LiveWire ports SaiDaiOuJou to the Switch (all regions)

[Sima Tuna]

Is it really so hard to translate japanese text in a fucking shmup???

Well there's also the Xbox 360 mode where your two waifus yell at you for 30 minutes nonstop while you sit on the couch and try to ignore them so you can play your damn video game. I wouldn't want to translate that either.

Ah, so the Raiden V Coffee Discussion Mode.

[EmperorIng]

People who hate the coffee discussion in Raiden V have no soul.

[Sima Tuna]

People who hate the coffee discussion in Raiden V have no soul.

I prefer a nice black tea. Let's talk about it for 20 minutes while you try to play a game.

[ThundergunExpress]

Does anyone know how long it took for physicals to get announced for the previous LiveWire releases? I have a feeling we won't see anything for a year.

[MJR]

The act of playing, which was your point there, is as enjoyable as with the real thing for a lot of games, if not better. As for the rest, I'm saying nothing, but the "tinkering" aspect of Groovymame is basically the same as with the official Mame if not simpler since it's mostly automated, as anybody that knows it full well will say.

You are right that groovymame has better gameplay experience. But the work needed to update my mame romsets to match new version of mame I need work with the version of groovymame that is currently available plus any further possible operations to make the games run well enough to justify the whole diversion is not worth my time to me. I have barely enough time to play my original hardware, so I have zero reason to tinker with emulation. As I said, to each with their own needs.

I have also begun regretting writing to this forum, so I can't blame you for your replies, as you only do you. After all, no one told me to come here in the first place. So, I'll try to bow out more peacefully before I waste the little time meant for my nights sleep on some meaningless internet war over some trivial nerdy shit.

[Steven]

Know what's better than groovymame?

PCB

*runs away*

People who hate the coffee discussion in Raiden V have no soul.

I prefer a nice black tea. Let's talk about it for 20 minutes while you try to play a game.

Indeed. Coffee is fucking disgusting! I hate it! How humans can drink that sewage water is beyond my comprehension.

Anyway there is nothing of value in the 360 arrange dialog, unless you like listening to Saya complaining that her boobs are too small and then calling the player character a pervert for looking at them. That's some Nobel Prize-worthy dialog right there.

What unique hardware features do the PS4, PS5, or Xbox have that PC can't do? Or even the 360? Nothing, except convenient BD players in the case of the three former ones, and even then you can just dump your BDs using your PC.

I turn them on, and they just work, simple.

Yeah, I do that on my PC too, and it's even easier because my PC boots faster than my PS5 does. Pretty much the only thing that consoles can do that most PCs can't is sleep mode, which is both cool and useful. I do have one PC that can do that, though: Steam Deck. Steam Deck's sleep mode does weird stuff like breaking audio or sometimes doesn't work properly, though, so consoles still win that one.

Guwange is safe for now on Xbox Series.

Spoiler

which nobody in Japan has ever seen in a brick and mortar store lol

tbf our toystores (at least in my country in europe) also don't carry xbox hardware, only the bigger electronics stores have them on shelves.
Back in the DC days the only place i could actually buy a console locally was at a store that sold imported dvd's and other non-standard stuff, none of the toystores where the average mom and dad would shop carried the dreamcast.

Brick&mortar is switch and ps5 domain.

Are the games available in stores there? Some of the bigger stores here like Yodobashi Akiba may have them, but I haven't been there since 2013 or 2014, so I'm not sure. Not sure how many people know this, but there are Japanese companies that make Xbox games that don't release their Xbox games in Japan at all; they're produced specifically and only for overseas markets, so there really isn't much of a point in even getting an Xbox here now.

[Starfighter]

Does anyone know how long it took for physicals to get announced for the previous LiveWire releases? I have a feeling we won't see anything for a year.

That's my assumption too. I've put the game in my wishlist as to not forget it and then I'll come back bimonthly to check for any news on a physical release. The positive aspect of this is that I'll then have time to hear about the performance (input latency, mostly) before making a purchase.

[Steven]

Speaking of physical, I'm assuming it's probably worth considering getting Switch Espgaluda II while it's still available. I don't think I've ever played any of Live Wire's things except 9th Sentinel Sisters, so I don't really know what to expect.

Speaking of 9th Sentinel Sisters, that game is still in early access and seems to have been abandoned for like a year now. I imagine this Saidaioujou release is part of the reason for that. It's especially too bad because that most recent update last December wrecked the balance and left the game way too easy.

[hamfighterx]

Does anyone know how long it took for physicals to get announced for the previous LiveWire releases? I have a feeling we won't see anything for a year.

The eshop Live Wire releases were simultaneous WW releases (give or take a day)
Mushihimesama - June 16, 2021
Espgaluda II - September 16, 2021
Daifukkatsu - November 25, 2021

Limited Run physicals (North America/ESRB)
Mushi - announced/pre-orders up around early Nov 2021 (4-5 months after eshop). I received my standard edition copy in July 2022 (13 or so months after the eshop release).
Espgaluda II - announced mid-July 2022 (~10 months after eshop). Got my collector's edition copy in July or August 2023 (roughly 23 months after eshop release).
DFK - announced early Sep 2022 (~10 months after eshop). Got my collector's edition copy in August 2023 (roughly 22 months after eshop release).
IIRC, standard edition copies of Galuda and DFK started shipping at least a couple months earlier.

Japanese physical retail versions from Super Deluxe games
Mushi - August 2024
Espgaluda II - November 2023
DFK - September 2023

European physical retail versions from Clear River
All three released September 30, 2024

I don't think I've ever played any of Live Wire's things except 9th Sentinel Sisters, so I don't really know what to expect.

Essentially a 1:1 version of the Xbox 360 ports, but on Switch. Minimal additional lag (basically imperceptible to me, but I assume they have a frame or two just due to hardware limitations).

And that freaking SDOJ chatter... even worse when they're drowning out a soundtrack I quite enjoy!

[ThundergunExpress]

Does anyone know how long it took for physicals to get announced for the previous LiveWire releases? I have a feeling we won't see anything for a year.

The eshop Live Wire releases were simultaneous WW releases (give or take a day)
Mushihimesama - June 16, 2021
Espgaluda II - September 16, 2021
Daifukkatsu - November 25, 2021

Limited Run physicals (North America/ESRB)
Mushi - announced/pre-orders up around early Nov 2021 (4-5 months after eshop). I received my standard edition copy in July 2022 (13 or so months after the eshop release).
Espgaluda II - announced mid-July 2022 (~10 months after eshop). Got my collector's edition copy in July or August 2023 (roughly 23 months after eshop release).
DFK - announced early Sep 2022 (~10 months after eshop). Got my collector's edition copy in August 2023 (roughly 22 months after eshop release).
IIRC, standard edition copies of Galuda and DFK started shipping at least a couple months earlier.

Japanese physical retail versions from Super Deluxe games
Mushi - August 2024
Espgaluda II - November 2023
DFK - September 2023

Thanks for this, it's very helpful. Since this isn't likely to get a western release, our only hope is Super Deluxe does this. Super Deluxe basically being LRG's Japanese branch, have they ever released Japanese only games that LRG didn't touch? I'm not sure if we can count on a physical release here which is the only shame. I might just buy this digitally.

[Steven]

I don't think I've ever played any of Live Wire's things except 9th Sentinel Sisters, so I don't really know what to expect.

Essentially a 1:1 version of the Xbox 360 ports, but on Switch. Minimal additional lag (basically imperceptible to me, but I assume they have a frame or two just due to hardware limitations).

Yeah I never played those either lol. I'll probably get it eventually before it's too late and sells out.

And that freaking SDOJ chatter... even worse when they're drowning out a soundtrack I quite enjoy!

Don't remind me. This game has one of the best soundtracks in the genre, even if like half (?) of it is recycled from Daioujou. Not sure how I feel about the 360 arrange music compared to the original, but it's really good either way.

[Tokyo-J]

USA / International release incoming. Unfortunately, does not look translated. Still good to see released outside of Japan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUGcXcBMdD0

[pablumatic]

That's good. Less hassle to purchase. No hunting for JP Eshop cards and account/region switching now.

[Ms. Tea]

And that freaking SDOJ chatter... even worse when they're drowning out a soundtrack I quite enjoy!

At least there's a separate volume slider for voices! Whenever I play 360 mode I turn those way down, haha.

[Johnpv]

Nice this is getting a western release!

[Lander]

People who hate the coffee discussion in Raiden V have no soul.

Frankly, they should have doubled down. Give me earnest Kojipro nerd dives into the qualities of a good bean, appropriate means of grinding, optimal brewing strategies, and the dangers of oxidization. Passion and obsession.

[Some-Mist]

good callout on the physical edition of espgaluda II. I have the digital versions and didn't catch that they got a physical. I will pass on mushihimesama and dfk since they isn't my favorite

as for the SDOJ chatter, I immediately put voice volume to 0 even if it introduces some weird silent pauses at the end of each stage (because they're producing some long dialogue after each boss)

[Steven]

Don't worry, you're definitely not missing anything worth your time with this game's story. It's not flat-out terrible, but it's just kind of there and doesn't do anything to either justify its existence or to make it offensively bad. Hypothetically, if you were to delete the story, it would change literally nothing. I don't like the 360 arrange's gameplay anyway (yuck, a disgusting heath meter!) so at least for me it's not really a loss either way.

I actually played this game on 360 yesterday for a little while, or maybe it was the day before. I don't remember. Still disappointed that my 360 decided to kill my save file with almost everything unlocked. Remember when people liked spending dozens of hours unlocking shit that should have been available from the start? I certainly don't miss that, although I'll take it over the modern approach of making it either pre-order exclusive DLC that permanently ceases to be obtainable after release or day-1 DLC that you have to pay for and should have been in the game anyway.

[Starfighter]

Of the 8 or so 8BitDo controllers that I've used, it's the only one that doesn't have a completely awful d-pad that renders it worthy of the local landfill

Wait, what? I think their d-pads are the absolute best in the industry, they feel incredible (like how I remember the Nintendo d-pads from the past). Well... Okay, the durability is awful, on that I agree. The rubber membranes break very easily (I've had to replace them on 3 out of 4 controllers after only light use). Perhaps that's what you're refering to.

[Steven]

Of the 8 or so 8BitDo controllers that I've used, it's the only one that doesn't have a completely awful d-pad that renders it worthy of the local landfill

Wait, what? I think their d-pads are the absolute best in the industry, they feel incredible (like how I remember the Nintendo d-pads from the past). Well... Okay, the durability is awful, on that I agree. The rubber membranes break very easily (I've had to replace them on 3 out of 4 controllers after only light use). Perhaps that's what you're refering to.

The diagonals on all of my non-M30 8BitDo controllers are really bad. They are unusable for 2D games because you'll constantly aim/move/both in unwanted directions. On some of them, I had stick drift out of the box, too. Shit company with mostly shit products that just happened to make one amazing outlier, the M30, by happenstance.

[Starfighter]

The diagonals on all of my non-M30 8BitDo controllers are really bad. They are unusable for 2D games because you'll constantly aim/move/both in unwanted directions. On some of them, I had stick drift out of the box, too. Shit company with mostly shit products that just happened to make one amazing outlier, the M30, by happenstance.

I've heard of the diagonal issue, but never encountered it myself (knock on wood). Well, one of my controllers made me go up/down when only holding right/left - that one I had to mod with a bit of electrical tape to make right. Other than that it's all good on my part. I'm not a brand hugger (companies are not friends) so I'm not going to "defend" them here, I guess the fact that one customer get working controllers and another get bad ones is a sign of a bad company so if anything I stand corrected. Now I'm just happy I had this much luck with the ones I've got.

Edit: Speaking of the M30, which I think is the least impressive one I've got (not a fan of the d-pad being a floating disc), is it supposed to feel like the d-pad is leaning towards the right? If I press left it bottoms out half-way down, and if I press right it goes all the way down into the controller. I don't like going right because of this, it feels like I'm making it worse. The actual inputs are unaffected by this, but my brain is not, haha!

[Steven]

Yeah, 1 out of like 6 controllers is not a great record. Perhaps they are just inconsistent and I just got bad controllers, but in that case their quality control needs improvement. As for this:

Edit: Speaking of the M30, which I think is the least impressive one I've got (not a fan of the d-pad being a floating disc), is it supposed to feel like the d-pad is leaning towards the right? If I press left it bottoms out half-way down, and if I press right it goes all the way down into the controller. I don't like going right because of this, it feels like I'm making it worse. The actual inputs are unaffected by this, but my brain is not, haha!

yeah no lol it's not supposed to feel that way! At least, I think so. I haven't used it for a while now. Provided that I don't forget (always a chance that that will happen, sadly), I'll go check mine in a while when I get home. Hopefully I will not become distracted by food or something and forget...

[bobrocks95]

Most 8bitdo controllers I own have way too sensitive diagonals, I'd agree there. The smaller the d-pad the worse it is. Their Ultimate controller's d-pad is terrible imo.

[Steven]

Yeah, they are not suitable for shooters where you need precision movement. You could probably get away with playing something that only has 4-way movement like... uh... Teki-Paki maybe. Or maybe not. I'm not going to test it. I actually was wrong earlier about the number of their controllers that I have; it's actually have 7, not 6. I forgot about the Neo Geo CD controller. It's... okay. The dead zone on that controller seems a bit too large compared to my real Neo Geo CD controller, so I don't really like it and found it to be rather disappointing, but it's not actually especially terrible or anything.

[Some-Mist]

I don't like the 360 arrange's gameplay anyway (yuck, a disgusting heath meter!) so at least for me it's not really a loss either way.

while it's not the best arrange by any means, I definitely do love it. I busted out my xbox 360 earlier this year to play through all my xbox 360 shmups, and spent the most time with sdoj arrange as I didn't really touch it when it originally released.

iirc, while it does appear to be a health meter, it's moreso an energy bar/autobomb mechanic that can help you cheese through the game. in a similar (but not really) way to gunnail, scoring incentivizes you to be in a state where if you take a single hit it's game over. in sdoj using your big laser to expend the energy bar leaves you with "one-life" because if you get hit without energy to set off an autobomb you're done for. the fastest way to build it back up is to point blank enemies, which puts you in harms way and if you're playing it that way (for score) you're always on the edge of your seat.

for me it became a balancing act to try to build up a buffer just in case I get hit but to also try to score, even though your score really benefits from exhausting it down and building it up rinse/repeat.

[Lander]

Yeah, 1 out of like 6 controllers is not a great record. Perhaps they are just inconsistent and I just got bad controllers, but in that case their quality control needs improvement.

I got a lemon after ordering their SNES replica pad - that same diagonal issue. Ended up as a shelf ornament right quick after trying to do some Street Fighter motions on it.

Wasn't much for the M30 either. Pleasant design and materials, but the pad was too stiff and didn't feel anything like the gold-standard MD / Saturn hardware it was trying to emulate.

Retro-bit are the only purveyor of such that I've had a good experience with, and they're not immune either; their wireless MD and Saturn pads are great, but the wired one I have approaches 8bitdo levels of bad.

[Starfighter]

Retro-bit are the only purveyor of such that I've had a good experience with, and they're not immune either; their wireless MD and Saturn pads are great, but the wired one I have approaches 8bitdo levels of bad.

They too? What the heck... I know this topic (which controllers (when talking specifically about controllers) do you all use etc) is extensively explored on here at this point but I always forget what brands and models are considered good and not. Perhaps we should make a list. It's, if nothing else, pertinent to the season to make lists.

[hamfighterx]

I like the Nintendo Switch Online version Mega Drive 6-button controller pretty well, that's my go-to STG/fighter pad on Switch.

Not a big 8bitdo fan here either, I've had a couple of truly awful controllers from them. Hit or miss is my take too, and the miss ratio is too high for my liking. The ones I have some nice things to say about:
- I'm fine with their Neo Geo CD pad and was gonna call that out as pretty good before Steven remembered it.
- The PCE/TG16 replicas aren't bad.
- And I have one M30 that's... OK, but not really my favorite. One ultra-specific odd thing is that has a very weird glitch with the Analogue Pocket dock where it recognizes all buttons fine, but when you press the C button once it won't register for a second consecutive press (need to first hit a different button). Only happens with that one button. That might be an Analogue hardware issue, but it's still offputting.

Retrobit's Saturn and Genesis 6-button replica pads are all right. They don't meet the high standard of a real Saturn pad, but quite serviceable. Caveat that I've heard of some people having reliability issues and the d-pads breaking, but I haven't personally encountered that.

[Steven]

I like the Nintendo Switch Online version Mega Drive 6-button controller pretty well, that's my go-to STG/fighter pad on Switch.

I really want one of those. Is it possible to get one without subscribing to the thing? I looked for them on Amazon Japan for several years before I gave up. Maybe I should go look again.

Honestly I'd give the 8BitDo Neo Geo CD controller a mostly passing grade if it didn't have such a big dead zone, which I never had a problem with on the original one. It feels pretty different from my original Neo Geo CD controller, too, and I have to press the C button hard in order for it to register. That's annoying, but I can work around that, even if I really shouldn't have to.

My Bluetooth Retro-Bit Saturn d-pad broke. I pretty much stopped playing STGs on Switch when this happened, and this was very disappointing, as I had used it only lightly. It has better button mapping functionality than the 2.4GHz version, too, making it especially frustrating. I'll probably fix it eventually, but for now I put it away. This would be my choice for Switch Saidaioujou, but since it's broken it's not happening.

[Marc]

I had the same d-pad issue with the Retro-bit Saturn pad. What did they do? Sent me a new support thingy then I could replace myself! I've got the wired MD pad, which feels quite nice though. I've still got spare wireless MD/Saturn units that I've never gotten around to using.

I got several years use from my 8bitdo SN30 before the battery went and the d-pad felt really loose. Currently using their wired Ultimate pad which is great.