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[Daigoro]

thanks meppi.

Cool, I ordered a second one as a backup. Cheap!

Also, DS2 did get a disc release LE and SE and a platinum disc re-release in japan (and arcade stick release). Or maybe you are just talking about a region-free.

yeah i realized that after i posted it. i never did buy a JP 360.

i love both DS games. they are two of my favorite Cave games. so fun.

Really hate myself, I finally CAVEd in and bought AKS from Amazon UK even tho its price will be slashed in half in less than 2 months like it happened for DS and DDPR. Couldn't resist, what a puny weaksauce :/

you should feel bad for feeling bad about it.

 

[Agent Unknown]

Well, got my brand new LE Futari in the mail on Wednesday. Now I just need to get a new 360, think I'll wait until E3 in case any price drops are announced. Here's a pic I took, look at that beautiful box:

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

So I've got a question:

How do I find out what the windows live ID associated with an XBL account is? I created a Japanese one to redeem my Daifukkatsu DLC code, but I have no idea what the email account associated with it is. And unfortunately, Microsoft decided to make it seemingly impossible to log in using your account name and password, because that would just make too much goddamn sense.

I should probably see if I can disassociate my US XBL account from my hotmail account, because the less MS bullshit in my life, the better.

Someday, I envision a hacked 360 where I can just illegally dump all my legally purchased stuff on there and enjoy things without a hassle. Those will be sweet times.

 

[vall03]

Someday, I envision a hacked 360 where I can just illegally dump all my legally purchased stuff on there and enjoy things without a hassle. Those will be sweet times.

aren't these common? you just can't log-in to Xbox Live.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

aren't these common? you just can't log-in to Xbox Live.

I thought it was a pain in the ass to do it. Eh, whatevz. And I think we're not allowed to talk about hacking, even though Microsoft is retarded... I don't wanna get in twouble.

 

[StarCreator]

So I've got a question:

How do I find out what the windows live ID associated with an XBL account is? I created a Japanese one to redeem my Daifukkatsu DLC code, but I have no idea what the email account associated with it is. And unfortunately, Microsoft decided to make it seemingly impossible to log in using your account name and password, because that would just make too much goddamn sense.

I should probably see if I can disassociate my US XBL account from my hotmail account, because the less MS bullshit in my life, the better.

Someday, I envision a hacked 360 where I can just illegally dump all my legally purchased stuff on there and enjoy things without a hassle. Those will be sweet times.

It wouldn't make sense to allow logins using gamertag (a public ID) from a security standpoint. That's just inviting hacking attempts. The system was designed this way for a reason.

If you have a short list of email addresses you could have used, you can try going to http://live.xbox.com and signing in to each one until one happens to contain a gamertag.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

It wouldn't make sense to allow logins using gamertag (a public ID) from a security standpoint. That's just inviting hacking attempts. The system was designed this way for a reason.

If you have a short list of email addresses you could have used, you can try going to http://live.xbox.com and signing in to each one until one happens to contain a gamertag.

I have literally no idea what it would be. It was an address I just made for the purpose of redeeming DLC. So yes, thanks for being so secure, Microsoft.

Well, can't be that tough to score the DFK DLC on ebay, right?

Or maybe I should just get the European version, if there were some bugfixes there. I'm so confused. Gonna drink myself to death.

 

[hipgnosis]

Well, got my brand new LE Futari in the mail on Wednesday. Now I just need to get a new 360, think I'll wait until E3 in case any price drops are announced. Here's a pic I took, look at that beautiful box:

How much did you pay for it if I may ask? I still have my LE sealed.

 

[Chiaroscuro]

So I've got a question:

How do I find out what the windows live ID associated with an XBL account is? I created a Japanese one to redeem my Daifukkatsu DLC code, but I have no idea what the email account associated with it is. And unfortunately, Microsoft decided to make it seemingly impossible to log in using your account name and password, because that would just make too much goddamn sense.

I should probably see if I can disassociate my US XBL account from my hotmail account, because the less MS bullshit in my life, the better.

Someday, I envision a hacked 360 where I can just illegally dump all my legally purchased stuff on there and enjoy things without a hassle. Those will be sweet times.

If you have this gamertag in your Xbox 360 with auto login (meaning you can log without entering user id and password) you can just sign in the console, go to account setting and see your e-mail. You can even change the e-mail associated with your account, as long as it is from the same country as the previous one (you cannot change regions).

 

[Agent Unknown]

How much did you pay for it if I may ask? I still have my LE sealed.

It was a buy-it-now auction, so it came to 149.99 before shipping which was EMS 7.00 IIRC. I bought it on May 15th and it arrived on the 19th while I was out of town. eBay dealer is play-japan, in case you're interested in seeing if he has more, it was a very good transaction but of course YMMV.

 

[Zeth]

Awesome pickup, Agent. Beautiful box art. Game is quickly climbing my favorite-game-ever list.

edit: I'm also in need of DFK BL DLC. Is buying a code on ebay remotely possible, or am I better off getting JPN points/account for it.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

If you have this gamertag in your Xbox 360 with auto login (meaning you can log without entering user id and password) you can just sign in the console, go to account setting and see your e-mail. You can even change the e-mail associated with your account, as long as it is from the same country as the previous one (you cannot change regions).

That's part of the problem - I don't have it saved on either of my 360s anymore

 

[Agent Unknown]

Awesome pickup, Agent. Beautiful box art. Game is quickly climbing my favorite-game-ever list

Thanks! Now I just need to get a system to play it on.

 

[Ramune]

Here's a snapshot of that card I got with my Mushihime-sama Futari LE. Forgot where I bought it from though. Excuse the crappy quality. Took it with my dinky iPhone 3gs's camera.

 

[Dash Kappei]

Qty                           Item    Price        Delivery Subtotal

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Amazon.co.uk items (Sold by Amazon EU S.a.r.L.):

  1  Sonic Generations (Nintend...   £14.02               1   £14.02

  1                    Akai Katana   £20.95               1   £20.95

Dispatched via SDA (estimated arrival date: Monday, June 04, 2012).

Finally! Can't wait. Is there any DLC out for this version?
Never bought DLC for my Cave games, should I? What's out there, I've got DS LE Pal, Guwange xbla (iirc), Mushi Futari JPN (I recall the DLC needing a USB stick to avoid crapping out or something?), DDPR Pal and now AKS pal.

 

[Jucksalbe]

Finally! Can't wait. Is there any DLC out for this version?

Only themes and gamerpics.

Never bought DLC for my Cave games, should I? What's out there, I've got DS LE Pal, Guwange xbla (iirc), Mushi Futari JPN (I recall the DLC needing a USB stick to avoid crapping out or something?), DDPR Pal and now AKS pal.

DoDonPachi and Futari both have their Black Label modes as DLC. They are both very much worth it, especially Futari's. Don't know about the USB stick, I read that, too, but I personally never had any problems.

 

[Elixir]

Forgot where I bought it from though.g

Messe-sanoh telephone card. See more here: http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=29164&start=0

 

[meppi]

Christmas came early this year.

 

[Tain]

now there's a lot to take in at once.

I've been pacing myself and I still feel like I don't have enough time. Have fun!

 

[Ra1den]

Christmas came early this year.

Where's Giga Wing 2?

 

[meppi]

now there's a lot to take in at once.

I've been pacing myself and I still feel like I don't have enough time. Have fun!

A bit too much to be perfectly honest.
I just don't know what t play first. Started out with Ketsui and worked my way down from that. Glad that all but one was brand new, so I didn't have to worry about DLC cards missing or anything like that.
Got Black Label DLC for Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu ver1.5 already as well even though I have 3 copies of the PAL release already and plan to get the Japanese Black Label disc release when Lee can source me a copy. Just doing my part to support Cave.

But like you said, it's so much to take in at once.
Every single game has various modes and configurations that all play very differently from one another, so it feels like I 25 shoot 'em ups instead of 5.
Luckily I have the week off from work!

My first though was: I should have done this years ago.

I was actually planning to get Under Defeat and Raiden Fighters Aces as well in this order, but the delivery got pushed back by the shop's suppliers.
Don't really mind it now to be honest.
This way I have a couple more terrific shooters to look forward to in about a month time when my summer vacation starts.
So along with those I'll probably pick up a couple more Cave games to complete the collection, or at least come close to doing so.

Where's Giga Wing 2?

Don't worry, Giga Wing 2 has been in my collection for over 10 years now.

I actually bought Giga Wing 1 on release day in Europe for €65 as well, but since the Japanese version doesn't support RGB I never got around to import it.

Now that I have a VGA box for my Dreamcast, I rectified that.

 

[DoDonGouki]

Christmas came early this year.

RESPECT !

But you need Ketsuipachi....

 

[meppi]

RESPECT !

But you need Ketsuipachi....

Hehe. I know. But it wasn't in stock.

 

[Barkley's Justice]

It dawned on me last night that I never played Deathsmiles on my iPad1, always on my iPhone. So I booted it up.

I don't know if it's like this for ipad2 & 3 owners, but on iPad1 the older Cave games (including DS) are nice and chunky in 2X mode. The pixels retain their sharpness and there's no filtering.

This changed around Bug Princess. The newer Cave iOS ports no longer retain their clarity. BP of course offers no 2X mode and has retina class elements such as the menu. So it's "HD" for all intents and purposes.

But I dont know. In my opinion the actual game is not better off for it. It looks muddled and blurred on iPad1.

Is this anyone else's experience?

 

[japtor]

I remember one of the iOS releases making them "chunky" for me, I think iOS 5, unfortunately the same wasn't true on my iPhone (pixel doubling to retina display there is noticeably blurry too, albeit less obvious cause the size). That was on my iPad 2 though...they're blurry again on the retina iPad. At least there's DDP:R and Esp.2 HD releases, not that that matters for the rest of them.

 

[Zeth]

It dawned on me last night that I never played Deathsmiles on my iPad1, always on my iPhone. So I booted it up.

I don't know if it's like this for ipad2 & 3 owners, but on iPad1 the older Cave games (including DS) are nice and chunky in 2X mode. The pixels retain their sharpness and there's no filtering.

This changed around Bug Princess. The newer Cave iOS ports no longer retain their clarity. BP of course offers no 2X mode and has retina class elements such as the menu. So it's "HD" for all intents and purposes.

But I dont know. In my opinion the actual game is not better off for it. It looks muddled and blurred on iPad1.

Is this anyone else's experience?

I see what you're saying yeah. I'm crossing my fingers that one or both of the Mushi ports gets an "HD" treatment like DDPR and ESPII (probably unlikely). Bug Princess 2 iOS is what got me hooked on these games surprisingly [/shame]. I still find it really fun to play even now that I have a nice collection of Cave 360 ports.

 

[meppi]

Man. Just had a 6+ hours Cave marathon!

Love it!
But I really need to take a break as my eyes need some rest right about now. lol
Played quite a bunch of Ketsui and it's certainly very different from the newer Cave shooters. But then again all of their games are very unique in their own way.

The only thing I miss is some kind of Black Label mode like the DS version is.
This game would be absolute perfection if it had a couple of more modes with crazier bullet patterns.
Still more than happy with it though.

Oh and Mushihimesama HD is such a beautiful port! :-O

 

[Tain]

Oh and Mushihimesama HD is such a beautiful port! :-O

It really is. Accurate, gorgeous (probably prettier than Futari to me), great arranged music, excellent control options, and of course, 1.5. They did a great job for what could have easily been a minimal-effort port.

 

[DoDonGouki]

Oh and Mushihimesama HD is such a beautiful port! :-O

I can't get enough of it !

BRAVO, CAVE !

 

[meppi]

In a perfect world a game like this would be a million seller instead of some other yearly rehash that's purely created to milk as much money from people.
Instead Cave is seemingly hanging on by a thread.

It's so clear that Mushihimesama HD was a true labor of love.
Just looking at the attention to detail blows me away.
Didn't even notice how great the remixed soundtrack was at first, but now that I've played the other modes a bit more I'm really starting to appreciate it.
To be honest, I'm actually thinking of ordering the limited edition now as well... >_<

One thing I had forgotten was how I just love to destroy the gigantic bug that takes up nearly all of stage 3. Such an intense and mind-blowing battle that thing is, each and every time!

 

[Daigoro]

I was actually planning to get Under Defeat and Raiden Fighters Aces as well in this order, but the delivery got pushed back by the shop's suppliers.
Don't really mind it now to be honest.

dont sleep on either game. personally id put both of them up against most shmups released this gen.

 

[jbueno]

This just in! Shamelessly stolen from adversity1 from shmups forum:

Announced in the July issue of Arcadia.

Akai katana shin for Nessica live.

Currently in development. No release date listed.

Article mentions a collaboration between CAVE and another company to be announced in the next issue of Arcadia.

Other news: SDOJ at #6 on Arcade popularity rankings. Proving that (along with the second board printing), it's a hit. AFAIK, Daifukkatsu topped out on 6 at this list when initially released.

No SDOJ scores in the back makes NTSC-J a sad panda. Arcadia has however started tracking NESSiCA scores with this issue.

Good news. Hopefully we´ll see NESSiCA overseas sometime.

EDIT. Beaten by adversesolutions in the Akai Katana thread.

EDIT2. Haha, adversesolutions here is adverse1 on shmups. Sorry about that.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

dont sleep on either game. personally id put both of them up against most shmups released this gen.

Wasn't Under Defeat a pretty poor port overall, though? I didn't actually play it myself, but I heard a lot of complaints when it first came out and ended up just sticking with the Dreamcast version.

 

[Daigoro]

Wasn't Under Defeat a pretty poor port overall, though? I didn't actually play it myself, but I heard a lot of complaints when it first came out and ended up just sticking with the Dreamcast version.

no idea, havent played the port. dont know what versions meppi is referring to either. i only own the DC version. i just love the game, and RFA is the best shmup comp ever pressed to disc.

 

[Tain]

Glad to see Cave on the Taito train.

 

[danmaku]

Glad to see Cave on the Taito train.

This. The Nesica system could be great for them, even if PCB collectors will hate it. I assume they are going to port the 360 version of Shin, so this is technically their first HD arcade game, right? (maybe Death Smiles 2 was also HD?)

 

[raiot]

Yay, Akai Katana for Xbox finally arrived!
I had to cancel my order from Amazon.de because they delayed the shippment to end of june. I ordered from co.uk and it was dispatched the next day...

 

[meppi]

no idea, havent played the port. dont know what versions meppi is referring to either. i only own the DC version. i just love the game, and RFA is the best shmup comp ever pressed to disc.

I'm talking about the 360 port since I have the DC one already.

What I meant when I said I don't mind that they were pushed back is that I now have way too much good stuff to play already.
So having those two on top of it all, while being awesome, would have been overkill really.
But they are reserved for me, so when they come in they will be put aside and I'll order a new batch just before the first part of my summer vacation.
Already asked for Otomedius X Excellent, the limited edition version of Akai Katana and Raiden IV to be put in the same order.

Don't think we'll be getting RFA in Europe as I just received this from Amazon.de:

Good day,

We regret that we must give notice a delay in your order Amazon.de.

We appreciate your understanding: Unfortunately the release date for the person or persons, SEE BELOW item from your order # 01 from 028-9374233-0015569 Changed in May 2012 and therefore the estimated date of delivery:

"Raiden Fighters Aces"
Expected delivery date: 07 July 2012 - 09th July 2012

 

[Daigoro]

gotcha.

that sucks so bad about Europe getting screwed on RFA. everyone should be able to own and play it. its brilliant. such a shame.

i guess i should probably pick up Otomedius one of these days. its pretty cheap and ive always been a Gradius fan. maybe one day.

sorry going all OT here.

 

[LeadenStride]

So Mushihime-sama sold a bit over 5000 units in its first week in Japan. Are those numbers good for a Cave game?

 

[Vert boil]

So Mushihime-sama sold a bit over 5000 units in its first week in Japan. Are those numbers good for a Cave game?

It depends on the 360 title. First weeks tops out around 20k for a big title (Deathsmiles did 19365) down to the low end at around 5k (Akai Katana Shin did 5603).

5k for Mushi isn't good but it's understandable given there have been other home versions available for a long time.

 

[Elixir]

So Mushihime-sama sold a bit over 5000 units in its first week in Japan. Are those numbers good for a Cave game?

They're not good for any game.

Note that the 5100ish sales reported are only taken from physically sold sales, these don't include Japanese domestic online or foreign online sales. I don't think it's even Cave but just Asada wanting to get Mushi out there, it just isn't worthwhile from a financial standpoint.

Meanwhile, Dragon's Dogma sells 300,000 physical copies (it is a mystery).

 

[meppi]

So I put a Seimitsu stick into my Hori RAP VS-SA instead of the Sanwa that was in there.
Of all the sticks I ever modded for past systems, I always used Sanwa parts, but since Yes Boss advised using a Seimitsu stick with Sanwa buttons, I decided to order two and see how much a difference they make.

At first I didn't really notice much to be honest, but after a couple of hours of getting used to the slightly shorter stick, I started to feel like the response time was a little quicker.
Might just be dreaming, but I don't think so. It's a rather subtle difference, but I definitely think it's there.
Very happy with it.

Been getting a little deeper into Ketsui as well now that I finally realized that you don't need to kill every single enemy close up to get 5 point chips.
This must sound really dumb to the people familiar with the game, but I had no idea you could shoot one enemy up close with the spread shot and then immediately use the lock shot to create a 5 chip link from other enemies....

Also went back to Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu. Especially the 1.51 mode.
Tried looking up some scoring tips and they pretty much went straight over my head.
The only thing that sticked was that you're supposed to link whole stages at a time.
Knowing this wasn't going to happen, I just started playing without caring too much about any of it.
Started doing some really crazy links and bullet cancels (well by my standards anyway as I'm certainly not very good at these games), and had an absolute blast.
After a couple of hours I just finished my best run so far, so I decided to look up where I ranked on the Japanese leader board.
Thinking it would be somewhere near the bottom third of the list.

To my surprise I came rather close to NHK Iconoclast! :-O
Well if you can call falling short 26 billion coming close.
Still 79,406,475,167 vs 53,967,304,768 isn't too bad I think and probably as close to one of his scores as I'm gonna get any time soon!

I see he's using Power Style and I was using Strong Style, so in the end those scores might not even comparable... still felt good though.

 

[SOME-MIST]

So I put a Seimitsu stick into my Hori RAP VS-SA instead of the Sanwa that was in there.

At first I didn't really notice much to be honest, but after a couple of hours of getting used to the slightly shorter stick, I started to feel like the response time was a little quicker.

you throw a 32-01 in there? or 56-01? If a 56-01, I'm surprised you didn't notice the difference instantly since the throw and resistance is pretty much night and day. I'm assuming it's a 32-01 since it really seems to be a happy medium between sanwa and seimitsu - at least that's how it feels in my EX-SE.

 

[meppi]

I actually made a mistake and ordered a regular LS-32 instead of a LS-32-01 so I didn't get the wire harness with it. :-/
Had to improvise a little since I have never hooked up a stick without a harness before, but in the end, after realizing that silver contacts were the grounds and the golden ones were the actual contacts, it was a breeze.

The stick itself did feel different from the start as it seemed that it had more resistance while not having to move it as far as a Sanwa stick to make contact.
But I tested it out on the new games, which I wasn't familiar with yet, so I didn't really have a lot to compare it to.
When trying out Akai Katana with it, which I've played quite a bit before changing the stick, it's pretty obvious how much the reaction time differences.

Right now, I'm thinking about what to do next.
I have a Mad Catz Official Street Fighter IV Arcade Fight Stick - Tournament Edition Round 2 for 360 on the way from Amazon since I really loved the first edition one I have for PS3.
As I'm starting to have terrible wrist pains when playing. So I'm hoping that having a bit more room beneath the buttons to rest my hand on might help this.

Now, I still have one LS-32 sitting here and might put it into the SF stick and order a couple more for older systems (Dreamcast, Saturn, PS2, PC Engine, etc), or just put it onto one of my DC sticks and hold off a bit on the others since I spent quite a bit of money this past week.

I read that Sanwa sticks are better for fighting games, but that Seimitsu ones are better for SNK fighters (as well as shooters of course) . :-/
So I don't really know if I should swap them all out or just keep one with a Sanwa and another with a Seimitsu stick for each system.

 

[BOTEC]

Seimitsu fo lyfe!

Almost all my sticks are Seimitsu, since I love both, shooting and fighting games. A Sanwa doesn't offer any thing inherently advantageous to a fighter, it just has a feel that fighting game fans like. I find that the precision of a Seimitsu is a benefit in both genres so I'm sticking to that brand. As for buttons, Sanwa all the way. Much love for both teams.

Meppi, you should come by the arcade stick thread, where we have this conversation like every other week, and we think that arcade sticks are totally awesome and sweet.

 

[Yes Boss!]

I'm a bit curious to know what types of sticks were in the original Japanese Neo cabs. Anybody know?

 

[BOTEC]

Most featured Seimitsu's LS-40 sticks and PS-14-G buttons. I'm not certain about the differences between the different cabinet lines. Some looked like they had LS-32's. It's hard to gauge from the pictures found on the internets since after years of abuse they were fitted with whatever the fuck the arcade op had in his stock room.

 

[meppi]

Seimitsu fo lyfe!

Almost all my sticks are Seimitsu, since I love both, shooting and fighting games. A Sanwa doesn't offer any thing inherently advantageous to a fighter, it just has a feel that fighting game fans like. I find that the precision of a Seimitsu is a benefit in both genres so I'm sticking to that brand. As for buttons, Sanwa all the way. Much love for both teams.

Meppi, you should come by the arcade stick thread, where we have this conversation like every other week, and we think that arcade sticks are totally awesome and sweet.

That might be very good point.
I grew up on arcade cabinets. Mentioned this before how I grew up in a small café in the late 70's all thought the 80's and up to '92.
So you'd think that using joysticks would be something like riding a bike. You never forget it.
But somehow I have a very hard time playing fighting games on a stick. Well besides my AES for some weird reason. Not that I'm very good at them, but I can play those as good as I would on a Saturn pad.
But on any other system else, I'm having a hard time using a stick for fighters. Might be a good idea to check out this new one on SF4 now to see how it goes.
I always get the feeling that they are very inaccurate, but that will probably be just lack of skill on my part.

I visit the arcade stick thread once in a while but don't think I ever posted in there. Don't really have anything to contribute I'm afraid.
One thing I've noticed is how the Sanwa buttons in the stock Hori RAP VS-SA feel quite different from the ones I ordered a couple years back to put into my DC sticks.
Those ones are extremely sensitive, yet in this Hori (and yes, I've checked, they are Sanwa buttons in there), the buttons feel not nearly as responsive for some reason.
Might just be my imagination.

 

[DoDonGouki]

I always get the feeling that they are very inaccurate, but that will probably be just lack of skill on my part.

JACKPOT