Akai Katana Shin [JP X360 - 5/26/2011]

[EOJ]

Port announced. Coming sooner than we thought.

Features:
-16:9 mode
-Hi res visuals (even the backgrounds)
-New stage(s)
-Arcade port is included and in 4:3, but with hi res graphics
-New boss named Nazuna
-SE (7140 yen) and LE (9240 yen)
-First print of SE and LE will come with a voice DLC
-"Only on Xbox" logo is on the game, so no hope of a PS3 port for this one.

Promo vid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRrVTR0GbgM

Lots of pics from famitsu:
http://www.famitsu.com/news/201102/images/00040523/jI4bcVU1fn6uY61Xv56vGo9r92sKe97T.html

Official site:
http://www.cave.co.jp/gameonline/Xbox360/akaikatana/

This is notable as it is the first and only SH3 game to be completely redone in high resolution graphics. Previous games only had the sprites updated to high res, but this one also updates the backgrounds.



From this pic we can see there is an Arcade mode, a Shin mode, and a Score Attack option for each. Also, Novice mode is selectable by pressing the X button on the select screen, while Achievements can apparently be turned on or off on said screen with the press of the Y button (perhaps this just turns on or off an Achievement tracker, like in the Ketsui port?). From top to bottom the menus in the middle of that screen are:

1P play
Training
Leaderboards (literally "ranking")
Replays
Settings

Picture of the new boss Nazuna:


Pics courtesy of andriasang.com.

[Dude]

indeed i cant believe this the feed is down but damn. I was gonna post up but you beat me to it

13:17 -- We'll be able to sample the game today and some of the new systems.


here is hoping we get a vid of this.

[Dude]

[EOJ]

That looks pretty awesome.

[Dude]

I am stoked. I have gone deeper into cave games since the ports then when i owned 5 grand worth of pcbs lol. I wonder why...... Stoked for next week and this is icing on the cake for me.

[MikeNeko]

I wish i had non-adriasang-tagged pictures of akai katana... man do i HATE watermarking when they are only PR images provided by the editor.

Anyway, the sooner the better for me, no arcade would get a hori over here.

[drunkninja]

Looks cool.  I hope there's a proper arcade port in there though.

[Dude]

http://www.andriasang.com/e/galleries/2011/02/19/akai_katana_shin_screens/


Ballz it looks NICE!

[EOJ]

Updated first post with promo vid and official site links and info about the modes and options.

[Hive]

the music is crazy awesome! 

[EOJ]

The new boss's name is Nazuna.

[EOJ]

"Only on Xbox" logo is on the official website, so no hope of a PS3 port for this one.

[TonK]

Couldn't take it anymore.

Bought a complete J360 setup after this was announced.

I just can't justify spending all that money.

Gonna buy PCBs far and few now.

[EOJ]

I thought this might push you over the edge. Get DSIIX and DFK BL to tide you over. 

[EOJ]

One more thing: as of right now it appears the "limited ver" released on PCB in the fancy box is not in this port, which should cause it to remain quite the collector's item.

[Aisha]

Is it confirmed that the DLC voice add-on card will be packaged with first-print run copies of both the SE and LE? In a way, Andriasang's wording makes it seem like the DLC will be available for first-print copies of the LE only, but I might be reading into it a bit too much:

"13:17 -- The first run bonus version will be a serial code for downloading add-on voices, which are newly recorded."

[EOJ]

It's for both*. It's ALWAYS for both. Though some places only mention the LE.




*According to the official website.

[RGC]

Sweet. Thanks for the info EOJ.

[Aliquantic]

Thanks for the info I wonder about the plural in "new stages" when we've only seen one new boss... and at least the Arcade mode seems to be featured prominently this time, so it'll probably be treated better than DS2 Arcade!

[EOJ]

I think it's just one new stage, but as Japanese does not have a plural marker on nouns, we can't tell just yet.

[Aisha]

Thanks for clearing that up for me EOJ.

Looking forward to this one. The game's redone graphics in that PV look gorgeous.

[EOJ]

Loads of nice pics from famitsu.com:

http://www.famitsu.com/news/201102/images/00040523/jI4bcVU1fn6uY61Xv56vGo9r92sKe97T.html

[jyumi]

Oh wow picture overload.

All updated HD graphics, that's awesome. The main menu is beautifully done too.

[SuperPang]

This has the potential to be amazing what with the 16:9 HD visuals, new stage/s and most importantly the grunt to eliminate the slowdown that almost ruined it. Much like DS2, this looks like the game Cave wanted the arcade version to be.

My most anticipated port in a long time.

[HVL]

Not really hyped for the game, but hell, this is awesome news indeed.

Surprisingly early release, just in time for a 5 week vacation.

[trev1976]

Really looking forward to this

[Van_Artic]

best news from the event
i hope preorders open soon

[bcass]

I'll put money on the PCB LE mode being made availale as DLC at a later date.  There's no way they'll not milk that cow.

[Aliquantic]

I half-jokingly suggested that they might make the DLC Limited too (say only available for purchase at Cave events) so that its name doesn't become utterly meaningless after they started selling the PCB again... but I'm not so sure they'll do a DLC for limited though, given that it was supposed to be exclusive and just three months old, and they already have Shin mode with a few of the same tweaks apparently.

Oh, and can anyone venture a guess as to what "Arcade Score Attack" is? The obvious guess would be it's just the way to submit scores, but that would imply Shin mode doesn't get Score Attack

[SomeMist]

ouch. their games keep going up in price! $85 USD for the SE!? Or maybe that's just our money losing even more of its value.
Not that I won't pay it - the game is definitely worth it and instantly became my most anticipated of 2011 - but I was already struggling with the $70 dollar price tags, then the $80 dollar ones still better than having to try and come up with money for the PCB.

will be preordering as soon as they're put up. glad it's only a couple of months away too.