Speaking with Cave's Makato Asada at Tokyo Game Show, we inquired about the developer's upcoming shoot-em-up release Mushihime-sama Futari for the Xbox 360, wondering if the title would be mercifully region-free and therefore import friendly. He had good news.
"We had a lot of good feedback from overseas users," Asada told Kotaku, happy with the strong response to the insect-themed, vertically-scrolling shmup. "So for this time, as a test, we're going to make the game region free so that overseas users can play it." Previous Cave games for the Xbox 360 like Do Don Pachi Daioujou Black Label Extra and Death Smiles have been limited to Japan only. So, why the change?
"By making Mushihime-sama Futari region-free, what we're doing is measuring the amount of overseas users," Asada explained. And if you care about your Cave shooters, it's probably a good idea to import a copy. Or two.
"This will have a direct impact on whether Espgaluda II and other titles will be localized for America," Asada warned us. "So it's probably a good idea to pick it up!"
The Japanese release of Mushihime-sama Futari is planned for November 26. We got a chance to play the home port at Tokyo Game Show this week, with our impressions right here.
We'll have more news on the future of Cave from our interview with Makato Asada later this week.