Ex-CAVE members reform as TANOSHIMASU Co., Ltd.

[geremy]

There are two options for bomb: multi tap (tap another finger besides the finger guiding your ship) or double tap (lift and tap the ship finger). There are no virtual buttons other than pause in game.

[Eisenhans]

If you think there's nothing wrong with that, we clearly have a different idea of what good code is like. When i think about the crashes i had on one of their first ios releases, and the fact they can't be bothered to update their older games the picture doesn't really get any better, eventhough strictly speaking that's not related to this release.

If you have a device that is capable of playing it I'd say go for it. The annoyances are mild, at best, so far it works really well for me (have not had any crashes on the Android version). I would still prefer it to be not mobile-exclusive, but I'm having fun playing it.

[geremy]

Do people still think this game is easy? I'm having trouble getting past the third stage.

[GSK]

I wouldn't say it's hard but it's definitely prescriptive.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

This iOS/Android danmaku app seriously needs a proper & dedicated jamma arcade PCB kit release (with the usual 8-way digital joystick + two button scheme & the obligatory POP + all the necessary arcade paperworks for that old-school arcade gameplay feel/vibe). It'd sure be nice if Tanoshimasu Co. Ltd. implements Mi-Fi support with support for bluetooth iOS gamepads and arcade sticks if they ever get around to doing a proper app update to Aka to Blue.

Aka to Blue runs just fine on an 2017 iPad Air 2 with 128gb of internal memory setup -- even if the graphical detail is cranked up to the maximum, it still moves at a silky-smooth arcade-spec 60fps framerate quite easily without breaking a sweat. Just gotta make sure one has the right beefy iPad setup to handle what Aka to Blue can dish out if it's dialed up to the max.

It's cool to use an optional iOS Lightning to HDMI adapter to play Aka to Blue on a bigger HDTV screen setup if so desired -- how cool is that?

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Plasmo]

This iOS/Android danmaku app seriously needs a proper & dedicated jamma arcade PCB kit release (with the usual 8-way digital joystick + two button scheme & the obligatory POP + all the necessary arcade paperworks for that old-school arcade gameplay feel/vibe).

Aka to Blue is already scheduled for an arcade release so your prayers have been answered.

[rancor]

You just made my week. Gonna start saving my nickles and dimes now. Any link to this announcement? Hardware? Release date?

[Plasmo]

Nothing more than a tweet yet. Guess we have to wait a bit.

[GSK]

When they say it's getting an arcade release I'm pretty sure they mean they're just setting up a bespoke setup at Mikado.

[_rm_]

When they say it's getting an arcade release I'm pretty sure they mean they're just setting up a bespoke setup at Mikado.

C'mon, let people dream for a little bit

[Plasmo]

It's pretty vague, yeah.

Don't get too exicted just yet.

[OlDirty]

I "hope" it won't get an arcade PCB release, otherwise i would have to buy it. PLEEEASE produce one

[Eisenhans]

I would say a "PCB" is unlikely, the whole thing is made in Unity.. so they would need a little PC box, something along the lines of what Skycurser does, even though it would need to be a higher performance model.

[Xyga]

A big ass tablet in a cab.

[Mantrox]

Probably a Nesica version, if that, no?

[GSK]

They've said they don't have the money for ports or substantial content updates and that it'll probably be their last game if it doesn't start selling, so there's no way it'll get a genuine arcade release.

[OlDirty]

And who said it didn't sell? I think it sold better than they thought.Otherwise there woudln't be a worldwide release.

[GSK]

They did.

They also complained about the amount of people pirating the English Android version and implied they may not translate future titles as a result.

yeah yeah, "illegal download =/= lost sale", we've heard it all before, but it must be disheartening to see a lot of people playing your game for free when you're struggling to stay afloat.

[Xyga]

Wouldn't have it been safer and more accessible on Steam though? That Android is a big mess of mods and piracy is no news. Also mobile games that require a certain hardware and firmware freshness limit the sales potential, people don't buy a new smartphone or tablet every year or so anymore.
I wouldn't dare patronize professionals but I'd assume when you're developing mobile games those are things you ough to be aware of, I think...
Then maybe Steam really isn't profitable enough as well, I don't know. Cruel world.

[Necronom]

Wouldn't have it been safer and more accessible on Steam though?

Imo you underestimate the JP mobile market and overestimate Steam. Lots of people on steam never buy full price and wait until the title gets heavily discounted.
Also, there's way more competition on steam than on mobile.

They also complained about the amount of people pirating the English Android version and implied they may not translate future titles as a result.

Problem is...they really didn't translate that much. The whole story chatter is japanese only.

Btw, I bought it and I love it...though I would really appreciate an english translation of the story

[Xyga]

Wouldn't have it been safer and more accessible on Steam though?

Imo you underestimate the JP mobile market and overestimate Steam. Lots of people on steam never buy full price and wait until the title gets heavily discounted.
Also, there's way more competition on steam than on mobile.

I was thinking only about the western release, since it seems to be the problem. And I know people are cheap when it comes to Steam (although it's still beyond me why so many games get their first discount in a matter of days)
But Android is definitely a mess, I don't know in Japan but over here the amount of hacked and pirated firmware/software is impressive.

[Bananamatic]

reminder that instead of a proper psyvariar revision port we got a shitty mobile game that shut down after a few months despite being perfectly playable offline
gacha and mobile games ruin everything, especially with japan having a massive boner for it for some reason
the "nips have shit taste" meme is completely based on reality

[stacks183]

And who said it didn't sell? I think it sold better than they thought.Otherwise there woudln't be a worldwide release.

I think, it's the other way around. I think, they wouldn't be doing an international release if the game had sold well in Japan, and instead, they would've immediately invested in the sequel.

I also think that releasing it as a paid mobile game was absolutely the worst thing they could've done. Again and again we're hearing from developers that games that require you to pay upfront just don't sale on mobile at all. It's impossible to make money on a paid mobile game, unless it's called Final Fantasy. They should've made it free-to-play, or indeed, went with Steam.

On Steam, with a reasonable price tag, they probably could expect to sale in the ballpark of 10 000 copies, which would've given them at least enough money to port this game to Switch or PS4, where it actually would be able to make profit.

[qmish]

You mean they needed to make shitty f2p instead of actual good game they made.

As for steam, can't relate to "discount only" guys, anyway shmup enthusiasts there buy it day one, while everyone else ignore.

[Necronom]

You mean they needed to make shitty f2p instead of actual good game they made.

No, but releasing it as a stellar f2p game like Bullet Hell Monday would have helped...not even talking about a free lite version

[stacks183]

You mean they needed to make shitty f2p instead of actual good game they made.

Yes, exactly. This is just the reality of mobile game economy. You need the game to be free to compete with myriad of free games out there, and you need microtransactions as a revenue stream. All other business models on mobile fail miserably. There is nothing preventing you from making a game with good gameplay and implementing mircotransactions in a way that doesn't nickel and dime your players, though.

Paying upfront and just getting a full game with no restrictions is obviously much better for fans, but the reality is that these types of games do not make money for developers. I still think that intial Steam release with ports down the line would've been better for everyone involved.

[ZacharyB]

I can't imagine microtransactions designed for shmup players.

Game normally force-continues: Disable continues?
Can't share high score: Uploading scores?
Can't use controller: Use controllers?
Enable replays?
Skip cutscenes (studded with ads)?
Activate certain scoring techniques, like unused bombs granting end-of-level bonus... pay2score?
Buy developers a beer?
Get rid of random crash in level 3?

It's bizarro world.

[Xyga]

loot boxes

[Shepardus]

Sell continues? Practice mode options? Extra stages/modes/ship types?

[BulletMagnet]

I can't imagine microtransactions designed for shmup players.

Increase bullet visibility from "Phantasmal" to "Stealthy" for 100 Bombucks! Upgrade to "Maybe If You Don't Blink" for 500 Gold Bombucks!

Reduce input lag by 10 frames for 150 Vulcoins! Also reduce bomb delay by 5 frames for only 100 Vulcoins more!

Cut inertia by 15% with a mere 1000 Max Medals!