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 kennyrh, on 09 June 2011 - 06:13 PM, said:

Espgaluda II, Futari, and the Japanese version of Deathsmiles are all Platinum Collection titles, so you should be able to get them pretty cheap anywhere. I think Aksys and Rising Star Games localized Deathsmiles as a budget title, as well.

We don't know how well demul and eventually MAME will emulate the CV1000 games. I think I read that the demul team is going for 90-95% slowdown accuracy, but I could be remembering wrong.

As for the 360 ports compared to the original PCBs:

Futari, Deathsmiles (arcade mode), Ketsui, Dai Fukkatsu, and DOJ Black Label are all missing some slowdown, but not nearly enough to actually detract from them. Some have their own little unique imperfections as well, like Ketsui running slightly faster than the PCB version. Espgaluda II has considerably less slowdown than the PCB, but not in many instances which actually detract from the game. Arika's ports of DOJ and Espgaluda are considered arcade-perfect by some.

Mushihimesama, Ibara, Deathsmiles II, Deathsmiles (Arcade 360, MBL, MBL 360), and Muchi Muchi Pork, are all messes when it comes to slowdown. Ibara is missing virtually all of it. Inaccurate slowdown in the others make it much more difficult to replicate scoring strategies that work in the PCB versions, such as boss milking in MMP. MMP also has misplaced enemies in stage 5. Mushihimesama and Ibara are also plagued by long loading times and blurry graphics.

The port of Pink Sweets is actually quite good, but the problem is that it's of a revision that literally nobody plays, which was a huge let-down. The biggest issue with this is that it lacks the infinite lives trick that the game is known for, making it impossible to actually compete with scores coming out of the PCB version that everyone plays. The game also lacks convenient rapid fire settings, which make rank control that much harder.

I haven't heard anything bad about Akai Katana Shin, probably thanks to CAVE hiring Hiroyuki Kimura to do Game Quality Control.

Overall, some games are lacking in video and filter options (like Dai Fukkatsu, I think) or replay saving (DS IIX). A few don't even let you enter your initials when saving a score, which is actually a point of contention for some people.

Okay, thanks for the info. A lot of it is total news to me because the only game I've actually played in the arcade is Deathsmiles. Coincidentally it's the only 360 port I own also - because it's the only UK PAL release.

I didn't play the arcade version long enough to make any comparisons but the 360 version seems a little blurry on the graphical side because you have to zoom the screen out for some strange reason. Plays ok though.

So I guess that when I eventually get some of the other 360 shmups, I'm going to be none the wiser about their shortcomings.

Problem is . . .that just makes out a good argument for wanting the emulated version - in my case, at least.

But, whatever. I just enjoy playing 2D shmups. If I buy them then they're a physical presence. If get them for nothing then i've saved a few quid.

Also i'd be interested to know how well Deathsmiles sold in the UK. It can be bought brand new for £15 at the moment.

Its worth remembering that the emulation isnt forced to be accurate aswell. Futari and Galuda 2 on 360 are worth buying just for all the extra game modes.

Heres the link for Futari, Its back ordered atm so you will have to wait until it comes in stock and be quick enough to get your order in before it returns to back ordered status again. (you will have to wait 3-4 weeks for delivery if you go for the cheap option)

http://www.play-asia...en-70-3yu5.html

I'm pretty sure you can order the game before it's restocked so you get dibs when it's available. I was able to do just that and it was sent to me as soon as they got them in.

IIRC I wasnt unable to do buy MMP& Pink Sweets when that was back ordered. All I could do was set up an email alert for when the game was in stock. But the problem with the email alert was that there was a slight delay in the game becoming available to buy on the store page and them sending the email out to me. So by the time I was notified the game had already sold out and was back ordered again.

So rather then rely on email notifications I checked Play Asia daily to be sure ild grab a copy. Luckily for us guys in Europe due to the time zone difference was the US, there is a better chance of grabbing the game before all the Americans get out of bed.

Btw if anyone plans on buying Esp Galuda 2 I have a $5 PA coupon. But it runs out on the 13th so im gonna put it up on shmups forum in about 6 hours time so that someone can make use of it. If anyone sends me a PM on shmups forum before I advertise it, then they can have it.

From various things i've read it seems that there may be some plans to bring Cave 360 shmups to the UK. Does anybody have some concrete info about this ??

 kennyrh, on 11 June 2011 - 04:45 PM, said:

Probably not. unless one of the local game stores is planning on importing it. I don't see why publishers would release the game in the UK specifically. They have absolutely no reason to do so.

So you'll probably have to import it anyway or buy it at the store that's going to import it. I bought mine (+the OST) for 80 bucks in a game store near my place. :V

 TrevHead, on 10 June 2011 - 11:18 PM, said:

I was going to buy it in the next few days . That's strange that I was able to order it while it was on back order. Maybe I purchased it before they changed the status, or maybe the system was changed.

 kennyrh, on 11 June 2011 - 04:45 PM, said:

Deathsmiles by Rising Star Games is already available in the UK. On their forums they've hinted at releasing one or two more in 2011; it wouldn't surprise me if it was Akai Katana Shin or Dai Fukkatsu. You can also purchase Guwange from XBLA since it was a world-wide release.

Thats correct, aIlthough I would edge my bets that RSG will announce DS2 or Red Katana (if Cave dont go the GOD route that is) on the fact that westerners prefer horizontals to vertizontals. Although I personally want DFK / DFK BL the most.

But those games are region locked. Anybody who is holding off importing the region free games in the hope they get localised are waiting in vain imo. Thats due to the fact most 360 shmup fans will have already imported the game and probably wont buy the localised version. These shmups have almost zero text so theres little point in doing so.

Its also worth noting that Bullet Soul and Escatos are both RF as well.

Oh about Guwanage on XBLA although I havnt bought the game it is worth the money considering the extra 2 gameplay modes, one of which is more noob friendly to beat

http://www.speedysha.../DEmul.v0.57.7z



Thanks to Dr.Robotnik from emu dreams.

Awesome- I know the later builds have the sound working, but this is exciting enough for now.
Are there any more ROMs for this out there apart from Mushi, Futari, Ibara and Esp2 and Deathsmiles?
It's good that this has escaped into the wild though eh?

For those who don't have the newer roms:
Death Smiles
Ibara Black Label
Futari 1.0
Espgaluda 2 won't upload for me though. I'll try Megaupload later.

Edit:
Oh yeah.
Ibara

Don't get too excited - it also lacks speed optimisations and the hardcoded game list only includes the first three games released - Mushihimesama v1.0 (with Ultra still locked unfortunately) Uo Po-err MushihimeTama and Ibara, with Mushi the only one remotely playable, and even then you need a reasonably beefed up system. Other than that, it's pretty cool

mjclark, for some reason I think they fed us the "capped" version to get ome feedback and ease our appetite

It seems like it's a pretty old version of 5.7. When playing Mushihimesama the game runs at 60 fps as long as I don't shoot, otherwise it's reduced to 30 fps. Ibara freezes whenever I add a coin. So maybe that rom I have is the wrong one.

 Stufreddy, on 16 June 2011 - 07:25 PM, said:

Strange, Ibara runs fine for me - at 20fps

Thanks for the roms Stufreddy . . .and eq2D for the emulator. Good work guys

Also Ibara freezes for me when I add a coin.

The Demul link is giving an "invalid compression method" error. In short, it refuses to decompress. Ah, well, let's wait for a more official thing that will get way too close for comfort.

In the meantime, Beat Hazard ULTRA online co-op.

It's already damn too close, Observer, I swear it's peeking at me under the shower... eww >_>
Anyway, using a Linux box helps: decompressed with 7zip for great justice and huge success
Here's a link with a properly zipped version: link, hope this helps.

And by the way, what will happen when this gets officially released? I fear emulation, it's taking up all my living space!

 cicciosprint, on 16 June 2011 - 10:12 PM, said:

No idea what will happen. People at the shmups forum are making such a ruckus but whatever profit CAVE wanted to get from these games was already achieved by the 360 releases and the PCB sales, without mentioning all the overpriced merchandise from their store (which I feel is a much clearer and direct way to support them, moreso now that the international store was opened... although I would advise against it and see if someone in Japan can get the stuff for ya).

I no longer know what to think, they demonize so much the PC when all I see playing here are console pirated copies more than anything else. The 360 is just insane. If you purchase one here, odds are that the damn crap comes already flashed! (since there is no official release here by Microsoft, we are left with mexican/US models)

If it weren't for MAME and that "Hardest Videogame Boss Ever" a bunch of people wouldn't even know shooters exist. I've had someone telling me how great DDP is out of the freaking blue! (When I never mentioned I love STGs)

So the topic will always be too close for comfort... So close it's like being inside a giant microwave or something, lol.

edit: and thank you, the link worked perfectly. God only knows how to run something on this thing, it's the most counterintuitive piece of software I've ever seen. I thought I finally found the replacement for NullDC...

edit2: Nevermind, got it running. Weird. Nevermind.