Region locking discussion thread

[twalden]

Since way back in the days of the Famicom, a large amount of shooters on region locked consoles never got a release outside of Japan. Don't know why people continue to bitch about region locking over a quarter of a century later. Mod or get a JP system already

[nZero]

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Anyone have reliable Raiden IV figures for the US incidentally?

Though I am aware of the fact the VGChartz is not a very reliable source, they have domestic US sales at around 60K. If this data is correct, then Raiden IV definitely sold more than the minimum required print run. The problem, though, is that outside of Japan Cave's games have next to no name recognition. Almost anyone can hear you say "Raiden" and know what you're talking about. DoDonPachi? Deathsmiles? Not so much.

For NR777,

You might recall that it was Atlus USA whom handled the distribution of the USA region Donpachi PCB kit (complete with full-sized DP marquee) back in 1994-1995 Stateside. So Donpachi is recognizable to "old-school" arcade gamers from that era and would definitely recognize a Donpachi sequel and Cave Co. Ltd for that matter (assuming if a newer Cave title were to be released in the USA).

Atlus USA could've easily released the International Version DDP PCB kit for the American arcade market but didn't back in the day for unknown reasons that we'll never know why. I have fond memories of playing DP PCB at my local arcade hangout back in 1994-1996 (because the arcade owner had excellent taste in getting a mixture of arcade shmup titles to spice things up).

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[NR777]

For NR777,

You might recall that it was Atlus USA whom handled the distribution of the USA region Donpachi PCB kit (complete with full-sized DP marquee) back in 1994-1995 Stateside. So Donpachi is recognizable to "old-school" arcade gamers from that era and would definitely recognize a Donpachi sequel and Cave Co. Ltd for that matter (assuming if a newer Cave title were to be released in the USA).

Atlus USA could've easily released the International Version DDP PCB kit for the American arcade market but didn't back in the day for unknown reasons that we'll never know why. I have fond memories of playing DP PCB at my local arcade hangout back in 1994-1996 (because the arcade owner had excellent taste in getting a mixture of arcade shmup titles to spice things up).

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

I am aware of the US distribution of DonPachi and DoDonPachi by Atlus, but very few people I've talked to outside of hardcore shmup fans recognize those titles. I've tried to encourage friends to purchase Mushi Futari, and when I mention something along the lines of DonPachi when attempting to describe the gameplay I get blank stares. If I mention Raiden, however, people's eyes light up. I never saw a Cave title in an arcade when I was growing up. I did, however, see plenty of Toaplan and Psikyo titles.

[TLB]

No one my age (18, 19) seems to recognize Raiden, which is a bit disappointing.

[dcharlie]

i guess i can help on the US side as i have a US/JPN machine and live in Japan and usually get games a couple of days before release, but ... the internet being the internet, i'm still usually late to the party!

No one my age (18, 19) seems to recognize Raiden, which is a bit disappointing.

i mentioned Makaimura to my gamer brother in law (23) a few months ago and he just blinked at me mouth open like a stunned guppy fish and uttered "huh? what is Makaimura?!"

my balls felt old.

[elvis]

...again, Futari sold below that of DS

Where do you get those figures from? (Not trolling - I'm genuinely curious to see Cave sales figures for consoles).

[TLB]

...again, Futari sold below that of DS

Where do you get those figures from? (Not trolling - I'm genuinely curious to see Cave sales figures for consoles).

http://garaph.info/gamesearch.php?title ... es2=&opt=1

http://garaph.info/gamesearch.php?title ... es2=&opt=1

[elvis]

http://garaph.info/gamesearch.php?title ... es2=&opt=1

http://garaph.info/gamesearch.php?title ... es2=&opt=1

Thanks. Next question obviously is... where do they get their data from? And do they count sales through external groups like Play-Asia (based on Hong Kong) and others?

15K sales of Mushihime Sama Futari seems pretty piss poor.

[edit] According to this:
http://www.vgchartz.com/games/game.php? ... region=All

14K sales was week 1. Weeks 1-6 netted 30K sales. Although the same site said DS got 50K sales, so despite being different figures to Garaph, still indicates DS outsold Mushi.

[adversity1]

::Groans::

[lemonade]

No worries, once the sh3 mame driver and rom dumps are leaked to the public, luckily no-one has to worry about Cave-related region locks anymore.

[Nico87]

Cya in 5 years then

[Udderdude]

once the sh3 mame driver and rom dumps are leaked to the public

This won't happen.

no-one has to worry about Cave-related region locks anymore.

Yes, because Cave will just quit making games after those are emulated. And the emulation will be 100% super perfect.

[lemonade]

You really think it's going to take 5 years? ..

And aren't the 3d cave games crap anyway? I haven't played them myself but from what I've heard at least DS2 isn't exactly great. The Cave games I like to play are on the SH3 hardware..

[Elixir]

That would be the one and only 3D Cave game, yes.

[lemonade]

That would be the one and only 3D Cave game, yes.

..So everything else in the Cave catalogue can be emulated relatively easily with todays PC hardware. Not bad

[emphatic]

That would be the one and only 3D Cave game, yes.

Aren't you forgetting the awesome http://maws.mameworld.info/maws/romset/sss ?

[elvis]

..So everything else in the Cave catalogue can be emulated relatively easily with todays PC hardware.

No. Don't assume that 2D = easy to emulate.

Load up MAME and some of the ST-V 2D games (SH2 hardware). Even on a pretty high end PC they're difficult to get decent frame rates out of them (and then consider that Cave like to use the SH-3 processor in a lot of their gear). Likewise, just look through MAME at the number of games still in "preliminary" or "imperfect" status.

[Elixir]

That would be the one and only 3D Cave game, yes.

Aren't you forgetting the awesome http://maws.mameworld.info/maws/romset/sss ?

Doesn't exist.

[yyr]

I am aware of the US distribution of DonPachi and DoDonPachi by Atlus, but very few people I've talked to outside of hardcore shmup fans recognize those titles.

I have a guess as to why.

As someone who has frequented arcades in the New York area (including surrounding states) for 20-25 years, I can tell you that their distribution wasn't all that wide, or at least had some large holes in it. I've been to more arcades than most people, but never ran into either DP or DDP.

I wonder how many units were actually distributed to US arcades.

[neorichieb1971]

I see no relation to the amount of copies imported into the US and localization.

The more copies imported into the US, the less copies that will be sold on the localized version surely?


I think 15000 copies of any shmups is high personally. Apart from the PS2 titles, which titles have smashed that figure?

[Cuilan]

Reminds me of my childhood.

[Jockel]

That would be the one and only 3D Cave game, yes.

Aren't you forgetting the awesome http://maws.mameworld.info/maws/romset/sss ?

And aren't YOU forgetting the awesome 3D dancing game for DS?

[emphatic]

And aren't YOU forgetting the awesome 3D dancing game for DS?

Thank you, highly enlightened guy.

[gameoverDude]

No worries, once the sh3 mame driver and rom dumps are leaked to the public, luckily no-one has to worry about Cave-related region locks anymore.

A dog slow MAME driver (no surprise, SH-3 is a 133 MHz processor running under MAME). Putting the driver in MAME isn't a good idea for now.

OTOH, it's good to have a romset existing for Ibara in case the actual board suffers "NAND-nesia" and consequently needs a reflash. I was thinking of picking up an Ibara board, especially since they're not that expensive. $200 is about right?

[PC Engine Fan X!]

And approaching the price range of between $280-$320 for a Ibara PCB kit with POP and all related arcade paperworks.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~