In the past, gamers were entirely restrained by the whims of studios that would approve and license these sought after titles. Microsoft's region encoding requirements for software titles, as it currently stands for the Xbox 360, are at the discretion of publishers. They can just as well choose to restrict their upcoming title to a specific market or to allow for the game to be readily distributed worldwide.

Taking this into account, a petition was created, not for a domestic release, but for 5PB, the company handling the Ketsui and DoDonPachi ports, to refrain from region restricting the titles. Shortly thereafter, a posting appeared on the internal 5PB forums by the producer of the two titles, Masaki Sakari, acknowledging the request and confirming that the company would be investigating a region free release.

Greeting.

I'm Masaki Sakari, producer of "Dodonpachi Daioujou X" and "Ketsui X".

We are aware of international shooter fans. Of course, we are looking at ways to making it easier for you shooter fans to purchase them.

At the present moment, we can't tell we will release them without a region restriction or make different versions for foreign markets because the situation contains various delicate problems, although it is certain that we consider it very positively.

On the other hand, your continuous help and support are necessary.

Please keep on carrying your voices to Microsoft, foreign publishers and foreign media.

Let's work together to play these masterpieces together.

We guarantee to produce perfect works and meet your support.

Thank you very much.

Masaki Sakari

Sure, this may be a matter of maintaining good public relations, but as a gamer who has watched his fair share of titles simply slip away from a domestic launch, this feels like a strong accomplishment. While it may be difficult for any game studio to justify a domestic release for an otherwise niche product, original developers aware of their worldwide popularity can forgo convention and ensure playability for any potential gamer.

In addition, 5PB and Cave have the rare opportunity here to set a precedent for other smaller, well respected Japanese game studios to re-evaluate the international salability and sustainability for their products.

I can only hope that they do the right thing.

La pétition. [SHMUPS]

[via Arcade Renaissance]