DOJ-BL & Ketsui XBox360 Port (Update)

I didn't mean to come across as an Xbox360-hating bigot in the last post (even though I am, but that's mainly because the thought of spending $400 to import a system with the worry that it will break down without any warranty coverage is just fucking unbelievable for any shooting game player to go through). **EDIT: I just found out recently that this only applies to Europe. If you're in the US, then Microsoft will fix your imported 360!

I believe the best move Cave, 5PB, or whoever the hell is in charge can do is release those ports on XBox Live Arcade. How do I know? I don't. I just got it out of gleaming the boards for hours. It just sounds so much better that way in my opinion. And does my opinion matter? Maybe it does, maybe it does not. Most likely not.

All I know is, people need to stop hating and start playing instead. The best way is to make things more convenient and available to everyone in the most efficient manner. The community is so divided with the have-nots, the elites, and the collectors, that it is just depressing to watch. No wonder why I get this sinking feeling in my stomach that this genre is dying. When you're this divided, and it comes to the point where you have to spend thousands on a single game, how can you get more people interested?

Anyway, what the hell am I saying and what do I know. All I do is sit at home and play Ketsui, hoping there are more people out there who can share the same experience I can while helping one another improve and get better without all these seething emotions of jealousy and superiority running rampant across this hobby we like to do for fun.

All of the commotion on the boards are fun to read though.

**There are talks of getting a petition going around to make the port Region-free over at the cave-stg boards and Shmups. It is not set in stone yet, but if someone who can speak Japanese can organize it, then it'll happen a lot sooner. Check it out!

DOJ-BL & Ketsui to be Ported to the XBOX 360

So word is out on the boards (shmups and cave-stg) that Ketsui and Dodonpachi DAI-OU-JOU Black Label are going to be ported to the Xbox 360 (as discs, not through XBLA). This is great news for those looking for a chance to play Ketsui without having to pay through the nose for the PCB (like me). I love the idea that more people will have a chance to play these games. The bad news so far?

-It's only available in Japan. This means if you buy a Japanese XBox and you get those rings of death, the warranty will not cover your ass, and you'll have to buy a brand new one if that happens. **EDIT: I just found out recently that this only applies to Europe. If you're in the US, then Microsoft will fix your imported 360!

-No screen-tilting TATE mode is confirmed yet. Every quality shooter port MUST have this option. It's like having topless dancers at strip clubs.

-The company doing the porting is not Arika, who did the excellent DOJ port for the PS2. It's some weird obscure company called 5PB, which seems as though their only experience so far has been dating sims.

So far, it isn't looking very good. I fucking HATE the Xbox360 anyway. I hate it mainly because it is a shitty system that breaks down after a couple months of use. Also, its D-pad sucks, the damn thing is made by Microsoft, and it will force me to buy a new TV, therefore turning me into a fanatical HD graphics whore if I ever get one. As crappily-built the X360 is, I do think it has a lot of good games on it, even though 99% of them aren't really my cup of tea anymore.

Suppose the ports turn out to be great, and this then leads them to porting new Cave games like Futari and Deathsmiles--and in addition to that, somebody finds a way to play them on a domestic Xbox360, then GREAT, maybe I might even think of getting one. But even then, I'd have to consider the idea of getting an HDTV, which can never match the same feeling of playing it on a lo-res cab, while looking for another HRAP joystick for the x360...yeah. That sounds like a huge pain in the ass for me. And like hell would I turn my newly-acquired 50" plasma on its side to play it in TATE. Kind of a catch-22 there with TATE and HD's.

There are some people speculating that a panic selling of Ketsui PCBs are going to happen because of this, and it'll drive the price of the PCB down. What do I think about all of this? It seems unlikely, and plus, I don't care. No matter what happens, I'm holding on to my board. I have no regrets for spending that much on Ketsui so I could play it on a setup that it was meant to be played on. That, and the fact that I actually own it justified the price for me.

**Pictures above are scans EOJ posted from the cave-stg boards.

Dodonpachi DOJ: #2

New High Score: 54.810.500 - Stage 5 - Type A - Exy

This was a lucky run. I somehow managed to grow some balls and gave DOJ what it wanted and pulled off some high chains on the first level. I broke 10 million on the first stage, which is definitely a personal best, and I got the extend. Usually, I finish Stage 1 with just 5-6 million, and then I'd get the extend towards the end of Stage 2. I notice when you chain well right off the bat, it is then so much easier to score higher after that. I guess there is a "no shit" attached to that.

For Stage 3-4, it was a survival fest. I have no idea how I managed to get past Stage 4 and its boss, since I never practice Stage 4. I honestly believe that the fourth stage is much easier than the third, because I absolutely hate those propeller ships from Stage 3 that fill the screen with bullets, forcing me into a corner so I can disgrace myself with a panic bomb.

Dodonpachi DOJ: #1

New High Score: 31.484.490 - Stage 4 - Type A - Exy

Since I have both Ketsui and DOJ hooked up at the same time in my cab, I've been putting in a few runs in between sessions with Ketsui. What I do is credit-feed through Ketsui to practice the later stages until I "beat it", and as the credits role, I'll switch to DOJ and play one run. That way, I don't have to waste time sitting there waiting for Ketsui to be ready again since you can't skip the ending. Or, if I get tired of Ketsui, I'll play DOJ. And vice-versa.

So out of the blue one day, I manage to break 31 million, which is my highest score yet...and it isn't much at all, given a respectable Japanese score is over 1 billion points.

Scoring well in DOJ is so reliant on chaining, that merely surviving is not enough. You could pull the craziest dodging to keep yourself alive for two loops, yet you can never leave an impression on DOJ unless you can chain properly. It's like confidence and women. Sure, you can work hard to impress her with a nice car, a nice job, getting skilled and knowledgeable in everything women are into, but if you're either insecure or lack the confidence to take the initiative, you could be pulling rabbits out of hats or hoisting elephants on your shoulders, and she won't even give you a second glance.

Same goes for DOJ. If you can't chain worth shit, your score isn't going to get anywhere. That's basically where I am with this game. I've been playing on and off for a couple years, and while my dodging has improved tremendously over the years, I still cannot consistently chain the beginning of the first stage. It's like, "LOOK, DOJ! I can make it past two bullet-ridden stages without losing any lives AND I've used all my Hypers! I've even used them on the bosses. Plus, I got to Stage 4! Aren't you proud of me?!"

"Oh, that's nice. What's your highest chain?"

"Um, 503."

"No score for you!" (Throws its head back and laughs, walking away.)

It is frustrating, and I hate it. But somehow, I just keep crawling back to the game because I can't get enough of this punishment. I have such a masochistic relationship with this game, and yet, I love it, even when it kicks my ass 100% of the time.

Dodonpachi DAI-OU-JOU (Cave/AMI, 2002)

Death is a natural part of life. Just as there is birth, there is also death waiting at the very end of the bargain. Nothing lasts forever, and everything comes to an end. It is the way nature works. Why not accept the idea and embrace it? Because once we have accepted death as a natural part of life, then we have also made amends with another natural part of life as well: with living.

The subtitle of Cave's third sequel to their flagship DoDonPachi series reads "Dai-Ou-Jou", which translates to "die a natural death" or "peaceful death". I see it this way: DDP-DOJ is a game that is so hard, that you better get used to the idea of dying if you want to enjoy it. The rule can be applied to every other shooter, but DOJ embraces this idea with its title, along with its beautifully poetic poster art, which stands with me as one of the greatest videogame covers ever made.

Contrary to what I mentioned about its difficulty, the game itself isn't that impossibly hard; it is playing it the way it wants you to play it (for score), which makes it incredibly difficult, and that is through its chaining system while dealing with its rank. That, in addition to filling the entire screen with bullets the moment you enter Stage 1, a more difficult second loop, and a true last boss with bullet patterns that will wring out the acid from your stomach.

A lot of people point out that this game is evil for many reasons. One reason is the rank system. Whenever you're surviving and scoring well at the same time, it will "reward" you with a special power-up known as a "Hyper", which you can activate by pressing the bomb button.

Collecting and utilizing these Hypers will grant your ship some extreme firepower that could rival the power of the Sun, causing you to rip through enemies while blowing your chain counter through the roof. While using a Hyper during a boss, though, the bullets speed up, increasing your chances of death. So doing this while facing a boss can be an insane decision akin to suicide, but the rewards for scoring will be immense. Plus, it provides for an exhilarating experience for dodging bullets.

As though that weren't enough, each time you use a Hyper, the entire game gets incrementally harder, or ranks up, and bullets will travel faster, but it will all cancel out when you die or use a bomb, making the game manageable until you start kicking ass again.

But this is just the beginning. I haven't even gotten started on the chaining. Chaining is the root of its scoring system.

So even after you begin to make dramatic improvements at DOJ, it still feels as though the game remains a step ahead of you at all times, and you don't feel like you can handle the game until you've spent some serious time with it. Thinking about it this way, I could devote my entire life mastering DOJ. I've played it on and off for years since I got the PS2 port, and I still cannot chain the first section of Stage 1 consistently. Maybe my brain isn't wired to intuitively chain enemies or something, but all I know is, if I wanted to, I would have to spend a lot of time getting the hang of it before I got anywhere.

But that isn't why I play DOJ (yet, at least). I love playing it just to see how far I can make it or to see if I can finally nail a chain for a stage. It's not a game I'd like to exclusively devote to, but it is great to play in small doses especially after playing Ketsui, since it deals a lot of punishing frustration, but I always come back to it. I keep my expectations low when I approach DOJ, because I really do believe it takes a masochistic streak to come back to it everyday to get your ass handed to you (but then again, don't all shooters do that?). Despite that, I love the way the game feels. The Type-A ship (paired with Exy) is neither too fast nor too slow for me, and switching from rapid C shot to button A laser feels so satisfyingly responsive, that I can only blame myself if I break a chain or die that peaceful death.

Sometimes I wonder about how popular the DOJ PCB would have been if Arika never ported it to the PS2. Would it have surpassed the ludicrous price of a Ketsui kit or even the relatively insane price of a bare Guwange box (which went for hundreds a while back)? I own both the port and the PCB, so I can attest that I love the game, despite not being good at it at all, but I do wonder.