Hiroshi Iuchi's UBUSUNA for the PS4

[bcass]

Did anyone make a backup of the youtube video that showcased some of the OST? M2 say they've removed it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFr14GcTYXo

Awesome, thanks.

[pja]

Iuchi news, or even two, from the usual place (www.vgmaterials.com, link as usual doesn't work unless you copy it ). First, this remix of the Ubusuna track:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OlWlypLnWg

And the actual blog post, quite long! Here's my summary, based on what I gleamed from Google Translate (so keep that in mind, but I feel like I got the gist of it at least )
- Ubusuna is not dead - Iuchi has the rights to it still
- M2 does have the rights to what was created so far, but "even if we continue development using these resources, we won't receive them for free from M2.", so this suggest something might be arranged so not everything goes to waste
- the plan seems to be to continue development with funding from another company, seemingly with lots of the same team still in place (Rin Kususaga mentioned by name as a designer, also apparently Iuichi's wife was the programmer?), and some companies apparently already expressed interest
- Iuchi decided to resign last year already, he mentions not wanting to work "in a company structure" anymore, and the blog post also seems to give off the vibe that having to stop development for long periods of time and then resuming between other projects made the game difficult to complete (also, "I don't see the point in creating something mediocre with a moderate budget and timeframe."). So it sounds like he just wasn't satisfied with how things were going and didn't believe that he could get it done at M2 to his satisfaction.

But read the blogpost yourself and make up your own mind. But I feel like at the very least it pretty unambigously says that Ubusuna is not dead! Nothing about Gynoug Dickman anywhere though.

[Ms. Tea]

GSK also summarized a few points, in case it helps clarify: https://bsky.app/profile/allcityslopsho ... 4b5qflzc3y

Glad to hear it sounds like he'll be able to stick with the game system he'd planned on. It would have been devastating for him if he'd had to give that up when he'd had it planned out for so long.

When he talks about his wife being a programmer, I think he's referring to the Emiko Iuchi who's credited on several games at M2, including Night Striker Gear. I'd wondered if there was any relation when I'd seen the name come up before!

[AGermanArtist]

"Ikaruga creator announces his cancelled shooter Ubusuna is set for revival, with funding talks underway..."

https://automaton-media.com/en/news/ika ... -underway/

[Udderdude]

I think he should've stuck with M2, but who knows .. maybe this was the right move? Really tough to tell with situations like this how it's all going to shake out.

[AGermanArtist]

He says one of his reasons for leaving M2 was that staff allocated to assist with the game were repeatedly taken away to work on more immediate projects. Short term thinking on M2's part, but understandable. They need that collection/port revenue to keep the lights on.

[Udderdude]

Maybe we'll get that kickstarter arc after all ..

[glenjamin]

Yeah the game was realistically never going to come out under M2. Now, it still might never come out lol, but at least if he can get the funding, he can actually go nose to the grindstone and not get pulled away by other projects. I think even if it does have to start over completely, being able to do it in one focused shot will be much more efficient.

[ciox]

To me it looks like him leaving M2 was driven by his decision to finally get Ubusuna done more than anything else, at least that's what it looks like from everything he's shared so far, so if I had to say, the chances of Ubusuna being completed have gone up. "I'm Not Regret" and all that.

In retrospect I can maybe understand the policy of not sharing footage of the game until now, it's possible there was always uncertainty about whether the game would be completed under the old arrangement, and that the game shown in various footage would never be released.
That should not be a problem anymore so hopefully there won't be a total embargo on screenshots and videos of the actual game being made now, we want to actually see what's being made, both to support it better and just out of plain curiosity.