A look at my collection of video games : Cave shmup on Xbox 360 !

During the generation of consoles prior to the current one, the Japanese video game market disappeared in favour of Western productions. Having failed to make the transition to HD, institutional companies in the sector finally fell back on the mobile market. However, some developers and publishers, much more modest, took the decision to listen to the requests of their fanbase and have worked hard to publish their latest titles on the living room consoles of that time. This is the case of Cave, a development studio that excels in Danmaku (Manic-Shooter) and has built a solid reputation among hardcore players for their productions in arcades. Strangely, all the porting of this firm was published on a purely American console : the Xbox 360.

A totally unexpected release !

A curious choice, to say the least, when you know the patriotism of Japanese developers. However, after the resounding failure of the first Xbox's sales in the rising sun regions, Microsoft this time put double efforts in order to rally the studios in this territory to their cause. Taking advantage of financial support from the Redmond firm and above all of a much more efficient hardware architecture, but also easier to code than the Ps3, many publishers finally fell back on the white lady of the North American giant. This is how typically Japanese and resolutely arcade exclusivities made their appearances, in the hope of attracting the public fond of this kind of works on this famous console.

Then at the height of their glory (which is quite relative, considering the niche audience of this genre), Cave announced in 2008 in the very famous magazine Famitsu, the arrival of a first port of their latest title: Deathsmiles, exclusively on the Xbox 360. In addition, publishers such as 5pb have obtained the agreement to offer a version of Dodonpachi Daioujou as well as the highly anticipated Ketsui Kizuna Jigoku Tachi, still on Xbox 360 ! At the sight of these announcements, my blood only turned one way. As a big fan of this company's productions, based on Toaplan's ashes, I could only decide to import a Japanese console in order to enjoy it ! Yes, all the games were then zoned at that time...

Faced with the success of Deathsmiles and Dodonpachi Daioujou Black Label Extra (which was temporarily withdrawn from sales, following the discovery of part of the code "borrowed" from Arika), the developer released a series of releases from their catalogue on the console. A blessed time for shmup fans like me! Thus EspGaluda II, Mushihime Sama Black Label, Mushihime Sama Futari, Dodonpachi Daiffukatsu and especially Ketsui made their appearances for my greatest happiness ! I have of course forgotten a few of them (Guwange !), but they had the pleasure and the incredible chance to taste the joys of the last productions of this studio now legendary on our consoles.

One last honorary blow !

However, all good things must come to an end. In financial difficulty, Cave had to decide to stop all activities in the arcade but also on game consoles. This developer will only focus on mobile gaming and will become a service provider for other studios... In 2013 and as a farewell gift, the company made available to fans a box containing all the games released on the stand, accompanied by the precious guide books that act more as an art-book than anything else and superplay DVDs !

Named for the occasion CAVE Shooting Collection - The End, this special pack has been published in only 5000 copies. All these games released on Xbox 360 are quite rare, to say the least, because they are produced in small copies, rarely exceeding the tens of thousands of copies in circulation. Precious objects that I have the pleasure to keep in my collection....

Bonus

For the pleasure of the eyes, here are some pictures of the ultra-collector pack Dodonpachi Saidaioujou, published and distributed to the first 1000 lucky ones who made the pre-orders on time. Yes, I had the invaluable opportunity to be a part of it !

In other words, with such a prestigious box set, the developer has been able to satisfy his most loyal fans. Note the presence of an overlay, similar to the one found on the arcade terminals of the same game. In other words, it is an exceptional piece that proudly stands on my shelf !