox live indies) there's a significant minimum buy-in for a release. These will be negotiable, but again not insignificant. And there's stringent submission/testing requirements. Even just the (digital) 'paper work' isn't a joke; if this isn't the bag of whomever made the game, then forget it.

At least now it is a bit more of a two way street; there's more and more help from the platform holders, but you generally have to be quite proactive in pursuing it. And, yes, while you can essentially buy-in, the platform holders have these hoops (but are also able to bend/assist the law) to try passively (and proactively) curate the content under their banner to ensure a reasonable level of quality - which thankfully these days doesn't mean turning down a game because it's not widescreen and/or 3d...

If you open up a bit more than most console holders?... well... you see the difficulty steam has had in striking a balance, and/or even working out who their audience is...
Thank you for the informative reply. This makes more sense to me now
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Re: Why do Touhou shmups never come to consoles?

Post by cj iwakura »

Also worth noting that ZUN won't let anyone even localize the PC versions.
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Re: Why do Touhou shmups never come to consoles?

Post by 2a03 »

zun hates money
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2dvertical
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Re: Why do Touhou shmups never come to consoles?

Post by 2dvertical »

Is there anything I am missing besides Azure Reflections? Perhaps on the jpn psn? Any maybe Guwange style shooters?
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