In the August 25-31 2008 issue of Famitsu Weekly, Cave announced a Xbox 360 port of Death Smiles.

New game modes include a Xbox 360 mode, and Ver 1.1 mode. In Ver 1.1 mode, players can independently controls familiar, via the XBox 360 controller. Lock shot, powerup shot are located on different buttons. Players can also adjust screen brightness, background frame, game screen position and zoom.

It has downloadable contents, such as the Mega Black Label features from the arcade version. The Limited edition of Death Smiles includes Manabu Namiki Selection Deathsmiles Premium Arrange Album soundtrack CD. Also, Hori produced a special arcade stick controller for the Xbox 360.

More info about this game can be found on the developers blog site or Wikipedia. Expected release date: April  23th.


Personally, I can't wait for this game to be released. Pre-orders on several game-shops are also fully booked, so for those trying to get their hands on the Limited Edition of Death Smiles, good luck! 

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"Everyday is a gift, that's why they call it the present." - Kuya Ken

Stupid 360, I better go to Japan and buy a used one. Why can't it just be region free??? WHY???

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~Forever and a Day~
FooStarfish = wifes gamertag

 DementedLullaby wrote:

Stupid 360, I better go to Japan and buy a used one. Why can't it just be region free??? WHY???

I guess Asia wants their title exclusive to their region. Btw, where did everybody go? This section used to be full of shmups players?

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"Everyday is a gift, that's why they call it the present." - Kuya Ken

Official trailer is up on YouTube now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvPVADOLH-g

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合言葉はLove and Peace！？

 Kuya Ken wrote:

 DementedLullaby wrote:

Stupid 360, I better go to Japan and buy a used one. Why can't it just be region free??? WHY???

I guess Asia wants their title exclusive to their region. Btw, where did everybody go? This section used to be full of shmups players?

I figure its from MS lack of caring for the western schmup fanatics =P

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"Stupid guy! I said PLUH!"

 FullMeTaL N1nja wrote:

I figure its from MS lack of caring for the western schmup fanatics =P

I figure MS wants the western shmup fanatics to buy Japanes 360s.

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合言葉はLove and Peace！？

 DementedLullaby wrote:

Stupid 360, I better go to Japan and buy a used one. Why can't it just be region free??? WHY???

That's the only good thing about the PS3 - region freeness. I wish Microsoft could make 360's region free, that'd make me really happy.

So will this game come to the Australian marketplace?

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It's my goal to be quoted in someone elses sig.

 bE rAd 82 wrote:

That's the only good thing about the PS3 - region freeness. I wish Microsoft could make 360's region free, that'd make me really happy.

So will this game come to the Australian marketplace?

Microsoft's official policy with regards to region coding is to leave it up to the developers/publishers to choose. Most Japanese companies choose to region-lock their games, however most US companies choose to allow their games to run on multiple regions. I have a Japanese 360, but most of my 360 games are US versions, and they run perfectly fine.

As for Australia, it depends on what you mean by "marketplace". If you mean the XBL marketplace, then no, since Deathsmiles if a full-priced retail release, not an Xbox Live Arcade release.

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合言葉はLove and Peace！？

Ah ok. Thanks.

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It's my goal to be quoted in someone elses sig.

It's a shame that they do that, is it just pride or something? I mean, it can only hurt sales right? I never really cared about it, but this makes me sad, it looks like an awesome game.

 BREAKxY0URSELF wrote:

It's a shame that they do that, is it just pride or something? I mean, it can only hurt sales right? I never really cared about it, but this makes me sad, it looks like an awesome game.

Well, the idea is that they can make more money if they license their games to western publishers. The problem with that is that most Japanese games don't have a lot of appeal outside of Japan/would be difficult to market/won't sell much at full price, so western companies are afraid they wouldn't be able to turn a profit, so few get licensed. I'm pretty sure Japanese companies are fully aware of all of this though.



But if you ask me, I believe MS is actually forcing Japanese publishers to region-lock their games in order to encourage fans of these games to import Japanese 360 consoles. There's no conrete evidence that this is going on, but if you look at the bigger picture, it does seem very likely. (It helps MS artificially increase their marketshare in Japan, MS honors the warranty of JP 360s brought to the US, most US 360 games play on a JP 360, etc.)



As for Deathsmiles, I already preordered my copy. I hope it's a good port.

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合言葉はLove and Peace！？

 BREAKxY0URSELF wrote:

It's a shame that they do that, is it just pride or something? I mean, it can only hurt sales right? I never really cared about it, but this makes me sad, it looks like an awesome game.

I know how you feel. A PS3 would be the way to go if you want region free games. But IMO I would stick with the Xbox 360, since there's a lot of shmup games coming out for it

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"Everyday is a gift, that's why they call it the present." - Kuya Ken

Maybe if Raiden sells well enough they will see the error of their ways. Quick, everyone preorder 1000 copies.

 BREAKxY0URSELF wrote:

Maybe if Raiden sells well enough they will see the error of their ways. Quick, everyone preorder 1000 copies.

Well, the thing with Raiden Fighters Aces is that Valcon waited for over a year after the Japanese release before they licensed it (generally, the older it is, the cheaper it is to license), and the Raiden Fighters games aren't exactly new to begin with. This enabled them to sell it at $30, which makes it far more likely that it'll sell well. On top of that, the Raiden games are still "somewhat" popular in the west, and they don't have any cutesy anime characters or suggestive themes that would make them difficult to sell/market.

A game like Deathsmiles has more stacked against it : it's newer (both the arcade original and the soon-to-be released port), more expensive to license, practically unknown in the west, and full of little anime girls. I wouldn't expect a US/EU release of this one for at least a year (if ever).

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合言葉はLove and Peace！？

 BREAKxY0URSELF wrote:

Maybe if Raiden sells well enough they will see the error of their ways. Quick, everyone preorder 1000 copies.

You remind me of the folks on the other section of the forum. Where we had a petition for Microsoft to remove the region locked code from their consoles. We used several arguments, such as e-commerce (selling), techinical advantages etc.

Then the thread got locked... but still. If you've got money to spare, I would suggest buying an Asia/JPN Xbox.

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"Everyday is a gift, that's why they call it the present." - Kuya Ken

 Kuya Ken wrote:

You remind me of the folks on the other section of the forum. Where we had a petition for Microsoft to remove the region locked code from their consoles. We used several arguments, such as e-commerce (selling), techinical advantages etc.

Smart business decisions usually result in the customer getting screwed somehow. From a business standpoint, it is currenty within Microsoft's best interest to keep the Japanese 360 games region locked (and keep the US 360 games region free), some reasons for that I already mentioned in this thread. Maybe things will change when the next generation of consoles are released.

But yes, anyone who considers themselves a serious fan of the shoot'em up genre should just import a JP/Asian 360. Though I think most serious fans have already done so.

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合言葉はLove and Peace！？

 yakumoHMJ wrote:

 Kuya Ken wrote:

You remind me of the folks on the other section of the forum. Where we had a petition for Microsoft to remove the region locked code from their consoles. We used several arguments, such as e-commerce (selling), techinical advantages etc.

Smart business decisions usually result in the customer getting screwed somehow. From a business standpoint, it is currenty within Microsoft's best interest to keep the Japanese 360 games region locked (and keep the US 360 games region free), some reasons for that I already mentioned in this thread. Maybe things will change when the next generation of consoles are released.

But yes, anyone who considers themselves a serious fan of the shoot'em up genre should just import a JP/Asian 360. Though I think most serious fans have already done so.

You made good points, i was thinking that the region locks would lead to import of japanese consoles and thus increase sellnumbers for japan as you also stated.
I wished that there wasnt such a region lock, so ill probaply import one pretty soon.
Only feeling a lil dirty now that i play right into MS's hand lol

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"Stupid guy! I said PLUH!"

Hmm, not only has the game been released today. There's a sequel coming with a bit of a Christmass flavour to boot. Check out the AOU-event video over here. For somewhat AOU and DeathSmiles II photo's, click here

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"Everyday is a gift, that's why they call it the present." - Kuya Ken

Here's a more recent video of the game in action. Taken at a location test that was held earlier this month. This should be pretty close to what the final game will look/play like. The final version should be released next month.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ajss4NFXG_E

Additionally, Cave has confirmed that they will also be porting Deathsmiles 2 to the 360 eventually.

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合言葉はLove and Peace！？

Well, I have this game for a while now. I must say I'm pretty impressed how Cave put this game together. Here's my small re/overview of the game:

* Anime-like goth character designs, each with different bullet spree (aka Gradius)
* Astounding soundtrack
* Able to choose your stage and difficulty level
* Great level design
* Bullethell on higher difficulties
* Able to absorb certain bullets, like Ikaruga, with your pet partner
* 5 types of modes: Xbox 360-mode, DeathSmiles V1.1-mode, Score Attack, Replay-mode, Xbox Live co-op-mode

There's another mode called Arcade. For some reason it doesn't show up as a game, but it prolly refers to the Black Label version of Death Smiles. Which will be downloadable (soon).

Also, I'm missing the in-game japanese text narrator. I probably need an unlock code or something, I don't know... The usuall character voices, ex. "Ugh", "Aaaaah!!", "Nani?!" are there though.

Despite missing 2 things, I'm still having a smash with this game. Esp. when playing co-op. If you like Ikaruga, Triggerheart or any shmup games, then this is your game

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"Everyday is a gift, that's why they call it the present." - Kuya Ken

With all the japanese game ive been thinking on gettin a J-360, but this game is probaply gonna make me bite the bullet

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"Stupid guy! I said PLUH!"

 Kuya Ken wrote:

There's another mode called Arcade. For some reason it doesn't show up as a game, but it prolly refers to the Black Label version of Death Smiles. Which will be downloadable (soon).

Also, I'm missing the in-game japanese text narrator. I probably need an unlock code or something, I don't know... The usuall character voices, ex. "Ugh", "Aaaaah!!", "Nani?!" are there though.

Not sure why Arcade Mode isn't selectable for you. That mode should be a carbon-copy of the arcade version (without the enhanced graphics). Mega Black Label will be a separate mode.

All pre-ordered copies of the game shipped with a special card that has a download code for the full-voice pack. The code can only be used with a Japanese XBL account. If for whatever reason your copy didn't come with the card, then you'll have to buy the full-voice pack separately, if you want it (you'll need a Japanese XBL account for that too).

There are also a small hand-full of bugs/glitches in the game, which should be taken care of in an upcoming patch (to be released some time in late May/early June). Probably the biggest bug is that the game will always run off the disc, even when installed to the HDD.

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合言葉はLove and Peace！？

 yakumoHMJ wrote:

Not sure why Arcade Mode isn't selectable for you. That mode should be a carbon-copy of the arcade version (without the enhanced graphics). Mega Black Label will be a separate mode.

Prolly Mega black Label. Because I tried booting it with a US & JPN account. I even set the region to US & JPN, to see if the language effected the mode or something. Booting with a US account, promps me with an empty window download screen. Booting with a JPN account, promps me with a download message I can't read nor translate. So I assume that's the featured Mega Black Label mode. Think about it this way: Arcade mode - Mega Black Label. Mega Black Label - Arcade Mode.

 yakumoHMJ wrote:

All pre-ordered copies of the game shipped with a special card that has a download code for the full-voice pack. The code can only be used with a Japanese XBL account. If for whatever reason your copy didn't come with the card, then you'll have to buy the full-voice pack separately, if you want it (you'll need a Japanese XBL account for that too).

Thanks, I was wondering why the narrator didn't say anything.

 yakumoHMJ wrote:

There are also a small hand-full of bugs/glitches in the game, which should be taken care of in an upcoming patch (to be released some time in late May/early June). Probably the biggest bug is that the game will always run off the disc, even when installed to the HDD.

Well, I don't own the LE. But I installed the game on my HDD. And so far no problems as said above. The game runs smoothly.

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"Everyday is a gift, that's why they call it the present." - Kuya Ken

I've played this game in the arcade and it's really interesting XD

 pinaygwaps wrote:

I've played this game in the arcade and it's really interesting XD

Hmm, was Sakura a playable character on the AC-version? Just wondering though

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"Everyday is a gift, that's why they call it the present." - Kuya Ken

Mega Black Label is available on the Japanese XBL marketplace now, for 1200MS. There's a premium theme available also. I haven't bought it yet, but from what I've read, it wasn't ported as well as the main game. Supposedly, there's slowdown missing in some levels (which makes the game much harder to play) and MBL doesn't support replays or coop. I think I'll wait until the main game gets patched before buying MBL.

 Kuya Ken wrote:

Hmm, was Sakura a playable character on the AC-version? Just wondering though

Sakyura is only playable in MBL.

 Kuya Ken wrote:

Well, I don't own the LE. But I installed the game on my HDD. And so far no problems as said above. The game runs smoothly.

The HDD bug doesn't affect the game in a negative way, but there's not benefit for installing it (which is usually the point of installing). The game will still run off the DVD. Try playing it off the HDD, and you'll still hear the DVD spinning at all times.

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合言葉はLove and Peace！？