Death Smiles: Countdown to North America Invasion

[Otai]

We will be interviewing Cherie Baker on the 22nd, I just confirmed. Actually just chatted with her on the phone for a bit. We would like to get her questions about a week ahead of time so please post them. We will be chatting about other Aksys stuff too, not just the Deathsmiles release.

Since that the interview seemed to be general in nature, these are my questions and sorry for being off-topic here:

-Will Aksys localize Neo Geo Heroes Ultimate Shooting and Senko no Ronde duo, since both of them are shmups as well?

-Will Aksys try to get exclusive deals with Japanese gaming companies, since that Xseed has get one with Falcom? And what is your reaction to it?

-What are the future plans of Aksys in terms of localizing games?

[TaygetaVendetta]

We will be interviewing Cherie Baker on the 22nd, I just confirmed. Actually just chatted with her on the phone for a bit. We would like to get her questions about a week ahead of time so please post them. We will be chatting about other Aksys stuff too, not just the Deathsmiles release.

A few questions for them:

How have the sales been for Record of Agarest War so far and will they consider localizing any more oddball SRPGs for the 360 (as there are a great number only on the JP360)?

The LEs they've released for the 360 so far have had great packaging and bonuses, far and above the standard bonus case and mini-artbook other publishers opt for in a LE. Will they continue this trend for future releases, has it paid off so far?

Why did they bring over Castle of Shikigami III for the Wii, but not the 360? Are there any plans to go back and release a 360 version, if Deathsmiles' shows theres interest in full retail shmup releases?

[chempop]

I think for the most part Bullet Magnet's questions are going to get a "Ummmmm.." response. I hope I'm wrong though.

- Out of all of Cave's shooters (and all the shooters available on the 360), what convinced you that DeathSmiles would be the best choice to test the waters for localization?

Isn't this obvious to everyone???

its full screen
horis always did better in the US
it has a name people can read
it has a name people can understand
it's gothic and attractive
it isn't about dino-insects
it isn't about flying trany fairies
it isn't a faceless spaceship game
it isn't nail biting hard

those are the reasons I'd imagine they chose Deathsmiles.

[njiska]

Aksys DS site went live today and with it we have a new US trailer. The trailer itself is nothing special but the comments on Gametrailers are priceless.

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/us-de ... les/100930

http://www.aksysgames.com/deathsmiles/

Oh the achievement list is also online at X360A http://www.xbox360achievements.org/game ... ievements/

[Observer]

Aksys DS site went live today and with it we have a new US trailer. The trailer itself is nothing special but the comments on Gametrailers are priceless.

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/us-de ... les/100930

http://www.aksysgames.com/deathsmiles/

Oh the achievement list is also online at X360A http://www.xbox360achievements.org/game ... ievements/

Oh boy, those comments! XBLA XBLA XBLA XBLA. Fuck you, Microsoft, you ruined gaming. Every shooter is fucking XBLA for these people!

[Shuurin]

Aksys DS site went live today and with it we have a new US trailer. The trailer itself is nothing special but the comments on Gametrailers are priceless.

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/us-de ... les/100930

http://www.aksysgames.com/deathsmiles/

Oh the achievement list is also online at X360A http://www.xbox360achievements.org/game ... ievements/

Oh boy, those comments! XBLA XBLA XBLA XBLA. Fuck you, Microsoft, you ruined gaming. Every shooter is fucking XBLA for these people!

One comment was, "Looks intense. But a Xbox 360 game? I mean this would look okay on a DS game." So not everyone, but how that person thinks that dodging bullet hell on the DS pint size screen could work gives me eye strain just thinking of it. Even the highest grade of 2d sprites look like shit to the modern gamer. I still think Aksys' advertisement slogan is in poor taste, I get a laugh out of it but many are sort of turned away by the connotations many associate with loli these days. The gametrailers comments are hilarious if not also somewhat of a sad indication how poor this will do on the judgment of graphics and price alone. Reviewers will only echo that sentiment, unless a miracle occurs.

[ncp]

Rated T:
Animated Blood
Fantasy Violence
Mild Language
Mild Suggestive Themes
Partial Nudity

this shit's got a rap sheet longer than grand theft auto
partial nudity? w@

[BulletMagnet]

http://www.aksysgames.com/deathsmiles/

An "enter your age" barrier for a "T"-rated game? Seriously? Anyway, you can just use this link to bypass it easily.

EDIT: Actually, no, sorry, you still have to do the stupid age verification.

[Jockel]

Rated T:
Animated Blood
Fantasy Violence
Mild Language
Mild Suggestive Themes
Partial Nudity

this shit's got a rap sheet longer than grand theft auto
partial nudity? w@

Probably that one familiar that looks like some weird nude pixie... thing.

[StarCreator]

Looking at the achievements - it only has achievements for 360/Arcade, 1.1, and MBL; no MBL 1.1 unless they're hidden as secret achievements. The achievements also seem to have a different total value than the import DS+MBL, so it seems to be completely separate from the original.

I also like how the achievement for defeating Mary is "Boss Milking".

[Exarion]

Rated T:
Animated Blood
Fantasy Violence
Mild Language
Mild Suggestive Themes
Partial Nudity

this shit's got a rap sheet longer than grand theft auto
partial nudity? w@

Probably that one familiar that looks like some weird nude pixie... thing.

It could also be Rosa's and Follet's outfits. They gave partial nudity to multiple Final Fantasy games for revealing outfits, and Rosa's and Follet's seem like they would fit that description. More likely though, it's from Follet's bath ending.

[nZero]

Looking at the achievements - it only has achievements for 360/Arcade, 1.1, and MBL; no MBL 1.1 unless they're hidden as secret achievements. The achievements also seem to have a different total value than the import DS+MBL, so it seems to be completely separate from the original.

I also like how the achievement for defeating Mary is "Boss Milking".

Maybe it's just that the achievements for MBL1.1 are still completely broken

[sh00g]

The gameplay clips are nice. The trailer... not so much.

Looks like they took out the voices during story telling time ha.

I only fear what kind of success this game will have, and if that will make a huge impact on if we'll ever see another cave game here again. Been meaning to buy a jp 360 for some time now but been kind of holding off.

[MrPopo]

I liked this comment:

so this is prettier version of touhou? sorry, but i've already welcomed bullet hell a LONG time back.

So did anyone else cringe at the dialog shown in the screenies of the official site?

[mesh control]

This just makes me want Thunderforce 6 to come to XBLA or PSN, truly one of the best shump series of all time.

What the fuck is this shit?

[gs68]

hey guys

let's play predict the professional review scores

to start, gamespot: 6.9

[Kiken]

Looking at the achievements - it only has achievements for 360/Arcade, 1.1, and MBL; no MBL 1.1 unless they're hidden as secret achievements. The achievements also seem to have a different total value than the import DS+MBL, so it seems to be completely separate from the original.

I also like how the achievement for defeating Mary is "Boss Milking".

Well, the fact that it obviously has MBL achievements should subdue any concerns about the DLC being available right on the disc.

And yeah, 50 achievements versus 70. If you remove all the redundant score achievements in MBL 1.1, get rid of all the stupid Follette view-the-bath-house achievements and remove nigh-impossible shit like defeat MBL Bloody Jitterbug... you can easily whittle things down.

I'm calling it now, one of the secret 50 point achievements is defeat Bloody Jitterbug in MBL 1.1 (who is infinitely easier to access than standard MBL BJ).

[JOW]

infinitely easier to access than standard MBL BJ

...this takes me back to the heady days of page 86

"LEAVE THOSE WINGS ON WINDIA BABY!! OH YEAH!!!"

[gs68]

I played DS at the Aksys booth at Fanime; loved it. Can't wait for my copy.

[Van_Artic]

This just makes me want Thunderforce 6 to come to XBLA or PSN, truly one of the best shump series of all time.

i lol'd, hard.

[evil_ash_xero]

This just makes me want Thunderforce 6 to come to XBLA or PSN, truly one of the best shump series of all time.

i lol'd, hard.

I'm guessing they never played it.



Wow, they left the ages in too! I guess there won't be ANY censorship to this game. Awesome.

[njiska]

hey guys

let's play predict the professional review scores

to start, gamespot: 6.9

IGN 6/10 (Because only God Hand gets a 3)

Key complaints
- Too expensive when RFA was only $20
- Why not on XBLA?
- Too hard
- Too Short
- Too emasculating
- Too hard to get all the achievments
- No replay value

They Loved
- uh, it has has girls, drool

[StarCreator]

Well, the fact that it obviously has MBL achievements should subdue any concerns about the DLC being available right on the disc.

And yeah, 50 achievements versus 70. If you remove all the redundant score achievements in MBL 1.1, get rid of all the stupid Follette view-the-bath-house achievements and remove nigh-impossible shit like defeat MBL Bloody Jitterbug... you can easily whittle things down.

I'm calling it now, one of the secret 50 point achievements is defeat Bloody Jitterbug in MBL 1.1 (who is infinitely easier to access than standard MBL BJ).

I was more concerned with the fact there are no MBL 1.1 achievements visible here, meaning it might be a download expansion (read: unlock key) for us after all. Also, I think both those achievements were secret achievements, and we still don't know what the US secret achievements are, so... =p

Also, on the trailer... I can sort of see where all the "graphics belong on DS" comments came from. They did a really bad job of capturing the video. The game doesn't look anywhere near as bad on any display I've ever played it on than it does in that trailer.

[Kiken]

I was more concerned with the fact there are no MBL 1.1 achievements visible here, meaning it might be a download expansion (read: unlock key) for us after all. Also, I think both those achievements were secret achievements, and we still don't know what the US secret achievements are, so... =p

Also, on the trailer... I can sort of see where all the "graphics belong on DS" comments came from. They did a really bad job of capturing the video. The game doesn't look anywhere near as bad on any display I've ever played it on than it does in that trailer.

As I stated before, most of the MBL 1.1 achievements were redundant. And just because a certain achievement was revealed in the Japanese release doesn't mean that Aksys couldn't have made it a secret achievement. It's obvious that they've had to pick and choose with the achievements as well as alter values. Why wouldn't it also be plausible to change what is and is not secret? After all, this is going to be a different game ID than the JP version.

The problem I have with the trailer and additional gameplay videos is that they leave the overscan at 100%. Is it really that fucking difficult to go into the options and adjust the overscan to 139% so that the image fills the vertical and leaves less letterboxing on the sides?

[Shuurin]

hey guys

let's play predict the professional review scores

to start, gamespot: 6.9

IGN 6/10 (Because only God Hand gets a 3)

Key complaints
- Too expensive when RFA was only $20
- Why not on XBLA?
- Too hard
- Too Short
- Too emasculating
- Too hard to get all the achievments
- No replay value

They Loved
- uh, it has has girls, drool

This is probably right on the money. So much so I almost fell out of my chair laughing . Cave needs to remove limitless credits in their games to increase the length of the game a little bit to these "professional" journalist reviewers.

[gs68]

This just makes me want Thunderforce 6 to come to XBLA or PSN, truly one of the best shump series of all time.

i lol'd, hard.

I'm guessing they never played it.



Wow, they left the ages in too! I guess there won't be ANY censorship to this game. Awesome.

But I do wish Thunder Force VI would be censored for being a piece of shit!

[originalz]

hey guys

let's play predict the professional review scores

to start, gamespot: 6.9

IGN 6/10 (Because only God Hand gets a 3)

Key complaints
- Too expensive when RFA was only $20
- Why not on XBLA?
- Too hard
- Too Short
- Too emasculating
- Too hard to get all the achievments
- No replay value

They Loved
- uh, it has has girls, drool

Seems about right. Would be kind of funny if it turned out like that since they've been fawning over Deathsmiles every chance they got. Guess the game seems a lot more appealing when you're using it to show how "hardcore" you are by playing these "crazy Japanese shooting games"! It's no longer worth caring about when everyone can finally play it!

[Acid King]

This just makes me want Thunderforce 6 to come to XBLA or PSN, truly one of the best shump series of all time.

i lol'd, hard.

I'm guessing they never played it.



Wow, they left the ages in too! I guess there won't be ANY censorship to this game. Awesome.

Even if they did play it, chances are they loved it. If Average Joe Mainstream thinks all scrolling shooters are the same, then chances are they can't actually appreciate the difference between good and bad. If the reviewers don't have the ability to appreciate nuance, their audience sure as shit doesn't.

[honorless]

So did anyone else cringe at the dialog shown in the screenies of the official site?

...For real, Aksys? I wish people throwing in random words from other languages for extra sabor wasn't one of my biggest writing pet peeves ever. also fakey text "accents" ugh

[EOJ]

Wow, that is awful.