DoDonPachi Saidaioujou coming to Xbox 360 (REGION-FREE!)

[Giest118]

If I had a shitload of money, the first thing I would do is make a video game that every gamer in Japan wants to play, and then region-lock it to the US and PAL regions without telling anyone.

It's kind of a bittersweet joy to see how much we don't trust Cave.

[Friendly]

I'm not going to completely rule out the theory that Cave might say that it's region-free in order to maximize the profits because they know that they're going out of business soon...

That's a bit ridiculous. I don't think you understand Japanese culture at all.

[pestro87]

I'm not going to completely rule out the theory that Cave might say that it's region-free in order to maximize the profits because they know that they're going out of business soon...

That's a bit ridiculous. I don't think you understand Japanese culture at all.

Yeah, I wasn't entirely serious

[Deca]

Yeah I'm somewhat paranoid about it...Is there any reason nobody has been able to ask for a confirmation anywhere?

[O. Van Bruce]

Yeah I'm somewhat paranoid about it...Is there any reason nobody has been able to ask for a confirmation anywhere?

Maybe because we think, in our inferiority complex, that they won't even care abou our questions?

[pestro87]

Yeah I'm somewhat paranoid about it...Is there any reason nobody has been able to ask for a confirmation anywhere?

Well you can click on reply on the tweet and type something along the lines of "@cave_matsuri @cavegames @cave_world @cave_world_en 本当にですか？" or "@cave_matsuri @cavegames @cave_world @cave_world_en Xbox 360 怒首領蜂最大往生はREGION-FREEですか？". I don't know what else we can do except maybe asking them on Facebook as well.

I don't know about Cave but Namiki replied to me on twitter a while back

[danholo]

Pre-ordered the LE for this the other night from nin-nin-game. Can't wait!

[Friendly]

@pestro87
Your humor and your Japanese could use some work.

[Violent Ken]

Now ready for DDP SDOJ! ^^

[MOSQUITO FIGHTER]

I really hope that it is not region locked. I ordered from amiami and it says on the website that they do not accept cancellations. I don't see myself getting a Japanese 360 anytime soon.

Q. Can you cancel my order/part of my order?

A. AmiAmi generally does not accept order cancellations. Please only place orders for items you intend on purchasing.

[VixyNyan]

2 weeks left to go! Also waiting for my Shooting Love 10th Anniversary to be released as well.

Hm also, Amiami normally doesn't accept cancelations, but if you don't intend to pay for the order and then just leave it unpaid for a couple of days, they will auto-cancel it for you, at the expense of losing a bit of trust from the store sellers. But you can renew the trust with amiami again by buying something else in the near future.

[Dazzyman]

I found a new site end of April and got BS and Ginga force from them which arrived v quick thru airmail. They mark down for us UK importers as well (I didn't get stung even tho I for once decided to order them together).

Guys name is Jacob, very helpfull and friendly service. If you order please mention Dazzyman sent you and also mention this forum

http://www.solarisjapan.com/

(I'm in no way affiliated just trying to get us good prices and trying to help the community out and save us a few pennies )

[Casey120]

Solaris is well known here already for a long time and Jacob is a member here

[IDruggedShamu]

I really hope that it is not region locked. I ordered from amiami and it says on the website that they do not accept cancellations. I don't see myself getting a Japanese 360 anytime soon.

Q. Can you cancel my order/part of my order?

A. AmiAmi generally does not accept order cancellations. Please only place orders for items you intend on purchasing.

This may not be public knowledge, but if you email Ami Ami and explain the situation, they will cancel your order... especially if you have past order history with them.

I did this twice. Once, was the Eschatos release. When it got delayed due to the earthquake, they allowed me to cancel because I hate floating money. Next, I jumped the gun and pre-ordered the limited edition Okami HD physical disc release in a fit of excitement. After that passed, I emailed them and apologized for pre-maturely ordering it and explained to them that other things had come up. They graciously cancelled my order... following the same statement, "Just remember in the future we generally do not allow order cancellations. Thank you for understanding."

[antime]

Not that I doubt the translation, but didn't Cave and Microsoft agree that there wouldn't be other region free releases after MMP/PS?

Everything is set in stone and decisions never change.

[Dazzyman]

Solaris is well known here already for a long time and Jacob is a member here

Doh apologies I know from UK he's never been mentioned always PA, YA and VGI among nin nin etc... Glad he's well known top bloke

[Alfred]

Solaris is well known here already for a long time and Jacob is a member here

Doh apologies I know from UK he's never been mentioned always PA, YA and VGI among nin nin etc... Glad he's well known top bloke

I did not know about him or his site so thank you.

[Yunchan]

DJ Incompetent brings up some sound points, however if you look closely at the situation pre-ordering without official confirmation isn't necessarily illogical. The game was difficult to find even before the "will be able to play it on overseas consoles too" tweet, so the ebay rate of a sealed game isn't going to drop so fast that you couldn't get rid of it at a decent price should it turn out to be region locked.

Also, even if it does turn out to be region locked, I think one, two years down the line (after the next xbox is released anyway) it could quite possibly be easier to find a Japanese xbox than a copy of Saidaioujou. I know I had a lot of troubles (not) finding Muchi Muchi Pork/Pink Sweets on ebay or anywhere for months. Considering that there are other cave games that are region locked still, a Japanese xbox after it becomes an old system may even be a good investment.

There is still the possibility of misinterpretation of "hey we have a western publisher" hint, but if I was the western publisher of an extremely niche game by now I would know that the tweet hinting at my localization contract was misinterpreted as meaning region free and everyone is going to import it, and in that case cave matsuri would have been forced to tweet a denial already. Since this hasn't happened yet I'm willing to try my luck.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Yes, it is a very good investment if you get a JPN region 360 Slim with an optional 320GB HDD add-on...plently of storage space easily. Plus, no worries with having a j'tagged 360 and having to update it all the time just to play imports (saves the frustration and hassle going down that particular route). Shmupper rancor can hook you up with one if you want one bad enough.

I got one of those JPN region 360 Slims that came with an 250GB HDD (with an manufactured date of 6/2010) and it works like a charm...it plays some USA region 360 games as a bonus (or just for fun) -- I primarily use it for 'em JPN region 360 shmups titles.

Plus if you have access to a candy cab, hooking up an 360 to one adds the ability to play both arcade PCBs and gaming consoles, making it a dual purpose cab indeed -- the best of both worlds. How cool is that?

So, if Cave isn't clear with the region locking issue with it's upcoming 360 port of SDOJ, you still have a cool JPN 360 Slim to play your favorite STGs on. It's true that the hardcore shmupper has two 360 consoles, one import & a domestic one, to play the triple "AAA" titles (the cream of the crop as the ol' saying goes) at one's disposal (not to mention taking up some valuable real estate space as well). Some folks, don't want to end up owning two consoles but that's the price to pay to gain access to 'em JPN 360 games the legit way. Of course, you still can access the JPN XBLA site with an Euro or USA region 360 console to see what's new there, it's a given.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Pretas]

If the rumored $100 super-compact "Stingray" model of the Xbox 360 gets a Japanese release, that should make things a lot cheaper and easier for those interested in importing a J-360.

Assuming it has a disc drive at all, of course. At that price point, it's possible that it may only be designed for XBLA and Indie games.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

If the rumored $100 super-compact "Stingray" model of the Xbox 360 gets a Japanese release, that should make things a lot cheaper and easier for those interested in importing a J-360.

Assuming it has a disc drive at all, of course. At that price point, it's possible that it may only be designed for XBLA and Indie games.

Chances are it won't; nowadays you can download full Xbox games via the games on demand service online, so if they released a cheap version of the console, the best way to strip the pricing down would be to remove the expensive disc drive, laser, etc, and just make it downloads only.

[O. Van Bruce]

If the rumored $100 super-compact "Stingray" model of the Xbox 360 gets a Japanese release, that should make things a lot cheaper and easier for those interested in importing a J-360.

Assuming it has a disc drive at all, of course. At that price point, it's possible that it may only be designed for XBLA and Indie games.

Chances are it won't; nowadays you can download full Xbox games via the games on demand service online, so if they released a cheap version of the console, the best way to strip the pricing down would be to remove the expensive disc drive, laser, etc, and just make it downloads only.

Is it really that expensive? Couldn't it just cost 20 or 25 Euros?

[Soft Otaku]

Please forgive me if this has been mentioned, as I did read a few pages of the thread to check, but it has just come to my attention that there are apparently THREE versions of this coming out in Japan on May 30--Regular, Limited, and SUPER Limited Edition. The latter is currently priced at approximately $165 U.S. on Amazon.co.jp, and is listed as including all that the others have plus an arcade version soundtrack "and more" (その他). It also states that the "document collection" (資料集) comes in A4 size as opposed to A5 in the regular limited edition. Adding to the confusion, the Amazon app shows the regular and limited editions' shipping weights to be 1.2 kg, even though one has a Steelbook case, soundtrack, and "A5 document collection", while the "super limited edition" (超限定版) comes in at a mere 14 g! Huh?


After preordering the regular limited edition, the price has increased quite a bit, but my preorder price is locked in. I haven't seen anything about this "super LE" until tonight, checking Amazon.


Regular (通常版): 7,140 yen (5,836 yen with Amazon Prime)
LE (限定版): 10,780 yen (my preorder price is 7,899 yen)
Super LE (超限定版): 16,700 yen
****************************************************************
EDIT: Here is Google's translation of Cave's page on this (http://www.cave.co.jp/gameonline/Xbox36 ... u/special/), which has a video showing all three versions with details at the end. I'm rather irritated that I didn't realize this all sooner. And again, sorry if this is old news to everyone here.



■ Edition price: 7,140 yen (excluding tax: 6,800 yen)

■ Limited Edition Price: 9,660 yen (excluding tax: 9,200 yen)
· DonPachi maximum death 360 version arranged soundtrack CD BOX anger B5 size package · Steelbook case basis Cape drawn
· B6 size Cels (about 80P)

■ limited quantities super limited edition Price:! 13,440 yen (excluding tax: 12,800 yen)
· DonPachi maximum death 360 version arranged soundtrack CD anger A4 size package · Steelbook case basis Cape drawn
· DonPachi maximum death arcade version soundtrack CD anger basis Cape
· A4 size premium Cels (about 80P)
· DonPachi maximum death theme song stardust emptiness CD anger
· Three A4 size special sticker DonPachi maximum death Toresetsu underlay the anger

[O. Van Bruce]

Stuff

Welp, I suppose we could use this as a summary of the info when someone asks for the different versions and prices. Thanks.

[dinosaurjerk]

I really hope that it is not region locked. I ordered from amiami and it says on the website that they do not accept cancellations. I don't see myself getting a Japanese 360 anytime soon.

Q. Can you cancel my order/part of my order?

A. AmiAmi generally does not accept order cancellations. Please only place orders for items you intend on purchasing.

just go to theeir customer service email and say your grandma died or cave did the ol it is region free-it isn't region free switcheroo, they generally don't care really. or you could just not pay when you get the invoice email, but then you might be in danger of not being able to order gunpla, anime girl tatues, or anime girl bike shorts in the future, if any of those happen to be "your bag."

[japtor]

If the rumored $100 super-compact "Stingray" model of the Xbox 360 gets a Japanese release, that should make things a lot cheaper and easier for those interested in importing a J-360.

Assuming it has a disc drive at all, of course. At that price point, it's possible that it may only be designed for XBLA and Indie games.

Chances are it won't; nowadays you can download full Xbox games via the games on demand service online, so if they released a cheap version of the console, the best way to strip the pricing down would be to remove the expensive disc drive, laser, etc, and just make it downloads only.

Is it really that expensive? Couldn't it just cost 20 or 25 Euros?

Yeah, but at that cost it's a good chunk of the margins. Plus they use a fairly large drive which makes the console bigger, which makes the retail box bigger, which means less boxes per given area for shipping and retail space. (Going with the "Xbox mini" rumor here, no drive would let them cut down the size a bunch)

[DrTrouserPlank]

DVD drives don't even cost that for consumers at retail, let alone when you are buying them by the hundreds of thousands at wholesale prices. Cost for a DVD drive for a company like MS.... about $10, probably not even that much frankly.

[O. Van Bruce]

DVD drives don't even cost that for consumers at retail, let alone when you are buying them by the hundreds of thousands at wholesale prices. Cost for a DVD drive for a company like MS.... about $10, probably not even that much frankly.

Answering to both users 20 Euros was the additional price I adventured the console will have if it included a DVD drive.

But certainly, I hadn't considered the factor of less space on shipping. Even so I really hope it has a DVD drive.

[IseeThings]

DVD drives don't even cost that for consumers at retail, let alone when you are buying them by the hundreds of thousands at wholesale prices. Cost for a DVD drive for a company like MS.... about $10, probably not even that much frankly.

at the risk of splitting the topic.. dropping physical drives has never been about cost, or making things more convenient for the end user, it's about business model, channelling all things through their store where they take the biggest cut after the developer, and of course region locking, timed release locking, getting you hooked on DLC because you downloaded the original game etc.

so it's very easy to believe some super 'cheap' model comes with lots of hidden costs later when you get boned by download only

[japtor]

DVD drives don't even cost that for consumers at retail, let alone when you are buying them by the hundreds of thousands at wholesale prices. Cost for a DVD drive for a company like MS.... about $10, probably not even that much frankly.

at the risk of splitting the topic.. dropping physical drives has never been about cost, or making things more convenient for the end user, it's about business model, channelling all things through their store where they take the biggest cut after the developer, and of course region locking, timed release locking, getting you hooked on DLC because you downloaded the original game etc.

so it's very easy to believe some super 'cheap' model comes with lots of hidden costs later when you get boned by download only

But hey maybe they'll sell you an add on disc drive for an exorbitant price! It'll be the 16-bit era all over again.