Psikyo have shut down

[PeteJ]

No doubt horrible news for shooter fans...

In the newest issue of Japan's Arcadia Magazine, a publication devoted solely to covering the arcade scene, an ad was taken out to announce the demise of Psikyo, the beloved creator of the Gunbird series, Strikers 1945, Zero Gunner, and a host of others.

Link

I thought this was worthy of discussion, hence the forum.

[Treble]

[KempStar]

>_<

Not one of my favourite developers, but certainly one that had a lot of flair and talent. I loved strikers 1945 and its sequels. Bad news though, whichever way you look at it ;(

[Burai]

Gah!!!!

Gunbird 2 is probably my favourite Dreamcast shooter of all time and I realy liked what they did with the Strikers series so that's bloody sad news.

[replicant]

This is really sad news. Ive loved the vast majority of their shooters, and Ive got them on my Dreamcast.

Its a shame when a developer of those "niche" 2d games goes to the wall. Its even more annoying when you realise developers who release generic crap like Army Men continue to strive forward.

As rememberance, why dont we discuss our favourite personal PsiKyo Shooter.

[Treble]

I love Gunspike in two-player. Far from their best, but in conjunction with Capcom they made a very fun and fairly original game. Cool mix of characters, too.

It's a big loss that they've gone, if you ask me.

[KempStar]

Heres something that will help you choose:

Games made by Psikyo

Thanks to Ex_mosquito for providing this link

[Burai]

Gunbird 2

It's the perfect antithesis to the current trend for "gimmick shooters" such as Ikaruga and Psyvariar. It's a total old-skool shooter with the standard shot, bomb and charge-shot that you'd expect. No more, no less.

So much character in the game with a real cartoon feel to it and much background detail as the Queen Pirates run from place to place until piling into their morphing boss vehicles (very much in the style of Strikers) and with a random selection/order of levels thrown at you it will be some time before you've truly mastered it. The Dreamcast version has an extra character in the shape of Morrigan as a gesture toward Capcom who published the game, but I found her rather cheesy in practice. Also worthy of mention is the lack of slowdown, even when the screen is full of sprites - testament to Psikyo's great skills.

There are a good few secrets too, with the Gemheads opening up extra games. But can you find them all?

It's an essential Dreamcast purchase, most definately.

[Henning]

Psikyo and the similar developer Success are legends man.

What can I say, the Strikers series, Zero Gunner and Gunbird are all great games.

Later? damn.

[Kron]

A great shame indeed.

Gone but in no way forgotton, im sure the employees will be snapped up by another well respected house and hopefully keep the shooter vibe alive.

[KempStar]

The last shooter released by Psikyo was a game called dragon blaze, that ive never played. I dont know if it was released on any home format (I think not), but it is available on MAME. Im downloading it now, so will let everyone know what its like a bit later on

15 meg download btw.

[Fuddle]

i didnt bother looking in these psikyo threads before, as i had no idea who they were (although thats probably a good reasson to read them)
anyway...i just started playing gunbird 2 today and noticed the name.
excellent game, and i really hope that they can make a comeback.
I'll certainly be looking out for some of the other games mentioned in this thread.

[Kerraig UK]

R.I.P. to one of my favourite shmup developers

[geldra]

http://ntsc-uk.domino.org/viewtopic....ghlight=psikyo

Hey. Everythings going to be fine......