Bullet-Time Paradigm

Shmupdate

2009-12-17T03:32:34Z

Mushihime-sama Futari ver 1.5 - Maniac - All Clear
Ab Parm - 378,630,576

The final boss battle wasn't pretty (BOMB, BOMB, BOMB, DIE, REPEAT...), but I'm pleased with this result, regardless. Not bad for 2 and a half weeks practice.

Mushihime-sama Futari Black Label

2009-12-11T13:56:10Z

To those who purchased Mushi Futari on the 360, Black Label is now available for download. It can be downloaded by any XBL region (you do not need to import J MS points on a J gamertag in order to D/L this).

With the disc in the tray, simply go to: My Xbox - Game Library - Mushi - Downloads
File size: 264.34 MB
Price: 1200 MSP

ESPGaluda II Black Label

2009-12-06T23:57:44Z

Cave recently posted some video of the Black Label Mode from the upcoming Xbox 360 port of ESPGaluda II (due out February 25th, 2010). The score system looks like it's completely fucking bonkers! You can bullet-cancel when not in Kakusei and when you enter Zesshikai Kakusei, the game turns into Psyvariar?!? The fuck?

360 Mushi Futari display options

2009-11-22T20:40:30Z

Ok, I really like the DVD-replay display option where it has the 2 zoomed in screen partitions for the current chain counter and score. The five screen option is just retarded (not to mention that all of the screens are off-synced from one another). It's kinda weird that you rotate the display and the menu separately.

NCSX are holding fast to their ship date of 11/27, so I'll probably have my copy on the 30th. I'm in no rush to play the game though, seeing as I'm still pouring time into Bayonetta.

December Cave Matsuri

2009-11-16T15:28:01Z

Asada and IKD will be answering questions from fans at the upcoming Cave Matsuri. They'll be presented with 3 pass cards that they can use to get out of answering an uncomfortable/unanswerable question. But once those pass cards are gone, they'll have to take a pie to the face for any additional passes.

Sexy Librarian Combat

2009-10-20T03:28:00Z

I've been playing the Bayonetta demo since it was put up on XBL nearly 2 weeks ago, however, yesterday was the first time I managed to nail a Platinum Trophy. I've been steadily getting better at triggering Witch Time and mixing up my combos. I'm hoping I can nail at least 1 Pure Platinum Trophy before the full game hits (the end of next week).

Fly to the Leaden Sky

2009-10-19T16:55:19Z

Alright, I've heard the first (arcade original) and third (Saturn Arrange) renditions in this video, but not the second (and apparently, the guy who put together the video has no idea where it came from either). Anyone recognize said version? Was it from one of the more recent Shooting Game Omnibus discs?

Why the fuck is inquisitive not listed under moods?

Footage from G.Rev's newest Shmup

2009-10-11T06:14:00Z

The working title is SeisoKouki Strania, and it's currently in Loke Testing.

Asada-san reveals more of Cave's upcoming plans...

2009-09-29T20:31:47Z

Cave general manager Makato Asada has plans to bring the company's frantic shoot-em-ups to a larger audience, one that spans beyond Japanese arcades and a few import enthusiasts. Maybe even to your PC.

While Cave's releases, titles like DoDonPachi, Mushihime-sama and Death Smiles, are readily available in Japan, getting your hands on them in the West isn't always easy. You'd typically need a Japanese PlayStation 2 or Xbox 360 to play them. But that's going to change, first with the region-free release of Mushihime-sama Futari for the Xbox 360 this November.

Asada told Kotaku in an interview that Cave is looking at global releases of its games, full-fledged Xbox Live Arcade titles of certain titles and Valve's Steam service as a means of distribution. None of that is set in stone, mind you, but Asada sounded upbeat about Cave's new opportunities.

"We don't know anything at this point with regards to Xbox Live Arcade," Asada clarified, "but we can say that the person in charge of these ports at Cave and the person in charge of XBLA authorizations for the United States met today on the TGS floor. It depends on where those discussions go in regard to Guwonge on XBLA."

Guwange, for those who don't know, is a 1999 shooter with a traditional Japanese theme. It was the Cave game that readers of the company's blog chose as the title they'd like to see come to Xbox Live Arcade.

But before Guwange or any other XBLA ports arrive—Asada hinted at the possibility of an Xbox Live Arcade remake of chubby shooter Muchi Muchi Pork with a revamped gameplay system—Cave has some more disc-based titles planned.

"Right now, we're working on a few titles for localization," Asada said. Again, take caution. "This is currently all in talks. With regards to Death Smiles, we can say that it's currently in progress and hopefully soon we'll be able to give overseas users news about its release."

Asada also hinted at something unannounced, something not based on its previous releases. And something designed with a more global audience in mind.

"Right now at Cave we're working on a new title, and we want it to be worldwide," Asada said. "It's going to have to sell to a worldwide audience, so there might be a possibility that we would tailor it [to Western tastes] in that sense."

Does that mean no insect queens or gothic lolita girls? Well, not exactly.

"If we lost that, we would sort of lose what makes us Cave, so we'll have to keep that," Asada said.

What else does Cave have in its future? Despite Asada's personal preference for playing first-person shooters like Quake, Counter-strike, Halo, and Call of Duty 4 online, the company has no plans to enter that market.

But it's not opposed to venturing into totally new genres.

"Capcom Vs. Cave would be a pretty interesting fighting game," Asada said.

I'm guessing they're going to need to sell a few more copies of Death Smiles before that happens. But, hey, Capcom asked.

Mushihime-sama Futari Ver 1.5 for XBox 360 to be region-free

2009-09-28T06:30:22Z

Asada says it all:

"We had a lot of good feedback from overseas users," Asada told Kotaku, happy with the strong response to the insect-themed, vertically-scrolling shmup. "So for this time, as a test, we're going to make the game region free so that overseas users can play it." Previous Cave games for the Xbox 360 like Do Don Pachi Daioujou Black Label Extra and Death Smiles have been limited to Japan only. So, why the change?

"By making Mushihime-sama Futari region-free, what we're doing is measuring the amount of overseas users," Asada explained. And if you care about your Cave shooters, it's probably a good idea to import a copy. Or two.

"This will have a direct impact on whether Espgaluda II and other titles will be localized for America," Asada warned us. "So it's probably a good idea to pick it up!"

So for any of those of you interested in Cave shmups, or playing shmups on your 360 period, should probably put in your pre-orders now. NCSX, Yes-Asia and Play-Asia are all accepting pre-orders.

My Girlfriend Is The President

2009-09-17T19:50:00Z

Persona-sama summed it up pretty well:
"To summarize the premise: loli aliens crash into the prime minister and house of congress of Japan, killing everyone. To cover up their mistake, they find a high school girl walking by and brainwash the entire world into thinking Japan is a democracy with a president and make the high school girl the president of Japan.

Hijinks happen when the tzar of Russia, who is a hot blooded, military supremecist big busted high school girl, comes busting in and causes moe trouble.

It's like shitty animu Metal Wolf Chaos. It'd be almost good if it wasn't so moe. :/"

Video of KOF Sky Stage

2009-09-17T12:56:56Z

Mushi Futari 360 Official Preview

2009-09-05T16:45:40Z

The first half features the high-res 360 Mode (same as 360 Mode in Death Smiles, all original art assets captured at higher resolution resulting in more detailed sprites) and the second half features the new Arrange Mode where you control both characters simultaneously. You can switch back and forth between a primary and secondary. The function of the secondary is to reflect bullets Takumi-style (read: Giga Wing, Mars Matrix, Night Raid).

Guwange possibly coming to XBLA

2009-09-01T15:00:00Z

Asada recently posted the results from the Cave XBLA Survey:

1. Guwange
2. Esprade
3. Dodonpachi
4. Progear
5. Pink Sweets
6. Mushihime-sama
7. Dangun Feveron
8. Muchi Muchi Pork
9. Espgaluda
10. Ibara

So Cave are going to offer Microsoft a Live port of Guwange. Please also note that there is a message on the blog in English to overseas' Cave fans as well.

RayStorm HD trailer

2009-08-30T18:11:39Z

The video reveals that the game will contain Arcade Mode, Extra Mode and 13 Ship Mode as well as 4 selectable craft: R-Gray 1, R-Gray 2, R-Gray 0 and R-Gear. The video also demonstrates that the game will utlizine a 16:9 aspect ratio which I can see doing some really odd things to scoring, bullet patterns and more importantly, the rank.

David Bowie

2009-08-25T13:16:19Z

Hey, Ugly x10, David Bowie is in every videogame.

Cave Festa News

2009-08-15T17:52:42Z

At the recent Cave Festa, the following announcements were made:
360 Mushihime-sama Futari release date is November 26th, 2009
360 ESPGaluda II Black Label release date is set for Spring 2010
ESP2 BL is a joint project between Ikeda and Yagawa.

The patch for DDP DOJ BLEX is still being worked on (there are 47 bugs still to work out), according to Mihara. The odd thing is that there will be 2 patches released... a standard free patch and another "complete" patch that will be DLC (you'll have to pay for it). There was no clarification as to what exactly the complete patch entailed.

The port of Ketsui is still being handled by 5pb, Mihara is wary of the project. Nothing else was said.

Screenshots of both Mushi Futari and ESP2 BL can be seen on Famitsu's website:
http://www.famitsu.com/game/news/1226682_1124.html
*you will need to cut and paste the URL into your browser... it doesn't direct link for some weird reason*

RayStorm HD confirmed for XBLA

2009-08-07T17:24:28Z

Taito are busy porting over some of their older titles to XBLA. The first two officially announced are Rainbow Island and RayStorm.

Screenshots of RayStorm HD can be found in this thread.

I am a little concerned about the fact that Taito have widened the game into a 16x9 space... it has the potential to really fuck with the game's balance. I guess we'll see how it turns out.

Capcom are so Pringles!

2009-08-05T16:12:31Z

Tell Capcom what "You so Pringles!" means and win a can of Pringles signed by IFC Yipes.

This might possibly be the single greatest promotion ever.

More Cave on the 360

2009-07-14T13:32:19Z

According to Cave's recent fiscal report, ESPGaluda II is mentioned under the consumer market section along side Mushi Futari and Death Smiles II (both of which were already confirmed for 360 release).

Despite already owning the arcade board of ESP2, I'll snag the home port for the obligatory Arrange Mode.

Also, Cave are prepping Death Smiles Mega Black Label ver 1.1 (more DLC for DS) which will be unveiled at the upcoming Cave Matsuri on August 15th.

<3 Drossel

2009-07-03T02:27:01Z

More news regarding the history behind the broken DDP DOJ BLEX port on 360

2009-06-19T17:43:44Z

The Big DoDonPachi Controversy: 5pb admits source code copied for troubled 360 shooter.

Did it seem a little odd to you when 5pb. suspended shipments on the Xbox 360 version of DoDonPachi back in March? The company cited "various circumstances" for the stoppage, which came over a month after the original version's release.

Today, one possible "circumstance" came to light.

The company posted a notice at its official site disclosing that in making the Xbox 360 version of the game, fully titled DoDonPachi Daioujou Black Label Extra, developer Aqua Systems had made use of the source code from PS2's DoDonPachi Daioujo. The developer produced the 360 version based off the source code, which it had obtained from a company that managed the code.

This may sound like a good way to speed up the porting process. The problem is, Aqua Systems didn't actually have the rights to the source code.

5pb. learned of the issue after Cave and Arika, publishers of, respectively, the arcade and PS2 versions of the game, asked that it look into the matter. This request came after the game's release.

In its notice, 5pb. said that, as the 360 version's publisher, it takes full responsibility for the copied source code, as well as for the trouble caused by the shipment stoppage. The company did not specifically state that shipment stoppage was due to the source code issue, so it could be unrelated.

The 5pb. notice also contained an apology for delays in a promised bug fix update for the game. An update of some form was promised back in March but never surfaced. According to the notice, it's still on the way.

In closing, the company said that it takes the source code issue seriously and that it will be putting care into fixing its development system and quality management in order to avoid a repeat occurrence.

Illvelo confirmed for US release

2009-05-31T23:55:22Z

UFO have confirmed via their E3 line-up that they are releasing MileStone's Wii port of their 4th arcade shmup, Illvelo, in the US.

The Japanese Wii port of Illvelo does not contain any code-silliness to activate proper tate.

Raiden IV US bound... finally.

2009-05-26T22:37:05Z

UFO finally pulled their finger out of their ass. Raiden IV is coming to the US XBox 360 in August. I'm going to assume that since the US version of Raiden Fighters Aces did not include the INH DVD, that the US release of Raiden IV will not include the soundtrack CD.

More free games!

2009-05-23T19:22:56Z

Alright folks, I've got another 5 games here that are rather pointless for me to try and sell on E-Bay, so I'm giving these away.

The games are:
Captain Tomaday (bootleg MVS cart, works fine but it's a bootleg)
Thousand Arms (US PS1, discs are in good condition but the manual has seen better days)
NHL Hitz 2002 (US PS2, everything is in good condition)
Jak & Daxter (US PS2, everything is in good condition)
Guilty Gear X2 (US PS2, was given to me as a review copy by Insert Credit, everything is in good condition)

If you're interested in owning one of these, leave a response and I'll raffle them off like last time.