First I would like to thank danath from the IGN Board of posting a thread about this competition. Without him I would never even known about this. I would also like to thank the 9 people who send me Private and Instant Messages about danaths thread, as they knew I could never forgive it to myself if I would miss this.
Then, finally I would of course like to thank CheapAssGamer for organizing this awsome competition (which might also encourage someone to buy Ikaruga!)!
My name is Pauli Ervi, I live in Finland and am a huge Treasure and Nintendo fan.
I spend my time posting on the biggest GameCube related board on the internet, which is the GCN General Board on the IGN Boards, and the Ikaruga board of the same board system. When I don't post, I play games, mainly Ikaruga. These days I play 90% Ikaruga and the rest is divided between other games, like Pikmin. I usually play Ikaruga every day, at least 30 minutes, mostly practising levels and doing stuff I think is cool and makes me happy.
People know me as Peliguru (IGN Boards), but usually call me Peli. This has changed tough, as people call me Pelikaruga these days. I really like the name, and am happy because people appreciate my love for Ikaruga.
I have been praising Ikaruga since it was released of GCN. I have to admit that I didn't import a Japanese Dreamcast when it came out for it, which I regret very deeply these days.
I got the game when it was launched here in Europe, I pre-ordered it, and when I got it I couldn't leave my room for hours. I started off easily, only thinking about getting to Chapter 3 without dying. I couldn't even imagine good scores or chaining back then. Slowly I got intrested in scoring high after realizing I had the skills for it, and started off by chaining 1-1 perfectly. Doing it took me something like 1½ hours but finally succeeding many times in a row was very satisfying.
I played the game for the whole summer, and when the competition ended I was on the 99th place. I didn't stop there... no way I even could have stopped, but slowly made up new tactics and finally broke the 20 milj barrier. These days my score is still only a bit over 20 milj, and I have only played Practise mode in the last 3 months. My practise scores combined would be over 25 milj. tough. But let's not talk about scores, as they don't matter right now.
I also bought the Appreciate DVD when it came out, just like the Hori Digital Pad and the Hori SC II Arcade stick, both just for Ikaruga.
Here is a picture I use as my portrait in some services:
I started a power advertising campain on the IGN Boards GCN General Board around January-February, and yesterday my calculations looked like this:
Because of my praising and advertising, people have bough:
37 x Ikaruga (EDIT: Right now it is 43! Yay! See EDIT on the bottom for more)
12 x Hori Digital Pad
3 x Ikaruga Appreciate DVD
I am really really happy about these counts, even tough I have spend dozens of hours advertising and spreading the joy of the game.
I have done at least the following:
- I have mentioned Ikaruga in 2/3 of my posts since January (4000 posts). No matter if the topic has been "Most athmospharic music?" or "What is the best RPG?". Always praising the game and telling how perfect it is.
- Have created some slogans and made eye-catching adds, like:
I
K
A
R
U
G
A (which has been sometimes even thousands of pixels long)
or
I---K---A---R---U---G---A
GO! NOW! BUY! BUY!
BUY! NOW! GO! BUY!
GO! BUY! NOW! BUY!
GO! BUY! BUY! NOW!
NOW! BUY! GO! BUY!
- created a color add that I have used regulary:
- made a video about how games should be relaxing... only featuring Ikaruga.
Watch the video
- Co-Organized an Ikaruga Hard Mode competition on IGN. 1st prize was a Sega Saturn and Radiant Silvergun, and the 2nd and 3rd prize were Ikaruga related too, a DVD and a game.
- Included 2 Ikaruga challenges into a Board Gaming Challenge I'm organizing on the GCN General Board with a couple of people.
Lowest score in Chapter 1
Best score in Chapter 2-1 with 38 chains
- Wrote some Ikaruga related poems I have posted on the boards, like:
Ikaruga is the best,
So why don't you manifest,
the great joy you feel inside,
the one you should carry with pride!
Once or twice have I tought,
how stupid people are,
they have shouted and fought,
but after Ikaruga not sought.
(I know, it sucks and has a mistake, but it is Ikaruga related and written in 1 min

)
- Submitted two Ikaruga related icons on the IGN Boards (a silhouette of Ginkei and of Ikaruga)
- Drawn lot's of Ikaruga related art and posted some on the Boards on advertising purposes, and to show how beatiful the game is.
- Made a color sig pair for public use, for everyone who loves Ikaruga and wants to promote it:
- more advertising stuff:
- used a default advertisement that I have spread around the boards for public use:
I----K----A----R----U----G----A
*\o/* ------------------------- *\o/*
-- |--- GO! NOW! BUY! BUY! --- | --
- / \ ---------------------------- / \ -
Movie 1
Movie 2
Movie 3
I
*\o/*
--|--
-/ \-
K
*\o/*
--|--
-/ \-
A
*\o/*
--|--
-/ \-
R
*\o/*
--|--
-/ \-
U
*\o/*
--|--
-/ \-
G
*\o/*
--|--
-/ \-
A
- I have also got a couple of people to follow me in my campaing.
One of them is a teacher who now talks about Ikaruga durig classes and invites people to play it in his office.
Thank you baruflea for helping me promote the game and always noticing me of threads where people are speaking about it!
The other one is a game store clerk who said he started promoting Ikaruga because of me and has now sold 15 copies in his store.
He told me I should include these to Ikaruga's bought because of my promoting count, which would make it 52. He said that he has used all my slogans and would have never started selling the game if I wouldn't have promoted it on the boards. He send me a really beatiful message about it and my determination and I would diplay it here if it wouldn't be so long.
He also had found his favorite Peliguru quote, which I said in his 1,5 k celebration thread, where he listed his favoprite games in alphabethical order.
" Oh, I noticed an error there by the way.
You said "Listed Alphabetically"...
But we all know that 'Ikaruga' comes before 'A'... after A comes B and so on...-Peliguru "
I would like to thank ScottJames for being so nice to me and gathering some information for this entry, like the quote above. He really encouraged me with his kind words!
So, that might have been what I have done on the boards.
In my personal life I have:
- Written Ikaruga in the ice on the windshields of all cars I have seen
- I consider Ikaruga as god (along with the Triforce), and Horai as a holy place. (yeah, I'm an atheist in reality)
- Ordered this curtain and this bedspread:
(curtain)
(bedspread)
I also have an Ikaruga wallpaper (I have 8, and shitch them time to time) and screensaver.
I have now logged over 100 hours into Ikaruga. I know it's not much, but I had to live a short time without my Ikaruga, and it really hurt me. I have still played around ½ hour every day.
So, 37 people have bought Ikaruga because of me, and I have done it just to see Ikaruga selling well and people enjoying the game! I have never asked for anything from anybody.
Some time ago a couple of people suggested me to e-mail Atari and tell about my efforts, and they told me they might send me a sake set.
I didn't email them, as I don't care if Atari knows, it would be Treasure if anything anyway. Atari is just the publisher. What matters to me is that I know, and that the people who have bought Ikaruga know. What matters to me is that they enjoy the game.
Now, some time ago when danath posted this on the IGN Boards, people send me messages like crazy, saying that this would be the chance for me to get a reward for all the work I had done.
So I checked the competition out. I went to CheapAssGamer.com, and browsed trough the site. The site seemed cool, and I wondered why I havn't heard about it before. Anyway, the competition was so cool, and the rules were good to me. I am sorry that I havn't posted here before, but I will in the future, as the site seems to be good.
There is only one thing in the world I would like to have more than the Ikaruga Sake Set. That would be the Ikaruga Arcade Unit... but we all know that isn't very possible when you are still studying in an institute like me.
I bought my Panasonic Q mainly to play the JPN version of Ikaruga, just because it has poetry and feels more like the original GCN version. The PAL version also has some bugs that prevent me from scoring as high as you can in the JPN and US versions.
I still havn't recieved my Japanese copy, but hope I will get it soon.
The US version would be what I am missing, and I would be so glad to get it, and naturally in the form of the Sake Set it would be a dream come true!
Finally, a couple words about the game itself. I have spend hours telling people how great it is and telling little details and stuff about it, but here we go, with a small recap:
Ikaruga might be the most balanced game ever made. It's every aspect from gameplay to lenght fits perfectly together, and they form an unimaginable perfect entity.
The game is one of the few that are purely based on skill.
It only has 1 weapon you can shoot in 2 ways, and another weapon you get to use if you play good.
The whole game is basically simple. The basic aspects and the rules are very clear and simple, and they work perfectly in a skill based shooter.
The polarity and chain ideas are perfect examples of superb game design we see so rarely these days.
The lenght of the game is perfect, there is not much to say about it. It is so well designed for a high score run, and as individual Chapters.
The game will geet deeper the more you play it. It also shows how you can do stuff like play the Dot Eater mode with the exact same game mode.... it reminds me of home made challenges in games back then. The prototype mode is also a great idea, and it was very cool tha Treasure included the original idea in the final product.
One great thing about the game is that you can play it no matter what your skills are!
The first time players will be having fun trying just to survive.
After that players get to shoot ships and try to destroy everything, while try9ing to get as far as you can.
Many people don't even ever start to chain and try scoring high, and it is meant for the more hardcore players.
This goes on and on, and every player finds something in Ikaruga, which is absolutely fantastic!
You also start to appreciate others performances after you have experienced the game and it's hardness yourself.
The game is something you can't ever let go... or at least I can't.
There is not much anything that could make me stop playing Ikaruga after all I have gone trough together with it! It is so important to me, and I don't know what I coul do to it to reward it for everything it has done to me.... maybe it would like another copy of Ikaruga and a poster on the wall to match the curtain and bedspread
Ikaruga is god!
Ikaruga, the game that works flwalesly.
Ikaruga
ETERNAL PERFECTION!
It is 2:20 am here right now, and I am really tired and am sure I left at least 2/3 out of everything I was going to write.
The contest ends today, and I wish luck to everyone who took part! I also hope, and know, that the CheapAssGames Staff will select the person who most deserves this Set as the one who gets it! They will have a lot to read... 13 pages? Wow! I'm glad people are intrested in this competition!
Pauli Ervi
Finland
One more thing:
Please, get Ikaruga if you don't already have it!

GO! NOW! BUY! BUY!
I want to say this once again, as a short recap of everything I said before:
Ikaruga
ETERNAL PERFECTION!
EDIT: Today I reached the boundary mark of
40 copies sold because of my praising and advertising on the IGN Boards. I would like to thank you, CheapAssGamer, about it, as I got 2 copies sold becuse of this contest. I posted about this site and the great contest and advertised and praised Ikaruga while at it, and 2 people decided to buy the game because of it! THANKS!
I also remembered many things that I left out, like that I use Ikaruga/Ginkei related usernames and passwords everywhere, I have an server just for Ikaruga. I also have Ikaruga/Ginkei related e-mail addresses.
I have now posted on this board for a few days, and I have only positive things to say about it! You can be sure to see me around here in the future too!
Oh, and I would like to note that the curtain and bedspread are designed by me, just in case you wonder if you could order these somewhere online.
You are of course free to use the designs if you have a curtain maker near you and want to get the coolest curtains on the planet! Ikaruga!
I also remembered I didn't mention that I was top 50 in prototype too... but the rankings wern't so popular, and everyone was playing Normal, so it was easier to get in there,
EDIT: Today I got 3 more people to buy the game! Yay! 43 is now the count, and soon we will hit 50, which will be great! I'm glad people get to enjoy this perefect game, and that it gets bought!
