Gradius V is Coming to PS3

[spadgy]

Supporting it blindly won't help, but bashing it before it's out the gate can't do too much constructive either, so I'm all for this Gradius release until any shittyness becomes apparent through someone's first-hand experience.

Who bashed it? We were simply talking about an issue that appears (at least to my knowledge) in every single PS1/PS2 classics release for PS3. So it doesn't matter if Konami does a good job or not, the input lag problem will occur with Gradius V as well.

Nobody really. I was just highlighting the more positive posts and saying, 'I agree, and I don't think there's much to gain from bashing it'. I wasn't accusing anybody of bashing it. At most I was sensing a thread that could turn on the game. And looking back over the thread plenty of people are positive.

If we know for certain it can be as laggy as hell, then that's a shame, of course. Then being too hopeful would be rather daft.

But who is this person from Konami? Do we know their role/involvement at the company? And if he/she is a proper Konami employee, if they're the kind that will blow company embargoes on forums, can they be that reliable with info? Of course, I'm happy to be proved wrong if this guy is the real deal. Well, not happy - because that would mean a poor Gradius V port!

And I do appreciate plenty of bona fide information of this type has emerged from NEOgaf.

EDIT: Finally, if I had to bet on it, I would guess it would be a PSN release, so I'm sure you're right!

[gs68]

I'm not a big fan of Gradius V or the massive hype around it (personally I'm more of a Gradius Gaiden nut), but considering that Gradius is the disowned redheaded stepchild of Konami's IPs, I'm pleasantly surprised Konami is even doing anything about the series AT ALL besides Gradius arranges in Bemani games.

Although given their other PS3 Gradius project that they ended up chickenshitting out of, I wouldn't be surprised if Konami decided to cancel this port.

[friedrich]

He's a social media guy at Konami. Here are the links to his posts:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.ph ... stcount=98
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.ph ... tcount=110

[spadgy]

Seems above board. Oh well. So much for my attempts at positiveness!

The only hope now is their Social Media guy is wrong! I'm surprised he did that. As a games journalist I have to keep all kinds of things to myself, and am terrified into doing so by embargoes and such. He seems less concerned about getting in trouble, but then I am a wimp!

[FRO]

This is good news! I already have a PS2 physical copy, so unless they did an HD up-scale or graphical upgrade of some sort to make it worth a purchase, I probably wouldn't go for it unless it was a $9.99 deal. Then it would be worth doing just to have it handy. But glad to see Konami hasn't completely forsaken the Gradius series! Now they need to make a new Gradius Collection that goes further than the PSP release and includes console exclusives (like Interstellar Assault and Galaxies) and adds additional stuff to it. That would be awesome. Sadly, such a labor of love will probably never see the light of day.

[hecheff]

Seems above board. Oh well. So much for my attempts at positiveness!

The only hope now is their Social Media guy is wrong! I'm surprised he did that. As a games journalist I have to keep all kinds of things to myself, and am terrified into doing so by embargoes and such. He seems less concerned about getting in trouble, but then I am a wimp!

At least unlike the guys at the Japanese branches*, the US staff aren't forced to treat their fans like idiots after some evidence is out.

* Same can be said of pretty much any major game company for that matter.

[spadgy]

Seems above board. Oh well. So much for my attempts at positiveness!

The only hope now is their Social Media guy is wrong! I'm surprised he did that. As a games journalist I have to keep all kinds of things to myself, and am terrified into doing so by embargoes and such. He seems less concerned about getting in trouble, but then I am a wimp!

At least unlike the guys at the Japanese branches*, the US staff aren't forced to treat their fans like idiots after some evidence is out.

* Same can be said of pretty much any major game company for that matter.

I see what you mean, but after the month/years, money, staff resource and effort it takes to get a game ready for an effective launch, I can see why a game company wants control of the timings of a release. And sometimes the 'evidence' isn't always too robust. Imagine if that staff member going rogue to make information public after evidence doesn't know the whole picture and unveils misinformation; that could misinform fans and cause upset/disappoint, or undermine the developer's work. If I'd put my heart and soul into a game only for a colleague to confuse the release because of 'evidence' revealed by an external agent like ESRB, I'd be disappointed, I think.

[hecheff]

I see what you mean, but after the month/years, money, staff resource and effort it takes to get a game ready for an effective launch, I can see why a game company wants control of the timings of a release. And sometimes the 'evidence' isn't always too robust. Imagine if that staff member going rogue to make information public after evidence doesn't know the whole picture and unveils misinformation; that could misinform fans and cause upset/disappoint, or undermine the developer's work. If I'd put my heart and soul into a game only for a colleague to confuse the release because of 'evidence' revealed by an external agent like ESRB, I'd be disappointed, I think.

Of course. I know I would lose it if a surprise release got botched because someone had loose lips (especially if much work was put into making it a surprise to begin with).

Re-reading what I mentioned, I realized that I goofed and over-generalized it.
So thanks for pointing it out.

[Oniros]

After how poorly managed the ZoE and Silent Hill HD Collections were, Konami probably won't put out crappy HD remakes anymore.

The second laziest route to get some cash out of some of their old games is to put out PS2 games on PSN as they are. They already started with Castlevania Lament of Innocence, now they're continuing with Gradius.

Bottomline: don't expect anything better than how other PS2 classics play on PSN. This isn't a labor to gauge interest rate in the series, it's just out there to make a quick buck for Konami.

[hecheff]

After how poorly managed the ZoE and Silent Hill HD Collections were, Konami probably won't put out crappy HD remakes anymore.

Both were by HighVoltage, was it?
Silent Hill was clearly a disaster (with no original source code and all breaking the game), but at least ZOE had HEXADRIVE's patch.

[sideshow]

I wish this game would be given the treatment say Ikuraga got when released on the Xbox360 arcade. HD graphics with online 2 players support. Oh well, maybe someday.

[spadgy]

After how poorly managed the ZoE and Silent Hill HD Collections were, Konami probably won't put out crappy HD remakes anymore.

Both were by HighVoltage, was it?
Silent Hill was clearly a disaster (with no original source code and all breaking the game), but at least ZOE had HEXADRIVE's patch.

HighVoltage, yeah. But ZoE HD also has a Platinum Games logo on the box. what was their involvement?

[AntiFritz]

After how poorly managed the ZoE and Silent Hill HD Collections were, Konami probably won't put out crappy HD remakes anymore.

Both were by HighVoltage, was it?
Silent Hill was clearly a disaster (with no original source code and all breaking the game), but at least ZOE had HEXADRIVE's patch.

HighVoltage, yeah. But ZoE HD also has a Platinum Games logo on the box. what was their involvement?

Metal Gear Rising demo.

[hecheff]

Metal Gear Rising demo.

Like old times, huh Raiden?

[spadgy]

Metal Gear Rising demo.

Doh! Of course!

[ZaKa-tokyobassist]

I know I'm going to come off as negative but I really wished they would release Gradius Gaiden or Salamander Collection on PSN instead of Gradius V. Both Gaiden and Salamander 2 have yet to see a proper Western release so I think it's a fair thing to mention.

Also I don't want to be a downer but I wouldn't get too excited yet because a ton of shit gets rated on ESRB and still don't get releases. Haunting Ground was a PS2 classic expected to be released sometime last year and it's still not out despite C.A.P.C.O.M. putting out an announcement about it's impending releasing.

[gs68]

I know I'm going to come off as negative but I really wished they would release Gradius Gaiden or Salamander Collection on PSN instead of Gradius V. Both Gaiden and Salamander 2 have yet to see a proper Western release so I think it's a fair thing to mention.

Gaiden is on Gradius Collection, although Collection being a compilation diluted its attention.

[ZaKa-tokyobassist]

I know I'm going to come off as negative but I really wished they would release Gradius Gaiden or Salamander Collection on PSN instead of Gradius V. Both Gaiden and Salamander 2 have yet to see a proper Western release so I think it's a fair thing to mention.

Gaiden is on Gradius Collection, although Collection being a compilation diluted its attention.

The Collection version doesn't feature the cooperative play which is a first for the Gradius series (not counting the Life Force/Salamander spinoffs...kinda of ironic since Gaiden IS a side story lol) and I found that to be a big deal back in the day. It gave the game a new dynamic especially on higher loops.

[Necronom]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013- ... rospective

Thought it was quite a good read
I so hope for a Vita version...

[spadgy]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013- ... rospective

Thought it was quite a good read
I so hope for a Vita version...

Martin is a lovely chap, a great journalist and a devoted Gradius fan, so I'm glad he got to do that piece! He's on here once in a blue moon, so if you're reading this, great work mate!

[BIL]

Enjoyed reading that, thanks for the link! Excellent bit of trivia about the origins of the mysterious [?] block.

[replayme]

Given that Gradius V is being released on PSN - hopefully for Vita as well, I'm just really surprised that Hiroshi Iuchi doesn't have more prominence in the development sphere. You'd think there would be a few interviews floating around, or that Iuchi sans would go it alone and make a proper shmup as he clearly is extremely capable of delivering the goods on a consistent basis.

Why can't Konami just hire H Iuchi to make a sequel to Gradius V? It need not even cost that much if they developed it for PSN/XBLA/Steam and then ported it across to handhelds as well.

Is it really too much to ask for if all one wants is another Iuchi shmup? Or even an Einhander sequel?

Seriously, get Iuchi to do a sequel to either Gradius or Axelay...

[spadgy]

I can only guess it's a matter of Konami's confidence (or lack of) in the commercial aspect of the decision to do more with Gradius and/or Iuchi's abilities with the shmup genre.

[ZaKa-tokyobassist]

I can only guess it's a matter of Konami's confidence (or lack of) in the commercial aspect of the decision to do more with Gradius and/or Iuchi's abilities with the shmup genre.

Granted Gradius isn't profitable by current retail standards. Digital or budget priced retail game (ex: Deadly Premonition, Sly 4) is an other story. I know plenty of people who would buy a decent looking budget game over some a full price flavor of the month blockbuster.

Konami just needs to get it's dick out of Metal Gear & Hideo Kojima for that to happen. Don't get me twisted I enjoy MGS (as a series but not as a "stealth" game) but I agree they need to focus on some other IPs like Z.O.E., Suikoden, Contra, Gradius, Bloody Roar & even Star Soldier (yes they own Hudson's IPs). Getting tired of MGS and Castlevania being the old IPs they tamper with while just throwing Silent Hill out in the wild for some bargin bin dev with "mad enthusiasm and passion" for series get their crack at the series like some slag getting ran through at a frat house.

[hecheff]

Konami just needs to get it's dick out of Metal Gear & Hideo Kojima for that to happen. Don't get me twisted I enjoy MGS (as a series but not as a "stealth" game) but I agree they need to focus on some other IPs like Z.O.E., Suikoden, Contra, Gradius, Bloody Roar & even Star Soldier (yes they own Hudson's IPs). Getting tired of MGS and Castlevania being the old IPs they tamper with while just throwing Silent Hill out in the wild for some bargin bin dev with "mad enthusiasm and passion" for series get their crack at the series like some slag getting ran through at a frat house.

Too bad their MO so far seems to be focusing on their local market as that's where most revenue is being made, especially from Social Game 'sales' and their arcade entertainment.
Source: spoke to one of the outside-Japan branch staff about why their presence outside Japan is narrowing down badly).

To make things worse, their nearest neighbor Asia seems to be used as a 'dumping ground' for their obvious beta games such as this year's soccer game PES/WE (released in Hong Kong around late September, but delayed until mid-November for Japan with much better visuals). Note that I do not play these games myself, but I have heard lots of terrible things from local game store staff... sucks to be them I guess.

[ZaKa-tokyobassist]

l market as that's where most revenue is being made, especially from Social Game 'sales' and their arcade entertainment.

The irony of it all is that most social games are based off older/retro games so it just goes past my understanding as to why they don't make more older type of games on consoles. Clearly people have a yearning to play games that resemble those of the past like Mighty No. 9, Shiden and Hyper Light Drifter.

[hecheff]

The irony of it all is that most social games are based off older/retro games so it just goes past my understanding as to why they don't make more older type of games on consoles. Clearly people have a yearning to play games that resemble those of the past like Mighty No. 9, Shiden and Hyper Light Drifter.

If only there are clear sources for big shmup demand, maybe we can use it to present something to them...?

[Squire Grooktook]

I don't think shmups are that far behind indie projects like Hyper Light Drifter and whatnot. Games like The Exceed and Gundemonium Trilogies on Steam seem to have done pretty well and seem to be pretty respected even if you bring it up among randoms.

Honestly, I think the first thing shmups need to deal with his how stupidly inconvenient it is to obtain them. Buying a lame system (360), importing or ordering old games for wheel barrels of cash, buying yen cards to download jp only purchases, and of course having to explain the fanservicy loli cover art to whoever sees you buying the game.

Lower prices, more digital distribution, less localization barriers I say.

[hecheff]

Lower prices, more digital distribution, less localization barriers I say.

This could have already happened if Japanese companies as a whole were not so anal about licensing.

I'm serious though; Konami is losing a lot of ground by not releasing more titles in various genres, instead the only outside-Japan impressions the current generation has for them is Metal Gear and PES.
Even while I'm a fan of the former and the fact that Konami also has bigger businesses in non-gaming businesses such as sports & fitness, that is still terrible.

[spadgy]

I don't think shmups are that far behind indie projects like Hyper Light Drifter and whatnot. Games like The Exceed and Gundemonium Trilogies on Steam seem to have done pretty well and seem to be pretty respected even if you bring it up among randoms.

Honestly, I think the first thing shmups need to deal with his how stupidly inconvenient it is to obtain them. Buying a lame system (360), importing or ordering old games for wheel barrels of cash, buying yen cards to download jp only purchases, and of course having to explain the fanservicy loli cover art to whoever sees you buying the game.

Lower prices, more digital distribution, less localization barriers I say.

Good points. Sometimes those inconveniences can be what defines the experience of something in a hobby context (be it shmuppers or those that restore classic motorbikes, part of the point is that it isn't easy. And communities like this forum can form around the collective effort needed to overcome such inconveniences.)

But ultimately, I think you're right, and I'd rather the genre thrive than just exist as the exclusive plaything of a hobbyist clique.