This model kit from Atelier Sai is similarly priced to its predecessor at 4500 yen (or $42 US). It ships in May, after the the previously posted Vic hits hobbyist shelves. The backside of the ship is after this.

What else is there to say? Oh yeah. *droooooool*

Gradius III Vic Viper [HobbyStock]

As I said, it is one of the prettiest games on XBLA, and the visuals alone are worth the $10 worth of points I dropped for it. Playing through as Ruby, one of the two initially available characters, I was really impressed by the variety of enemies, the colorful effects, and the sheer amount of things flying across my screen at the same time. Then I played as Tempest and my jaw completely dropped.

Tempest's weapons are simply breathtaking. Flowing globules of frost and fire issue forth from his weapon, flowing like slime over enemies, splashing against them with impressive physics for a shmup. It really is a sight that online videos do not do justice.

The gameplay itself is pretty standard. Fight your way through hordes of enemies while collecting various power ups and charging up your super weapon. So far the game is relatively easy, and the initial three continues should last you quite awhile once you get the lay of the land. Once you complete a level in arcade mode you unlock it in the challenge mode as well, allowing you to hone your skills alone or with a friend via co-op to a razor's edge.

My biggest disappointment, as I said earlier, comes from the presentation. There is no storyline for Omega Five. You choose a character and off you go, blasting the living hell out of things without any real overly obvious motivation. There are no difficulty options...just a simple menu allowing you to start a new game, play offline multiplayer, adjust the settings and read up on gameplay.

Omega Five is definitely worth the $10 to shmup fans everywhere. It's a beautiful example of what is possible via Xbox Live Arcade, while at the same time being a sometimes painful reminder of what isn't.

Hudson Entertainment Dates Omega Five For Xbox Live Arcade

Sci-Fi Side-Scrolling Shooter Coming January 9 for 800 Microsoft Points

REDWOOD SHORES, CA - January 3, 2008 - Hudson Entertainment, the North American publishing arm of Hudson Soft, today announced that Omega Five for Xbox LIVE Arcade will be available to consumers on January 9, 2008 for 800 Microsoft Points. Published by Hudson and developed by Natsume, the game is an entirely new original IP featuring a side-scrolling shooter set in a gorgeous 3D environment.

Taking place in a far-flung future, Omega Five delivers hardcore action never seen before on the platform, while providing visually stunning graphics that pushes the limits for a digital download game. The game is set in multiple 3D environments and features incredible special effects and enormous battles, all in high definition. Omega Five is distinct in that players can choose from multiple humanoid characters, each with their own unique special attacks and upgradeable weapons, which they can shoot in 360 degrees. Omega Five also includes a local co-op function so a friend can join in on the aerial mayhem.

Hudson also released details on the final playable character. R.A.D. is another of Omega Five's unlockable warriors and is very similar to Ruby. Her skintight suit allows her to move much more quickly than Ruby, letting her weave through waves of enemy fire, though it also slows down her aiming.

. Weapon Type A: Vulcan Laser Cannon - R.A.D.'s initial weapon blasts enemies with rapid-fire laser beams. As the weapon is upgraded, the rate of fire increases, allowing her to unleash a non-stop barrage of laser fire.

. Weapon Type B: Reflecting Laser Beam - R.A.D.'s second weapon is a continuous laser beam that allows her to cut a swath of destruction through lesser enemies. Upgrades increase the power of the beam, splitting it in two, which also reflect off of certain surfaces. This lets R.A.D. attack enemies from around corners.

. Weapon Type C: Lightning Gun - Her final main weapon is a high-intensity lightning gun that roasts enemies. Upgrades increase the power, letting R.A.D. slice through enemies at will, as well as adding secondary lightning bolts that shoot out from the main beam at nearby enemies, doing incremental damage.

. Alternate Attack - R.A.D. has one alternate attack, which sends out satellite that can instantly destroy lesser enemies or anchor onto stronger enemies. After the satellite latches onto an enemy, it deals continuous damage, and R.A.D. is still able to fire in any direction. Additionally, while the satellite is floating around R.A.D., it can block enemy fire.

. Dimension Field - All characters can quickly teleport to another dimension for a brief time, allowing them to avoid enemy attacks, though at the expense of a small amount of life.

. Ultimate Burst - All characters can unleash an enormously destructive nuke-like attack, after having collected at least 100 p-chips (the pink triangles that appear after defeating enemies) to fill one p-jail (the golden triangles at the bottom left of the screen).

January 9th Arcade Release Revealed [360 Monster via Destructoid]

The current lot of goods also includes the "multiple movable system" action figures and a digital manga series featuring the maid-ship ladies of Otomedius. We don't expect it to stop any time soon.

Otomedius Goods [Konami]

Senko no Ronde 2 [Yahoo! Japan]

CASTLE OF SHIKIGAMI III ON THE 
Wii™ IN THE SPRING OF 2008



Bullet hell comes to the Wii!

Torrance, CA (December 14, 2007) - Aksys Games, a publisher of interactive entertainment products, is set to release Castle of Shikigami III, a vertical scrolling shoot'em-up on the Wii in the spring of 2008.

"Caste of Shikigami is known in Japan for its lively characters and challenging difficulty. There's just something to be said when a game paints the screen with enemy gunfire and rewards you for living life on the edge," said Michael Manzanares, Project Lead, Aksys Games. "I've always been a fan of the Shikigami series, and I'm glad we had the opportunity to bring this latest installment to the States."

Castle of Shikigami III Features:

• Tension Bonus System!
Your proximity to enemy units and gunfire determines your score and firepower!

• 10 memorable characters!
Each character has their own specialized weapons and powers, anything from chain lightning to psychic blades!

• 55 possible story combinations!
Experience a wide variety of scenarios with fully voiced dialogue!

• 2 Player Co-op Mode!
Dodge a never-ending barrage of bullets alone or with a friend!


• Exclusive console-only Dramatic Change Mode!
Switch between two characters in the middle of the fight to improve your chances for survival!


Castle of Shikigami III has not yet been rated by the ESRB. More information about Aksys Games and Castle of Shikigami III can be found at www.aksysgames.com.

First off, the continues have gone from endless to a mere three, which completely changes up the difficulty factor of the game. Amateur shooter fans will have to go through the first three stages multiple times before making it completely through with enough lives to even consider going on to the remaining five. You'll have to learn enemy patterns, figure out which of the game's five special weapons best fit the situation, and basically learn the level like the back of your hand. Frustrating at times, sure, but if this sort of thing gets you riled then maybe you should go back to your happy, colorful platforming genre where it's safe.

You can play through Adventure mode to unlock levels for play in Arcade mode, where you get the standard allotment of lives with no continues, with the goal to get the highest score. In Nanostray the first you then would get a code you could upload to the online leaderboards via the internets, but now you simply connect via Nintendo Wi-Fi and slap that baby up there for the world to see. The feature was already running in the preview and worked without a hitch. Granted my score sucked compared to the ones already posted, but such is life.

Challenge mode helps a great deal. In Nanostray 2, the challenges are like little shmup nuggets that test your skills in various aspects of the genre. They've created completely new sequences for the challenges, rather than rehash established levels, and they focus on completing quick tasks, like scoring 30,000 points in 45 seconds, or surviving for a certain period of time. Some are even exercises in tactical thinking, as you are put in a situation such as a ship rising to completely fill the area you are in, killing you unless you find a way to open up an area to hide. There are four sets of eight challenges, and every time you complete one you get a little better at the main game. Very nicely done.

The developers took complaints about the control scheme to heart, changing the weapon-switching over to the shoulder buttons so once you are in the game you don't need to touch the screen at all, unless you opt to control your ship with it. Choosing touch-screen control schemes moves the action from the upper to the lower screen, with the control pad handling your primary weapon and the shoulder working the special weapon. Controlling the ship with your stylus adds a degree of control and speed you don't get with the standard setup, though of course you're going to have a portion of your screen obscured by the stylus itself and your giant, snausage fingers - where applicable.

All in all, this is one amazing shoot-em up for the Nintendo DS, better than its predecessor in virtually every way. Unless they do something horribly wrong between now and the January release date, expect Nanostray 2 to be the shmup to beat on the DS.

While it maintains the classic left-stick moves, right-stick shoots controls, the way you navigate the world has completely changed. Rather than warp from room to room, you travel along a path between 16 levels across four highly stylized worlds upon your tentacled spaceship. Each world has its theme, with enemies tailored to match. The design is quite fantastic, really, with some very unique creatures to be found among the more standard shmup fare.

While some rooms are just that - rooms with doors that lock when you enter - other areas are more along the lines of your classic side-scrollers, traveling down a corridor as the enemies come at you from all directions. At times the action gets quite frantic, especially in the levels where the corridor is completely filled with motile red bubbles that you need to constantly shoot to keep your path clear.

I love the new health system, which replaces the normal lives with hit points. Six hits and you're toast, which makes much more sense than the shooter standby of your craft exploding only to immediately be replaced by an identical one. Your health regenerates between levels, as does your super weapon, which is extremely powerful but only has a certain amount of firing time.

The belted difficulty system returns, with point values raised the higher the difficulty. At white belt level the game can be a relatively short walk in the park. At black belt...forget about it. Black belt is a game for a younger man than I.

The only issue I really have with the game is the length. I finished it within an hour or so, and while there is always co-op multiplayer and score tweaking, it really doesn't compare to the original game's 89 rooms. Still, Mutant Storm Empire is a game I would gladly spend 800 Microsoft points on.

Hudson Entertainment Reveals New Character & Assets for Omega Five on XBLA

Meet Ruby, Omega Five's lithe heroine

Hudson Entertainment today unveiled details and new screen shots of Ruby, a well-rounded warrior who's both nimble and deadly—if just a bit under-dressed. With a stockpile of awesome weapons and dangerous attacks, Ruby is a formidable foe.

Weapon Type A: Vulcan Laser Cannon -

Ruby's initial weapon blasts enemies with rapid-fire laser beams. As the weapon is upgraded, the rate of fire increases, allowing her to unleash a non-stop barrage of laser fire.

Weapon Type B: Reflecting Laser Beam -

Ruby's second weapon is a continuous laser beam that allows her to cut a swath of destruction through lesser enemies. Upgrades increase the power of the beam, splitting it in two, which also reflect off of certain surfaces. This lets Ruby attack enemies from around corners.

Weapon Type C: Lightning Gun -

Her final main weapon is a high-intensity lightning gun that roasts enemies. Upgrades increase the power, letting Ruby slice through enemies at will, as well as adding secondary lightning bolts that shoot out from the main beam at nearby enemies, doing incremental damage.

Alternate Attack -

Ruby has one alternate attack, which sends out a satellite that can instantly destroy lesser enemies or anchor onto stronger enemies. After the satellite latches onto an enemy, it deals damage and Ruby's weapon auto-aims to that spot, giving her near-perfect accuracy until the enemy dies or the satellite detaches. Additionally, while the satellite is floating around Ruby, it can block enemy fire.

Temporal Dodge -

All characters can quickly teleport to another dimension for a brief time, allowing them to avoid enemy attacks, though at the expense of a small amount of life.

Ultimate Burst -

All characters can unleash an enormously destructive nuke-like attack, after having collected at least 100 p-chips (the pink triangles that appear after defeating enemies) to fill one p-jail (the golden triangles at the bottom left of the screen).

Hudson Entertainment Reveals a New Character in Omega Five for XBLA

The Tempest—A Four-Armed, hulking alien—Wields Volcanic Fire, Corrosive Acid and Molten Metal

The Tempest is a hulking, four-armed alien, with no problem plowing through hordes of enemies in Omega Five, thanks to his thick skin.

· Weapon Type A: Volcanic Fire - The Tempest's initial weapon is a scorching stream of fire. The weapon's alternate attack allows The Tempest to attack enemies around corners, as it locks onto a target while the fire curves to roast enemies.

· Weapon Type B: Corrosive Acid - The Tempest's second weapon is a highly corrosive blast of acid. Like the fire, the main attack comes out in a stream of liquid death, but the acid's alternate attack shoots the acid in a wide angle, allowing The Tempest to destroy enemies in a wide area with limited range.

· Weapon Type C: Molten Metal - The third main weapon for The Tempest is a blast of molten metal. While the other two weapons are streams, the metal comes out in boiling bursts. For this weapon's alternate attack, The Tempest shoots four bursts at once, which home in nearby enemies.

· Reflector Barrier - When an enemy shot gets close to The Tempest, it slows down, and The Tempest is able to reflect it back at enemies (by flicking the right analog stick), using their own fire against them!

· Temporal Dodge - All characters can quickly teleport to another dimension for a brief time, allowing them to avoid enemy attacks, though at the expense of a small amount of life.

Ultimate Burst - All characters can unleash an enormously destructive nuke-like attack, after having collected at least 100 p-chips (the pink triangles that appear after defeating enemies) to fill one p-jail (the golden triangles at the bottom left of the screen).

The DS doesn't have much in the way of shmups, so this horizontal and vertical combo shooter is a welcome addition to the library. The fact that it comes well after the holidays makes our wallets happy. More details at the official site.

Nanostray 2 Official Web Site

As for the gameplay, it's identical as Ikaruga's appearances on the Dreamcast and Gamecube. We were limited to single player only, so there were no opportunities to try the new online co-op mode. For those who aren't familiar with how the game plays, the vertical shooter uses a black and white polarity system. Your ship and its surrounding field can be switched at any point. While in black mode, your ship is vulnerable to white bullets and beams. Inversely, in white mode, you'll take damage from black bullets and beams. However, your ship, when firing in white mode, will do more damage to black enemies and vice versa. The challenge lies in managing your color to avoid being hit, whilst managing the effectiveness of your shot.

The demo version of the game ran smoothly at 60 frames per second and looked pixel perfect on the Xbox 360. There are no complaints in the graphics department, from what I saw. Due to the typical game show cacophony there was some difficulty judging the game's sound, but Ikaruga's satisfyingly beefy explosions resonated through the din.

Ultimately, Ikaruga is a fantastic game that should appeal to almost anyone who likes shooters. The Xbox Live Arcade version simply takes the successful formula and gives it a high-def polish. Based on the TGS demo, it's going to be yet another solid hardcore-friendly shmup.

Unlike Forgotten Worlds, you won't purchase weapon upgrades from shops. However, there is an undeniable series of moments, enemy types and aesthetic decisions that invoke memories of Capcom's futuristic shooter.

Each character—two of which were on hand today, a female humanoid and a male four-armed alien—is equipped with a unique weapon. Hers is a satellite that fires independently and, when the right trigger is depressed, clamps onto whatever enemy you're aiming at. Yes, for massive damage. Shots are upgraded by grabbing one of three power up types that swarms of enemies drop. Similar to the Raiden series, shots can be upgraded up to three times. The female fighter, for example, upgrades her laser shot to the point where it bounces off surfaces.

The male fighter plays quite differently, employing a bizarre hose-hand that squirts one of three liquid shots. He can also deflect enemy fire back at enemies by moving dangerously close to bullets, then reflecting projectiles with a quick flick of the right analog thumbstick.

The controls, by the way, are simple, familiar, and tight. Left analog stick moves your character, right analog stick aims, right trigger modifies your shot—launching the satellite as mentioned earlier for her, changing the flow of the goo for him—and the left trigger launches a screen clearing nuke. Up to three of these are earned by collecting pink triangles dropped by destroyed enemies.

Oh yeah. Omega Five is hard. The team at Natsume certainly weren't catering to casual players with their upcoming shmup, giving it a challenging arcade difficulty and limiting your continues to three credits. As an XBLA game, Omega Five is planned to feature two-player co-op... and gamers will have to share these credits.

I managed to beat the demo on my second play through, but imagine that the game will require plenty of repeat plays to finally finish (sans credit feeding).

For an Xbox Live Arcade title, the game is absolutely stunning. It's arguably the best looking game on the service to date, filled with beautifully modeled characters and candy colored lighting effects. It has a crisp clean look in motion with some solid character designs.

Omega Five looks like it'll be packed with old school fun, offering plenty of challenge. It's quickly moved to the top of my list for future Live Arcade purchasers and anyone with a shmup streak in them need to give this game a shot. Me? I'm going back to the Hudson booth to gaze lovingly at it while waiting for time to pass.

September's Shooterfest continues as side-scrolling arcade shmup lovers will be pleased to see Cave's new gothic horror effort Death Smiles. Like Tekken 6, it's on display at the JAMMA expo in Tokyo. A much longer, but less clear video of the game on display at JAMMA is available at YouTube. It's a good time to be a shmup fan, no?

Omega Five Gunning for Xbox LIVE(R) Arcade

Hudson to Release an All-New Sci-Fi Themed Side-Scrolling Shooter

REDWOOD SHORES, CA - September 12, 2007 - Leading video game publisher Hudson Entertainment has partnered with Natsume to bring gamers an all-new IP titled Omega Five for the Xbox LIVE(R) network. Omega Five is a graphically intense, side-scrolling shooter set in a three-dimensional environment, and features some truly hardcore action never before seen on the platform. The game is expected to launch worldwide in November 2007.

Set in a futuristic world, Omega Five is a shooter that pushes the visuals to the limit for a digital download game. The game feature 3D environments, dazzling special effects, and massive battles, all in high definition. Omega Five is unique in that players can choose from multiple humanoid characters, each with their own unique special attacks and upgradeable weapons, which they can shoot in 360 degrees. Omega Five also includes a local co-op function in which a friend can join in on the aerial mayhem.

"Hudson is truly pleased to be working with Natsume on bringing an all new franchise to shooter fans worldwide," said John Greiner, President and CEO of Hudson Entertainment. "Omega Five promises to be the most challenging shooter in the Xbox LIVE Arcade library, and will appease the most hardcore fan of the genre."

While we know a little bit about how the game will play—the screen will scroll up and you'll shoot stuff—what we don't know are the specific genders of each of its main characters. In what's becoming a disturbing trend, we're unaware of the penis count in the above piece of artwork or whether its illegal for us to even think about the sex of any of these glossy eyed 'toons.

I just hope the game plays better than Senko no Ronde. Oh, and don't hold your breath for another "final" Dreamcast release.

Mamoru-kun wa Norowarete Shimatta! [G.rev]

Hudson may be bringing another shmup in the Star Soldier series to the Nintendo Wii, with Star Soldier R making a tantalizingly brief appearance at the company's caravan tour in Japan. While free of Wii-remote gimmicks, it's unclear what new gameplay elements the vertical shooter will bring to the series. Anyone unfamiliar with Hudson's Star Soldier may want to invest in the Virtual Console release of the Turbografx-16 version as the above video isn't exactly clear viewing.

Star Soldier R on Wii - video and report from Hudson Tour [Gaming In Japan]

New York based importer Nation Console Support is now taking pre-orders for the first releases in the series, listed below.

R-9A Arrow-Head from R-Type
0F-1 Daedalus from Image Fight
Vic Viper T301 from Gradius
Metarion from Gradius II
Silver Hawk from Darius Gaiden

At $20 for all five, with an estimated ship date of early December, you're looking at the perfect stocking stuffer for the shmup lover in your life. I'm looking at you, Mom.

SR Shooting Video Game History Gashapon [NCSX]

In addition to this unique mechanic, Blast Works also features multiple game editors, allowing you to create new levels, new enemies, and even build your own ship from scratch, bringing it into battle in either the single player mode or 2-player co-op.

Blast Works looks to be a breath of fresh air in the relatively stale shmup genre, and exactly the type of quirky goodness I want to play on my Wii. Check out the gallery below or hit the jump for the inevitable press release. Michael Fahey

MAJESCO ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCES BLAST WORKS FOR THE Wii CONSOLE

Sticky Shooter With Retro Styling Features Multiple Editors For Maximum Creativity

BRISTOL, UK, June 27th, 2007 - A frenetic geometric battle is heading to the Wii™ home video game system as Majesco Entertainment Company (NASDAQ: COOL), an innovative provider of video games and digital entertainment products for the mass market, today announced Blast Works: Build, Fuse & Destroy. Developed by Budcat Creations and scheduled for a Q1 2008 release in Europe, Blast Works is a side-scrolling shooter that lets players craft the game to their liking by building their own levels, ships and enemy ships. In addition, players can "absorb" the pieces and weapons of destroyed enemy ships to bolster their own defenses during battle.

"Gamers can literally build their own shooter experience via Blast Works' easy-to-use, multiple in-game editors," said John Merchant, Marketing Manager, Majesco Europe. "This exceptional customisation combined with the unique "stickiness" of enemy debris and bright geometric graphics delivers a standout game that never plays the same way twice."

Across more than 15 different land, air and sea missions, the goal of Blast Works is to destroy enemy ships while continually growing your own into a massive craft by absorbing their fragments. The larger a "fused ship" is, the easier it is to protect from the growing onslaught of enemy firepower. Players can also upgrade their ship in the Hangar by customising weapons, propulsion systems and armour. Creative types will further enjoy building a ship from scratch with the Ship Editor and then testing it out in combat on a custom level they've built with the Level Editor. To defend the Hangar, players must use the Wii Remote™ like an anti-aircraft turret to shoot down enemies attacking from all angles. Finally, the game's 2-player cooperative mode lets players work together to blast enemies, fuse debris to grow their ships and finish the mission as a team.

The good news from O3 is that developer Milestone is "exploring options to bring this to North America as part of a future compilation on the Wii." That could mean a bundle with other Milestone developed shooters like Karous and Chaos Field, as the former has been announced for the Wii with the latter already published for the GameCube in the West.

Those still clutching to their purple 'Cubes can still look forward to Ratatouille. Michael McWhertor

There's a guide to the different grades of difficulty, a recognition chart and the author's personal top 10, so you know where to start should the urge suddenly take you to explore this dusty niche of the gaming library.

Nice article. It's informative and entertaining. Luke Plunkett

Doujin Shmups: An Introduction [The Independant Gaming Source]

Easy. Whack a label on it saying "Wii Compatible". How much of a difference it'll make is anyone's guess, since you'd think if you're hanging out for old-school shooter Radio Allergy you know it's compatible, but hey, if it lets someone get to sleep at night, that's cool.

Why it couldn't have just come with a Wii insert over a GameCube box, though, I don't know. Would have saved everyone a lot of trouble. Luke Plunkett

How To Sell a GameCube Game in 2007 [Game|Life]

While Gradius fans will feel right at home, Parodius afficionados will feel even more at ease as the upcoming arcade shooter eschews serious space battles for cutesy settings, en vogue coin collecting and battles against pengiuns, crabs, and flying fish. End stages look to feature showdowns against busty bosses while screen clearing attacks add strategy. Otomedius also takes advantage of Konami's e-AMUSEMENT system for save data and internet rankings.

Let's hope that after Konami bleeds the Otomedius well dry with capsule toys, garage kits and hump pillows, they'll give us a home console port. Michael McWhertor

More On Konami At AOU 2007 [Game Watch]

Listings for Senko no Ronde Rev. X, published by Ubisoft, have appeared on mega-site Gamespot and multiple North American online retailers. All list different dates in May but all peg Ubi as the publisher.

Coincidence? Of course not! We await comment from Ubisoft but know, deep in our hearts, that our localization prayers have been answered. Michael McWhertor

Spurred on by cheap development costs and the Cube's SHMUP community, O3 Entertainment have decided that "next-gen" just isn't for them, and will be releasing Milestone's (Chaos Field) Radio Allergy on the system. O3 marketing man Mike Pepe:

With the prices that you can sell a GameCube title for, it's a lot more reasonable currently than going with the Wii, which of course is a lot more expensive for us to garner [titles for] and also a lot more expensive for the customer to buy.

Still, hope survives in the form of a release list from G-Rev—who just happen to have nothing to do with shmup developers G.rev, who, also unrelated, are responsible for Xbox 360 wet dream shooter-fighter Senko no Ronde as well as Dreamcast faves Border Down and Under Defeat.

The list, linked from the dark and lovely Brandon of Insert Credit and currently roaming the internet, also features another to-good-to-be-true title, NiGHTS for the Nintendo Wii.

But what do we have to go on with NiGHTS for the Wii? Pretty much nil. Sega has done virtually nothing with the franchise since its debut in 1996, but that hasn't stopped every Sonic Team and Yuji Naka hyperfan from putting a sequel or remake on his or her fantasy list alongside every new console release.

Is this just an internet rumor running wild, ultimately showing up on G-rev's exhaustive console listing? That's my guess. With Sega focusing on older IP like Alien Syndrome and After Burner, however, we'll rule nothing out.

I honestly hope this is true and that someone will have the good sense or financial recklessness to release a top-down shooter in the West, but I'm not holding my breath. As for NiGHTS Into Dreams for the Wii? I'm not going to set myself up for disappointment. I'm assuming this, like Shenmue III, will never see the light of day.

Pray that I'm wrong! Michael McWhertor

360 Ikaruga Sequel In The Works? [Kotaku]

Triggerheart Exelica: Yet Another New Dreamcast Shmup [Retro Gaming with Racketboy]

Well, announced quite some time ago, but as of yesterday, Play-Asia has begun taking pre-orders for yet another Dreamcast release, due to ship in December. Now, you might want to be sitting down for this one, but it's a... side-scrolling space shooter! I bet you thought I was going to write "vertical scrolling space shooter" but you were wrong.

While I don't think it's going to blow anyone's socks off visually and the game is "not officially licensed, designed, manufactured, distributed or endorsed by Sega" it's still capable of breathing some life into your lovely little Dreamcast.

The game is a mere $40 (cheap!) and thankfully region free. Any takers? Michael McWhertor

Last Hope - A New Tactical Shooting Game With Impressive Visuals And Excellent Arcade Gameplay Coming To Dreamcast [Play-Asia]
Last Hope Official Site

Exciting news, Ikaruga fans... rumor has it that Treasure is working on a grand finale to the Radiant Silvergun trilogy, rounding it all off on the 360.

The extent of the rumor? According to Play Magaine:

Treasure dropped a bomb in the form of an "original shooting game" announcement...and that can mean only one thing: RS3. Always planned as a trilogy, the Radiant Silvergun/Ikaruga (known in preproduction as "RS2") series will receive it's final installment on Xbox 360. Watch this space for more information.

That's a hell of a lot of "if" in there, buddy. Nevertheless, Racketboy and his readers remain convinced, noting: "It was written by maybe the most respected game mag writer ever (who now lives in Japan), so you can be sure of it's accuracy."

Wow, some random dude in Japan speculates that maybe, it just might be true, based upon no evidence whatsoever? That's the litmus test for veracity, right there. Sorry, Ash — if I'd known all that, I never would have talked you out of that "PS3 Slower Than PS2?!?!?" post you wanted to do.

Still, it does seem likely Treasure might opt to do a sequel to a couple of their all-time class SHMUPS, while they're slated to do one for the 360 anyway. Keep your fingers crossed. Florian Eckhardt

Radiant Silvergun / Ikaruga Sequel Upcoming? [Racketboy]

One of the disadvantages to being Weekend Editor, is that when something pops up during the weekday that I'm really psyched for, I have to wait until Saturday morning to gush about it. The other downer is that none of the other editors seem to give two squirts about Senko no Ronde Rev. X for the Xbox 360. Jerks!

On the plus side, I can do a write up on a wildly unpopular subject like Senko no Ronde and won't get any grief from the management. They're all off on their respective yachts, screwing models on piles of cash. Where was I? Right, Senko no Ronde! I've previously written about the game, but now you, lucky reader, can see it in motion not just carefully chosen words.

Thanks to the lovely Blimblim of Xboxyde, we've now got 10 minutes worth of white hot shmup-fighting action in video form. And its in 720p for those of you with beefy computers and overflowing bandwidth. Put down that porn and start downloading! Michael McWhertor

The first 10 minutes: Senko no Ronde Rev. X [Xboxyde]

Some are delightful, but face it, the vast majority of flash games are "meh." But this one is different, this one is Ikaruga! As far as shmups go, there's Ikaruga and then there's everything else. Japanese game developer Treasure released this classic shooter back in 2001 on the Dreamcast and then the GameCube. Reader Galen sent along this neat, little flash Ikaruga that features the game's first boss. Might want to turn the quality down as otherwise the game runs slower than molasses. Brian Ashcraft

Play Here [Cool Flash Games] Thanks, Galen!

Almost more interesting than their story itself is this sidebar over at TIGSource. "Serious game journalists needed!" it proclaims in the headline. Next sentence? A salutation to those very same self-stylized Pauline Kaels of gaming: "Hey bitches."

But I digress. If you follow PC shmups at all, you will be well familiar with the work of Hikoza T. Ohkubo, the lone programmer behind the excellent all-boss shmup, Warning Forever. He has an excellent new game out, called Ray-Hound, which sounds very neat... like a reflective shmup.

The latest release from Mr. Warning Forever, RAY-HOUND is an action game which requires no shooting from the player's part. Trapped in a room with enemies consisting of turrets, you can retaliate by clicking on the left mouse button to muster a shield and send their shots back at them. The other method is to move your ship towards the lasers rapidly to initiate a boost and repel the beams of destruction.

This guy releases quite a few quality freeware shmups, so this is well worth checking out. Florian Eckhardt

Hikoza's New Game [TIGSource]

Between Every Extend Extra, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (Vice City is still my favorite setting of all the GTA games) and the upcoming Silent Hill: Origins, it really does look like I have a reason to root through Crecente's septic tank for that PSP he flushed down the toilet. Florian Eckhardt

Then Every Extend Extra was announced for the PSP (but not the PC), and it looks just as good.

Now, Every Extend Extra has a cute little demo available, but weirdly enough, it's not for the PSP... it's for the PC. And even though the page is impenetrably Japanese, there's some system specs listed. Which is great for those of us who'd rather play this on our laptops, since it insinuates we'll be getting it for the PC anyway. Hurrah! Florian Eckhardt

Every Extend Extra [Official Site]