Gradius V - Development

Development

We wanted to work with someone who has knowledge in the area of modern shooting. We also wanted a partner that could understand the Konami spirit. Because we absolutely had to do this production outside, Treasure was the best choice.

—Osamu Kasai, senior producer

Gradius V was officially announced on January 16, 2003, and is a result of the combined efforts of the now defunct Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo and Treasure - a development studio founded by former employees of Konami. Gradius V marks their first joint project since the departure from Konami in 1992. In the 2006 French documentary film Japon: Histoire Du Shooting Game, produced by CanalSat's GameOne channel, senior producer Osamu Kasai explained that because of limited resources the development of the game had to be outsourced. Their choice of potential collaborators would be decided by experience with modern shoot 'em ups and design practices similar to those of Konami, Kasai concluded that "Treasure was the best choice" for the project.

In an interview with the game's producer Yasushi Takano on the promotional DVD, Gradius Breakdown, Takano said that he felt the traditional Gradius formula had become stagnant and expressed a desire for a new direction in order for the series to remain relevant, he also admitted that some of their early work was not as impressive as it would later become. The game went through several revisions and the game was subsequently delayed and made frequent appearances at trade fairs including the Electronic Entertainment Expo and Tokyo Game Show. Plans were also made to produce a counterpart for video arcades alongside the console version, but it was canceled because of time constraints.

On April 9, 2004, Konami announced that a DVD called OPTIONS was being offered to pre-ordering customers in Japan containing interviews with the developers, art galleries and a number of recorded playthroughs demonstrating the inner workings of the game's stages. Adding further incentive for customers to purchase the upcoming game, Konami later revealed the availability of The History of Vic Viper—a book indicating inner design, the background and the roadmap of the Vic Viper ships. The book was included with all versions of the original Japanese pressing of the game. An additional DVD with expanded content titled Gradius V Official DVD The Perfect was also released in Japan to be ordered separately or with the game from Konami's online retail store, Konamistyle.. For the North American release of the game, Konami produced a DVD called Gradius Breakdown as a pre-order incentive. Breakdown includes a retrospective of the Gradius series and a number of recorded playthroughs of the game.

Konami also held an online high score ranking competition in the US and the winners received a director's cut version of the Gradius Breakdown DVD that included more concept art and additional playthroughs of some of the later levels in Gradius V.

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