Dreamcast gets 3 brand new Naomi games from Japan!

[Dave_K.]

Holy Crap!  If you thought Ikaruga was good, you are not going to believe this!  There are 3 new Naomi shooters coming to the Dreamcast with one already out now!  The others are due out by end of March.  The two verticle shoorter should support a verticle monitor (same as Ikaruga) for an authentic expierence!  Also full VGA support (probably the best dreamcast graphics to date)!

Border Down - From G-Rev comes what will most likely be the last DC side-scrolling shooter. Similar in gameplay to R-type with a great combination of 2-D and 3-D graphics, Border Down has been perfectly converted from the original Naomi arcade board and given two extra modes, practice and remix.  This has already been released! and is on eBay and in import stores now!
Review and screenshots: http://nfg.2y.net/games/borderdown/

Castle of Shikigami 2 - The Castle of Shikigami 2 (Shikigami no Shiro II ) is a 2D verticle Arcade Shooter, similar to Ikaruga. The game is the NAOMI arcade board port of the sequel to The Castle of Skikigami. The Castle of Skikigami was released stateside for the PS2 and was called Mobile Light Force II. Being a native Naomi title, the Dreamcast version should be a perfect conversion and therefore provide the best gaming experience over all platforms.
Screenshots:http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-70-3ez-4-1-71-x.html

Psyvariar 2: The Will To Fabricate - a verticle 2D shooting port from Success famous Naomi based arcade shooter.  
Check out these unbelieveable screenshots:
http://www.success-corp.co.jp/software/ac/psyvariar2/screenshots.html

[SNAAAKE]

WHOOOOOOOOOO
Long live DC

[MameMaster!]

my beloved Dreamcast.....at long last...some more love for you!

[abrannan]

Castle of Shikigami 2 - The Castle of Shikigami 2 (Shikigami no Shiro II ) is a 2D verticle Arcade Shooter, similar to Ikaruga. The game is the NAOMI arcade board port of the sequel to The Castle of Skikigami. The Castle of Skikigami was released stateside for the PS2 and was called Mobile Light Force II. Being a native Naomi title, the Dreamcast version should be a perfect conversion and therefore provide the best gaming experience over all platforms.
Screenshots:http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-70-3ez-4-1-71-x.html

Yeah, but the pre-order price is US$ 57.90, and I can pick up MLF2 for my PS2 for less than $10.  An almost $50 difference for a slightly better looking conversion is a bit steep for me at this point.

[Dave_K.]

Yeah, but the pre-order price is US$ 57.90, and I can pick up MLF2 for my PS2 for less than $10.  An almost $50 difference for a slightly better looking conversion is a bit steep for me at this point.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is a different game than MLF2, this is a sequal not just an enhancement or port to dreamcast.  Play-Asia is also releasing the sequal for PS2 at $59.90 (DC is cheaper   and plays in VGA   ).

[abrannan]

Yeah, but the pre-order price is US$ 57.90, and I can pick up MLF2 for my PS2 for less than $10.  An almost $50 difference for a slightly better looking conversion is a bit steep for me at this point.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is a different game than MLF2, this is a sequal not just an enhancement or port to dreamcast.  Play-Asia is also releasing the sequal for PS2 at $59.90 (DC is cheaper   and plays in VGA   ).

No, you're right.  I put a "II"  at the end of the game name.  

[Dave_K.]

Well I finally got a chance to play all 3 of the games listed at the top of this thread.  Border down was a bit of a disapointment, but the two vertical shooters (Shikigami No Shiro 2, and Psyvariar 2) are incredible!!  A true Naomi arcade port with full screen support for vertical monitors!

[abrannan]

Incidentally, I've heard that Castle Shikingami 2 is coming to the PS2 for $9.99.

[Sephroth57]

if that happens definately let me know cause ill buy it  

[Dave_K.]

Incidentally, I've heard that Castle Shikingami 2 is coming to the PS2 for $9.99.

Unfortunaly the US versions won't support screen rotate (vertical display).  Something about us stupid Americans breaking our TV's putting them on their sides  .

[abrannan]

Incidentally, I've heard that Castle Shikingami 2 is coming to the PS2 for $9.99.

Unfortunaly the US versions won't support screen rotate (vertical display).  Something about us stupid Americans breaking our TV's putting them on their sides  .

Man!  And I spent all that time building a platform that will rotate my 47" Widescreen rear-projection TV, too!

[Dave_K.]

alphaSystem announced they will also be porting Shikigami No Shiro 2 to the Windows platform.  No idea when or what price (can't read it ).

http://www.alfasystem.net/shop/shiki2pc/

[Alucard90]

XE converter says about ~52.7246 USD conversion from the yen on the website.  

[abrannan]

if that happens definately let me know cause ill buy it  

You can pre-order it now from EBgames
http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/product/245170.asp?siteID=FKSJxY2VJAk-gcYyK%2F2L3vPgX8NoXEVIqg

[Dave_K.]

The reason why the PS2 version is so cheap is because they got VERY bad reviews of the "americanized" bastardization that was done to the previous versions.  You can read a about it here:

http://www.insertcredit.com/reviews/mlf/
 
Lets hope they don't make any changes at all when they release "Castle of Shikigami 2".

[abrannan]

The reason why the PS2 version is so cheap is because they got VERY bad reviews of the "americanized" bastardization that was done to the previous versions.  You can read a about it here:

http://www.insertcredit.com/reviews/mlf/
 
Lets hope they don't make any changes at all when they release "Castle of Shikigami 2".

Um, no.  The bastardized versions were also that cheap to begin with.  It had nothing to do with the reviews.  It's because XS games specializes is shovelware.  They purchase US distribution rights to a game, make small enough changes so they don't have to pay certain royalties (voice work, artwork, trademarked names) put a minimal amount of effort to remove/replace those items in the game, and then they release it for cheap.  They aren't catering to the shmup crowd, they're catering to the "parents who will buy the cheapest game they can find to gie their kid to shut them up about wanting a new game" crowd.  

The hardcore crowd has already imported their own copies of the game, so they probably wouldn't buy the americanized version in most cases anyway.   I firmly believe that the ease with which you can import games is really hurting the niche game genres (shmups and rhythm games, specifically).