Radiant Silvergun help--XBLA release

[man9child]

When I was looking to buy Radiant Silvergun, maybe six or seven years ago, the STV cart was the same price or cheaper than the Saturn version. I'm not quite sure when it flipped.

Quick scan of eBay says the Saturn version fell maybe $10 in price from what it used to be.

[Sumez]

I remember the Saturn version going for at least £150, nowadays people get it for less than £80.

Of course, the devaluation of the USD currency over the past 5 years plays a large role as well...

[Casper<3]

The 1200 MS pricing has been known for some time now. Personally I think the costing's a bit bullshit but this really isn't any surprise considering this is predominantly string-pulling by Microsoft etc etc. I think it'd be worth the price nonetheless considering the other factors behind it already mentioned here.

Stupid question here though (so sue me):
I don't think I've ever seen fancy promotion efforts for any shmup before like the impression I get of this "Summer of Arcade" thing.
Maybe I joined the Xbox 360 scene late or it's my placement in the world, but what I'm failing to understand is why were there expectations for Radiant Silvergun being promoted this way? Other XBLA titles like Guwange got nothing besides online promotion and Deathsmiles PAL / DDP:R PAL (as of time of writing anyway) even got so much as a fluttering of an eye by conventional stores. Hell, their own staff don't even know what they're selling half the time. I guess what I'm asking is: what's different with this game that makes it viable for promotion in such a way?

Earlier this year CAVE had a huge promotion on live where they had one of thier own front page boxes and you could DL all the promo vids.

[BPzeBanshee]

Earlier this year CAVE had a huge promotion on live where they had one of thier own front page boxes and you could DL all the promo vids.

Was that worldwide on Xbox LIVE?

Not that I'm doubting you but I've never seen any promotion on Xbox LIVE for any of the Cave games except maybe NIN2-Jump and even then my memory fails me as to whether that actually was the case or not. Certainly didn't see any for Guwange or Deathsmiles - they just 'popped up' on the list of titles for their DLC and that was the only mention of them at all (ie wallpapers and crap). Man, Australia just sucks for gaming.

[man9child]

Is anyone else who likes this game a little nervous about how it will be received? The learning curve is way steep, it's just not casual-friendly at all. Most shmups aren't, but Silvergun has enough lore around it where you're probably getting more non-shmup players to give it a try than Guwange or Strania or something.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

With two different visual modes to play it with compared to the original low-res presentation on the SS & ST-V platforms, I'm curious to see how it'll fare on the ol' 360 platform.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[mice]

Is anyone else who likes this game a little nervous...

Yes. The world will laugh and I will never say shmup in public again.

[man9child]

. . . again.

You mean you've said it a first time?

[Zaarock]

Most shmups aren't, but Silvergun has enough lore around it where you're probably getting more non-shmup players to give it a try than Guwange or Strania or something.

Based on that idea I'd imagine it would do as well as Bangai-O HD.. any idea how much that sold? Then again they probably can't make a worse trial :p

[Austin]

This is great news.. I've been wondering about this all Summer. Here's to hoping it is CRT, non-HD friendly, haha.

[Estebang]

From looking at the leaderboards, Bangai-O HD sold about 10,000 downloads, which is probably around what they expected.

[bcass]

I seriously doubt it. I doubt the revenue from that figure comes anywhere near covering their costs. Ten thousand is extremely low, even for highly niche stuff. A closer ballpark figure would be Cave's target for Guwange, which was 50,000 (which they almost certainly didn't reach) and Guwange was a much smaller project which almost certainly required less resources and time to produce than Bangai-O. If RSG doesn't sell well enough I think you can kiss goodbye to any more Treasure games on XBLA (apart from Guardian Heroes which has already been released in Mexico and will be released internationally in October).

[Estebang]

That Mexican release of Guardian Heroes was a mistake, they pulled it within a few hours.

And yeah, I guess that number is pretty low, considering how little the game costs. It could be that the leaderboards only list up to 10,000 places--I'll have to check again whether it was that exact number.

I figure at this point Treasure is just trying to break even. They've stated that they absolutely refuse to develop for smartphones, but I wonder if that stance will last. Maybe they can get some support from Microsoft--after all, they asked Treasure to make the RSG port. Imagine if they had them working on a Halo spinoff!

[gs68]

Is anyone else who likes this game a little nervous about how it will be received? The learning curve is way steep, it's just not casual-friendly at all. Most shmups aren't, but Silvergun has enough lore around it where you're probably getting more non-shmup players to give it a try than Guwange or Strania or something.

It's Treasure, and moreover the spiritual predecessor to Ikaruga, everyone's gonna masturbate all over it even if they creditfeed the whole thing.

[05pro]

I reckon at least 90% of my non-STG related friends on XBL own Ikaruga so I can see RSG doing pretty well. It's also well known as being one of those OMG so rare and expensive and legendary games outside of STG players so I can see a lot of people jumping on it for £10 just to see what the fuss is about.

A decade or so of free internet hype is unlikely to do it any harm.

[bcass]

Indeed. It's hilarious how many people on my 360 friends list have the game and also have scores less than 1m. Sorry if that sounds elitist, but come on - 1 million!

[Jeneki]

Indeed. It's hilarious how many people on my 360 friends list have the game and also have scores less than 1m. Sorry if that sounds elitist, but come on - 1 million!

For some reason I keep envisioning Dr. Evil making threats of world destruction unless someone can score 10 trillion in Ikaruga, getting laughed at and reminded this isn't a Cave black label game, and then revising his demand to 1 million.

[BulletMagnet]

For some reason I keep envisioning Dr. Evil making threats of world destruction unless someone can score 10 trillion in Ikaruga, getting laughed at and reminded this isn't a Cave black label game, and then revising his demand to 1 million.

[evil_ash_xero]

Sweet!

[Klatrymadon]

1000 bananas!

[Guardians Knight]

still no release date?

[dannnnn]

14th Sept.

[Klatrymadon]

Wednesday.

I'm off on Tuesday. Bastard.

[StarCreator]

This should come as no surprise... all XBLA releases have been on Wednesdays since at least 2006.

[Klatrymadon]

No surprise, chap. Just whinging.

[mice]

Wednesday yet?

[maxlords]

Is Saturn mode included in this mofo?

And what's this about Guardian Heroes being available? Is it????

[Battlesmurf]

Yes on the saturn mode, no on Gaurdian Heroes (unless it comes out wed- I hadnt heard yet?)

[Fudoh]

GH was confirmed for october 12th.

[chempop]

Everyone will love it, especially mainstream gamers, for one reason alone - a chirpy "BARK! BARK!" we all know as the MERRY BONUS...