Ketsui DS (w/ superplay DVD)

[EOJ]

Amazing news, but on Mihara's latest blog entry:

http://mihara.sub.jp/top/blog/sb203/log/eid1322.html

He says Arika will be including a Ketsui (arcade) superplay DVD with Ketsui DS. Apparently there was a survey of what gamers wanted the most, and the Ketsui DVD was #1 (a soundtrack CD was #2), due to it being sold out and very expensive these days. So Mihara is getting SPS to print up the DVD and will package it with Ketsui DS as a freebie. Not that big of a surprise considering both previous Arika ports came with a superplay DVD as well, but it is sorta weird they're including a superplay of the Arcade game with the DS remix version.

Still no word on WHEN Ketsui DS will be released, but this news seems to solidify the fact that it is coming out.

[Plasmo]

Awesome news. I dont like Ketsui DS (i dont even  have a DS) but im going to buy this only for the superplay dvd. i really hope the scores are over 500mill.

[richy13]

this is great news cant wait to get it

[Shalashaska]

This is a new DVD or is it the same as the INH one?

[EOJ]

Sounds like it's a new one. I doubt they could get INH to give them their superplay DVD anyway (well they probably could, but it would be ridiculously expensive)

[GaijinPunch]

Why INH doesn't print more is beyond me.

[MX7]

Great news! Hopefully this means the packaging will be pretty interesting too, to accomodate the DVD and the game card. Has this been done before on DS? The packaging tends to be fairly homogenous. Plastic clam-shell boxes are so boring.

Also, I would have prefered the OST to the superplay DVD, but oh well.

[Geezer]

This should bump up the sales a bit. I'd imagine there's a few people like myself who don't own a DS but will pick up the package. Hopefully a date will be announce at Cave fest

SPS=The guys who had a role in PS1 Dodonpachi?

[drboom]

Is the DS region specific? I'd love to pick this up (for giggles).

[EOJ]

No, DS is region free (just like the PSP), so anyone can buy this.

[gsl]

Personally, I would have been a bit more happy with the inclusion of a soundtrack CD, as that's something a bit more accessable to people who might not have a Ketsui machine/board handy (thinking for when I go back home).  Superplay DVDs are great and all, but usually when I watch one I'm gripped by the impulse to go out and try to duplicate the scoring techniques on my own.

Still, the announcement of a DVD with the package DOES really go a long way to suggest that the release is more of a definite thing than before, which gives me a fair bit of hope.

[EOJ]

A nice holiday treat from Mihara in his Christmas blog entry:

http://mihara.sub.jp/top/blog/sb203/mihara.cgi?day=20071225

He says if he can get some stuff in order before the Cave fest on 12/30, he will show the latest version of Ketsui DS in a brand new video at the festival.

[gsl]

Any word on if they'll have the Doom battle playable again for folks in line?

[EOJ]

Nope. Mihara only mentioned the video, not a playable version. But who knows.

[EOJ]

Bad news, Mihara has cancelled the video for the festival, apparently due to lack of time:

http://mihara.sub.jp/top/blog/sb203/mihara.cgi?day=20071226

So, looks like we'll have to wait a bit longer for another Ketsui DS update.

[GaijinPunch]

How will we ever live?

[EOJ]

Mihara says he'll likely reveal the newest rev and info about Ketsui DS at next month's Ketsui meet. Also,
info on the bundled superplay DVD will be revealed. For those that don't know, the player is SPS, who holds the WR in both the Tsuujou and Ura loops (he got 517mil
in the Ura loop).  

[gsl]

What Ketsui meet?  And where?  Invite only?  Nihonjin only?

[EOJ]

It's the third ketsui meet, at a place called 'Gamer's Lounge'. I don't know much more about it than that.
They seem to have one every 6 months or so.

[EOJ]

Mihara's most recent blog post today once again talks about new Ketsui DS info. Here's a summary:

Basically he says progress is steadily trickling in and he is currently in the stage of working on "the parts that will make it a most delicious danmaku", but his main projects are cutting into his time, making it hard to make significant progress.

He is making several difficulty settings for the game. The hardest difficulty will be available to select after you clear it on the default difficulty, while the easiest difficulty will be "clearable for the young women office workers at (our) company".

[gsl]

The fact that the project essentially has "spare time hobby" status really has me concerned with regards to its possible release.  Aside from the initial boss rush teaser vid, there's been nothing really 'official' from Arika whatsoever, and all information comes either from Mihara's blog or various Cave events; it's a bit concerning that a project aimed at eventual commercial sale has thus far been completely absent from the usual industry information channels.  If it weren't for the fact that it's Mihara (is Arika even officially behind the development at this point?) working on the game, I'd say the whole thing smacks of an overly ambitious homebrew project.  I'd love for it to be realized in an eventual release, but every new news tidbit I hear has me more and more convinced it'll eventually just fade away.  I'm certainly willing to be pleasantly surprised, though.

[EOJ]

Alright, Mihara has posted the latest details about Ketsui Meet 3:

Location: Tokyo Food Theater 5+1, Gamer's Lounge (www.foodtheater.jp)

Time: 7pm-9pm

Fee: Free, but you sorta have to buy some food/drink from the restaurant.

Description: A maid will personally download Ketsui DS to your DS. You will be able to enjoy a 1 on 1 fight with Doom. Each time you beat him, the successive loops will get more and more brutal. Mihara will also introduce the new "beginner's mode" to the group. Finally, an amatuer (from the audience) and Ikeda will display the new versus mode by playing against each other. It will be broadcast live on ustream.tv. You will be able to post questions and comments to Ikeda in real time, and he will answer them live.

Sounds interesting. Not sure if anyone here will be able to go. Mihara said the first meet had 150 people, the second one had 70. But he expects more will be able to attend this time.

[GaijinPunch]

I wish these people would hit enlightenment and realize how amazingly inconvenient Akihabara is for the gaming population that actually has a social life (other than gaming).

[gsl]

GP, are you going to try and make it?  I'm catching a night bus to Nagoya out of Shinjuku around 10:30 or so, so I figure I might as well head into Tokyo early and catch the event if possible.  I figure I can make it back from Akihabara in an hour's time.

[drboom]

So is this a boss rush only??!!?

[Plasmo]

Of course it is.
What did you expect? The full game lol?

[gsl]

Nobody really knows for sure.  The downloadable demo featured at the fall Cave Matsuri was just a battle against Doom with a 24-hour limit before the demo expired; it looks like there will be a variation on this at the Ketsui meet Saturday.  At the fall event they had a demo rig set up with a more playable version of the game; I didn't get a chance to try it but it looked to be similar to the main Arika promo video, which did indeed feature only boss battles.  There's been no official word yet, though, on whether it'll simply be a boss rush title or not; I would hazard to guess no, as 'boss rush' is more of an extra game mode than the theme for a standalone title, but we'll see more on Saturday, I guess.

[drboom]

Of course it is.
What did you expect? The full game lol?

Nope, but I was certainly hopeful for some fine stage action - even if iit was a severely dumbed down version of the original.

[Plasmo]

I would hazard to guess no, as 'boss rush' is more of an extra game mode than the theme for a standalone title, but we'll see more on Saturday, I guess.

I'd guess yes, there's a reason why it's called Death Label.

[gsl]

I don't see what the title really has to do with anything.  Looking at it from a marketing standpoint, a simple boss-rush game doesn't have a whole lot of longevity, even if you do spice it up with various difficulties; it's not to say that they WON'T do it, it just doesn't make much sense for a commercial venture.  Plus there was the comment Mihara made at the fall Matsuri to the effect of, they were still figuring out how to go about the game and trying to find a way to fit it on a normal DS cart without having to get custom made carts with giant amounts of storage.  If they were just sticking to the boss-only formula, I'm not sure what the concern would be about.  

I'm not saying it WON'T turn out to be designed around only boss encounters, it's just that we really don't have anything concrete to make that assumption on, especially considering the last anybody's seen of the game was a good five months ago.