Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram for the Xbox Live Arcade

Elixir · Post by **Elixir** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 5:54 am

http://www.gamegrep.com/news/18471-virt ... _for_xbla/

"Sega is confirmed to be releasing the arcade mecha-battling title Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram for the Xbox Live Arcade. This is version 5.66, which is the final arcade version of the title that utilized the Dreamcast-based NAOMI board.."

Ed Oscuro · Post by **Ed Oscuro** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 6:04 am

But it won't have the shiny manual of the Dreamcast version.

Dreamcast wins!

neonecko · Post by **neonecko** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 6:09 am

I've already got the dreamcast one, but this is still a good thing.

Cthulhu · Post by **Cthulhu** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 6:24 am

Assuming the online play works well, this could be a lot of fun. The main reason I didn't play the original as much as I'd have liked was due to a lack of opponents.

t0yrobo · Post by **t0yrobo** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 7:06 am

Hopefully it has good dual analog support.

Damocles · Post by **Damocles** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 7:35 am

Awesome.

However, if it's like most every XBLA game, the community is likely to be dead after a month.

StoofooEsq · Post by **StoofooEsq** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 9:00 am

Excellent news.

What's Microsoft's batting average on bringing Japanese XBLA games to the US (it better be here)?

oxoid · Post by **oxoid** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 9:42 am

Hopefully it will have a full digital control option ala PS2 Sega ages VO:OM so that a saturn twin stick can be wired up.

Specineff · Post by **Specineff** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 11:05 am

I came.

agustusx · Post by **agustusx** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 12:52 pm

sweeeeet.

they better release it worldwide

PC Engine Fan X! · Post by **PC Engine Fan X!** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 6:55 pm

Vokatse wrote:Can we get twin sticks for 360 as well?

You'd be better off using a hacked SS or DC Twin Stick controller to 360 setup for your VO:OT gaming kicks. ^_~

Shelcoof · Post by **Shelcoof** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 10:24 pm

I was just playing this the other day on the Dreamcast with a friend via Link Cable Set Up. I have two pairs of Twinsticks but I prefer the controller.

Playing on 2 monitors is great.

Wonders if there will be online play with this game when ported to the 360

Davey · Post by **Davey** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 10:42 pm

This is the best news I've heard in a long time

Shelcoof · Post by **Shelcoof** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 8:23 am

Vokatse wrote: I'm jealous of the guy with two twin sticks...I have DCs, 2 discs, but NO twinsticks!

lol don't be jealous... I have to be honest, the controller is much better, anyone who says Twinsticks are the only way of playing VOOT probably has never used a pair of Twinstciks ever.

The Twinsticks are much harder to use and aren't as responsive as the Pad. You can find yourself easily making mistakes on the Twinsticks but not the Pad.

The only reason why you'd actually want to play VOOT with the Sticks is to get as close to the Arcade feel as much as possible, other than that it really doesn't matter the pad is just as good or better than the sticks.

It's like playing a racing game with the Analog controller or a Racing Wheel.

PC Engine Fan X! · Post by **PC Engine Fan X!** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 5:58 pm

Shelcoof wrote:
Vokatse wrote: I'm jealous of the guy with two twin sticks...I have DCs, 2 discs, but NO twinsticks!
lol don't be jealous... I have to be honest, the controller is much better, anyone who says Twinsticks are the only way of playing VOOT probably has never used a pair of Twinstciks ever.

The Twinsticks are much harder to use and aren't as responsive as the Pad. You can find yourself easily making mistakes on the Twinsticks but not the Pad.

The only reason why you'd actually want to play VOOT with the Sticks is to get as close to the Arcade feel as much as possible, other than that it really doesn't matter the pad is just as good or better than the sticks.

It's like playing a racing game with the Analog controller or a Racing Wheel.

If you have ever played the real deal that is Sega's Virtual On or it's sequel of VO:OT, they used some solid arcade worthy Twin Sticks setup -- they were quite responsive alrighty. It's a treat just to replicate those very same arcade twin sticks in the comfort of your gaming pad/space. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

Specineff · Post by **Specineff** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 6:41 pm

I've played with the Twinsticks several times, both the Sat and DC versions. I sold them and never looked back. There's no improvement to your gaming with the sticks, so beyond replicating the arcade experience like PCE FX mentioned, there is no reason to bother getting them.

Shelcoof · Post by **Shelcoof** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 6:42 pm

PC Engine Fan X! wrote:
If you have ever played the real deal that is Sega's Virtual On or it's sequel of VO:OT, they used some solid arcade worthy Twin Sticks setup -- they were quite responsive alrighty. It's a treat just to replicate those very same arcade twin sticks in the comfort of your gaming pad/space. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

I've played Virtual on Cyber Troopers in the arcades, not VOOT though.

I just wanted clear up that whole myth about Virtual On not being playable with a PAD. Anytime some one mentions Virtual On, some one drops a message stating that the only way to play Virtual On are with the TwinSticks. I just wanted people to know that the PAD does the job as well or even better than the Twinsticks.

People tend to think that Twinsticks are the way to go and assumes that they won't be able to enjoy the game to it's fullest due to not being able to use the sticks.

As for me saying the Pad is better, that's just my own personal prefference.

PC Engine Fan X! · Post by **PC Engine Fan X!** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 6:52 pm

Shelcoof wrote:
PC Engine Fan X! wrote:
If you have ever played the real deal that is Sega's Virtual On or it's sequel of VO:OT, they used some solid arcade worthy Twin Sticks setup -- they were quite responsive alrighty. It's a treat just to replicate those very same arcade twin sticks in the comfort of your gaming pad/space. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~
I've played Virtual on Cyber Troopers in the arcades, not VOOT though.

I just wanted clear up that whole myth about Virtual On not being playable with a PAD. Anytime some one mentions Virtual On, some one drops a message stating that the only way to play Virtual On are with the TwinSticks. I just wanted people to know that the PAD does the job as well or even better than the Twinsticks.

People tend to think that Twinsticks are the way to go and assumes that they won't be able to enjoy the game to it's fullest due to not being able to use the sticks.

As for me saying the Pad is better, that's just my own personal prefference.

I see what you're saying...for some folks, playing with a gamepad is what wins them over. ^_~

Yeah, that Sega Virtual On Cyber Troopers arcade cabinet setup in either single player or linked-up twin cab setup was ace back in the day. A twin VO cabinet uses a Toslink cable to communicate with each other...one VO PCB is listed as Master and the 2nd VO PCB is listed as Slave. The combination of multiple speakers built into the seat + a subwoofer mounted under the seat really made VO arcade game really stand out and enveloped the player. I recall that the arcade game of VO:OT only got a handful of cabinets released in the USA. To play it was quite an awesome experience that the DC version couldn't replicate properly for maximum effect. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

Post by **Ghegs** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 7:44 pm

Shelcoof wrote:People tend to think that Twinsticks are the way to go and assumes that they won't be able to enjoy the game to it's fullest due to not being able to use the sticks.

As for me saying the Pad is better, that's just my own personal prefference.

There's some huge similarities here with the whole pads vs. sticks -discussions when it comes to shmups and fighters.

Actually, I had the DC Twin Sticks for a while (I still have VO:OT JPN if anybody's interested). My trouble was less with the choice of control and more about the lack of anybody to play against. I can't get interested about vs. games unless I have a real live opponent of similar skill level to play and practice against.

Having the game on XBLA would solve that problem quite nicely...hope the online mode is competent, otherwise it's a largely wasted effort.

Davey · Post by **Davey** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 10:34 pm

A pad is good enough for most people, but I'm pretty sure that tournament level play requires twin sticks. I'm not an advanced player, so I can't remember why specifically.

Apparently virtualon.net died; I wonder what happened to those people. I'm sure they could explain it.

Ghegs wrote:There's some huge similarities here with the whole pads vs. sticks -discussions when it comes to shmups and fighters.

Eh, kind of. Pads and sticks are much more alike in the shmup world than in VOOT.

SAM · Post by **SAM** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 5:05 pm

oxoid wrote:Hopefully it will have a full digital control option ala PS2 Sega ages VO:OM so that a saturn twin stick can be wired up.

I have my soldering iron and twinstick parts (Sanwa) ready, as soon as
(1) the online vs mode is proven to be workable
(2) full digital control option is available
I would make one.

SAM · Post by **SAM** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 5:17 pm

PC Engine Fan X! wrote:
Shelcoof wrote:
Vokatse wrote: I'm jealous of the guy with two twin sticks...I have DCs, 2 discs, but NO twinsticks!
lol don't be jealous... I have to be honest, the controller is much better, anyone who says Twinsticks are the only way of playing VOOT probably has never used a pair of Twinstciks ever.

The Twinsticks are much harder to use and aren't as responsive as the Pad. You can find yourself easily making mistakes on the Twinsticks but not the Pad.

The only reason why you'd actually want to play VOOT with the Sticks is to get as close to the Arcade feel as much as possible, other than that it really doesn't matter the pad is just as good or better than the sticks.

It's like playing a racing game with the Analog controller or a Racing Wheel.
If you have ever played the real deal that is Sega's Virtual On or it's sequel of VO:OT, they used some solid arcade worthy Twin Sticks setup -- they were quite responsive alrighty. It's a treat just to replicate those very same arcade twin sticks in the comfort of your gaming pad/space. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

That's right, the Saturn & DC twinstick is not as responsive as mine made with Sanwa parts.

And well, some move couldn't be done with standard DC controller scheme. But if you use to Twinstick control mode with a standard game pad, it should be fine.

But I do like to use a twinstick controller with Sanwa parts.

Zaarock · Post by **Zaarock** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 5:26 pm

I hope this indeed will have good online programming, would appear that they get lazy with it when the main market is japan in XBLA games

TodayIsForgotten · Post by **TodayIsForgotten** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 5:51 pm

Cthulhu wrote:Assuming the online play works well, this could be a lot of fun. The main reason I didn't play the original as much as I'd have liked was due to a lack of opponents.

which will be the case with XBLA. All their games die out unless its marble blast.

SAM · Post by **SAM** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 1:21 am

Zaarock wrote:I hope this indeed will have good online programming, would appear that they get lazy with it when the main market is japan in XBLA games

But it's Ver 5.66 for Christ's sake !!! Not the DC one, which is Ver 5.45

You got three more playable Virtuaroids in Ver 5.66, they are the 10/80 , Apharmd C & Stein-Vok. When Ver 5.66 was first release in Arcade, there is boot disc for DC released which allow you to customized the outfit of the new Virtuaroids (you could then save it on your DC Save Card and use the outfit in the Arcade), but new Virtuaroids is still not playable., Someone have hack the boot disc and seems to allow you to play the new Virtuaroids on DC. But I don't know if that really works.

TodayIsForgotten wrote:
Cthulhu wrote:Assuming the online play works well, this could be a lot of fun. The main reason I didn't play the original as much as I'd have liked was due to a lack of opponents.
which will be the case with XBLA. All their games die out unless its marble blast.

Maybe of maybe not, as there is seems to be a lots of Viral On diehard out there.

PC Engine Fan X! · Post by **PC Engine Fan X!** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 6:21 pm

Yes, there are a lot of die-hard Virtual On fans out there worldwide. ^_~

Even the cool Virtual On toys/gashapon/model kits by famous custom modeller, Katoki Hajime, are legendary in there own right. In fact, It was Hajime whom did the intial mecha designs for the very first Virtual On arcade game. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

Diabollokus · Post by **Diabollokus** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 7:27 pm

Anyone else remember collecting all the virturoids in Shenmue 2's toy capsules? I loved those.

StoofooEsq · Post by **StoofooEsq** » Fri Mar 13, 2009 5:55 am

VOOT XBLA seeing US Release this Spring

PC Engine Fan X! · Post by **PC Engine Fan X!** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 2:40 pm

The Sega Naomi version of Virtual On Ver. 5.66 uses an arcade twin stick setup. Plus the fact that you can play it in either 15khz or 31khz (with an appropiate Sega I/O adapter or the Capcom I/O adapter, of course) -- perfect setup for a candy cab.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

velocity7 · Post by **velocity7** » Sun Mar 29, 2009 7:29 pm

I notice no one has posted here in a while, so I thought I'd translate the column. I originally posted a translation of the Most Important(tm) column entry over at the Oratan forums, but here it is for you guys:

Q: How big will the game be?
A: It hasn't been fully decided yet, but probably somewhere around 230 MB.

Q: Is there any split-screen?
A: We apologize, but not this time. Instead, we have the system link implemented so you can go at it against one another (this was really tough to do). Again, we apologize...

Q: Will there be any patches to the game?
A: Nothing has been announced yet at this time. However, we are prepared to deal with any trouble that might come after release. In such a case, we will announce that "Bugs/glitches have been corrected". Given time, we'd like to put up other content.

Q: Will any themes or icons go on sale?
A: We are considering possible themes to put up. As for icons, we will consider it if there is a massive demand for it.

Q: Is there any text chat, or ability to draw emblems?
A: Neither. We would have liked to see custom emblems implemented, but there were a lot of issues that came up. We also hadn't considered text chat when we began this project. In the meantime, the Xbox 360 voice chat feature has been implemented, so please enjoy.

Q: Is the floor transparent in "Public Port" just like in 5.2?
A: As we thought it was much better having it transparent, we made it as such. Of course, you have some options:
- In Arcade mode, the floor will be set as opaque.
- In Versus mode, the floor will be randomly set.
- You may choose the way it looks in Training Mode and Watch Mode.

Q: Did you fix the fire grenade sound?
A: We confirm that we've fixed this in the 360 version.

Q: Can we see this on a 4:3 CRT? How small of a TV can we play on for us to enjoy this?
A: In the case of 4:3, this will look just like the Arcade or DC versions. There shouldn't be a difference in gameplay. To check teams, the minimum requirement is a 14-inch CRT, but for the time being you should be able to enjoy the game. There are probably a couple of locations where the text may be small, but there shouldn't be things that you can't read. Of course, be advised that depending on the television you use, there is no absolute guarantee.

Q: What about Twin Sticks?
A: We've heard a lot about this from almost everyone, so we think it'll show up. If we were the users, we would have asked too (lol).

Unfortunately, we are unable to announce anything beyond what was said for Twin Sticks in Yamashita's column last time. We apologize.

The game should be out in April, but we will announce if any changes arise.

shmups.system11.org

Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram for the Xbox Live Arcade

Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram for the Xbox Live Arcade

Re: Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram for the Xbox Live Arcade