Wanting Raystorm HD

(tags game, Xbox 360, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, RayStorm, shmup)

Raystorm. I feel all nostalgic about this shmup because I used to play in the Japanese arcades back during my exchange program. Now it's in HD and on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Wanting.

Well, I could buy it for the PSP but I really don't want to buy Sony points.

I could also play my PS1 version. It's around here somewhere. I'm pretty sure I don't have the PC version.

I think I can I think I can... Ikaruga

(tags game, Xbox 360, Ikaruga, shmup)

I'm just playing Ikaruga just to see if I still have patience. Any patience whatsoever. Or stick control. I can pass Stage 1 most of the time. It's those times where I try to be Chain Acolyte that kill me.

So I was surprised I was able to beat Stage 2, finally, on one credit, normal settings. Well after 5 hours of Ikaruga on Xbox. Half the time I was just trying to make sure I didn't die. Chains? Forget it, at least in the later half. Also I got the A rank at the same time, w00t. Epic scrub w00t.

On the Gamecube, I think I was able to beat Stage 3. But that was years ago. This time I'm just trying to go analog controller and of course no continuing and no practice rounds.

Kinda happy, right now. Well, kinda sad actually. But let's think positive. Positivity Ikaruga Blog!

Tradeoff

(tags game, Xbox 360, shmup, Geometry Wars, telephone card)

I can either play Geometry Wars 2 or I can go out and get this month's Gamers point card. I chose to stay inside. Luckily I made progress with Deadline:

(extracted 2009-03-21T05:34Z)

Improved: Deadline 32,205,140 @ Rank 717
Improved: Waves 10,800,885 @ Rank 935

Live version again:

Actually I surpassed my high score of 25.7 million about two times in the three hour gaming session. Surprising. The improved score on Waves was from a session back in February or January, but I forgot where I put the score picture so I didn't report it.

I came to my senses and set out for Gamers at 1920. Unfortunately, since the Point card release day was a weekend (a holiday weekend at that), it sold out even on the same day. Drat.

I returned home and promptly bought it (Buy-It-Now) through an auction. Why am I even collecting these points if I don't use it?

Can you beat my score? Oh you did: Geometry Wars 2

(tags game, Xbox 360, shmup, Geometry Wars)

Continuing the Geometry Wars 2 boom (whoa it's been like 4 months), I kept on trying out "Waves". And lookie I get a decent score, yea me. I really like this mode, no sissy bombs, no lives, just constant dying.

(extracted 2009-01-25T09:16Z)

Live version again:

The conservation of bullets is the golden rule here. And the wall is your friend. I want to get 10 million, but things move too fast at even 3 million.

Oh, and I recently allowed an invite into my friends list and this newcomer bested one of my GW2 scores after the invite. It was the King mode, a mode I never play. Don't worry, once my hand gets its feeling back I'll be on top of King... at least on my friends list. :-/

Geometry Wars music

(tags free, music, game, Xbox 360, shmup, Geometry Wars)

Yes I saw on Xbox 360 Fanboy that there was a Geometry Wars related free download, so I grabbed the Geometry Wars 2 music remix, called "46860 Choices". It starts off slow, and the remix doesn't really sound too different.

Oh yeah, I recently played some GeoWars2, but unfortunately I can't beat my own Deadline score. I did get close at 22 million, so the fight is still in me.

Diadra Empty music

(tags game, Windows, shmup, Diadra Empty)

The Diadra Empty music is pretty wicked sick. And no, it's not like RayStorm, but more like Psyvariar. Sweet sweet.

I beat the game on normal. The Credits roll show who did the music.

It turns out that the stage music comes from Baby You Can Tell On Me and sentive.net. The latter had some free music to give out. The former has the music in MIDI form. Uh, right.

The others are http://pianodauge.org , http://iconoclasm.info , and something fermate but I'm kinda sleepy now.

Diadra Empty... what is going on?

(tags game, Windows, doujin, shmup)

Just today at Tora no Ana I bought this doujin shmup game called Diadra Empty (ディアドラエンプティ). It's made by a circle called frozenorb (ふろーずんおーぶ) and released back in 2008-06 in time for Comic Market 74. The package had some nice colorful graphics like this cover art. (this is not in game)

The back also showed some really cool danmaku bullets. Check out the sample game play video. There's an easy to read web page at doujinshop.com. For 1800 yen I gave it a spin. 

My old Sega Saturn style USB pad was ready from the get go. First off, this game plays like a modern style Defender, complete with a radar sub view and push button to lock shooting direction. Except there seems to be millions of bullets on the field. I don't understand what will kill my avatar though, because I seem to be able to bump through the whole danmaku barrage without a scratch. This has very lenient shields, which even regenerate automatically.

The background gradients are very pretty, but the foreground sprites don't make much sense. The enemy bullets are really colorful though. Lock on slow lasers chasing you around the screen, millions of dumb bullets flying around. The background scrolls independent from your avatar's movement, so I get confused easily. Frames per second isn't rock solid, at first with 60 FPS, but when the storm comes in, I barely get 15 FPS.

There is an RPG element to it, where you have to power up. Sadly the actually power up only occurs between stages. You have to collect coins, which means getting in close to the enemies to suck up their death release. I was able to collect 4 Gradius chase style Options.

I got up to level 8 which seems to be the last level because it was crazy long with crazy bosses. I couldn't beat the "emerald orb" which shot out some screen covering homing lasers. Crazy.

The music is really good though. It kinda reminds me of RayStorm.

Unfortunately it's really buggy. The game freezes without saving my progress. I am irate, because part of the game's powerups are unlocked as I proceed, supposedly. I checked out the web page and it seems I have to apply a patch. It's not very clear. Plus the patch adds two more EXE files, also unclear. The patch was password protected, wut.

I'll give it another try, because the patch finally allows me to go to the config screen without crashing (!). Perhaps it will unlock some more of the game's powerups. Heck I want to lend it to a friend so that I can compare experiences.

PowerUp Forever, but move towards the sides

(tags game, shmup, Xbox Live, PowerUp Forever, Geometry Wars)

PowerUp Forever, a Namco-Bandai video game for the Xbox Live Arcade, was one of the rare games I wanted to download and try out. I successfully tried reserving the trial version through the Xbox Live Marketplace. However the buttons show "confirm purchase" (in Japanese) even though its a free item. I'm not buying anything, so don't make it sound like I'm buying... grr.

That was on a Wednesday, I think. Then, I turned my Xbox 360 console frequently in preparation for the weekend, hoping that it would just download by itself. On Sunday, it wasn't in my Demo Games area, and upon checking my download queue, it was at 20%. Oh. Do I have to get out and push? Grr.

So I'm playing it and I kinda get it. Except level 3 is pretty hard, as in, I don't have a enough time to try a new strategy. After restarting the game 15 times (this is how I try to play shmups anyway) I finally got to the end of the demo, without the boss because the demo cuts off just before it gets epic.

I like it. It feels like a Geometry Wars, because things come at you in all directions and shooting is preferred over dodging. However the camera is tightly zoomed in, which makes moving up and down on this 16x9 screen ratio game a hazard. The alternate weapons feel useless though. I'm sure there's some technique (or learning on my side) to use them effectively. And I like the randomness and visuals. The bacteria-like enemies make me squirm though. Ick.

It was worth my 30 or so minutes to evaluate, but I still haven't bought it yet. Maybe on my Winter break.

Ketsui makes me wish for the arcade version

(tags game, Dual Screen, shmup, Ketsui)

Hey so I bought Ketsui for the DS. Ketsui, official name Ketsui Death Label (ケツイ　デスレーベル, NTR-YKDJ-JPN) is a port of the arcade vertical scrolling shoot-em-up (shmup) of the same name from 2002. I think Arika is the publisher. I believe this is the first home port of the game, while it is rumored to get a Xbox 360 version pretty soon.

Usually shmup ports are pretty much the Arcade mode plus a remix and a high score table. This DS port is something different though, because it's not a complete port of the Arcade mode. Rather, the main gameplay is the boss fights only. Now my judgment is clouded because I'm thrilled for a Cave property on a DS, but this is plenty fine. There are enough bullets and boss patterns to memorize to get you going. The gameplay pace really captures the speed and terror of swarming bullets. Also the game has a bunch of extras that add some value.

The graphics are fricken noisy, no joke. The DS never chokes. Well I haven't seen the whole screen completely covered in bullets, but see there's this game mechanic where you collect Chips that fall from fallen enemies. These Chips are thankfully of muted color but there are too many. Plus they come right in front of your ship. As a Cave game, the bullet colors are the classic light blue, pink-red and violet (and green), so it really should be no problem once you get used to the screen. Actually you can adjust how long the Chip is visible, from Always to 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32 frames. I set it to 4 and they are barely visible.

So remember the DS has a 256 x 192 pixel display. An old school Cave game like Dodonpachi is 240x320, so we're only missing a few (tens of) pixels. Okay, so were missing a lot of pixels. You will need all of that space to get through the curtain fire (danmaku). Thankfully your hitbox is just one pixel. I have trouble remember which pixel on my ship is the right one so... :-/

The bullet patterns are classic. Actually I've played some of the famous Kenta Cho (aba games) freeware shmups that copy the bullet patterns so I feel right at home. The gaps are crisp and you will be travelling all over the screen.

Though Ketsui is supposed to be a skills game, there are a lot of beginner oriented boss mixes and gameplay settings. I would estimate Novice, Normal, Hard Mode 1, 2, 3 to be equivalent to a Normal difficulty up to level 3 of a 5 level shmup. Auto-bomb (get hit once and it bombs for you) is on by default, and after every cleared boss you get 3 bombs.

There is a Very Hard mode, an even more difficult mode I have not yet unlocked, and probably the hardest mode of all called Doom Mode.

Plus there is coffee-break, enriched drama mode called Oshiete IKD-san!! (おしえて! IKDさん!!) which is a dialogue between illustrated characters and IKD, real-life suit dude-sensei. Just imagine a contented straight-laced 30-something Japanese dude who doesn't act like he should in a suit, telling you non-obvious techniques for massive damage and BURNING PASSION. I like it.

What I like even more is that there is video and godlike replays in this mode as well. It's not limited to the DS but there are some videos of the Arcade version as well. Cave is beckoning to come join them in the game center for a round of arcade shmup. It's grand.

The gallery mode, called EVAC report, has pseudo-Achievements/Trophies with really easy ones such as "Auto-bomb activated 100 times" and "changed key config" :-/ There are 113 in total and assemble 9 or 16 of them for a complete picture of a CG rendered boss. Sexy.

You can save three of your replays (!) and send them to friends via Wifi (!). I don't think it's Internet. Also there is a Kizuna mode and other Wifi modes that let your tag-team on bosses and/or score battle.

Rounding it out, the game saves a lot of statistics like average bomb rate and pickup multiplier, etc. Key config is 1 key to a function setting, so multiple keys can be set to a function.

Finally there's a pack in DVD so you can see Ketsui the arcade version in all its glory. It doesn't fit in a regular DS case, rather it's a special, non-standard box.

The game is 5000 yen, a high price for even a DS game. If you eat up shmups then you will be elated, amused, and sated by this DS port. It's very competent for what it has (WTF no zako sections as PROMISED in teaser trailers), but I wish Cave/Arika put this on a more visually endowed portable like the PSP.

No longer a game PC: Touhou Chireiden

(tags game, Windows, shmup, Touhou, failure)

So I got my copy of the latest Zun / Shanghai Alice "Touhou" series shmup, 東方地霊殿　～ Subterranean Animism (Touhou Chireiden: Subterranean Animism). A fresh store copy, not a copy from Comic Market 74 a month ago. Install and play. Or try to and fail, because my pad does not work. I try a bunch of stuff, including downloading the latest DirectX, but I finally fix it by making the pad the preferred device "for use with older programs". Oh.

I get my ass handed to me on level 2, normal. No stick control. I'm a gonna turn in.

Only 180 seconds worth of bullets: Geometry Wars 2 Deadline

(tags game, Xbox 360, shmup, Geometry Wars)

Progress is progress, however miniscule. I passed 25 million in Geometry Wars 2 "Deadline", yea me. I think I died once, so there has to be some way to squeeze out some more points.

(extracted 2008-08-31T11:16Z)

Live version again:

Only 180 seconds worth of bullets, really. Don't waste them on the wall.

Devs hate/like Xbox 360: FFXIII, Death Smiles

(tags game, Xbox 360, Final Fantasy, shmup)

Okay, so I know Square Enix likes the Xbox 360 because it has some games on it, some of them even exclusive (for now). But how about that the recent Final Fantasy XIII in Japan (anti-)confirmation published in an interview with FFXII director Motomu Toriyama by Dengeki Playstation magazine: "Absolutely No Final Fantasy Xbox 360 For Japan (says director/writer Toriyama)" (日本でのXbox 360版「FF XIII」の発売は絶対ありません（鳥山氏）) (thanks Kotaku).

By golly it makes me irritated, but then again, I only bought FF XII when it was used and cheap. Anyways, why should a director say the game is not coming out for a system? This is bad PR for Square Enix, because this kills anticipation. However this is good from a business point of view for SE, to force those Japanese gamers on the fence to commit to purchasing the PlayStation 3 version which is presumably on schedule. I bet he is saying, "Do not be confused, loyal Japanese gamers. The first version of FF XIII available will not be delayed (because the 360 version is a not yet created port) so that our financials won't be impacted."

(promo screen from FF XIII, reported by Gamespot Japan 2008-08-04)

I suppose it means I won't be meeting this lovely creature puppet any time soon. There's always the screenshot gallery, ha ha.

On the other hand, arcade shmup developer Cave's game Death Smiles (デススマイルズ) is being ported to the Xbox 360. No other platform is mentioned for now. (Thanks Famitsu) This is nice, except I never played this game and I'm not that much of a Cave fanboy. Still gothic lolita (though it doesn't matter in-game) and purple enemy bullets grab me more that that touch-screen/pad gimmick that is Otomedius.

I can almost taste it: Geometry Wars 2 Deadline

(tags game, Xbox 360, shmup, Geometry Wars)

My actual performance is very random, but once again after probably a hundred games I updated my score in Geometry Wars 2 "Deadline". 24.6 million, back in the top 500 after quickly snubbing out after only 5 days.

(extracted 2008-08-29T18:27Z)

I can almost see 25 million, w00t. Live version again:

I started culling my bad games. If I die 1 time in the first minute (of three), I start over. If I die 2 times in the first two minutes, I start over.

I also figured out that the first black hole shows up based on my performance. If it appears within the first 25 seconds, I'm on track for a high score. If not, well I must be slow on the points or the geom collecting.

Oh yeah, I memorized the stage music too. The music subtlety changes every 30 seconds, but I still look at the clock.

I really need to rest my right hand though. Frequent breaks, there's a pause button on the controller, dummy.

Geometry Wars 2 keep on boasting

(tags game, Xbox 360, shmup, Geometry Wars)

I don't know why I hesitated buying Geometry Wars 2. This is definately a meaty game totally worth the 800 XBLA (1000 yen) I put into it. "Summer of Arcade"? Hah. "Summer of GW".

I again updated one of my personal high scores in Geometry Wars 2. w00t. Ranked globally under 500 in "Deadline" with 23+ million points, at least for a little while.

(extracted 2008-08-24T17:15Z)

Comparing my results to "Evolved", I suppose I lack concentration skills. I really can't seem to go the distance in the latter mode.

Live version again:

I am also totally digging "Sequence" mode. Learning how to play this mode is helping in the other modes. I find that I shoot down baddies faster now.

I bet if I play "Waves", my peripheral vision skills will level up. I hate those fast amber ships.

And lately I have been feeling that other video games don't or won't give me the same satisfaction as GW2. I was at a used game shop today, which reminded me of all the other games I have laying around in my room. But I don't want to play them because time-to-satisfaction isn't within 15 minutes. I wonder when I'll be at the point where Carrie Fisher wrote, "Instant gratification takes too long."

Galaga fails, more GeomWars2

(tags game, Xbox 360, shmup, Galaga, Geometry Wars)

Um no, Galaga Legions on the Xbox 360 Live Arcade does not play like a shmup. It is heavy memorization-based, which I don't like in my gaming. Hm, and the demo seems to cut me off just when it gets exciting. No thanks.

My disappointment caused me to update one of my personal high scores in Geometry Wars 2. w00t. I am approaching the top 1000 in "Deadline".

(extracted 2008-08-21T16:13Z)

Live version again:

I want to get into the top 1000, and get 20 million.

Geometry Wars (1) Parting Shot

(tags game, Xbox 360, shmup, arena, Geometry Wars, Xbox Live)

Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved for the Xbox 360 was fun. Though I'm tops on my Friends list (I need more Friends though), I'm ranked 25000+ for top score. My best is about 1.4 million, at the point when things are just getting started.

Don't get too greedy. Geometry Wars
(screen shot from Steam/Windows XP version)

I was ranting and raving about Echoes about a year ago, and GW has this same feel of blasting till I can't avoid no more. I get into that state where my mind wanders while my eyes and hands frantically try to retain control, like in Parsec 47. I love that feeling.

If there's one thing I hate, it is that once my game is over and I restart from the beginning, it takes time to get back into the tempo. I gasp my final breath, hit the A button to start again, but this climb to 10,000 to get a better shot, and 100,000 to get overwhelming enemies takes too long (in actuality it takes about 2 minutes). While I'm on hating... The enemies I hate: The pink homing ones that break into 3. The C shaped homing ones that have a forward shield. The worms. I hate the worms, make me all claustrophobic and crap. The others I don't really like. I just hate them less.

This is my "parting shot" because I already bought Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 yesterday. I found my favorite mode, "Pacifism". Though the game plays somewhat different because of the new enemies and the shot spray. So GW1 still has that good feel.

Actually I just received my import game shipment, which includes Geometry Wars Galaxies for the DS. Heh. I recently (re-) considered buying it on Steam for my PC, as well. Ha Ha.

Braid and no 1942 joint strike

(tags game, Xbox 360, platformer, shmup)

Two online mainstream reviewers gave the recent 1200 XBLP (over?) priced game Braid the "best game" hype, so I at least gave the trial demo a shot. I love the background graphics. The music is grand. The puzzles are intriguing to say the least (somewhat "blow your mind"). But I'll save this platformer for another day.

And while trawling the XBLA for something interesting, I discovered that the already released 1942: Joint Strike was not available in the Japan region. Oh bummer.

Geometry Wars boxes me in

(tags game, Xbox 360, shmup, arena, Xbox Live, Geometry Wars)

After playing Geometry Wars 1 Trial over the last week, then playing the Geometry Wars 2 Trial "Deadline" only mode for the last couple of days, I finally bought GW1. I must admit it feels pretty crunky compared to GW2, but I must enjoy this classic. Ahem, I must enjoy this classic's Achievement Points as well, muhahah.

For the first 80 seconds, GW1 is a total bore, then the difficulty starts to pick up, to terrifying levels. Why is that.

I surprised myself by getting close to the top of my Friend's list in points on the first day of ownership. My aim is to get at least a million points.

In other GW news, I will purchase GW2 when September rolls around. And, I am interesting in importing GW: Galaxies for the DS. It's only 2600 yen now at Play-Asia. Order, done.

In the mood for Geometry Wars

(tags game, Xbox Live, shmup, arena, Geometry Wars)

I was going to buy Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 1 for the Xbox 360 Live Arcade last night, but since the sequel, Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2, will be coming out soon, I held off. I was wondering if GW1 will discounted after GW2 is released. Then again, its only 400 XBLP (500 yen). I've spent more (much more) on Idolm@ster virtual clothing.

Stick worth as much as a console: Otomedius

(tags game, Xbox 360, Otomedius, shmup)

Okay, I still haven't played this Otomedius shmup game, but did find it at the dingy arcade that had the Time Crisis 3 I used to play. And now it will get a proper port to the Xbox 360 with touch pad-enabled joystick. But the Hori-made joystick will cost 27000 yen! I think I should try it in the arcade first before I even consider getting another joystick. (Thanks Game Life).

So much for life goals: Ikaruga on XBLA

(tags game, shmup, Xbox 360, Ikaruga, failure)

Ikaruga on XBLA. Life is still the same as it was before, that is to say I still suck and I still don't play it. What am I aiming at? My Xbox Dashboard is still Ikaruga-themed, though. And I still scope the Ikaruga goods. I got a Ikaruga poster in the last couple of months which is the black on grey design that is the cover of the Gamecube US release. Too bad its just the Dreamcast version and not the Arcade (Naomi!) version. One online auction of the latter recently closed at around 8000 yen, whoa.

I've been sitting on these browser tabs for long enough:

Kotaku reported back in 2008-04-16 that "Top Rated Ikaruga Player [claims] 'XBLA Version is Horrible'". Well horrible for those experts with discerning senses but for dillantantes like me, I would never know the difference. The details are at Kingoro58k's blog, but the highlights are the list of changes, the EASY-C4-BOSS2 differences between DC and XBLA, the C3part1 homing bomb differences, and a clarification on "this is Ikaruga LOL".

And finally related to this shmuppin' on Xbox 360 is the news that Hori is coming out with a Real Arcade Pro . EX (joystick) for the Xbox 360. I don't use my DoA one for anything, so I won't buy this one. One Xbox friend will though, so I can at least scope it out. Perhaps he'll use it on his Windows machines, using these unofficial Xbox 360 controller drivers by Morii.

It's okay to buy, PAL? Grand Theft Auto IV

(tags game, Xbox 360, Grand Theft Auto, shmup, purchase, failure)

Today I ran out of stockpiled food so I headed out. I walked all the way to Kobe Mosaic/Harborland and now my feet and calves hurt. I intended to break in these new shoes but perhaps this was a little extreme.

So I wasn't expecting Grand Theft Auto IV for the Xbox 360 to be at the store, but there it was for 6000 yen. 20 plus copies. Yea Sofmap. Yea Kobe Sofmap. They almost never have foreign games at this location. Well, ok, they have Postal, sitting there looking unwanted.

Except it had the PAL designation! I wasn't sure that I could use a PAL game on my NTSC-J system, since PAL always meant PAL-only, or so I thought. So I left without it. Rather, I am committed to playing Vice City and San Andreas before this, ok ok ok ok. Acutally, there was Dark Sector for 4000 yen and also Raiden Fighters for 4000 yen but I passed on them as well.

Now researching this topic with the power of Internet search, I find Play Asia claims this "Asia" version is NTSC-J and PAL. Huh. I hope my legs are out of commission, at least long enough to not go back to the store during this vacation. Must resist.

No tate for you: Gigawing Generations

(tags game, shmup, PlayStation 2, failure)

A first release cover for the PS2 version of GigaWing Generations surfaced recently for about 2500 yen, so I took it home. I know from previous outings that GigaWing 1 and 2 were vertical scrolling with landscape orientation. I also know from the last time I saw GWG in the arcade that it was vertical scrolling with portrait orientation (tate). However, this port lacks the tate. Combined with the small screen I was playing it on, and my recent bout with sickness, I wasn't feeling the good gaming vibe.

Welcome the big numbers. I didn't pay attention to the music, despite the memory that GW2 had some pretty epic score.

What are you aiming at? Ikaruga on the XBLA

(tags game, Ikaruga, shmup, failure, bug, replay-data)

So I'm like totally excited that Ikaruga (斑鳩) is now out on Xbox Live. I downloaded it at 1900 local time, just an hour after it was released. I even bought the icon packs and theme, whoa fanboy.

I start tweaking it. Key controls are totally configurable, except for there's no rapid fire (not hold down button but the one stream many times a second button pushing emulation). The usual arcade control configuration is not the default here, because the Release is not Shot + Polarity. Also the HUD is customizable, so you can emulate the Gamecube version's vertical Absorb Bar. Oh and its all in English probably due to my system settings. This is my first time to understand the story text, actually.

I start playing it and I just collapse... I mean I totally forgot how to play this game! Ouch. I play it for an hour, switching from the regular controller to my joystick. I can't get past level 2, boo hoo. I think my best non-continue record was mid-way level 4, way back when. Unfortunately I'm feeling the old frustration kicking in. Must continue playing this game. Must.

Ikaruga plays like it should play. I didn't notice any anomalies and the dreaded PAL homing bug isn't here. Unfortunately, the menus are slow and the game asks you multiple times which storage device you want to use. WTF The menus are not the arcade experience or other home console emulations.

But take a look at this. I downloaded a replay from the top of the leaderboard, a 1CC with a respectable score of 19 million. However, starting from stage 4, there is a replay bug as if the ship's data is not recorded. The stage replay still continues, but the enemies aim their bullets at one spot slightly off screen. The picture above shows homing lasers homing onto nothing. Wut. Hopefully, only replays are the buggy. :-/

I need to fix my joystick so that it doesn't slide on my desk. And I need to fix my brain so that I can actually play this well. :0

Its coming in more ways than one: Ikaruga

(tags game, Ikaruga, shmup, Dreamcast, Xbox 360)

Ikaruga (斑鳩) seems to be gracing the Xbox 360 on Wednesday, April 9. Most of the described Achievements (thanks Kotaku) don't seem so difficult to me, though I pause to think that one of my gaming lifetime goals is worth 25 G. And I don't seem to be doing anything proactive to achieve it.

It also troubles me that I recently bought two Dreamcast copies through the mail. What do I need them for? :-p

Idolm@ster DLC sale part 4

(tags game, Xbox 360, cosplay, bishoujo, purchase, Idolmaster, shmup, Trigger Heart Exelica)

Another month, another Idolm@ster sale. Is this the last one? This time the goodies are mainly audio, although there is a slight price cut on the school swimsuit. This is the first month where there are no additions.

I'm a little late with this kind of post. Only 3 more days.

See my posts on the previous sales, part 1 and part 2 and part 3.

I have a slight dilemma this time. I have 2000 XBLA points right now, and this sale requires 3100 points. I am going to buy the two Idolm@ster Live For You XBLA cards, but those 7000 points won't be in my account in time for the sale.

Huh? Where's the dilemma? Get the 1400 point card. Done.

Going that route, I'll have to wait a little while to get next week's XBLA shmup game, Trigger Heart Exelica (トリガーハートエグゼリカ). I did bothered to get it on the Dreamcast almost one year ago, meh. I am one of the do-not-open Dreamcast game (shmup) fools. The review by racketboy makes me want to play it though.

But without the missile fratricide: Project Sylpheed

(tags game, Xbox 360, Project Sylpheed, shmup)

I am surprised but I really enjoyed playing Project Sylpheed. It makes me feel good flying in space. I completed it two more times. In game clock says I played for 11 hours, but I kept dying on some missions and auto-save didn't pick those up. I think the epiphany came when I figure out not to rely on my lock-on missiles for everything. Duh, right?

The part I enjoyed the most was unlocking all of the weapons. I saved up the 350_000 credits for one of the ultimate ones. A single mission give you about 8_000 creds, so it's gotta be good. :-) Imagine Raystorm's 12 lock homing laser, but with 60 locks and almost instantaneous lock-on time. Not only that, the beams are purple. Sweet. Except it doesn't do much damage but that's what your alt 2 and 3 weapons are for, right?

Other similar all-axis space action games that I've played are Descent (PC), Colony Wars (PS1), and Wing Commander (PC), and Star Raiders (Atari 2600 with keypad!) so I'm not really that experienced in this genre.

I checked online for any interesting PSy DLC and it seems there's a free "challenge" mission pack weighing 500 MB. Definately I'm going to try it. I'm also going to research the Achievement Points. I got 510 out of 1000 without much hassle. Also I collected the official wallpapers, nice.

Completed Project Slypheed: HIT HIT KILL HIT HIT HIT...

(tags game, Xbox 360, shmup, Project Sylpheed)

I returned to Project Slypheed because I didn't know how to proceed in Rez. Hurray for me for not leaving a game unfinished. Now that I figured out how to use my spacecraft (totally non-simulation-like), the game is a breeze. I even finished the story mode, double wow. Five, count 'em, 5 in-game hours. :-/

I started again with all accumulated items still in stock. It feels euphoric to wipe out Stage 1 baddies with overkill missiles. HIT HIT KILL HIT HIT HIT HIT HIT :-) Now I have enough development points to get that nice shiny bomb I've always wanted. Fire and forget kiss-'o-death is very nice, except I keep killing my wingman (woman) with it.

Why do game stories suck? PSy's story just does not deliver satisfaction. The trailer looks good, though. The unbalance between them is... typical, I suppose. Still I'm glad I played this game. 3D 360 degree space flying has got to be one of my dreams, and the beautiful background graphics make it worthwhile. Lovely lovely rocket trails.

I'm going to try to not buy any games before Idolm@ster Live for You comes out on the 2008-02-28 (two weeks). Perhaps Rez and PSy will keep me. But Burnout Paradise, Space Invaders Extreme for DS come out in one week. :-/

Alright, time to sleep but let's not forget to level up our guys in FFTA.

Rez nightmare

(tags game, Xbox 360, Rez, shmup)

I had a dream, nay, a nightmare about Rez. Something about not being able to shoot down the targets fast enough, over and over again. I woke up with a start, throwing off my covers, but that part of the dream wasn't about Rez. :-)

I'm still playing Rez HD, but now it seems like I'm just milking blood from a stone. I've unlocked all of the beyond forms and character forms, but still there is an annoying amount that is still locked. I'm back to square one trying to figure out what I need to do to unlock more. As far as I know, I don't get anything for doing direct assault with "invincibility" turned on.

I discovered the pretty visual effect that is "glare". "bloom" is good too, but sometimes I can't see the targets.

Oh wait there is a nightmare. Try completing the game without getting hit. I hate putting 30 minutes into a session and seeing it go down the drain on drive by bullet. Ugh.

Grinding Rez HD

(tags game, Rez, Xbox 360, shmup)

I've been through the Rez HD three times now. There's this Xbox 360 exclusive mode (or so I assume) called "direct assault", which as far as I can tell, is just the full game with faster (?) bullets and different background colors. Maybe the music is different, but I can't tell. There are six variations on this theme, and it takes about 60 minutes to complete a full game, so we're looking at some more hours at the Rez.

I have yet to try the three "lost area" levels. I wonder how to unlock the "beyond options".

I now put my "trance vibration" controller under my shirt. My abs need massaging.

Oh yeah I got a different text ending. But basically it was saying "Our princess is in another castle."

Rez HD, there is more I hope?

(tags Xbox 360, game, Rez, shmup)

Um, there's more to Rez HD, right? I beat this Xbox Live Arcade port the first time I played it, but of course, not without losing all my forms (i.e. down to my last life). I've never played Rez before, either.

800 Microsoft Live Points quickly gone. I opened my second controller (that Todd McFarlane Halo illustration and figure) but I couldn't figure out how to sync it to the console... Oh two red buttons to press, I got it. I actually bought another Sync and Play cable and battery (white does not match, dumb dumb) set used for 1280 yen so that I could get the Trance Vibration feeling. I put the second controller on my lap, fap fap. :-) Oh come on, where else do I put it? My shoulder? My chest or neck? Oh, my feet, that would work.

On my first go around the music didn't seem to sync with the sound effects. I must not know what to fire. I didn't feel any Rez "rhythm". Maybe next time I should turn it up. I wonder if I could turn up the Trance Vibration, because it felt like it was fading away in the higher levels. The cable was still securely connected, so I don't think it was a power draw problem.

Definately I'm keeping HD mode on. Original mode has black borders on all sides of my screen. Graphics are... well at least they don't make my eyes water. :-)

Suffice it to say I was not blown away, probably because I didn't die before seeing the credits. This requires more time and experimentation, I hope. There seems to be new stuff to explore and lots of other stuff unlocked. I already got 100 out of 200 Achievement points. I hope the fun starts soon.

Wuh? I won? Omega Five

(tags game, shmup, Xbox 360, Omega Five)

I was annoyed that people on my Friends list in Xbox Live were beating in total points in Omega Five. I felt meh on this game but played it again anyway. But today I amazed myself by beating the game on one credit. The 1CC with Ruby earns me a "Ruby Master" Achievement. Big woop. I guess that sentence there doesn't deserve a exclaimation point because if I can beat this game (I can't claim 1CC on anything), it must be pretty damn easy. :-/

So this is how it feels to memorize a game. Maybe with this feeling of "can-do" I can do 1CC on Gradius V, Ikaruga, or other shmups I feel are worthy to waste my time on. Yeah, don't push my luck. And yes, I'm at the top of my Friends list... for now, anyways. :-)

There are four different player models but I haven't yet unlocked the last one. I think I have to play Tempest (the player) in order to use it. The first unlocked player doesn't feel different from Ruby, so I'm confused. Oh I get it, if I get hit by a bullet I take more damage. Ouchie.

Okay, so I'm back to levelling up my guys and gals in FFTA.

Shooting this wall for multiplier

(tags game, shmup, Xbox 360, Omega Five)

Woops I credit feeded Omega Five today and its already "unlocked". The end boss was ridiculous but I finally got to see my Xbox 360 slow down.

I've figured out some of the scoring technique, which was pretty fun. Chaining enemy shots before times runs out is not very original, but it works. I was checking the scoreboards and there are people in the 6 million range. Whoa. Plus there's this "replay" thing, how does that work and why doesn't it work for me?

I have no idea how to use the two types of bombs, though. Is it necessary?

I am kinda satisfied with Omega Five, but I was expecting one more stage. Jeez. And I still haven't figured out why its called Omega Five. :-)

Now I'm going to bed at 22:15 to play some FFTA. I need to level up my guys and gals.

Meh on an orb: Omega Five

(tags shmup, Xbox 360, Omega Five)

Earlier today I was thinking, if Omega Five, the shmup Xbox Live game, was not released on Wednedsay night, I would either do some Rubik's Cube times or learn how to Git. Luckily it came out. :-)

The game demo wasn't finished auto-downloading, so I forced the downloaded. Insert screaming UT german boy here. I played the demo about 5 times or more. My first impression was that it was meh, eg it didn't feel very shmuppy. The announcer voice is horrendous. Please, get that Vic Viper pilot voice (also Ace Combat 5?), that would be pretty cool.

Actually I was pretty reluctant to purchase it because of the Robotron-like controls and the weird hit box, but I bought it anyway. Achievements FTW. The weapons were interesting enough, with a flamethrower and water (?) gun, R-Type like orb, and a bullet-slowing shield. It feels derivative, but I can't pick on any single influence. And even if it meshes stuff from Gradius or R-Type, it doesn't feel very new. :-(

Still OMG pretty graphics. I can't see the bullets hitting me. :-) A memorize-fest, do not fear the right hand side of your screen. :-) 60 minutes in I have unlocked 2 more credits for continuing. Big w00p.

This is not enough to tide over till Rez HD. I feel like I'm going to play this till the weekend, beat it by credit feeding it, then go back to playing FFTA on GBMicro.

Oh yeah, Rez using alternate controllers for vibration. That is inspired. Lucky I have another controller, that Halo 3 version with figure. I need to go buy another XBLA 3500 card. Hot diggity.

Shikigami no Shiro 3 seiyuu guessing

(tags game, shmup, seiyuu)

First off, in my last post about the seiyuu in Shikigami no Shiro 3, I was three for three. See, when you make a "guess", you make an "ess" out of "u" and "g". Uh huh. :-/

The game devs seem to replace the seiyuu every iteration. Stage 4 boss Yukari in SoS2 is voiced by Yuki Kaida (甲斐田ゆき) but I don't know her. Stage 1 boss Yukari in SoS3 is (as I guessed correctly) voiced by Ryoko Shintani (新谷良子), and all for the better.

==?

But I don't understand the story or why Yukari came back. All I know is that Shintani is lively and playful with the lines. Yes, sir, I like it. And I really like the character design of SoS3. Flowery, purple hair twin tails, I am in love. :-)

Running down the list of people I (should) know:

Megumi Toyoguchi (豊口めぐみ) voices Reika Kirishima. I can't seem to remember her but she has graced many of the recent animes I've watched, such as Claymore, Kareido Star and Ichigo 100%. I've probably seen her in one of those Ichigo 100% interviews. Reika is ditzy, so unfortunately that colors my perception of Toyoguchi.

Daisuke Kishio (岸尾 だいすけ) voices Koutarou Kuga, the character I usually select. I can't remember him either, but he's the ever crafty Suginami in D.C. Da Capo. I like his voice. I cannot make the connection between the Kuga voice and the Suginami voice, though.

Mamiko Noto (能登麻美子) voices the final boss Tsukiko Joshima. I had no trouble remembering this person, ha. (Ana in Ichigo Mashimaro, Ai Enma in Jikoku Shoujo) I only like her lines where she's not serious, e.g. the slapstick lines. Her regular lines just make me remember her Jikoku Shoujo line "ippen shinde miru?" ("Taste death, now" ugh I suck at trans). If that's what scary women are supposed to sound like in Japanese, lend me some more clues because I don't really get it.

And let me not forget Romi Park (朴璐美), voicing Mihee Kim. I know her from Princess Princess as the male lead Yuujirou Shihoutani and from Claymore as Teresa. I can remember her kanji name. I would like to hear more of her deep voice roles. Also she's one example of zainichi Korean that I can remember.

Playing SoS3 reminds me that I still haven't unboxed my Fumiko O.V. figurines (the game pack-in and the seperate one). I really like this long purple dress and matching hat motif.

Rather than regret not buying something, regret it after you buy it

(tags purchase, failure, game, Xbox 360, shmup)

Well, after writing that long whiny post about not buying stuff two days ago, I, in fact, stayed at home. I should proclaim stuff like that to Get Things Done. "I'm not going to Maui". :-)

I was playing and credit feeding Shikigami no Shiro 3 for the easy-peasy Achievement Points. And I caught up on my j1m0ne blog reading habit and caught this gem among all the other excellent posts:

23. "Rather than regret not buying something, regret it after you buy it"
(買わないで後悔するより、買ってから後悔しろ。)
-Does that not sound like the thoughts of many of us otaku after unwrapping figures that look retarded?

Yes it does. Indeed. Improving my personal finances against my otaku lifestyle is definately impedence mismatch.

Shh... My wallet doesn't know what this here credit card has been doing. Especially online. Especially auctions. :-)

Digging for treasure: Boulderdash and others

(tags game, Dual Screen, GameBoy Advance, Xbox 360, RPG, shmup, puzzle)

Yesterday, I completed Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time in about 21 hours in-game time. There's not much left to do in it because there are really no side quests except for collecting more items of dubious worth. There aren't any more interesting enemies to fight either, so there's no sense in leveling up.

I collected 166 beans from the map, and probably won 1 from a mini-game. I need 450 beans (10 + 20 + 30 + 40+ 50 + 60+ 70 + 80 + 90) to get all the "ultimate" badges, but the only way to get more beans is to play "pachinko/slot machine" at 5 beans a win, for the remaing 283. That's not fun. M&L is over for me.

So I tried out some other games. Gradius Generations for the GBA kills me with cheep death but I managed to get to level 3 without continuing. I was buzzing out of habit.

Atari Arcade Hits for the GBA, ugh I still suck at Tempest. Oh wait I have this on the DS, gotta try that some time.

Boulderdash EX for the GBA? It's surprisingly engaging as a puzzler. I got this game a long time ago to make up for missing the Apple II version. Classic mode sure looks ugly.

And I popped in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, despite my dread. Right now the battles are easier than I thought. I am having fun without worrying too much about positioning and Laws. I was even Judgement Point scraping. What do you mean I can only reap 10 JP from this nearly dead guy here? But the item changing and job system doesn't make much sense to me. Also the GBA's small screen gets in the way of figuring out which item/weapon is better. It sure it more convenient to play M&L. Still, 13 hours in-game, so the clock says. And the music reminds me of Final Fantasy XII, but of course FFTA came first.

And this morning was a little bit of Hexic HD (Xbox 360). Every time I get rid of a bomb I say "GTFO". It's stress relief.

All of this to resist the thought of new game purchases. Yeah right. I'm going out today and tomorrow. Let the money flow freely. :-)

x8 !!!! Shikigami no Shiro 3

(tags game, Xbox 360, shmup, telephone card)

I did succumb to new game purchase. I bought Shikigami no Shiro 3 for the Xbox 360 (式神の城3). I couldn't say no to zettai ryoiki on the telephone card. (A Gamers exclusive). What can I say, I miss playing shmups, and Ikaruga isn't coming out this month. Plus I was disappointed that Shikigami no Shiro 2 wasn't compatible with Xbox 360 . I want to scratch/buzz, man, real hard.

It's pretty fun if I stick with the beginner's character Kuga. Basically with Kuga I don't have to worry about shooting, just dodge and buzz for "x8" multiplier. I haven't credit feeded it but already I unlocked unlimited credits, probably playing it 40+ times already. I'm trying to get past level 3 without continuing. I don't think I will be unlocking the Achievements without continuing though. I keep saying to myself, just credit feed this run because I want to see the story, but then my untainted high score keeps on increasing, so I don't.

I like the character voices this time. I think voice for the shikigami Saya is Ayako Kawasumi (川澄綾子), excellent. I also like the enemy Yukari Horiguchi "version 2" which I think is Ryoko Shintani (新谷良子). She's so off the wall. There's also a randoseru (with a Bubble Bobble character imprinted on it?!) girl that is in a deep voice, but when in high voice sounds just like tsundere voice goddess Rie Kugimiya (釘宮理恵). I'll visit the official page later to get the real clue though.

The character graphics are excellent to my moe eyes, especially Yukari Horiguchi "version 2" china suit. If I press Y at a gallery page, the character says something random that goes with their expression. Nice.

There is a story, but this time the writers want to make it funny by breaking the fourth wall and making everything a gag. It's a change from the first two outings, which is fine by me. When I have tag-team "Dramatic battle", the two characters I pick have a short scenario dialogue just for them. In other words, there are 8 x 7 + 8 == 64 10 x 9 + 10 == 100 different dialogues! It's not very witty, not very serious, but light hearted.

But the Xbox controller is not very fun. I'm playing it by the D-pad. Well, I can almost get past level 3 with it, so it can't all be bad. But this particular controller seems to be iffy when pressing right. I haven't attributed a death to this yet, but it will come. And then the controller throwing will begin. I am somewhat desperate for a joystick or a better D-pad. Ugh, no joysticks available for under 1_0000 yen.

Right now I'm resting my hand because I was gripping the Xbox controller for too long. But I want to continue. No I mean I want to start the game from the beginning, but... ok, you know what I mean.

(edit: There are 10 characters to choose, not just 8.)

Putting off new game purchases? Mario & Luigi and Wipeout Pure

(tags game, Dual Screen, RPG, PlayStation Portable, racing)

On Thursday and Friday, I tried to see if that PlayStation Portable game Suzumiya Haruhi no Yakusoku (涼宮ハルヒの約束) was up for purchase, but it looks like it totally sold out at all the stores I know. And the inevitable Yahoo Auctions (search phrase:「涼宮ハルヒの約束」) shows a seller's frenzy. I'm not really in the mood for a text adventure which is why I didn't bother to pre-order, but the completist in me is saying that my DVD set needs a companion. (The voices, I hear them.)

I am still trying to put off game purchasing by playing games I have. Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time is still slow going because of my need to collect everything. It's... slow. But at least it should be more rewarding that trying to play Final Fantasy Tactics (GBA) or Final Fantasy 1 (PSP). Both of those just sounds like work to me.

And I woke up yesterday, playing WipeOut Pure. I haven't even gold-award cleared the Venom single races (Venom is the second step of five difficulty levels) so I spent some time on it. Sometimes it feels slow but that's only because I am trading paint with the walls. Still it feels pretty smooth when I don't.

My mom said yes to Peggle on the iPod, but I think I'll purchase it when I go back to work early next month. That is, if I don't want to play Rubik's Cube on the bus, which is unlikely.

Unstack: Gradius Portable, Loco Roco, Street Fighter Alpha

(tags game, PlayStation Portable, shmup, PlayStation 2, fighting, Xbox 360, racing)

I'm reinforcing the "no" to Patapon by unearthing my stacked games. First off, though, I forgot where I put the PSP stuff so it took much effort. I decided to try out Gradius Portable before getting serious with Loco Roco. I've never played Gradius 1-4 or Gaiden enough to remember what they are. I was hoping that the game I know as Life Force (also known as Salamander) was on it but this is a different series.

So I tried out 2 and 4. Ouch, don't get hit. PSP D-pad sucks, no I suck. What!? Who is selecting my ship upgrade path? Oh "semiauto" setting. Wait, didn't I see this flaming ball stage somewhere before? Uh, that's what I get for jumping in to the series at Gradius V. I cleared some stages but no game clear. 4 seems to be a little easier than 2. I was credit feeding though, because "you (I) need more practice".

Now that I think about it, I haven't seen those Moai heads yet. Isn't this Moai head/halo bullet game(s)?

Then I hooked up my PlayStation 2 to some power to play Street Fighter Alpha. Oh, this looks great! I have one of those clamshell monitors for the PS2 with the widescreen aspect ratio. Wide makes it feel like the arcade, but too bad the screen is only 7 inches diagonal. But the best part is that there seems to be no loading times, apart from the game selection screen. Thank you Capcom, thank you. I'm going to have to track down the other Street Fighter for PS2 games like 3 Third Strike and Hyper-Fighting. I would really like to see X-Men: Children of The Atom with no load times, though.

SFA 1 (also known as Street Fighter Zero) must be my favorite Street Fighter, because Guy has those fun moves and they do meaningful damage. Ah, this Logicool pad is servicable but unsatisfying. I need a 6 button D-pad or I need to break out my HRAP (Hori Real Action Pro arcade stick). Laziness wins out.

Though I like SFA 1, credit feeding against Vega (M. Bison) got tedious. "Psycho Crusher"... "nurui wa" I played some SFA 3 but I'm not familiar with it at all. There was a "Dramatic Battle" option which I tried for the first time today. Oh, 2 on 1 huh, not much of a fair fight but die die die Vega. :-)

And as far as Xbox is concerned, there was some Burnout news eariler this month but since my region is Japan I couldn't download the new demo. Bah, I wasn't in a racing mood anyway. PGR 4 for 3000 yen? "No".

Idolm@ster DLC sale 2 ends tomorrow though. Grudgingly "yes". :-/

It is coming this month, right? Ikaruga for Xbox 360

(tags game, shmup, Xbox 360, Ikaruga)

Maybe I was confused, but I thought that Ikaruga (斑鳩) is coming this month. I checked the official site, but there's no concrete release date. It says "coming this winter" so should I check my Xbox 360 on 12/21 (Winter Solstice)?

Ooh, wide screen.

I don't have wide screen, though.

Trading Figure Collection? TFC Shooting Game Historika

(tags shmup, figure, 200802)

Deeply nested among figures and robot models in the Miyazawa Model Convention 2007 Fall report part 3 by Moeyo Akibajin was this gem. "Trading Figure Collection Shooting Game Historika SP" (「TFC シューティングゲームヒストリカSP」, FIG-COL-0167) by Yujin Figure.

According to the ECsite AmiAmi, this collection includes ships from Gradius V , R-Type, Darius and Gradius 2. I was hoping that red one was a RayStorm ship but alas. Check out the detailed pictures at AmiAmi. Even the Options are shown prominently. Sweet.

Some "new" games: Touhou and The Warriors

(tags game, PlayStation Portable, Windows, shmup, beat-em-up)

I was bored going home Friday night so I made a quick stop into Tora no Ana. Hey I was in the neighborhood to pick up the Koge Donbo telephone card for 30 Gamers in-store points. I saw that Team Shanghai Alice's return to regular vertical shmups, Touhou Fuujinroku Mountain of Faith (東方風神録　～ Mountain of Faith) finally hit the stores, and though I wasn't planning on buying it, here I am already wanting to end this post to play it again.

(BTW, Melon Books had a meter-tall swiveled, stacked tower of the Touhou game cases. Store displays FTW.)

But unfortunately I was restless so when I retired from the computer last night, I started to play The Warriors for the PSP in bed. Wow I am impressed, even though I have to suppress the comparison to a GTA game. I must say I am uncomfortable when the NPCs tell me to steal this or beat this up or mug that, but when actually seeing it (in game) and doing it myself, I have no qualms. Its crazy. Perhaps breaking polygonal glass and ganking floating items or joint-locking a mark or kicking downed bodies to see the blood squirt out just doesn't seem real to me. I am visually desensitized.

Echoes strengthes my mouse hand

(tags game, Windows, shmup, freeware)

Retrogaming with Racketboy did a rare Windows game intro with "Featured Free Game: Echoes - Asteroids Meets Geometry Wars". Echoes is a fantastic Windows-based shmup-like game by Binary Zoo studios. I am totally in love with the control scheme: mouse + wasd movement keys.

This is how I spent most of my holiday:

This guy pictured above is a world of hurt.

Actually I bookmarked this game more than two months ago (on a Kotaku link, no less). It also has me thinking about buying Geometry Wars for the Windows XP on Steam, but after taking a look at demo clip, which is more about avoiding homing stuff instead of shmup-hopping inanimate asteroids, I will pass for now.

My best score as of now is 1.2 million on Normal, which seems to be ho-hum.

Ack! Excuse me while I try to get one more game in before I go to sleep.