Treasure developing an original 360 shooter

[Frogacuda]

PDO is a bad example, horrible even. Its a series with a history of pushing the graphics of whatever system it is on (yes, I know the Saturn games look like shit now, but back in the day they were standard fair on the kiosks and everyone gushed over it). Orta was a first-gen Xbox game and was gorgeous, even today it looks great. Sin & Punishment, by contrast, came out later in the lifespan of the N64 along with other games that similarly looked about as good as you can on the N64 (which, really, come on..ain't gorgeous especially compared to PDO..Hell it's about on par with Panzer Dragoon).

Right. They were two examples of shooters that pushed ther respective systems. Hence why I used them as examples. Why are they bad examples exactly, especially when one of them was made by Treasure? I'm saying a shooter can push a system hard, look good, and stand out as one of the better games on a system. There's no reason this new game can't do the same.

Yes, I know that doesn't mean it will, but don't discount it just because it's a shooter.

Now, your second mistake is once again you automatically assume that this release on XBLA would be $10 garbage. That's based solely on your prickish opinion that somehow an XBLA release is demeaning to the game. What if the game was a full D/Lable release going for, say, $30? Think of XBLA more like Steam (I know, I know, you get what I mean) than just a hovel for little flash games and other crap MS is able to rope up for it.

There is still a very small number of people that will pay $30 for a download. Far fewer than will pay $40 for a new game. So I don't think this is a good way to reach more people. If it's offered on XBLA alongside a boxed version (like every game on Steam) then it could be a smart move, though.

I mean on a certain level it would be nice if every game was availible on Steam or XBLA at a slightly discounted price, but there's no reason to demand it any more here because it's a shooter from a company known for good shooters.

[Diff-chan]

Putting a hardcore shmup with an audience in the low five figures on store shelves next to 50 Cent Bulletproof and Final Fantasy XII is a fool's endeavor. Especially since you have to put in all the fancy production values too.

As for nobody downloading a $30 game, it'd be cool if we knew how many people downloaded Popcap's deluxe ($20) games on the PC. My guess is a lot. Of course that had a boxed version too but the downloaded probably reached far more.

[Frogacuda]

Putting a hardcore shmup with an audience in the low five figures on store shelves next to 50 Cent Bulletproof and Final Fantasy XII is a fool's endeavor. Especially since you have to put in all the fancy production values too.

And yet Ikaruga was very profitable. Something most Treasure games really aren't. Go figure.

Anyway, this isn't a hardcore shmup (though Treasure is likely working on one of those for an arcade release). We don't really know what the hell it is. I'm guessing something closer to Sin and Punishment, but for all we know it could play like Zone of Enders. All we know is that it's about shooting shit, it's 3D, but has 2D "sensibilities", and it's not a proper sequel to anything.

[Diff-chan]

Ikaruga's profitability likely stemmed from the fact that the game had tons of buzz because it was "RSG2" and had lots of drones buying tons of copies thinking they'd be selling it at RSG prices today. That buzz drove it into the waiting arms of a quickie Cube port. Isn't it still the highest selling game in NCSX history? Ikaruga is a fluke, not a real indicator of the shmup market in the year 2006.

[Frogacuda]

Ikaruga's profitability likely stemmed from the fact that the game had tons of buzz because it was "RSG2" and had lots of drones buying tons of copies thinking they'd be selling it at RSG prices today. Isn't it still the highest selling game in NCSX history? It's a fluke, not a real indicator of the shmup market in the year 2006.

It was also backed by a successful arcade run, and made on a budget much more modest than the production values would seem to indicate because Iuchi is a control freak and not only designed the game, but modeled the levels, drew the textures, and even composed the music. It likely made money before ever even coming to Dreamcast.

Iuchi's team is very dedicated to the arcades. They designed Gradius V for the arcade, too, but Konami nixed the release. They are working on an arcade game, and it is a shmup. The 360 game is a comepletely different game, despite what someone at Play might conjecture.