2 of the greatest shmups rejected for XBLA by MS [update]

by Terrence Stasse { Mar 28th 2008 at 7:00AM }

With news of Ikaruga's imminent release, and the previous release of Triggerheart Exelica, it would seem to the casual observer that XBLA would be a great place for screen-scrolling shooters. Well, this is not quite so. In the most recent issue of Famitsu, 5pb, the developers in charge of porting Cave's Dodonpachi Daioujou Black Label X and Ketsui X, speak out about their experience with Microsoft's Live Arcade decision making division, and the account sounds eerily similar to the tale told by the developers of N+.

In a nutshell, Microsoft told 5pb that they could not put their games on Live Arcade due to the fact that Microsoft is "going to cut down on faithful arcade ports." So 5pb will have to put their two games out via traditional retail channels, but they're quite understandably frustrated and would prefer to bring these two arcade games, and more, to market via XBLA instead of via disc. And this is still horrible news in that it backs up Metanet's assertion that there are problems deciding what content makes it onto XBLA.

Hit the break for the full statement from Cave.

"Out initial plan was to port lots of good arcade titles to XBLA. We talked to IP holders of these titles, and persuaded them. We secured these licenses, and finally talked with Microsoft. There they rejected all of our proposals saying, 'We are going to cut down faithful arcade ports.' We felt so frustrated. We wanted to show them that their decision was wrong. So we switched our two most promising projects into retail."

Update: The comments were made by Masaki Sakari of 5pb, not Cave.

Tags: dodonpachi, ketsui, xbla

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neuromancer @ Mar 28th 2008 7:29AM

I don't know much about these particular games but in general, I say the less arcade ports the better. That said lately the original games haven't been too great either.

Rlan @ Mar 28th 2008 7:41AM

Note: It was NOT Cave that Microsoft told couldn't release the game on the system, but 5pb.Inc, who got the license FROM Cave to port the games to Xbox 360.

I should know, I wrote the original article :|

Pixelantes Anonymous @ Mar 28th 2008 7:54AM

This is bullshit.

They should be making decisions on quality of the game rather than whether it's original or a port.

Maybe if they hadn't approved all those crappy retro game ports before this wouldn't be a problem.

horngreen @ Mar 28th 2008 8:23AM

XBLA needs real innovative content if it's to interest me anymore. Quite frankly if there is a button that shoots in the game count me out. I have plenty of disc based games that are excellent shooters. The same goes for driving games as an XBLA title can't really compete with what else is out in disc based games. It should be odd and original like Line Rider. I don't know if they can pull it off as even game development for small titles is in a huge rut.

remer @ Mar 28th 2008 8:29AM

its not a problem M$ is being dumb ass's lately with xbla i mean first the size limit cap and now this come on give us a break already who cares if they're arcade ports or not its gotta be better then the filth thats been coming our way lately. What need to do is spend time making new games and make them not crap cause im tired of seeing ports of flash games you can play for free on your computer or side scrolling shooters,and hack and slash i wanna see new ish like for instance Echochrome comes to mind... i guess i can dream

Digitalspirit @ Mar 28th 2008 8:46AM

XBLA is a joke. There's not one game DEMO worth playing, let alone purchasing. WTF are the PROPER games? Where the hell is Quake Arena Arcade??? This is the sort of game that should be gracing XBLA not the constant worthless crap they keep churning out! :(

gettingfound @ Mar 28th 2008 9:06AM

XBLA, wassat? oh that pointless attachment to my 360 that has bullhan games i wudn't have played back in the hayday of consoles that where just consoles?
Never had seen the point in it, same with this movie d/l rubbish - STOP WASTING BANDWIDTH - i already have enuff ways to watch movies, why the hell wud i rent them from m$???
I say scrap it all and leave the 360 as a console for games.
Rather than trying to out do the PS3 with tacky addons, concentrate on gr8 games and good connections for multiplayers...jeez
And yeah, where the hell is Quake Arena Arcade? methinks vapourware.....=(

Sinnix @ Mar 28th 2008 9:43AM

Less ports the better. I'd prefer to see them update their games to today's standards and THEN release them on XBLA.

Potato Farmer J. @ Mar 28th 2008 9:58AM

The only reason they'd have to cut down is due to MS' draconian release schedule of XBLA games. So they can make it seem like they're releasing good new stuff.. simply because they're releasing barely anything. Take out the ports, and there you go.

NATO_Duke @ Mar 28th 2008 10:10AM

I have trouble believing Digitalspirit & remer are even 360 owners according to their posts.

There are plenty of XBLA games worth playing, and anyone who uses the service would know that. Also, when you use M$ or $ony - you lose credibility and just sound like a fanboy trying to sneak in a bs complaint.

PerfectStrategy @ Mar 28th 2008 10:11AM

There are a lot of arcade ports shoveled onto XBLA that don't have updated graphics or much done to them.

However, I still think the more games the better, regardless of quality. Microsoft should just have ways to sort them effectively and be satisfied with that.

PerfectStrategy @ Mar 28th 2008 10:13AM

NATO_Duke, go back to playing America's Army you fruitcake. ;)

remer @ Mar 28th 2008 11:06AM

NATO_Duke

so i guess im not allowed to have an opinion ether i hate people like you if your not commenting on the topic keep your garbage lid closed cause every time it opens it stinks douche

Knight Marquise @ Mar 28th 2008 11:04AM

Nato,

The people complaining about XBLA and wanting a game like Quake Arena usually end up being the same people bitching about the 360 only having shooters.

Anyone who has honestly looked at XBLA knows there are plenty of good titles, both new and retro.

James @ Apr 7th 2008 2:37PM

I think XBLA is awesome. I have 115 full (not demo) XBLA games on my system. Some suck (i.e. Yaris) but I have fun with most of them. And no, those aren't all I play. I also have 89 retail games. Currently working on completing COD4 on veteran. :P

erico316 @ Mar 28th 2008 1:12PM

wll i 100% back the n+ developer statement on xbla.I have all 3 systems and so far sony psn had the better sevice for downloadable games.Mircosoft need to stop they're dumd shit and start playing the games b4 putting it on live cause i only have 4 that i brought which was good while on psn i have 10 that are great.

Mark @ Mar 28th 2008 2:05PM

Enrico,

My experience is just the opposite. I tend to not buy a game on PSN since I can't play it. I check reviews like in retail and if it sounds good enough then I think long and hard about if I want to risk wasting money. So far I have 3 titles. On XBLA I can test each game. I have over 10. So you experiences are exactly the opposite. For downloadable software on the consoles, I think the mandatory trial for XBLA puts PSN and Wii in the dust.

Delgado @ Mar 28th 2008 2:19PM

Why do people hate grammar, spelling and punctuation?

I mean, in your private conversations you can talk however you want, but if you're trying to get your opinion across here are some simple tips; use some commas or periods (remer) and don't insult people (remer), or your (idiotic) opinion is immediately discounted because you make your (low) intelligence immediately apparent.

Digitalspirit @ Mar 28th 2008 4:08PM

Fuck Nato Duke and fuck Knight Marquise!

I own a 360 to play decent games not crap, so why don't you two just fuck off. XBLA has games I was playing years ago when they were fresh, I didn't buy a next gen console to step back in time. Couple of fucking n00bs.

ccc @ Mar 28th 2008 4:32PM

The guys that made this call at MS are fired.

JC @ Mar 28th 2008 4:36PM

I think this is more of a problem of quality games versus crappy games. There is so much crap released on XBLA nowadays it is getting quite difficult to find a decent game on it. Both those games are (recent) classics in the genre and would have had a very positive reception on release.

If MS wants to stop arcade ports maybe they should consider cutting down on the absolute crap such as the 4 other editions of pac-man on XBLA (Pacman CE is the only good one).

Also if popcap can keep on pumping their drivel onto XBLA why can't cave get 2 highly acclaimed games onto XBLA? I think XBLA is having serious problems with their content descisions at the moment, they are more concerned with a widespread of different games than actually having games that people might want to play on XBLA.

notsonic @ Mar 28th 2008 5:35PM

the majority of original content on xbla is complete garbage.

cave's games are REAL full fledged games that truely exemplify the ARCADE at the end of xbla.

and these games are by no means 'retro'.

remer @ Mar 28th 2008 10:02PM

Delgado

once again why go out of your way to insult me does it make you feel good cause you know better English then me why cause i dont put .,'; in my statement i got my point out thats all that matters to me why should i care about proper grammar am i getting paid to write nope let the fine people that work on this site worrie about that just do me a favor stick to commenting on the topic of the post instead of commenting on my grammatical errors.
Question when did gamers get so uptight about grammar anyway.

ScallionN @ Mar 29th 2008 1:31AM

Damn it, I love/hate Cave shooters. I want to play Ibari and DonDonpatchi and Ketsui, even if they are arcade ports. Ports of arcade games aren't a bad idea if they're GOOD arcade ports, like Metal Slug 3. It's digital content, so they're going to lose much less money in the long run than they would if they pressed a couple of obscure shmups on a disc and sold them in Gamestop or some other big box store. These games are very niche, and wouldn't you rather take less risk releasing a game like that via download?

nick @ Mar 29th 2008 11:48AM

I disagree that cutting arcade ports is ideal. I think you can have balance and offer a little bit of everything. There are some arcade ports I really liked. TMNT comes to mind, as does Smash TV. How about giving us NARC?

The real problem with XBLA arcade is the size limitation and the schedule where you don't know what's coming next. I liked it better when you knew a month in advance what was coming. That way you could plan your purchases. Also, what's up with all the puzzle games lately? I know Microsoft wants casual games... but how about some variety?