Espgaluda 2 Black Label [JP X360] - SE Region free, LE Region locked to Japan

[Joe T.]

EOJ, my apologies for getting caught up in the very thing I can no longer stand reading in every 360 port thread.

So did anyone get a chance to play Yagawa's mode at the festival (I'm assuming this is the arrange)?

[EOJ]

Yeah, I'd love to hear about arrange mode. I think GP said you could only play BL at the festival, but Asada originally said you'd be able to play all the modes on the port. Maybe they just decided to limit it to BL at the last minute.

[gsl]

In addition to Asada expressing dissatisfaction with the 360 "1,000,000 units sold should have been a transition point, but it became an end point"

Not to get too far off topic, but that's the first I think I've really heard of a Japanese developer expressing anything resembling a positive opinion towards the 360.  I know Itagaki and co. (or at least the pre-departure Team Ninja) were big on the 360 but for some reason what sticks in my mind was that was more the result of some spat with Sony than anything else (I could be crazy and way off, though).

That would have been an interesting question to hit them with at the talk event--why the 360 and not the PS3?  (Not that I'm complaining.)

[bcass]

I thought the reason they didn't initially go with the PS3 is because Sony were (at first) insisting on no 2D games on the platform, at least at retail (although this policy may now have changed).  My guess is that unless a 3rd party offers to port to the PS3, we'll never see any Cave stuff on that platform.

[GaijinPunch]

Well, the 360 in Japan has become a nitche machine... (think any Sega machine other than the Saturn, x3) so it's natural they're putting there games there.  However, it sucks b/c even a HUGE seller is only going to bring in other fans of a weird nitche... not any mainstream.  But, such is life.

[Hive]

Well, the 360 in Japan has become a nitche machine... (think any Sega machine other than the Saturn, x3) so it's natural they're putting there games there.  However, it sucks b/c even a HUGE seller is only going to bring in other fans of a weird nitche... not any mainstream.  But, such is life.

It reminds me of how fond some people are of the Dreamcast. Even though it didn't output a ton of games, there's a minority who cherish the experiences it brought.
I think the X360 is not so dissimilar in that regard, and Cave is paving the way for that as we speak.

[oldzkool]

Why does the whole region coding thing burn people up so much? Is it simply because they're all cheap asses?

For many, this is probably true. But to each their own. If they don't want to pay for a JP X360 to play JP exclusives like DDPDOJBL (and Ketsui EX), then that's their choice. It looks like Cave will be localizing some games (Deathsmiles, and maybe EIIBL too), so in the best case scenario (from the perspective of a USA X360 owner) the advantage of having a JP X360 in the future will likely be that you will be able to play the games months in advance. If you're in Europe or other territories outside of Japan other than the USA you pretty much need to get a JP X360 if you want to play all of Cave's games, however.

PS: Please keep the "I don't want to buy a JP X360 because blah blah blah" stuff out of this thread. It's been done ad nauseum.

No problems, no more talk of NOT wanting to buy a JP X360

My question is then, if I did the following:

* Buy NTSC-J X360 arcade (Play-Asia)
* Buy Genuine 250GB XBOX Hard Drive HDD For Xbox 360 (Ebay)
* Create a JP xbox live account (via 360 dashboard or internet)
* Buy JP/Asian microsoft points (Play-Asia)

Will there be any issues with purchasing DLC (particularly for the Cave titles) using MS points? Remember, this will all be happening from within a PAL locality (Australia).


P.S I did try to google search before posting as I realize this question is slightly off topic and more generic, but could not come to conclusive answer.

[EOJ]

Elixir's X360 guide should answer all your questions about Japanese X360 stuff:

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=23501&start=0

Everything you posted will work fine, though.

[StarCreator]

Depending on availability, NCSX is a great option for Japanese MS points, since they do same-day digital delivery instead of physically shipping you the card.  Got my first MS point charge through them and would gladly do it again once there's more stuff on the JP marketplace I want.

[evil_ash_xero]

Back on a good note: Arrange mode is pretty damn wicked.  I really like it, although I could only play w/ an Xbox360 controller.  There's a lot of risk vs. reward play that you'd expect from Ikeda.   It will definitely be an addition to the plain vanilla mode.

So, it's not like the super easy Futari Arrange Mode? I'm psyched for these arrange modes, but i'm always worried about what I got with Futari Arrange(EASY gameplay).

[Danmaku]

Any news concerning region freeness?

[oldzkool]

Elixir's X360 guide should answer all your questions about Japanese X360 stuff:

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=23501&start=0

Everything you posted will work fine, though.

Thanks, for that very useful link EOJ.

NTSC-J 360 with Death Smiles and Futari just received from PA, Galuda II pre-ordered 

Am I correct in assuming DOJ (and the future Ketsui port) don't have the 360 modes suited for HDTV's?

[bcass]

Correct, they do not have HD modes.

[oldzkool]

Correct, they do not have HD modes.

So do they look like the non 360 modes of Deathsmiles and Futari (I have bought a new 50" panasonic 1080p plasma, but not received it yet).

Has someone played 360 DOJ at 1080p?

[Monouchi]

At home I play on a 52" LCD HD tv.

DS arcade/Futari is ok.  
DS 360/Futari 360 mode is beautiful.
Havent tried DOJ yet...

[lmagus]

I'm pining right now wanting to know if I have to buy a J-360 because of this game or not 

[adverse]

You do.

[Hive]

I'm pining right now wanting to know if I have to buy a J-360 because of this game or not 

you do, and you should! 

[Nico87]

and must!

[Monouchi]

Huh? Where is it official that ESPII is region free?  

But YES, if you dont buy a J-360, you miss out on DS,DOJ,Ketsui and Daifukkatsu...yes yes, a DFK port is coming!   <-*dreaming*

[PsychoDiver]

Huh? Where is it official that ESPII is region free?  

But YES, if you dont buy a J-360, you miss out on DS,DOJ,Ketsui and Daifukkatsu...yes yes, a DFK port is coming!   <-*dreaming*

No news has been said of a region free release. Honestly with the release so close, I think they would have announced that fact by now if it were going to happen.

[krokounleashed]

I'm afraid you're right :/

[lmagus]

yeah, i'll end up doing it..

DS... Espgaluda... KETSUI.... WTF DFK?? I'd kill for that one 

My problem is the country I live, importing is outrageously expensive.

Ah well, I'm glad the games are being released =P

[EOJ]

According to the Cave blog, the master version is finished and they sent it to MS for authentication. All they have to do is "wait for the release date".

Makes this thread seem rather silly now.

[lmagus]

ah well, people try to get their hopes up. can't blame anyone for that.

having region free mushi futari made a lot of people happy.

[EOJ]

I just meant it's silly because the thread is still active.

Still the fact remains, no one outside of Cave or MS knows what Galuda 2's region coding is right now.

[EOJ]

Some type of confirmation that this is NOT region free? Maybe not, but still interesting.

http://mihara.sub.jp/top/blog/sb203/log/eid10431.html

Basically someone sent Mihara (of Arika, he doesn't work for Cave) an email in Japanese asking to make Galuda 2, Ketsui, and DDPDOJBL region free, and Mihara posted it on his blog. He writes in response "Sure, I'll go tell Asada (LAUGHS)". The laughing part implies he's basically just making fun of the guy.

[PsychoDiver]

I emailed them to make Deathsmiles region free, Asada actually wrote me an email back in English stating they would not. Anyone get a similar reply about Espgaluda 2?
Here was the actual email:

We are not planning to sell Deathsmiles to customers overseas at the moment

Sry regioning Japan only

We are extremely grateful that we have fans even in countries far away from Japan

thx


CAVE CO., LTD.
Producer
ASADA

[EOJ]

How long ago did you send that email? Back when DS was first released?

I emailed him in Japanese about the region code of Espgaluda II last week. I didn't ask for it to be region free, I just asked what it was. As of today, no reply.

[PsychoDiver]

I sent the email roughly two weeks before the release last year.