The Self-Introduction Thread

[bikingjahuty]

Hi everyone! I've been a long time lurker on this forum and finally decided to take the plunge and create an account. A little about myself for those who care to know:

I grew up playing shooters mostly in the arcade (a lot of Raiden II and Galaxian back then), and have been in love with the genre ever since. I got hugely into video game collecting back in 2008 and my love of gaming only increased my love of the SHMUP genre. I have many of the domestically (NTSC-US) released SHMUPs that have been released across many platforms since the 5th generation of game consoles, with a decent chunk before then as well. The platform I definitely play the most shooters on is the Saturn, although I own probably the least amount of shooters on that console, mostly due to their generally high price. I feel like I'm more interested in the genre than I ever have been and really want to learn more about titles I've heard of and haven't played, or better yet, titles I have never heard of that are among the best according to the community.

If I had to create a top 5 SHMUPs list these would be it.

1. Radiant Silvergun (Saturn)
2. Ikaruga (Dreamcast)
3. Mars Matrix (Dreamcast)
4. MUSHA Aleste (MD\Genesis)
5. Dodonpachi (Saturn)

[wgogh]

Hi everyone! I've been a long time lurker on this forum and finally decided to take the plunge and create an account. A little about myself for those who care to know:

I grew up playing shooters mostly in the arcade (a lot of Raiden II and Galaxian back then), and have been in love with the genre ever since. I got hugely into video game collecting back in 2008 and my love of gaming only increased my love of the SHMUP genre. I have many of the domestically (NTSC-US) released SHMUPs that have been released across many platforms since the 5th generation of game consoles, with a decent chunk before then as well. The platform I definitely play the most shooters on is the Saturn, although I own probably the least amount of shooters on that console, mostly due to their generally high price. I feel like I'm more interested in the genre than I ever have been and really want to learn more about titles I've heard of and haven't played, or better yet, titles I have never heard of that are among the best according to the community.

If I had to create a top 5 SHMUPs list these would be it.

1. Radiant Silvergun (Saturn)
2. Ikaruga (Saturn)
3. Mars Matrix (Dreamcast)
4. MUSHA Aleste (MD\Genesis)
5. Dodonpachi (Saturn)

Hi there! I know many here are all for the arcade, so it is nice to see love for the ports too.
But just for curiosity... You talk about high prices but placed Radiant Silvergun in first. Wasnt that expansive as hell?

[LordHypnos]

Hi everyone! I've been a long time lurker on this forum and finally decided to take the plunge and create an account. A little about myself for those who care to know:

I grew up playing shooters mostly in the arcade (a lot of Raiden II and Galaxian back then), and have been in love with the genre ever since. I got hugely into video game collecting back in 2008 and my love of gaming only increased my love of the SHMUP genre. I have many of the domestically (NTSC-US) released SHMUPs that have been released across many platforms since the 5th generation of game consoles, with a decent chunk before then as well. The platform I definitely play the most shooters on is the Saturn, although I own probably the least amount of shooters on that console, mostly due to their generally high price. I feel like I'm more interested in the genre than I ever have been and really want to learn more about titles I've heard of and haven't played, or better yet, titles I have never heard of that are among the best according to the community.

If I had to create a top 5 SHMUPs list these would be it.

1. Radiant Silvergun (Saturn)
2. Ikaruga (Saturn)
3. Mars Matrix (Dreamcast)
4. MUSHA Aleste (MD\Genesis)
5. Dodonpachi (Saturn)

As official Mars Matrix Superfan #1 I am obliged to respond to this, and warmly welcome you to shmups forum
Always great to see more MM fans

[bikingjahuty]

Hi everyone! I've been a long time lurker on this forum and finally decided to take the plunge and create an account. A little about myself for those who care to know:

I grew up playing shooters mostly in the arcade (a lot of Raiden II and Galaxian back then), and have been in love with the genre ever since. I got hugely into video game collecting back in 2008 and my love of gaming only increased my love of the SHMUP genre. I have many of the domestically (NTSC-US) released SHMUPs that have been released across many platforms since the 5th generation of game consoles, with a decent chunk before then as well. The platform I definitely play the most shooters on is the Saturn, although I own probably the least amount of shooters on that console, mostly due to their generally high price. I feel like I'm more interested in the genre than I ever have been and really want to learn more about titles I've heard of and haven't played, or better yet, titles I have never heard of that are among the best according to the community.

If I had to create a top 5 SHMUPs list these would be it.

1. Radiant Silvergun (Saturn)
2. Ikaruga (Saturn)
3. Mars Matrix (Dreamcast)
4. MUSHA Aleste (MD\Genesis)
5. Dodonpachi (Saturn)

Hi there! I know many here are all for the arcade, so it is nice to see love for the ports too.
But just for curiosity... You talk about high prices but placed Radiant Silvergun in first. Wasnt that expansive as hell?

I would love to get my hands on some PCBs, but living in an apartment barely affords me the space for my current game collection and everything else I own already. But still, I'd love to obtain these for a purest experience.

I actually bought my copy of Radaint Silvergun back in 2010; I was able to snag it on eBay for just shy of $100 including shipping. Dodonpachi wasn't too bad (think I paid like $50 for it), but yeah, I don't have many more SHMUPs other than those because of the prices. My next purchase is going to be Battle Garegga, which I am prepared to drop at least $200 on, but it will probably be a few more months before I take the plunge :p

[AcePleiades]

Hello! I created this account today so I could follow the thread of the guide for Gothic wa Mahou Otome that I wrote with a friend.

I'm from Brazil, and shmups weren't and aren't a thing here at all, despite fighting games being very popular. I didn't grow up with shmups, and I always feel bad when I see other people talking about the classics while I can't say anything useful
I'm self taught in English, and I learned it through online gaming when I was 11 years old. Someday, while lurking on the internet, I stumbled upon this great game called IKARUGA. I remember watching game footage of it all the time because I was amazed at it
It was then that I discovered the shoot 'em up genre, and became a fan of CAVE shmups, in particular. Through emulation, I realized my first 1cc playing ESP Ra.De.

Recently I've been playing CAVE's mobile shmups a lot, and I've grown to love Gothic wa Mahou Otome. Which takes us back to my first line:
I created this account today so I could follow the thread of the guide for Gothic wa Mahou Otome that I wrote with a friend.

Nice to meet you!

[wgogh]

Hello! I created this account today so I could follow the thread of the guide for Gothic wa Mahou Otome that I wrote with a friend.

I'm from Brazil, and shmups weren't and aren't a thing here at all, despite fighting games being very popular. I didn't grow up with shmups, and I always feel bad when I see other people talking about the classics while I can't say anything useful
I'm self taught in English, and I learned it through online gaming when I was 11 years old. Someday, while lurking on the internet, I stumbled upon this great game called IKARUGA. I remember watching game footage of it all the time because I was amazed at it
It was then that I discovered the shoot 'em up genre, and became a fan of CAVE shmups, in particular. Through emulation, I realized my first 1cc playing ESP Ra.De.

Recently I've been playing CAVE's mobile shmups a lot, and I've grown to love Gothic wa Mahou Otome. Which takes us back to my first line:
I created this account today so I could follow the thread of the guide for Gothic wa Mahou Otome that I wrote with a friend.

Nice to meet you!

I happened to play a little of Gothic wa Mahou Otome myself, but I'm sure now that mobile games in general are not for me. As for shmups in Brazil, I doubt that is a mainstream genre anywhere, maybe not even in Japan. I've seen a lot of players from here on this forum, actually, and even a developer that called me to test his Ikaruga-inspired project.
Anyway! Congratulations on the ESP Ra De 1cc! I'll try that one again some day, with Yusuke, probably.

[Sumez]

Shmups were pretty mainstream in the 80s As mainstream as a video game would get that is. I can't imagine it didn't hit Brazil at the time.

[wgogh]

Shmups were pretty mainstream in the 80s As mainstream as a video game would get that is. I can't imagine it didn't hit Brazil at the time.

It did. It is known as "Jogo de navinha", which translate like "Game with little spaceships"
But it is more like a term for those who are not familiar with the genre.

[AcePleiades]

Shmups were pretty mainstream in the 80s As mainstream as a video game would get that is. I can't imagine it didn't hit Brazil at the time.

It did. It is known as "Jogo de navinha", which translate like "Game with little spaceships"
But it is more like a term for those who are not familiar with the genre.

My bad then. I'm not of the "fliperama" generation so I had no idea!

[Deneteus]

Hi. My name is Deneteus and I'm from Houston, TX. I'm a techy, gamer, musician, anime convention live stage director. I repair electronics, mod old hardware, and repair CRTs. Thanks for letting me join! Can't wait to contribute on some of the threads!

[Inglorious_B]

Hi all,

Keen shmupper from London, working on my current 1CC of Raiden IV Arcade.

[komidore64]

My name is Adam. I've lurked for a few months but I figured I'd join up since I'm beginning my search for a candy cab or six.

Been a long time gamer, but into shmups within the last year and I'm having more fun with them than almost anything else. I started on MAME and PC, then I moved onto Saturn ports and Xbox 360. Now I've got the bug and I need to go endgame with arcade PCBs! This is so fun

Mechanical keyboards are also a hobby of mine. I've built a couple and would like to build a few more. I'm working on a design of my own currently. The keyboard that I use every day is an ErgoDox.

Looking forward to increasing my STG skills and hopefully getting my name on a high score board someday!

[reckon luck]

Hi there!

Engineer, musician, pizza guy here. Been into videogames my whole life; my interest in shmups was recently rekindled by Nuclear Throne and Enter the Gungeon. I've got a PS4 but greatly prefer to play on my laptop, so I'm not monopolizing the TV. Between work and my first child coming, shmups are perfect fit for the amount of free time I have. I'm absolutely terrible... not sure if I've ever 1 CC'd anything.

My keenest arcade memory is a Raiden DX machine that sat in the side room of a small, rural town bowling alley. I have a pipe dream of someday opening a pizza place and filling it with arcade games.

[rancor]

I have a pipe dream of someday opening a pizza place and filling it with arcade games.

You and me both, man! I'd even settle for a laundromat.

Good luck, and welcome to the forum!

[febas]

Hi guys

I'm antonino aka FEB (ex taresk aex italian forum)..

After some years I restart to play shmup!

In past I collect some 1cc (batsugun Special 1 loop/mushi futari blabel original blue wish resurrection)

My wish is recreated with some old/new friend an Italian community!

Have a good night

[Uncle Taco]

Hi!

I'm a long-time lurker, but I've finally decided to take the plunge and make my voice heard here. I've been playing shmups off and on for most of my life, but I recently got back into them as my free time has severely dwindled and I haven't been able to binge-play sprawling 40+ hour RPGs, my other favorite genre.

Lately I've been playing PC shmups on Steam: I've been into Caladrius Blaze, DFK Black Label, Mushihimesama, and I just got Raiden IV Overkill. I also love classic Konami shmups: Gradius, Salamander, and Parodius have special places in my heart.

Also, I wanted to give a shoutout to STG Weekly: I've been watching the back episodes on YouTube at work, and they're pretty awesome! Haven't caught one live yet, but that day will come...!

[PAPER/ARTILLERY]

Hi all,

Keen shmupper from London, working on my current 1CC of Raiden IV Arcade.

Welcome, fellow Londoner! Make sure to check out the Casino Crew thread for very-occasional updates on London-centric shmup stuff.

[warewa]

what is up

i've known about this forum for some time now and i've decided to give shmups a go again after reading The Fullest Extend of the Jam the other day

[SpamMusubi310]

Hi Everyone!

Quick post to introduce myself.

I've been into video games since the mid-70's when I was about 5 years old. Back then I mainly remember my Dad taking me to the local bowling alley where they had a wide assortment of EM pinball machines, shooting gallery games and a handful of videogames like Space War and Pong. I was instantly hooked.

Now in my mid-40's, I now have a decent sized house with a game room. Right now I have two pins, Tron Legacy and Star Trek and an Atomis Wave candy cab that needs a bit of cleaning up. I am also starting to consolidate all of my classic gaming consoles I grew up with for display in the game room.

- Mark

[Dochartaigh]

Hello All! Retro gamer here. Mostly NES and Sega Genesis with some Arcade and SNES thrown in. Recently have been MAJORLY into Raspberry Pi's (Pi 3 and Zero, and modding cases for them and building like 20+ for friends...). I'm active on Reddit and the RetroPie forum under this same name. Just got my first PVM monitors in the last week and am really looking forward to those darn BNC cables finally arriving so I can properly test them!

[Stevens]

I've not thrown the welcome mat out in some time. What's up all?

[Fleako]

Hello i'm last year joined this forum thread.
My Main Streaming Game is Gradius III, but from last month my play is slump has begun.

I am worried about it because I think that stress is getting worse and I want to overcome it quickly.

Have a enjoy shooting game.

[Deuceler]

Yo everyone, have been into speedrunning for the last few years but recently stepped away. I was always aware of shmups but properly introduced by a friend last year and got hooked. I'll be working on trying to improve and hopefully one day have the ability to try and attempt some all-clears and high score runs. Stay cool.

[TallMan]

Hi everyone! I've been in other competitive gaming communities prior to this, but have always been enamored by the skill and dedication it takes to excel at shmups. I've decided to take part and delve deeper into the rabbit hole. My main systems of interest are Dreamcast and Saturn. I'm currently playing Giga Wing and Layer Section. Thanks to everyone who is a part of this board, it's an excellent resource.

[Hkr]

Hello. I'm from seattle WA and just recently purchased my first candy cab. I'm looking to start collecting some games of my childhood and hopefully some stuff I never got to try. I've lurked this excellent forum for a while but never registered/posted.

[BackwardPlot425]

Soon I shall change names on the site (with the moderators authorization and action) from GamingJim to BackwardsPlot425. BackwardsPlot425 is my Japanese Xbox Live handle. I sincerely hope to fight against the various forces of evil.

I have many a differing style of flying, such as using an analog joystick instead of a d-pad on the controller. But hopefully that doesn't bother anyone and I am glad that we have differing styles.

Oh yeah, although I registered a long time ago, I shall endeavor to abide by the rules and to treat everybody as if they were me.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

I have many a differing style of flying, such as using an analog joystick instead of a d-pad on the controller. But hopefully that doesn't bother anyone and I am glad that we have differing styles.

There are a few well-known commercial games that have analog joysticks in mind, specifically Gradius V has a slow movement when you press lightly, and the full (whatever your current speedup value) movement when you press hard. Ikaruga's more recent ports support this too. So it's not like analog stick support is the kiss of death, necessarily.

Either way, it's generally thought to be inferior to D-Pad/Analog stick because you can't perform consistent tap dodges the way you would be able to on those, and a slowdown button like Crimzon Clover/Touhou usually works better than controlling speed via analog stick. Tap dodging is a technique that's a really big help on bullet-dense games, and the analog stick works poorly for tap dodging, which is one of the reasons analog sticks are not recommended for playing shmups or for devs designing shmups.

I've decided to take part and delve deeper into the rabbit hole. My main systems of interest are Dreamcast and Saturn. I'm currently playing Giga Wing and Layer Section.

Giga Wing is a fantastic game. Was actually my second arcade clear, and a game I consistently go back to because it's so much fun to play for score. It's also a fun co-op game (storylines with good/bad endings for each character combination).

If you haven't seen these, they're worth a laugh. Scans from a Dreamcast magazine of an astonishingly badly written review of Giga Wing that claims there's only 5 levels (there's 6 plus a seventh level only available if you beat the game up to that point without using continues). The last two levels are very length boss fights, but they're extremely fun in their own right, and I'd bet the reviewer didn't know there's a good ending or bad ending depending on if you used continues.

http://www.outofprintarchive.com/articl ... e14-1.html

http://www.outofprintarchive.com/articl ... e14-2.html

[stampfer]

Hi, I'm new and I would like to introduce myself. As I have been using the vast depths of resources that this forum offers for a while now I felt it was time to make an account and maybe contribute a bit.

I like both horis and verts - old age and slowing eyes make me frown upon those that have avalanches of coins or tokens flowing to you from the same direction as the bullets, though.
Aside from playing shmups I'm also working on something of my own, which I absolutely intend to put in front of the harsh critics in the "Development" section. As soon as a demo stage is done it'll go up.

Thanks for having me and good night.

[ArcadePT]

Hello folks!

I'm new here, and i have created an account some time ago, but never introduced my self.
i'm Jorge from Portugal and i'm a lover of Arcade shumps.
i own a few borads and cabs for playing tate games.
i hope enjoy this forum.

[DarkOnus]

Hello everyone!

I purchased my first US TurboGrafx-16 console back in 1990, then added the CD unit and TurboExpress very soon afterwards. I quickly became addicted to games like Blazing Lazers, R-Type, Soldier Blade, as well as non-shmups like Military Madness, Neutopia, Dungeon Explorer, etc....

I was so disappointed when NEC failed to win, or at least stay in the battle against Nintendo and SEGA, and after about 5-6 years playing with the system, I thought I was putting it away for good, never to use it again, back in the mid-90's . . .

Well, I got them back out and was going to sell everything, but after playing some games again, I just couldn't find myself parting ways completely, so I've decided to upgrade and fix everything I can, and use my newly purchased Turbo Everdrive to check out every single Hucard game available on the system!

But when I pulled everything out again, my CD unit wasn't working, it would spin for a second, then stop, and my TE was playing sound so low I could only hear it if I put my ear directly against the unit itself . . . after I did a couple fixes to the CD unit, it's working flawlessly again, and my TE now has sound after I replaced a capacitor, though I think it still needs to be louder . . . so that's still a work in progress.

I had also added an internal region mod, which is working perfectly, so I could play some Japanese CD's and Hucards I had and before I made the decision to purchase an Everdrive . . . so that mod won't really be necessary anymore.

So I joined this forum specifically to watch the development of the OSSC in light of helping me solve my TG-16 console game recording issues, because the OSSC looks to be very promising.

My interest stems from the fact that I have done an expansion port mod myself with a video/audio output board I created from a design originally by SEGA-16 forum user known as ACE. The board is based off of the BA7230LS IC converting the TG-16's RGB input signals and sync into NTSC component video output which works on my 73" Mitsubishi TV. I also added composite video out for comparison sake. They both actually look fantastic on such a larger screen, I was absolutely amazed.

My issue arose after I wanted to be able to record video of my console games for comparing, directly by way of component and composite connections. Not being too familiar with how all this works I jumped in too early with both feet and had purchased an Elgato Game Capture HD because it had both composite and component input. I also thought it wasn't too expensive. But I found out quickly that it would not accept 240p signals through component input, only through its composite connection. Unfortunately, I have not found any game recorder which accepts a 240p signal through a component input, so I started researching options, and came across the OSSC.

I'm thinking with the OSSC I'll be able to input the TG-16's 240p component signals, and then have the OSSC output to the Elgato at 480p for recording, which it will accept through its component input port.

~ Craig ~