Shmup Club Game Selections, Cost, and Podcast

[MetalFRO]

I'd like to preface this topic by saying a bit thanks to everyone who is participating in the June 2018 Shmup Club inaugural game, R-Type! I know it's a difficult game, and not for everyone, but it seems like a lot of folks have jumped on board, which I'm very pleased to see. As much of a nerd as I've always felt, for clinging to this genre of games, well past its popularity cycle, it's encouraging to know that there are plenty of folks who enjoy these games like I do. Having said that, as both a game player and collector, I know that shoot-em-ups can often become expensive after their initial release has sold out. Case in point: some of the original PlayStation shooters, even those that were less expensive budget titles, have gone up in the last couple years. As such, it should be understood that some of the games chosen for this monthly group will be more expensive. Some of them will be multi-platform, and that's how I'm starting out. I wanted to make the first couple selections more accessible, and give everyone plenty of opportunities to jump into the fray, without having to drop a lot of money for a game they don't own. However, in the future, we will definitely need to balance less expensive games on Steam, or other digital platforms, with older, more expensive games that some of us likely already own, but others who may be interested may not.

With that in mind, I'm wondering if we should develop a system, whereby we can determine a price range of games. Initially, I'm thinking a 3-tiered approach. The low end could be something like $30 or under, mid-range would be $31 to $60 (around original retail prices for most things), and then the high range would be anything that has gone up in price enough to be somewhat prohibitive. As of this post, a game like Thunder Force II can still be had for under $20, and you could expect to pay $30 or $40 for Silpheed on the Sega CD. In contrast, Gun Nac, which is one of Pam's favorites, is going for insane amounts of money now. The store in my state which has a copy has it priced at over $200, currently. Famicom copies are cheaper, but not everyone has the ability to play those. Of course, there are plenty of inexpensive games on Steam, a lot of digital releases on PS4, Xbox One, and Switch, and also some free games out there, such as classics like Stargunner and Tyrian 2000, to doujin titles like Blue Wish Resurrection and Cho Ren Sha 68K. I want to have a balance, but as many of the classics as we can fit into the mix, I would like to do so, without turning people away. Please let me know what you all think, and how you'd like to approach this balance. This 3-tiered system would help potential players identify the cost of participation for any single-platform games, or games that are expensive, no matter where you play it, and help make better purchase and participation decisions.

Secondly, I know I arbitrarily picked the first game, and now the second game, but going forward, I'd like to involve everyone who wants to participate. I thought about doing a poll each month, toward the end of the month, to find out what we want to play the following month. There are times when I may select a game, strictly because it's something I want to cover, but I would like to open up the ability for folks to chime in on what they'd like to play. How does everyone want to approach that? Do we want to have people throw out suggestions and then make a poll based on those games, OR would you want me to make a poll based on the type of game it is, and choose that way? This would be something like the following:

• Horizontal Shmup
• Veritical Shmup
• Hybrid Shmup
• Borderliner (i.e. rail shooter, run 'n gun, etc.)
• Arena shooter
• Twin Stick Shooter

The other option would be that I could just pick from a list of games I already have, or want to cover, make up the poll, and see which one gets the most votes. We can also do a combination of these things, and rotate through the different methods, just to keep things fresh. I'm just trying to get an idea of what everyone wants.

The other thing I want to discuss is the possibility of doing a Shmup Club podcast! I would really like to discuss the game each month, talk about the game mechanics, different versions, etc. but I need someone to cohost with me, because it would be boring if I did so myself. Is there anyone who might want to help me helm a podcast each month, or would anyone be willing to help contribute on an as-needed basis, for months that they participate? I'm open to either or both, but I would like to do something before too long, so we can begin thinking about how to structure it, and come up with a template. If anyone is interested in helping out with a potential podcast, please PM me and let me know. Thanks again for all the participation this month, and I look forward to continued shmup excitement in the months to come!

[Duke.Togo]

I'm not sure what the best way is to go about the selection process, but I'm glad this is coming together. If I think of anything, I'll post.

[98PaceCar]

My interest in participating was to force me to play some of the games I've bought but never gotten around to. I've spent a fair bit trying to get the must owns for pretty much all of the popular consoles before I was priced out of the market. So I've got a lot of the higher end titles, but am just as interested in trying out lower cost titles. Maybe there needs to be a ratio of expensive to cheap, say 4-1 or something like that? I don't think I'll specifically seek out and purchase any games just to participate in this, unless they are something really compelling. So if a game were selected that I didn't own, I'd just skip that month.

As far as selecting titles, a mix of well known and hidden gem type of games would keep me interested. I'd want to hear opinions from everybody participating though, to cover all tastes. Perhaps play a game on the top 10 list from shmups followed by something that's not on the list?

[MetalFRO]

My interest in participating was to force me to play some of the games I've bought but never gotten around to. I've spent a fair bit trying to get the must owns for pretty much all of the popular consoles before I was priced out of the market. So I've got a lot of the higher end titles, but am just as interested in trying out lower cost titles. Maybe there needs to be a ratio of expensive to cheap, say 4-1 or something like that? I don't think I'll specifically seek out and purchase any games just to participate in this, unless they are something really compelling. So if a game were selected that I didn't own, I'd just skip that month.

As far as selecting titles, a mix of well known and hidden gem type of games would keep me interested. I'd want to hear opinions from everybody participating though, to cover all tastes. Perhaps play a game on the top 10 list from shmups followed by something that's not on the list?

Thank you for the ideas and input. I think a 4-1 ratio might be good. And in that group of 4, I'd probably put both low and medium cost games, because $60 is still a standard for a full price, retail AAA game, of which, most shmups would have been considered until somewhere around the PlayStation/Saturn era. So that would be 4 games at $60 or less, to every $65-$150 title in the bunch. Some concessions could be made, like Radiant Silvergun, for example, since it's available on Xbox 360 for a good price, or games that are on multiple platforms, and an available release is less than the threshold. Another example would be Gradius V - CIB copies go for around the threshold, but it's still available digitally as a PS2 Classic, so it can still be downloaded for a decent price to play through. But I want to balance newer indie titles as well, since there are a lot of well reviewed shooters on Steam and digital platforms that are very inexpensive. Those who don't want to put forth any additional money to join in would be in the same boat as you, 98PaceCar, and simply skip a month. And that's okay - just like the regular monthly play through, not everyone will be able to participate every month. The idea is to make it as accessible as possible, while still aware of the underlying barrier to entry for some games, simply because of cost and lack of availability.

[singlebanana]

I sticky-ed this one FRO

[MetalFRO]

I sticky-ed this one FRO

Many thanks! Is there a way to insert a poll on this topic, or would I have to make a new one for that?

EDIT: Never mind - I made a poll in its own topic 

[MetalFRO]

Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions for what shooter we should play in November 2018? We haven't decided on anything definitive yet, and I would like a few community suggestions, since some of you will have games in your library that you either haven't touched, or would like to go back to. I have a pretty wide range of shmups in my collection, ranging from Atari 2600 to Switch & PS4, and most everything in between. I'm missing a couple heavy hitters here or there, but at this point, I have enough games to last a while. There are also a ton of great shooters on Steam, some of which are viable alternatives to the physical copies which have spiked in price, such as some of the Japan-only Xbox 360 games. No suggestion is a bad suggestion, either. I just want to make sure we're not just arbitrarily picking games, but that we're also catering to those of you who want to participate, so that we make sure to cover some of the games you want to play. Thanks, in advance, for any suggestions!

[Duke.Togo]

Always love to play something from Compile.

[MetalFRO]

Always love to play something from Compile.

Good thought! Anything in particular tickle your fancy?

[Duke.Togo]

If you want something cheap and accessible, Zanac is an easy way to go. I'd like to play Zanac X Zanac though, and it is available for $6 for PS3. I've never given it a shot, but always mean to.

[MetalFRO]

Both great suggestions! I didn’t know that Zanac x Zanac was on PSN, so I will have to go have a look!

[Dingo]

Think this is the current thread for this. Just wanted to Formally post in here.

[MetalFRO]

This is the suggestion thread, so in case there are any shooters you want us to play, and you can feel free to make suggestions as to what games we should consider going forward. If you want to sign up for the October play through, there’s a specific thread for that. We’ll be playing 1942, any conversion.

[EZ Racer]

Didn't know where to post a question like this, but here seemed to at least kind of fit. Starting to expand my collection, specifically Genesis shoot-em ups, and wondered which people would more highly recommend, Lightning Force or Gaiares? If there is a better forum to post a question like this please let me know. Thanks

[MetalFRO]

If I hadn’t already mentioned to you, Lightening Force is my favorite shooter of all time, and I would highly recommend it. Some of the best graphics and music on the Genesis, and the gameplay is top notch. Gaiares is a tougher one to recommend, but mostly because it’s become expensive. It’s a good game, with nice graphics, decent music, and a cool weapon stealing mechanic, but it’s quite difficult, and some of the weapons you can steal from enemies are pretty useless, so at first there’s a lot of trial and error. I like it for what it is, but I recognize that it’s flawed. If you can find it cheap, I would say go for it, but it falls under the “try before you buy” category, I would say.