Zaleste X Subway Chips

The shmupmedia-verse is abuzz with the fact that Compile are working together with M2 to bring us Zaleste (so that's a fusion of Zanac and Aleste properties). We've been treated to some nice art and a delivery date some time this year - and while it has all the good vibes and is something to definitely look forward to when i see this i can't help but thinking of Subway flavoured potato chips.

I bought a pack of these on one of my pervious trips and consequently its become emblematic in my mind of that particular flavour of 'X' crossover that seems so prevalent in Japanese business culture. I can basically see the very important Japanese business meetings that sit behind these things, suits, business cards handed carefully with both hands, sitting around a table talking about how one side is looking forwards to the mutual benefit that this collaboration will bring to both companies. And what we get out of this careful negotiation and value assessment, something as frivolous and creative as a shmup.

In these scenarios its a reminder of the worlds that give life to these products, perhaps to be interestingly contrasted with other indie coder efforts. Or perhaps the passion of the team making this game is just waiting for the business get out of the way so they can engage with the fun and the fans. Regardless of this speculative imagining it just provides another layer for considering these works and the world in which they exist.

I had a similar but different thought when Raiden Nova was announced earlier in the year, but at that time i was thinking about the Window's Seven Burger.

Something else i saw (but never considered attempting to consume) while in Japan, it is another artifact that became symbolic of those very Japanese collaboration formal meeting discussions, but moreso than anything else the more constant mix and churn mentality that seems to exist in Japan around products and experiences. A more ephemeral, 'who cares, it'll mix into the background of constant media noise before long' mentality that means that people just do things and put them out there - they will mean less in the long run. Something also supported by the event specific items and collectables that are somehow worth creating in such small production runs, balanced with the fanbase willing to desire them.

In relation to Nova specifically, this laisser-faire/disposable approach feels a bit more in contrast to more western ideals where everything needs to be tied to cannon and legacy. 'Gaiden' (side story) for the sake of making something that people will buy seems less acceptable, instead they should just be putting the effort towards making the next 'proper' one, even though that is not on the cards from a feasibility point of view. Doing a thing with the core property will water it down somehow, make the other stuff less good somehow. There just seems to be a key difference in approach and desire here that is very interesting.

These scenarios just for me highlight some some fascinating nuances of the Japanese pop-culture business sphere, a universe the shmup hobby is deeply embedded in, and how these things converge, comingle, and ultimately fuse.

_DYR