Back.

Pretty abrupt time to stop posting huh? School got busy, I got sick, games came out, etc. I felt my time was better spent on those things than updating daily. Whatever, I'll try to get back into the swing of things.

First, I'd just like to update my list. I've:
Got my room cleaned!
Got my car cleaned!
Upgraded my computer!
Continued working on game concepts!
Got hair cut! (Camera broke lol so no pictures durp)
Got Tyler's Xbox modIMEAN cleaned.

How about a new Games that NEED to be on XBLA?

Phantasy Star Online NEEDS to be on XBLA. A few things would need to be cut in order to make it cost effective (no dedicated servers, just a simple "invite friends" type of deal would suffice). PSO to me is the perfect modern day reinvention of games like Gauntlet. A 4 player extravaganza where you kill tons of monsters and level up. Obviously it's a bit more RPG than Gauntlet, what with all the collecting rare loot, different weapons, etc. but it still fits the basic Gauntlet formula pretty closely...it certainly plays more like Gauntlet than it does the original Phantasy Star or modern MMO.

The achievements would be pretty sweet, like "Get an ultra rare weapon," "Level up your MAG all the way," "MAX LVL," "Beat every boss," "Beat the final boss by yourself," "Complete all side missions," stuff like that. I'd expect all the content from Episode 2 and Blue Burst to be available, either initially or as DLC, whatever.

PSO is one of my personal favorite Dreamcast games, and I think everyone should experience its greatness. PSU just doesn't live up to PSO (even though it isn't terrible by any stretch of the imagination).

Changing subjects now:

Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection came out. It had original achievements, but they were mostly easy/terrible and it had an average of less than 1 achievement per game. That's almost unforgivable...except NOW!

As it turns out, I guess Sega decided that for those crazy people that didn't want to buy SUGC for just one game, that they'd release most of the popular ones as stand alone XBLA titles so they can save $25 or whatever. I certainly doubt it was a way to please the admittedly small amount of people who are like me and wanted the "ultimate" release of our favorite oldschool games with online play, leaderboards, and achievements/trophies." I know I'm gonna rebuy at least a few of the games, namely:
Phantasy Star 1-4
Shining Force 1 and 2
Comix Zone
Sonic 3
Sonic and Knuckles (and its extended lock on games if they're made available)
Gain Ground
Decap Attack
Shinobi
Shinobi 3
Space Harrier

That's it. So, assuming they're all $5 a piece, I'll be spending $70 minimum, $80 max for the ultimate editions of my favorite oldschool Sega games...WORTH IT!

It goes without saying that any future announcement of games like Toejame and Earl Gunstar Heroes, Revenge of Shinobi, or Shadow Dancer are instant buys for me.

Alright, a bit of news on the XBLA front; Square-Enix has revealed not 1, not 2, but 3 new XBLA/PSN titles, 2 of which are completely new IPs (Yosumin was originally on DS). They've already released Crystal Defenders, and the Final Fantasy 4 sequel that was originally only on cell phone was accidentally announced a couple months back. That's a lot of XBLA/PSN/Wiiware love! It's only a matter of time before they announce classics like FF1-6, Chrono Trigger, and Einhander for our favorite downloadable services. A speedrun leaderboard for Final Fantasy? An achievement/trophy that shows that I beat Ruby or Emerald Weapon in FF7? I think I have a boner.

Also, a ton...A TON of shmups of all sorts (Classic, Forgotten Worlds style, Bullet Hell, Cute-em-up, etc.) have been announced, surprisingly enough, EXCLUSIVELY for Xbox 360. Some are for XBLA, others are full retail releases. Seems like developer Cave at the very least knows there's a sufficiently more hardcore market on the Xbox than seen on Playstation or Wii. Some may read that last sentence as some sort of fanboy insult, but no. REAL hardcore gamers own every system regardless, for that ONE game that they HAVE to have and that no one who actually owns that system has ever heard of. However, one would have to be exceptionally hardcore to actually relish in the difficulty of certain shmups. This niche market doesn't necessarily exist only on the Xbox 360, but people within this niche almost undoubtedly already own a 360 for these types of games. When comparing the overall amount of games in this particular genre, no amount of fanboyism is going to make it any less obvious that the 360 had this market cornered early on with classic games like Galaga and Xevious with new classics like Geometry Wars. Sure, the PS3 has a couple, namely Everyday Shooter and Super Stardust HD...but every other XBLA release is a shmup. Don't believe me? Here:
EXLUSIVE SHMUP releases:
XBLA:
Aces of the Galaxy
Aegis Wing
Alien Hominid HD
Assault Heroes
Assault Heroes 2
Every Extend Extra Extreme
Galaga Legions
Geometry Wars
Geometry Wars 2
Mutant Storm Empire
Mutant Storm Reloaded
Omega Five
Shred Nebula
Undertow
Asteroids
Centipede/Millipede
Contra
Super Contra
Metal Slug 3
Robotron
Rush 'n Attack
Smash TV
Tempest
Time Pilot
Crystal Quest
Rez HD
Ikaruga
R-Type Dimensions
Trigger Heart Exelica
PSN:
Super Stardust HD
Everyday Shooter
Blast Factor
Burn Zombie Burn!
Cash Guns Chaos
Söldner-X: Himmelsstürmer

I know I'm missing a couple from the PSN...but only a couple. Of course non-exclusives are missing; 1942 Joint Strike, Heavy Weapon, etc.

I mean, it's pretty obvious that the hardcore shooter enthusiast would pick the 360 before they picked the PS3. So it really isn't a surprise to see the Xbox 360 pick up a few exclusives in this particular genre. The funny thing is that this isn't even something Microsoft set out to do...it just sort of happened that way. They aren't paying off shmup developers for exclusives (they're spending all that money on RPGs), it's simply a matter of knowing where your audience is at.

*phew*With all that out of the way, I'm just annoyed that some of these recently announce shmups, Cave developed or otherwise, probably won't see a release outside of Japan. I'm ecstatic that we're getting the Raiden Fighters trilogy over here, but I doubt we'll see fare like the Gothic Lolita obsessed Death Smiles in the States anytime soon. That is VERY disheartening.

-AfroRyan
What is a shmup? A miserable pile of bullets. But enough talk, HAVE AT YOU!