Deathsmiles Xbox 360 port!

[rtw]

Where can one mail order this game in Europe ?

[HVL]

Where can one mail order this game in Europe ?

I assume you mean the PAL version? Try Play.com, delivery included in the price. Product link.

If you mean the Japanese version, Video Game Imports has them.

[dan76]

I'll chime in with another -  well done EOJ.

It's good to see RSG doing something like this - plus seeing an ad for a Cave game in a western xbox360 rag is pretty good.

[rtw]

I assume you mean the PAL version? Try Play.com, delivery included in the price. Product link.

PAL version ordered, thanks for the heads up

[Van_Artic]

i'm really hyped up about this release, hope the slowdown turns out to be accurate as i stated before

[HVL]

Here's the trailer of the European version, complete with cheesy sound effects:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iONPuHCP7nE

Too bad it doesn't have enough footage to judge the accuracy of the arcade version.

I think I'll nab one; at 22.49? delivered, you can't really lose anything. It might not even play on my machine since I only own a Japanese one anyway... Any word on this, btw?

[hipgnosis]

Here's the trailer of the European version, complete with cheesy sound effects:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iONPuHCP7nE

Too bad it doesn't have enough footage to judge the accuracy of the arcade version.

I think I'll nab one; at 22.49? delivered, you can't really lose anything. It might not even play on my machine since I only own a Japanese one anyway... Any word on this, btw?

Interesting that this trailer is using arranged music, it would be awesome if you could switch between the OSTs.

[Daverost]

Here's the trailer of the European version, complete with cheesy sound effects:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iONPuHCP7nE

I said it before on another forum and I'll say it again: It amuses me to no end that "Unlockable Achievements" is considered a feature on a 360 game.

[skykid]

(Bit of backstory, I've had the EU version since Saturday and I've been tearing my hair out trying to figure out if the slowdown matches the JP or NA release without having a copy of the NA release to compare with. Here's a summary I posted on shmups:)

Nnnngh... difficult. I showed a vid to EOJ, who knows the most about slowdown across the two existing versions and he believes it looks the same as the Japanese original rather than the NA version. I'm inclined to agree.
I did several inconclusive tests yesterday, with videos and version swapping, and although some sections had me unsure, for the most part I believed they were producing the same slowdown (that's the JP and EU versions tested.)
EOJ suggested several sections to try, and most seemed to correlate with the original slowdown except one that really stumped me: MBL 1.1.
According to EOJ this was the one with a gulf of difference between the NA and JP, with the NA running 50% faster and the JP having lots of slowdown. However, the EU version of this mode featured hardly any slowdown I could see, which confused me. It didn't seem sped up at all, just no slowdown of note at any point, even on heavier boss patterns.

By law of averages though, there's more pointing at the EU version having returned the correct slowdown into the mix, so that's where I'm putting my bets until someone proves otherwise.

I'd just like to say I'm incredibly impressed that Rising Star would listen to fan feedback on this topic and work to reinstate slowdown. They deserve big applause for that.

Since posting this, EOJ has made me realise that the JP MBL 1:1 was sped up anyway because it's missing 50% of the slowdown as standard - the NA release feels like fast forward because it speeds it up yet further. Although there was no detectable slowdown in the parts of EU MBL 1:1 I played, other modes in the EU ver feel right, and EOJ concurred that the Ice Palace vid I shot looked on par with the JP one.
This leads to a bit of a strange one where it seems like modes could be jumbled around, which is super strange, and to be honest I'm putting it down to my lack of experience with the NA release. My feeling is this is more likely a carbon copy of either the NA or JP game, and I'm definitely leaning toward the JP one after my experiences with arcade mode (that seems pretty accurate to me.)

Don't shoot the messenger if I'm wrong, it's a lot harder than I thought to distinguish the slowdown differences! 

[EOJ]

Since posting this, EOJ has made me realise that the JP MBL 1:1 was sped up anyway because it's missing 50% of the slowdown as standard - the NA release feels like fast forward because it speeds it up yet further.

No, JP MBL 1.1 is not sped up. It's the original version (i.e. there is no arcade version of this game)! It has slowdown all over the place. NA MBL 1.1 is sped up as it is missing 50%+ of the slowdown found in JP MBL 1.1. EU MBL 1.1 sounds the same as NA MBL 1.1.

[skykid]

Since posting this, EOJ has made me realise that the JP MBL 1:1 was sped up anyway because it's missing 50% of the slowdown as standard - the NA release feels like fast forward because it speeds it up yet further.

No, JP MBL 1.1 is not sped up. It's the original version (i.e. there is no arcade version of this game)! It has slowdown all over the place. NA MBL 1.1 is sped up as it is missing 50%+ of the slowdown found in JP MBL 1.1. EU MBL 1.1 sounds the same as NA MBL 1.1.

Thanks man, I think it's best if you just do the explaining.

As for slowdown all over the place in EU MBL 1.1: not as far as I can tell. Whroon is kicking out his final pattern at full speed.

[StarCreator]

Just heard from njiska that a patch for Deathsmiles NA is apparently live.  Might have to pull out the NA 360 to try it out tonight...

Skykid, do you have access to the NA version?  Would be interesting to see this directly compared to the EU version...

[NR777]

There's definitely more slowdown now...and Level 999 is actually playable in MBL.  I'm definitely interested in hearing what players who own both versions think.

[njiska]

I was half-awake when I played it, but there definitely felt like more slowdown. The tree boss at the end of the Forest was less of a nightmare. Unfortunately Deathsmiles is one of the few JP shmups I don't have.

[Daverost]

According to their blog post, it also fixed a de-sync glitch with replays. I've personally never run into that one, but I'm sure it makes someone happy.

[skykid]

Just heard from njiska that a patch for Deathsmiles NA is apparently live.  Might have to pull out the NA 360 to try it out tonight...

Skykid, do you have access to the NA version?  Would be interesting to see this directly compared to the EU version...

I don't unfortunately. If I had it would have made determining the slowdown in the EU version a lot easier.

[jyumi]

According to their blog post, it also fixed a de-sync glitch with replays. I've personally never run into that one, but I'm sure it makes someone happy.

All my Sakura replays in v1.00 were all broken. I emailed Aksys about the issue and sent Cave the replays. They still don't work with the patch, but any new replays make works perfectly.

[Daverost]

Were they broken across all modes?

[jyumi]

Were they broken across all modes?

Yes. Although, I remember one replay I did in MBL 1.1 working.

[EOJ]

I'm reading that the US version's patch adds lots of slowdown to DSMBL 1.1, and it runs very similar to the JP version. However, Skykid's account of the EU version sounds like DSMBL 1.1 is missing most of the slowdown (like the US un-patched version). So EU gets the worst version in the end?

[jyumi]

I'm reading that the US version's patch adds lots of slowdown to DSMBL 1.1, and it runs very similar to the JP version. However, Skykid's account of the EU version sounds like DSMBL 1.1 is missing most of the slowdown (like the US un-patched version). So EU gets the worst version in the end?

It looks to me after watching some videos of MBL1.1, the slowdown is like the JP version. 1.1 now just feels like your playing in slowmotion. It even contains the OSD flickering which was not present in v1.00. If the EU MBL1.1 runs fast even in power up mode, then it may be the worst version.

btw, can someone explain the breakdown of the crowns? is it 1 platinum = 2 gold = 4 hearts = 8 skulls?

[HVL]

Putting this here in case people haven't heard yet. So the DS Deluxe Edition's soundtrack isn't a music cd but a data cd with a bunch of .wav files. Just sent an email.

Hi all,

I'm very sorry about the problem with the soundtrack CD. I'm trying to get the bottom of what went wrong but that's probably not of interest to you. I'm sure what you really want to know is what we're going to do about it: we are going send you a proper disc to replace it.

Please email your snail-mail address to torisu [at] risingstargames.com with "Deathsmiles soundtrack" as the subject and Rising Star Games will send you a proper CD Audio disc.

From today, 22 February 2o11, please give us three weeks to manufacture and send the discs.

Thank you for your support,

torisu

[Van_Artic]

i'm finally playing it, arcade mode is very punishing about getting 1000 crowns before a good spot comes up, but i'm enjoying MBL 1.1 by far, i hope RSG will at least patch that mode as it's the only one without the correct slowdown, otherwhise i'll buy the japanese port sooner or later

on a semi-unrelated note: i just bought Deathsmiles 2x 

[gsl]

Putting this here in case people haven't heard yet. So the DS Deluxe Edition's soundtrack isn't a music cd but a data cd with a bunch of .wav files.

So basically, you got the uncompressed soundtrack with the deluxe edition? 

[HVL]

Putting this here in case people haven't heard yet. So the DS Deluxe Edition's soundtrack isn't a music cd but a data cd with a bunch of .wav files.

So basically, you got the uncompressed soundtrack with the deluxe edition? 

Yes, all the shipped copies suffer from the problem. It's beyond me how stuff like this goes through, but at least they're standing up for the blunder.

[darkidol]

Loving this game, but I was unprepared for the 'ESPGaluda 2 style' game shutdown when my internet connection hiccuped for literally a moment.  Paltry though it was in the grand scheme of things, I had the top Windia score on the Arcade leaderboard and was beating it by six digits when I got kicked back to the main menu screen.

I know there may be a good reason for this, but I just want to put a heads up out there.

Also, for whatever it's worth, the 'opening salvo' achievement unlocked as soon as I started playing while disconnected so maybe that's glitched (for those that care about achievements/gamerscore).

[bitkid]

So with the patch is the NA release actually decently playable? I just ordered a copy for pretty cheap on Amazon. This game never looked all that appealing to me at first. After watching a MBL replay by SIN I am much more encouraged. The game looks pretty dope. The bullet patterns used to look kind of weird to me but I'm warming up to it.

[EOJ]

Some people on shmups forum (including skykid) are saying I wrote some amazon review for Deathsmiles condemning the North American localization. In fact, I have not. For the record, I've never written an amazon review for any game. I did see the review in question, and it appears to be a reader of this site as he (or she) mentions a lot of what I've posted here about the port.

Since the patch came out I removed my harsh review of the NA localization which was posted on the front page of this site. If I wrote a harsh amazon review, I would have removed it by now as well.

[bitkid]

I've been playing the North American port pretty hardcore for the last week or so and I must say that I am pretty impressed. I didn't try playing it before applying the patch. With the patch applied the game seems very good and I haven't encountered any spots where slowdown (or any lack thereof) imposed upon the experience. I haven't played the PCB version of Death Smiles but the port is definitely good enough for me. Cave needs to be using the configuration menus that are used in this port (and Espgaluda 2) for all of their future ports.

[Blue_Rei]

Question, the Japanese Limited Edition. Did some copies not come with the Full Voice DLC? I got mine from Play-Asia back in 2009 in September (First Print Limited Edition). Either I was just unlucky or PA dropped the ball somewhere in that deal. It's been bugging me since I got it!