Yart has 2 chronicles

1. Am I the last kid on earth who still plays shmups?!
   

   Player Chronicle -- Posted on Nov 30 2007

   Seriously. I think I'm the last kid (not adult... though wouldn't being 18 count as being an adult now?) who still plays shmups!
   
   
   
   The other day my friend was over and we were playing shmups, but only because I brought it up and he was like "Okay." Then he was like "Ya know, this is the only place where I get to play shmups. None of my other friends play these kinda games." That was very depressing to hear to be honest. Everyone else would rather waste their times on crappy generic first person shooters and sub par "interactive movies."
   
   
   
   It's really weird. Whenever I play a shmup in front of somebody, either they look at me weird, or they've never seen a game like it before in their entire lives! Even worse are those kids who look at them and say "omfg Halo is better LOL!" and completely ignore the game for one of three reasons:
   
   1. The game is in 2D.
   
   2. No freedom. Screen scrolls you in the direction to go.
   
   3. They're wussies who chicken out because there's a lot of projectiles on the screen to dodge.
   
   
   
   It's really depressing to know that I'm the only kid who still plays these shmups religiously! I'm always alone in this field as there's nobody my age or any friends of mine that I can play shmups with. (Well I have some online friends who play shmups, but they're adults and don't live in Canada) I don't believe I'm one of a dying breed, but I do believe that I'm going to have to get to know some older people if I want to get the most out of my beloved genre.
   
   
   
   It's really sickening. Really...
   
   
   
   Last week I was out of town and I entered an arcade but was sickened to find that the only shmup they had was in a corner abandoned by the rest of the kids who were playing crappy racing games and some light gun games. Heck! The shmup machine wasn't even maintained! The bottom 1/3rd of the screen was burnt out (REALLY hard to see enemies and shots from down there) and there was burn in on the screen and everything. The game was Raiden Fighters, and I popped in over $8 on that game alone! Holy crap it was one of the best experiences of my life and I couldn't believe all these other morons were avoiding this machine like the plague! (No seriously! Raiden Fighters rocks! Play it!) It's a shame I ran out of money before I could beat the game. I was at the final boss too. (I know I was fighting the last boss because I read up on it later) But man! Best $8 of my life! And the machine was only half working!
   
   
   
   If I ever get married, my wife better love shmups. In return I'll do the house cleaning. (Actually I'd help with that anyways but eh. I don't believe in men being able to sit down and watch the news and crap while the women do all the work and the men go out drinking. I'd do my share. But that's another story...)

   
   

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Yart has 1 comment on this chronicle.

1. Cy4n
   Posted On Jan 02 2009

   If you ever get the opportunity, you should head to the Tokyo Game Show sometime. Japanese gamers still have a huge love for shmups, and it shows... nearly every arcade I went into has at LEAST one, and there were some on demo in 2008 as - I can't say 100%, but I'm pretty sure - XBLA titles just strewn around. And I don't mean just one; I'm talking about a row of probably six or so. Pretty badass, honestly.