trigger-heart-exelica
Latest
Japan's Xbox Live stats indicate proneness to Japanese-developed games
It'd be impossible to discuss Japan's Xbox Live usage stats, recently released by Microsoft (and posted after the break), without pointing to the overwhelmingly Japanese-developed composition of them. Taking first place among the top XBLA purchases of 2009 was last year's Virtual On port -- a game so popular in Japan that it currently holds second place in the region's all-time bestsellers list. Games like Ikaruga and Trigger Heart Exelica populate the rest of the XBLA stats, though Western-developed Castle Crashers notably takes the number one position in all-time popularity. The sheer Japanosity of these stats is even more apparent in the download numbers for all that other stuff. From demos (75 percent Japanese-developed) to Games on Demand (90 percent) to DLC (also 90 percent), Japanese players clearly have a hankering for homemade games -- even on their Western-developed consoles. [Via Andriasang]
One last Dreamcast game, over eight years later
Why go through the hassle (and lines of fire) to get your palms on a shiny next generation system when game developers are still popping out fresh hits for your Sega Dreamcast? You heard right, Sega's last flailing attempt in the console market still has a dream burning somewhere in Japan, as recent reports claim that "Warashi will be porting its arcade shooter Trigger Heart Exelica to the system." The game itself is a "side scrolling shooter" that utilizes a "three button system" (Genesis, anyone?) to take out your enemies. So if you're still hanging on to that (previously) antiquated console, and you don't mind games coming out some eight years after its release, then dust off the Shenmue and let it hold you over 'til the next big (and final -- right?) title lands on February 22, 2007.
