Tom-Massey

@RootsGenoa
The trains were increased to four Euro for a single journey, and when hopping about centrally the Uber cost isn’t far off that now for shorter distances. Was generally more convenient for places without a Metro stop nearby.

@farrgazer Sorry for the late reply. Word count limits are a thing and I aimed to focus on the mainline series of arcade releases. Maximum is an awesome amalgam of bits from the whole series, but as with all the other DDP games adapted for mobiles, I didn’t want to start moving into that territory.

@romanista Ikaruga simply landed right with the mainstream press. Timing was a thing, because they had pretty much ignored Treasure until they sort of became a cult name, and Ikaruga arrived just at the point where their status was piquing. It was kind of a breakthrough moment for Treasure, hence the game won a lot of attention. It helped that it was available in the EU on two different consoles, of course, and that it’s a great game.

In terms of the STG scene, though, CAVE remained very underground and only occasionally made it to mainstream presses thanks to Rising Star Games’ work on X360 localisations.

@Moroboshi876 I heard that the compiled collection is very well hidden. I noticed someone on Twitter who was sharing the link stating that it was almost impossible to find. Perhaps they're trying to push the individual releases first, which would be a bit of a disingenuous tactic. It is on there somewhere, however.

@SonOfDracula It's still there!

@Diogmites My pleasure, thanks so much for reading. From what I understand it was at the time of the Iraq war, when literally anything even vaguely suggestive of hostility could be mistaken for a threat in the US. There are various articles about it. Apparently seven people were arrested over the signs.

@Dracula_on_a_bike Isn't it patched already? I was under the impression it was due to be patched before launch. Kind of disappointing that it wasn't in there otherwise I would have mentioned it. :/

@-wc- Oh it is, I adore it. Not too punishing and great fun to wade into.

@-wc- Yes, that was the intended message, and yes, it’s arguable that Ikaruga did make shmups more visible. But it was fleeting. There were so many titles before and after that were summarily overlooked. I think it was because of Treasure’s pedigree that the press highlighted it - not because of an real interest in the genre. After Ikaruga had been and gone the media blackout sadly reverted back to its original state for a very long time!

@Diogmites @TotalHenshin @-wc-

Good morning and many thanks (to all of you) for having a read of my article. Really appreciate that!

In answer to your question, to be oblivious isn’t a slight - that’s just how it was at the time. Ikaruga was the darling of the mainstream press, and however good Treasure’s game was, very little else in the genre managed to generate any interest or coverage. However, you’ve highlighted a slight error on my part there, I think I mistakenly said “the west” rather than “western media”. It was actually more about the gaming mags and whatnot than the players, so I’ll have the line amended to be reflect that.

Thanks again!

I was there. I got something signed. How I got something signed is the greatest story never told.

Maybe I should write an article about it!