You read the headline.
Cave has confirmed that the February 24th 2011 release of their Xbox 360 Combo pack containing both Muchi-Muchi Pork and Pink Sweets.
Western shooting game fans, take notice.
Here’s the YouTube trailer:
Game is available for pre-order NOW. Ships Feb.24th.
Preorder at Play-Asia!
Image credit: http://www.xbox360achievements.org
Just a little bragging here…
I’ve been a slacker on updating this page for a while, aside form the posts of the last few days.
Sorry.
I’ve been so caught up in actually PLAYING games though, AND FOR GOOD REASON….
Fever SOS PCB by CAVE (aka Dangun Feveron) running on my Sega Aero City cabinet:
And of course, Donpachi by Cave…again on the Aero Cabinet:
What with the recent XBLA release of Guwange, plus my two newest PCBs there has been a lot of CAVE love going on lately!
Now to get my hands on Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu…..
Here we have it (albeit a tad late on my part, sorry folks) – Cave’s magnificent feudal Japanese manic shooter : GUWANGE! Only 800 MSP on Xbox Live Arcade!
Anyone who reads my blog or knows me personally can attest to the fact that I am a big fan of the Japanese arcade game developer, CAVE. Some time ago Cave held a survey asking which one, of several of their back-catalogued games, the fans would like to see fully localized and released on XBLA. Among the choices were Progear, Dodonpachi, ESP Ra.De., and Dangun Feveron (aka Fever SOS).
Votes were cast and Guwange (pronounced GOO-WANG) came out the victor! On November 10th 2010 , Cave fans around the globe saw the interspectacular sight of Guwange available on XBLA – for ten bucks!
I encourage Cave fans in the USA to go ahead and drop a Hamilton on this game. Consider it your vote for more Cave games released in the US. Officially the only North American releases thus far have been Deathsmiles NA and Guwange.
What’s up next for Cave on XBLA?
The discomen collecting romp known as DANGUN FEVERON! Keep checking back for news on a release date, etc.
But back to Guwange…
I’m not going to bother reviewing this game…I’ve seen several game sites with the headline “REVIEW: Guwange is Bullet…HEAVEN?” – so I’ll spare you all the pun laden review. I’ll just say that the game is a faithful port and also incluses two interesting extra modes of play : Xbox360 Arrange Mode (basically a novice mode) and the PUNISHINGLY difficult “Blue Label” Mode. Blue labe mode is a port of a very rare, specially made version of the original Guwange arcade PCB. Originally given to the three highest scoring players at a Cave hosted event in Japan, the “Blue” version is an extremely tough arrange mode. Imagine walking without an umbrella in a severe rainstorm, where the rain is bullets…
Well, whether or not my attempt at evoking an image just now was successful or not, I digress…
How about some pictures and video? Now THAT’s what I’m talking about!
I’m happy to announce that I’ve added Sega Dreamcast Support to my current line of custom joysticks.
Recently there have been strides made in the decryption and understanding of the Dreamcast controller’s data dump. Toodles, who manufactures the PIC-processor based Cthulhu PCBs has introduced a beta version of the Cthulhu firmware, now adding support for our favorite Sega console.
Starting NOW, and into the future : ALL custom sticks that include a multiconsole Cthulhu board WILL work on Dreamcast.
This stick is a new-ish design.
In lieu of my standard style box, this stick has a gradient slope towards the player, and chamfered edges all around give it a “princess” or “gem” cut look.
Here’s the specs:
12×10″ case
Combo African Magoghany\White Poplar
6x Seimitsu 30mm buttons
3x Seimitsu 24mm Buttons
Seimitsu LS-40-01 joystick
Art by Hyung Taekim @ http://www.hyung-taekim.org
Hello Kitty!
J L F
6xSeimitsu 30mm
3xSeimitsu 24mm
RJ-45
White Feet
Cellphone pics for now. 🙂
It’s a present for my ninja kid…
Not wired up either, my kid is 2 she just acts like she’s playing 🙂
Pics:
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be devoting a series of posts to some of the biggest, most influential names in shooting games. From the commerical studios like Cave, Raizing, and Toaplan to the underground “doujun” developers like Siter Skain, Kenta Cho, Shanghai Alice (aka ZUN), and Platine Dispositif – we’ll try and cover both ends of the spectrum.
To whet your appetites, and to give a little history lesson, I’ve included below a wonderfully made series of videos I found on YouTube. This three part series covers the history of the shooting genre – there is a TON of good information included here and it gives everyone from hardcore players to casual readers of my blog an educated perspective on THIS author’s favorite gaming niche.
So without further ado – I’d like to present the three part documentary “The History of Shooting” masterfully created by GameOne Documentaire.
Enjoy!
In a surprising twist, I discovered today that the SNK Playmore developed King of Fighters spin off, KOF Sky Stage, is heading to the USA by way of Xbox LIVE Arcade.
Sky Stage is a vertical scrolling shooter, populated by some of SNK‘s most prolific characters including Mai, Kyo, Iori, Terry, Mai, Athena, and Kula – each with their own unique feel and shooting style.
Frankly, the game looks startlingly similar in style to the Shikigami no Shiro series (Castle of Shikigami in the West) – we’ll just have to wait and see if the similarities stop at the visual style or if this game has a heavy grazing mechanic like so many of the modern shooters do.
The game recieved an aracde only release in Japan to mediocre reviews, but to US shooter fans this news is great – as we don’t get a lot of shooters.
Xbox 360 owners can, aparrently, get hold of this game Fall 2010 – most likely following the release of King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match on XBLA.
This news comes courtesy of Siliconera, and you can read their write-up here.
More news, including a firm release date, will follow as it becomes available.
As usual, here’s a few screens:
Hey everyone, I just wanted to take a moment to tell you about the company that I buy all my arcade parts from : LIZARDLICK.COM
Lizard Lick is an online retailer of arcade parts and accessories. I’ve been using them exclusively for some time now (almost a year). I’ve had nothing but good experiences when purchasing parts and thought I’d share a little with you.
Lets talk about their selection.
LizardLick stocks ALL the popular brands of arcade parts including joysticks and buttons by Sanwa, Seimitsu, Happ, IL, Suzo and Yenox. Not only do they stock the Most popular models, but also some of the more unique stuff too – such as : Sanwa Mesh-ball ball tops, Seimitsu Skeleton buttons, Yenox leafswitch buttons, the Happ “Perfect-360” digital optical joystick, reproduction Astro City control panels, and more.
LizardLick.com also has you covered if you are completely new to the arcade scene, maybe you’re not even an enthusiast – maybe you just want to buy a pre-made multi-game arcade cabinet or cocktail cabinet. No problem! Lizard Lick stocks several versions of their Multigame Cabinets which come fully working and include the cabinet itself, multigame JAMMA board, joysticks, buttons, wiring, coindoor, monitor, and artwork including light up marquees.
On top of everything, LizardLick also sells specialty controller boards by Toodles. What’s that? Well, Toodles (a member of Shoryuken.com) created a circuit board that successfully emulates Playstation 1 -2- 3, Xbox, Gamecube, Wii, NES, SNES, and TurboGrafx 16 – ALL ON ONE SMALL BOARD. These are the boards that I use in my custom joysticks. They are called “Cthulhu“. The secret is out!
Recently they have redesigned their site, and it looks fantastic. It’s also worth noting that they dropped the price on some of their most popular joysticks : the Sanwa JLF series and the Seimitsu LS-32 series are priced at $22.95 and $17.95 respectively.
SO let’s recap: LizardLick.COM has fantastic selection, great prices, reasonable shipping, and will most likely have exactly what you need. Not to mention they are located in the United States – no long delivery times or insane shipping costs (I always choose USPS Priority Flat Rate and stuff arrives on the third business day after ordering).
What are you waiting for – GO GO GO!
Lizard Lick Amusements
Phone: 919-810-9689
(the above image is copyright LizardLick Amusements – and used without permission. This is an unsolicited review. These are my opinions, and in no way were solicited by LizardLick)
Darius – a mainstay of the shooting genre has been around for years and spawned several sequel on a number of platforms.
The frantic gameplay, unique fish-themed enemy types, creative weapon upgrade systems, and challenging stage progression has kept players at home and in the arcades pressing “START” for many years.
We mustn’t forget where Darius‘ roots are, and that is in the arcades.
Now in 2010, arcade gamers in Japan get to play the newest entry in the Darius series : Darius Burst.
In the past Darius has set itself apart from other horizontal scrolling shooters by introducing a revolutionary dual screen, ultra-wide display – virtually unheard of in the shooting genre. Now with Darius Burst, developer Taito has returned to the ultra-wide presentation…this time in HD.
Here is a shot of the game in action (keep in mind the image has been shrunk to fit my layout)
(Click the image above for the FULL SIZE)
This is fantastic news for fans of the series. Unfortunately, this is Japan only, BUT enterprising PSP owners can get a portable copy of the game as the PSP has no region coding on UMDs. I’ve personally played the PSP version and it’s awesome, taking full advantage of the widescreen display.
Will we ever see this in the US? Unlikely, but it’s great to see innovation in the arcades in the form of Darius Burst – in all of it’s ultra-wide HD glory.
Matskat's Custom Arcade Sticks 