Xbox 360 region control

[gunni]

Hi all, i'm contemplating purchasing an Xbox 360 S to be able to play all the great cave shmups out for said console since i'm getting tired of the iphone ports haha

I'm worried however over whether i should buy an NTSC-U/C / PAL or NTSC-J device, i have a feeling the ntsc-j will offer me the most compatibility shmup wise but i'm worried i'm not realising all of the potential drawbacks, what type of console did you guys buy ?

[SuperPang]

Buy Japanese. The only drawbacks are that "Games on demand" won't work and you'll occasionally have to buy the Asian release for a region locked game, but they're $50 and in English anyway.

[gunni]

Will i still be able to buy games from the Xbox Live Arcade shop ? I feel this is rather important due to all of the shmup titles available there

[brentsg]

Yes

[pestilence]

Another drawback is if you want to play an english RPG you typically have to pay 40-50$ for an asian englih version when it's on sale locally for 20$

[TimingTripod40]

Another drawback is if you want to play an english RPG you typically have to pay 40-50$ for an asian englih version when it's on sale locally for 20$

Yeah, way less hassle if you wanna play a non-shmup. That and there's so much replay value just in Cave's region free games. Pretty much the only game I've played since March is Mushi Futari.

[gunni]

Thanks for all the helpful input guys.

I'm also wondering however, did the NA releases of the Deathsmiles 1/2 [X] console ports contain english translations of the dialogue? And if so i presume the JP versions did not amiright?

[TimingTripod40]

If you mean the voicework all the stuff in DS is still in Japanese. Also the DS2 release is completely untranslated.

[gunni]

Yeah that's what i was referring to thanks for the quick reply !

[Noiryt]

I was in the same situation, had to choose between a Japanese system or a PAL region system. I ended up going PAL region. I don't regret it. I have every Japanese region free release and every Rising Star Games release.
So I have..

Muchi Muchi Pork & Pink Sweets LE
Mushihimesama Futari 1.5 (Platinum version)
ESPGaluda II Black Label
Deathsmiles
Dodonpachi Resurrection
Akai Katana
Guwange (XBLA)

This is enough to be entertained forever. Having the domestic releases in English is nice. Supporting RSG is worthwhile, the more exposure of the genre to NA and Europe the better.
It is possible you may want to buy non-shmup games from your region as well.

Oh yeah I bought a HRAP EX-SE at the same time. Get a decent stick with the console.

[TimingTripod40]

Another drawback is if you want to play an english RPG you typically have to pay 40-50$ for an asian englih version when it's on sale locally for 20$

Yeah, way less hassle if you wanna play a non-shmup. That and there's so much replay value just in Cave's region free games. Pretty much the only game I've played since March is Mushi Futari.

I wrote this?  

It really just depends on what you want to do with your console. If your only plan is to play shmups hardcore then it's a no brainer to go with a Japanese console to have access to a few very nice unlocalized ports and to have access to much better leaderboards for games that do have a localized version. If you're just going to play casually and are eyeing a bunch of non-shmups US/PAL is the way to go.

Disagree on needing an arcade stick, though. The wireless 360 pad that come with the console is excellent.

[HVL]

Disagree on needing an arcade stick, though. The wireless 360 pad that come with the console is excellent.

I had to mod the d-pad's plastic ring because it wouldn't register down direction without unusual amount of force. Then some time after I smashed the controller to bits in a nerd rage, lol. Fuck that thing.

[TimingTripod40]

I had to mod the d-pad's plastic ring because it wouldn't register down direction without unusual amount of force. Then some time after I smashed the controller to bits in a nerd rage, lol. Fuck that thing.

Yeah, I have a similar problem with the right direction on mine. I know it's not perfect but it's easy to tick off the "You need an arcade stick" people by saying that it is.   But seriously despite whatever problems it might have I still say it's fine to use for shmups. I mean there's no way it wouldn't be when I've reached Futari Ultra's TLB several times with it and I know of one person (lionmanggg) who cleared the mode on it. It's a perfectly acceptable alternative for people who don't like using a stick or just don't feel like shelling out an extra $100. I still use it mainly because I still play much better on a slightly broken D-pad than I do on an arcade stick and because I'm not a fan of the cross-shaped design of Hori's alternative.

[Noiryt]

When I switched from pad to stick it took a while to adjust and play as well as I had been with the pad. Eventually I could play much better on a stick. The whole point in my opinion is to emulate the arcade experience, using a stick has increased my enjoyment of genre by a great deal. If you're shelling out the cash for the console and the expensive Cave titles an extra $100 isn't that significant. The stick completes the experience.

The standard 360 controller's d-pad is pretty bad. Compare it to a Saturn pad if you want to see what a good d-pad is like.

[TimingTripod40]

The whole point in my opinion is to emulate the arcade experience

It isn't to me. I'm just here to play some games. Also I'd love to know what it is about a stick that lets you play better. These aren't fighting games where you have to do all these weird rolling motions designed to be done on a stick. When I already have something that lets me input my directions quickly and accurately I see no benefit in learning to play well with a stick. Superplayers might use sticks most of the time (not always, the AKS DVD was done with a 360 pad) but that's mainly because they don't have much of a choice.

[Noiryt]

Ultimately I think people should use whichever control method they like the most, whichever makes the game most enjoyable. Highly skilled players on this forum seem to prefer sticks. I was reluctant to spend the money to get a stick without knowing for sure that I would grow to prefer it, I had to import it to the UK and it cost almost as much as the Xbox itself. It would be nice if people on the fence had the opportunity to try one out for a decent amount of time before purchasing.

I grew up playing on pads and only started using sticks 2-3 years ago, I understand the aversion and initially felt I would be better on a pad. I grew to like using a stick so much that I've since bought several for my various consoles. I'm a mediocre player and relatively new to STGs, it would be interesting to hear what more experienced players had to say.

[TimingTripod40]

Most of the current best players on here actually use something other than a stick. Just take a look at these players and what they've done recently

MrMonkeyMan (Saturn Pad) Ketsui Ura Type A 2-ALL
Prometheus (Keyboard) DOJ BL 1.5b
Naut (Keyboard) DOJ BL 2-ALL
Me (360 pad) Espgaluda 2 800m and Futari 1.5 Ultra 3b
Sapz (360 pad) Strikers 1999 1-miss 2-ALL and Mushi 1.0/Futari 1.5 Original no-miss

And there's probably several others I'm forgetting. Even guys like EOJ, who used to be a big PCB and arcade junkie have come around to the 360 pad recently. I pretty much agree with your first statement: play however you want.