Cave holding a poll for possible XBLA title(sorry if repost)

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

I'm wondering who the main bulk of people were that participated in this poll - like, whether they were hardcore pcb collectors. After all, Guwange, ESPrade etc. are perfectly emulated in MAME, but the Yagawa Cave games are only available as pcbs. I'd have loved the check Muchi Muchi Pork and Pink Sweets out, now I can buy a game that's been available for years instead of a new one. Thanks a lot...

[hirounder]

I'd have loved the check Muchi Muchi Pork and Pink Sweets out, now I can buy a game that's been available for years instead of a new one. Thanks a lot...

I'm sure they're planning retail releases of PS, MMP and DFK for the next fiscal year.

[Danbo]

I'm wondering who the main bulk of people were that participated in this poll - like, whether they were hardcore pcb collectors. After all, Guwange, ESPrade etc. are perfectly emulated in MAME, but the Yagawa Cave games are only available as pcbs. I'd have loved the check Muchi Muchi Pork and Pink Sweets out, now I can buy a game that's been available for years instead of a new one. Thanks a lot...

A port of Ibara that's not horrible would be nice, too.

I don't really know for sure but I'm guessing MAME may not be so popular in Japan, who needs it when the real thing probably isn't terribly far away...

[Rebel Ninja]

Thank you all for your mail.
Here are the results of our Xbox Live Arcade survey.

1. Guwange
2. Esprade
3. Dodonpachi
4. Progear
5. Pink Sweets
6. Mushihime-sama
7. Dangun Feveron
8. Muchi Muchi Pork
9. Espgaluda
10. Ibara

We have received many requests from our overseas users for region-free versions of our games.

"Death Smiles" was released only for Asia, but the region for "Mushi-hime sama Futari" has not been decided yet. I believe it will be decided around the time of Tokyo Game Show 2009.

We are very happy to have received so many e-mails from overseas.

Thank you.

09/01/09
Cave
Makoto Asada

A blog post in English, Guwange and ESPRade in #1 & 2, and the possibility of Mushihime region free (or a US/Euro licensing deal) ?!?!??!?!?!?!???!?!?!??!?!?!??!?

I got a few questions here.

CAVE are obviously aware even prior to this poll that they have fans overseas. They mention that the region coding for Futari has not been decided yet, So who is in charge of the region coding? Why wasn't DeathSmiles region free? If it is Microsoft that decides the region coding for a game why would they change their minds and allow this to be the first Japan-exclusive region free 360 game?

[E. Randy Dupre]

It's up to the publisher whether they lock the release to a certain region or not.

[Zero Gunner]

CAVE are obviously aware even prior to this poll that they have fans overseas. They mention that the region coding for Futari has not been decided yet, So who is in charge of the region coding? Why wasn't DeathSmiles region free? If it is Microsoft that decides the region coding for a game why would they change their minds and allow this to be the first Japan-exclusive region free 360 game?

It's up to the publisher whether they lock the release to a certain region or not.

I don't think MS has ever required regional locking. If they did how then were the many Asia market releases that were region-free ever permitted? I think it's just par-for-the-course. Region locking has been encouraged for a long time so everyone did it. The PS3 really is the only recent exception. Perhaps now companies like Cave realize that they should consider such releases in case their games aren't licensed. Either way it's nice to see them acknowledging that there are gamers outside of Japan who want their products.

[MADEIRA STEVE88]

Would buy all of those top 10 SHMUPs on XBLA.

[evil_ash_xero]

Forgive me if this is a dumb question, but what is Asada's station at Cave?

[Elixir]

I voted for Guwange and it won. I couldn't be happier.

[bcass]

What is the point of playing a technically inferior port of a game that has been perfectly emulated on MAME for the best part of 10 years? Unless they add a HD graphics mode, this is a very dissapointing result, although it's nice to see Cave acknowledge their Western fanbase. A third of all votes coming from foreigners is impressive.

[MADEIRA STEVE88]

Cave should just release all of them on XBLA, they would make a killing in sales. The survey had alot of us folk on it so that shows we still like us some killer SHMUPS.

[jonny5]

Cave should just release all of them on XBLA, they would make a killing in sales. The survey had alot of us folk on it so that shows we still like us some killer SHMUPS.

it might have been better if people voted for some of the newer titles so they know we are interested and know about the current stuff....

now they may draw the conclusion that western audiences prefer the older titles or piracy(mame), which as pointed out, are already available to play to anyone with a computer handy....

do we really think they are going to do even a partial HD re-vamp like DS for a DLC title? so we will probably end up with a badly filtered/scaled version of a game you can play in native res through emulation already

that said i think its cool that they acknowledged the foreign voters.....i often wonder if cave realizes how sought after there stuff is by collectors/gamers in the west.....its obviously a niche market, but perhaps still worth pursuing in the future

[MADEIRA STEVE88]

Well if the Beat 'Em Up genre made a come back, lets hope that the SHMUP genre comes back full force *Crosses Fingers* but as long as i get me some SHMUPS im cool. Most of us here either have a JAP360 or use Mame etc. For me i recently got a JAP360 along with RAIDEN IV, RAIDEN FIGHTERS ACES and DEATHSMILES.

[evil_ash_xero]

I voted for Guwange and it won. I couldn't be happier.

I was hoping for Ra.de., but I had mentioned in my e-mail "2nd choice Guwange". It's a great game.

Hopefully MS will allow it on there. I mean, they wouldn't let DDP or Ketsui on there...

[antares]

do we really think they are going to do even a partial HD re-vamp like DS for a DLC title? so we will probably end up with a badly filtered/scaled version of a game you can play in native res through emulation already

I think it could be possible that they redraw the sprites in HD but they won't make an arrange mode like in their retail games.

[CStarFlare]

I would actually expect an arrange whether or not they upgrade to HD (though they'll probably have to at least apply some sort of filter to get it OK'd by Microsoft). Guwenge has been counterstopped with every character, and apparently Deathsmiles 1.1 was put together in only 2 weeks.

Expect to be able to control your familiar with the right analogue stick, since Cave seems to enjoy doing things like that. There's also the "Blue" version which apparently was at the Cave feedback meeting thing. Whatever that is, that could be thrown in as an arrange mode (similar to 1.01 in Futari).

[Elixir]

Expect to be able to control your familiar with the right analogue stick,

Fuck that, that would completely destroy Guwange. When did Cave start doing that? The option in Death Smiles is controlled by the left stick when holding down a button and I can't think of any other games that use the right stick at all.

[CStarFlare]

Deathsmiles 1.1 allows you to move your option with the right stick, and apparently Futari's arrange will do something similar.

[bcass]

It works pretty well in DS 1.1.

[Zero Gunner]

Well if the Beat 'Em Up genre made a come back, lets hope that the SHMUP genre comes back full force *Crosses Fingers* but as long as i get me some SHMUPS im cool. Most of us here either have a JAP360 or use Mame etc. For me i recently got a JAP360 along with RAIDEN IV, RAIDEN FIGHTERS ACES and DEATHSMILES.

I couldn't agree more. Fighting games had essentially been declared formally dead by the media and most current gamers probably couldn't even tell you what the hell a fireball motion was (especially the new Wii demographic). Yet here we with this "dead' genre are and SF 4 was a huge hit, BlazBlue and KOF 12 grabbed alot of attention, Tekken 6 is right around the corner and even obscure fighters like Mark of the Wolves are making mainstream appearances on XBLA. If anything 2009 is actually becoming the year that classic gaming is making a comeback between all the fighetrs and shmups. Look at the volume of shmups coming out across all regions this year...it's not what it was in the Saturn/PSX eras but we've had a pile of shmups released in the last year and things are only looking better for the genre. Especially now that Cave is finally recognizing the international interest in the genre....

[Elixir]

Deathsmiles 1.1 allows you to move your option with the right stick, and apparently Futari's arrange will do something similar.

Those are just arrange modes though. The actual game is separated from them.

[E. Randy Dupre]

Fighting games had essentially been declared formally dead by the media and most current gamers probably couldn't even tell you what the hell a fireball motion was (especially the new Wii demographic).

The fact that everybody instinctively knew how to spam it as soon as SF4 came out suggests otherwise.

[TodayIsForgotten]

Well if the Beat 'Em Up genre made a come back, lets hope that the SHMUP genre comes back full force *Crosses Fingers* but as long as i get me some SHMUPS im cool. Most of us here either have a JAP360 or use Mame etc. For me i recently got a JAP360 along with RAIDEN IV, RAIDEN FIGHTERS ACES and DEATHSMILES.

I couldn't agree more. Fighting games had essentially been declared formally dead by the media and most current gamers probably couldn't even tell you what the hell a fireball motion was (especially the new Wii demographic). Yet here we with this "dead' genre are and SF 4 was a huge hit, BlazBlue and KOF 12 grabbed alot of attention, Tekken 6 is right around the corner and even obscure fighters like Mark of the Wolves are making mainstream appearances on XBLA. If anything 2009 is actually becoming the year that classic gaming is making a comeback between all the fighetrs and shmups. Look at the volume of shmups coming out across all regions this year...it's not what it was in the Saturn/PSX eras but we've had a pile of shmups released in the last year and things are only looking better for the genre. Especially now that Cave is finally recognizing the international interest in the genre....

What I don't get is everyone says that shootem ups are a niche genre. I don't deny it, but why are there so many arena (atleast we get something) shooters constantly being made?

[adversity1]

What I don't get is everyone says that shootem ups are a niche genre. I don't deny it, but why are there so many arena (atleast we get something) shooters constantly being made?

Geometry Wars 1 & 2 = huge successes
Ikaruga = 150k downloads in NA and Europe (according to VGChartz tho...)

I also don't buy the argument that shooting is a niche genre, I just think that no one has managed to bring over a) a quality game other than Ikaruga, and sorry I don't count Raiden IV b) the marketing isn't done very well. Shmups as a genre have made a huge leap in progress with online leaderboards on the 360. Problem is that shmups as a genre basically died in the PS2 era in the states and Europe, and overseas publishers basically don't get that the point-based gameplay of shmups has an entirely new basis with regular online leaderboards and friend leaderboards.

I think they'll figure it out soon though.

[Elixir]

Thinking of the Guwange port some more (and having played it for the past hour or so), Microsoft will probably force them to add a filter to the game. So it will end up looking like this:



And it looks awful compared to not using anything at all. Unless there's room for a revamped version which I hope for, but doubt. SNK's awful ports have proved that you don't need to put any effort into porting a game, just shove a HQ2X filter over something and it's good to go.

[Danbo]

I still don't get why you would vote for Guwange over any of the newer, less easy to get your hands on games... No worries about filters if you play on MAME.

[Elixir]

I don't care about Pink Sweets and I've already played and sold MMP. I wouldn't like to be the one emulating MMP's slowdown. And in terms of old Cave titles, I like Guwange the most. That's why.

I thought about voting for Mushi 1 but then I remembered it had an atrocious scoring system that no sane person likes. Galuda 1's port is fine, and all the other titles are ancient which just made me choose my favorite out of them. I honestly thought DDP would have won due to the popularity it has.

[captpain]

I don't care about Pink Sweets and I've already played and sold MMP. I wouldn't like to be the one emulating MMP's slowdown. And in terms of old Cave titles, I like Guwange the most. That's why.

I thought about voting for Mushi 1 but then I remembered it had an atrocious scoring system that no sane person likes. Galuda 1's port is fine, and all the other titles are ancient which just made me choose my favorite out of them. I honestly thought DDP would have won due to the popularity it has.

Ah, as opposed to the sane game-long chaining in Guwange

[Enhasa]

Yeah but the setting is FEUDAL JAPAN wap wap wap
Esprade is #2 and that's Japanese high school, now if only there was a game set in a FEUDAL JAPANESE HIGH SCHOOL
Potentially fun game: go through this thread and see who voted for Guwange and Esprade

A third of all votes coming from foreigners is impressive.

Completely expected though. Cave is extremely popular amongst the wapanese internet gaming crowd that spend more time discussing games than actually playing them. MAME stuff at the top is completely predictable too, since most of these people's only actual Cave experience is with MAME and as Wii VC petition-type stuff and enless Square remakes have shown, people would rather re-buy a game they've already played and +1 collector creds than take a chance on something they've never played before. Also as proven by STGT, people will fuck up any vote they are given, so it makes sense the results would be better if they were completely opposite.

[Zero Gunner]

Thinking of the Guwange port some more (and having played it for the past hour or so), Microsoft will probably force them to add a filter to the game. So it will end up looking like this:



And it looks awful compared to not using anything at all. Unless there's room for a revamped version which I hope for, but doubt. SNK's awful ports have proved that you don't need to put any effort into porting a game, just shove a HQ2X filter over something and it's good to go.

Here's a CRAAAAAZY thought.... Maybe instead of moaning about how much Cave games on XBLA are gonna suck maybe you should...oh, I don't know...let them actually release one first?!?! Given that DS is awesome, 5pb screwed up DDP and Cave plans to fix it and either supervise or take Ketsui away from 5pb they've hardly given you reason to suspect SNK-like ports from them. SNK is an embarrassment, we all know it, it's not the same company they used to be. That said being able to play MS3 online is awesome and Mark of the Wolves is a solid port. KOF 98 on the other hand....but even still, Cave ISN'T SNK last time I checked. So maybe you should stop playing with photoshop and actually wait to see what they're going to give us? Anyone can doctor an image to make it look like crap, maybe you should let Cave show us what they have planned before crucifying them. I dare say it'll look better than your photoshop efforts....