I've been rediscovering my Sega CD collection, and after enjoying the hell out of Namco's shooter Starblade I was prompted to do some research. I discovered that there's a Playstation version called Starblade Alpha that is described as having fully textured polygons, but I haven't had any success hunting it down. After playing the 3DO version I discovered that after you play it for a while, you unlock a mode that uses textured polygons in the FMV background only. As far as I can tell, in this mode the ships and most of the enemy objects are still flat-shaded. On top of all this, I just learned that there's a version of Starblade unlockable in Tekken 5, which finally gives me a reason to actually own a copy. So, my question is this: How many freaking versions of Starblade are there? Is the 3DO version with the textured poly background equivalent to Starblade Alpha, or does Alpha texture everything and stand apart as a better version graphically? And is the Starblade found on the Tekken 5 disk a port of the arcade code, the Alpha code or something in between? Googling information doesn't bring up stuff that's immediately useful, although everybody seems to be perfectly willing to sell me a copy of anything I search for. I appreciate any info shared, thanks.
There is the Arcade version based on the Polygoniser System 21 board. There is the Mega CD / Sega CD version which is okay. It's on the Playstation and 3DO as Starblade Alpha and there isn't much to choose between them. It's on the Playstation 2 in Tekken 5 as you say. And finally there is also a version for the Mobile Phone too. http://www.bandainamcogames.co.jp/mobile/softbank/starbladegekito/
So Starblade Alpha on PSX and Starblade on the 3DO are equivalent then? If that's the case then I'll call off the hunt for for the first one, mostly because I have a long list of (arguably) rare games to find and only so much sanity to spare.
Starblade is not a rare game and I have all four versions and they cost me all of Y500 or less (including a new sealed 3DO version...). I would get all versions just because it's easy and cheap to complete.
The Tekken 5 version is pretty awesome. You get to play it while the game loads, but the full version is unlockable if you play the mini-game Devil Within
A sequel was in the works at one point too. The cabinet was all kinds of badass and is being put to use in a Gundam title these days. Also, don't forget about the spiritual pseduo-sequel, Galaga 3...
Okay, been shopping and hunting. Here's the rundown so far: Sega CD - Pros: Good conversion for the technology, fast loading times, unique status and score display. Cons: Fewer colors, enemy ships are wireframes and not filled polygons, displayed action only uses 80 percent of screen. 3DO - Pros: Includes arcade mode and version with textured poly FMV background. Cons: Crappy loading time and laggy sound effects. PS2 - Pros: Analog control and self-centering crosshairs, nearly arcade-perfect conversion. Cons: Have to play through a terrible fighting game to unlock it. Gamefaqs says I have to play through 21 levels of a terrible brawler mini-game to unlock Starblade on Tekken 5. Another site says that all I have to do is get the high score on the Survival mode list. I don't want to bother with the former, and the latter didn't seem to work. Anybody know of another way short of downloading a Codebreaker or AR file?
I'm looking for the PS1 version because of texturized mode. As for PS2 Tekken 5 saves, try here: http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/save/920588.html
Have we established that the textured poly mode is the same in both the 3DO and PSX versions? I'm still not quite sure about this, and if they are equivalent then the 3DO version might be better option all around. I've seen copies of the 3DO game in the wild everywhere I go, and I only recall seeing the PSX version once.
Hmm, is there a windows driver for the PS3 memory card adaptor? I bought one for my PS2 saves, but downloading some from the 'net would be nice too. Anyone know?
Been working on that one too, but I can't find one either. The rumor is that there might be a Linux one leaked from the PS3 dev kit, but I haven't been able to confirm that.
I believe profanity is called for now. I think I found a driver, but all the docs are in Japanese. Anybody care to confirm or refute my discovery here? http://www.geocities.jp/altshibabou/win/MCRWwin.html EDIT: Additional link with more meaningful information. Seems like the link above might be for a generic app and not one intended specifically for the PS3 mem card reader. http://blog.digitalvampire.net/2007/04/ps3.html
Being a yutz and following up my own post here... The good news is, I got a Windows XP machine to recognize the PS3 mem card reader as a valid device with a generic driver. You have to edit the INF file all to hell, but you can get it recognized as a generic non-FAT, non-NTFS storage device. The bad news is, the application that I've found to use with the driver only seems to read PS1 memory cards. I'm not sure if that's a limitation of the software only, or a limitation of the hardware when connected to Windows. I'm going to verify my work and start a new thread in the PS3 dev forum. Can some mod PM me with a link to the rules regarding file sharing, please?
Yeah, yeah. Not much more to tell here. I've given up on trying to get through Tekken 5 the legitimate way, as I hate button mashing fighters. Here's the text from the GamesX post I made on the PS3 mem card reader: Okay, here are all the relevant links. You'll need a small amount of Japanese literacy (or an IME editor and Babelfish) to puzzle through this: Blog entry that describes a Windows driver for the PS3 USB memory card adapter: http://blog.digitalvampire.net/2007/04/ps3.html Download for MCRWIN, a Windows 32-bit app that reads PS1 memory card images from USB readers. http://www.geocities.jp/altshibabou/win/MCRWwin.html#MCRWwin Download for UUSBD, a generic USB driver that works with the PS3 mem card reader: http://www.otto.to/~kasiwano/newpage17.htm HERE'S the tricky part. Different memory card readers have different hardware ID's. Read the comments in the UUSBD.inf file in the last download and take careful note of the places where the file should be edited. You'll be changing two four-character hex codes, a VID number and a PID number. To get these, you can hook up the memory card reader and get the information from Device Manager in Windows XP. So far, I've only found code that reads PS1 memory cards. I'm hunting around for a way to get stuff off of PS2 cards. Yes, I'm aware that there are commercial solutions that take care this more neatly, but sometimes you just want to use the hardware you have.
At gamefaqs you already can download PS2 Saves from the PS3 Virtual Memory Card format. Ex: http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/save/920588.html
Is there actually a perfect conversion as i'm assuming the arcade version renders on the fly, all home versions use streamed FMV bg's tho? My local arcade had Attack of the Zolgear, pretty impressive.
Does that imply there's a Windows method of writing to the PS3? I'm not sure how these files would be accessible and writable, unless there's a Linux trick I'm not aware of.
