A book for shmup addicts : The Arcade Guide - Shootem'up

[X-2p]

Hi friends,

Tell me it's only me who's interested in this thing:

Coin-Op: The Arcade Guide - Shoot'em Up Collection Volume 1

basically it's a Kickstarter for a shmup book.
Personally I like the paper versions... (so I joined).
it has not yet gathered enough people, it's a shame I think it's a great project.





If this interests you :
https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A ... __tn__=-UK


Good evening to all
(oh yes I have no connection with this person.)

[Creamy Goodness]

I'd fux wit it.

[SavagePencil]

Hello and Welcome to another brand new Kickstarter campaign launch in 2023, yet again me (Darren Doyle) am returning to my roots and yet again diving back into the world of classic vintage and modern arcade titles in this first of 4 arcade-inspired annuals.

Was the lack of editing in the first book as bad as it is in the pitch?

[clippa]

Who is this guy? Is he well known in the community? Does he go into depth about the scoring mechanics or is it all just fluff and rewritten wikipedia entries?
My spidey senses are telling me this is a coffee table book for posers rather than a legitimate resource.
23 quid sounds like a lot for what it seems to be.

[Ice Beam]

Why does the link go through Facebook instead of straight to the Kickstarter?

Was the lack of editing in the first book as bad as it is in the pitch?

You aren't kidding.

The annual will contain a classic set of 66 arcade shooters to read about and marvel at throughout, each game was specially chosen to feature within this first arcade volume across a page count of 136 pages, with every game has been given the maximum treatment to showcase visually everything that made them engaging and a fantastic arcade gaming experience back in the day in this first annual.

[davyK]

I'd be inclined to be more excited about this if the post count was a tad higher.

Surely a tome like that would really be best coming from members of this forum?

In the absence of that, racketboy or hardcore101 content in print would be a reasonable product , they would at least have a track record.

[jehu]

You can read a few pieces by pausing the video. The writing is indeed atrocious.

It's really a shame. The guy's got excellent visual design chops IMO. I suppose a lot of people don't really buy something like this to read it, but still... If the guy has a hard time writing a grammatical sentence, insightful game analysis is probably too much to ask.

This is not this creator's first rodeo, and it looks like his backers have been happy with prior output. If it was readable, I'd probably throw down, too.

Edit:

If the writing in the preview video is at all similar to the final product - even aside from the crimes against grammar - the text is basically throwaway 'coverage.' Something along the lines of: "Squeeze Hunter GX sees two brave pilots, Sigourney 'Sippy Cup' Johnson and Jason 'the Juicer' Smith, travel across the universe to destroy the evil space compost threat, the Hyperrinds! This game is a totally sick journey across 6 planets in the faraway Garden Galaxy, and is only one of many games that followed the fruit and vegetable killing trends of the mid-90s. If you get a chance to play this one, don't miss out. Thankfully, it recently got a port to the Switch and PS4."

[SavagePencil]

Yeah unless this author is bringing something unique to the table, this is just nostalgia tourism. His nostalgia, not ours.

[Sumez]

Everyone already nailed the exact feelings I got just from reading the title of the thread.
And it's regrettable, because layout-wise, this book does look really cool, and seems to be able to recapture the visual flair I'm sure a lot of us enjoy in shooters.

But this.....

or is it all just fluff and rewritten wikipedia entries?

This is my bane for nearly all "popular" video game coverage on the internet. Namely YouTube. And seeing it spread into the written word as well is sad. I'd genuinely love a coffee table book filled with interesting facts about every notable arcade shooter, penned by experts in each individual game, people who know more about the games than I do, instead of people who know less.
Something I could pick up whenever we're hanging out discussing a game and need to confirm something, rather than having to look it up on the internet. Would it actually be more convenient? I'm not sure (to some degree though, fishing for these details on the internet has actually grown worse over the years), but it would feel a lot more satisfying.

[XoPachi]

I'd genuinely love a coffee table book filled with interesting facts about every notable arcade shooter, penned by experts in each individual game, people who know more about the games than I do, instead of people who know less.
Something I could pick up whenever we're hanging out discussing a game and need to confirm something, rather than having to look it up on the internet. Would it actually be more convenient? I'm not sure (to some degree though, fishing for these details on the internet has actually grown worse over the years), but it would feel a lot more satisfying.

^^
Honestly, I'd monetarily chip into a community effort to make exactly that a reality. I stopped buying books like what this Facebook person is peddling because the production quality so often takes excess priority over the actual content.
I remember how disappointing the Dark Horse Zelda artbook was. Just the game covers, widely available promos, and character art you would get from a simple Google search of "Zelda". Instead of unseen sketches, scrapped concepts, design process discussion, artist QA's, and maybe even some exclusives for the book by the artists (all things Mega Man's artbook did). But, in my experience, this sort of thing is common when I get an opportunity to browse these books in person or when I see reviews.

A definitive set of STG encyclopedias by studio/publisher would be an amazing thing to have at home.

[Gamer707b]

Well, I guess reading everyone's comments here saved me a few bucks. It does really look cool, but if the book has no substance, then it's a no go. It would be nice if someone can list some quality and worthwhile shmup related books to read. I'm a sucker for that stuff. Something I can have in my hand on a Sunday, sitting in my backyard, drinking my coffee and reading a good book.

[hamfighterx]

I haven't actually seen the physical books, but I assume any of the published Hardcore Gaming 101 books by Kurt Kalata are high quality. Are they just the HG101 articles in physical form? Anyone have any further insight?

Some US Amazon links:
Hardcore Gaming 101 Presents: The Guide to Shoot Em Ups Volume 1
Hardcore Gaming 101 Presents: The Guide to Shoot Em Ups Volume 2
Hardcore Gaming 101 Presents: The Unofficial Guide to Konami Shooters

[SPM]

^ Are they any good? I remember reading a couple of articles and at least those had important misinformation that anyone playing the game could notice.

[mirkvid]

I have a few and don't think they're particularly interesting. Each game gets a summary and description based on how it differs from other games in it's series. The articles are expanded from their on-line counterparts, but there isn't a lot about the book that I find exciting or very interesting. I never read about a game and thought to go download it like I have with other sources.

If you're familiar with HG101, you should know what to expect.

[Gamer707b]

I haven't actually seen the physical books, but I assume any of the published Hardcore Gaming 101 books by Kurt Kalata are high quality. Are they just the HG101 articles in physical form? Anyone have any further insight?

Some US Amazon links:
Hardcore Gaming 101 Presents: The Guide to Shoot Em Ups Volume 1
Hardcore Gaming 101 Presents: The Guide to Shoot Em Ups Volume 2
Hardcore Gaming 101 Presents: The Unofficial Guide to Konami Shooters

Thanks bro for the link. I might look into the Konami book.

[DMC]

So what should a good on shmups book include? My list for each game entry:

1. A small box with some interesting facts. Besides the obvious (developer, release date, ports), more STG-relevant info like, current world record, community record, input lag (e.g., buffi's info), presence of loops, number of stages, hardware.
2. A brief introduction to the game written by one of few editors, putting the game in context, the basics most of us here know about.
3. A longer Q&A with some member from here particularly interested in the game in question. The pool of questions could be a dozen or so and the editors pick the more interesting ones for each game. Questions like:
What made you love this game? Any part of the game you want to highlight? Is there anything you would have liked to change with the game, if so what? Why should more people play this game?
4. Some ratings or conclusive comments. Either a fixed panel of say 3-4 members that give a rating and brief comment for each game, or some other kind of conclusion.

Add a couple of articles dedicated to related stuff, the arcade centers, the shmups forum (the STGT and perhaps a tribute to all the characters/personalities that have visted this place), and of course, if possible a thought-proviking essay by icycalm on why those who play for score are aspies (written in caps lock mostly). Top-10 quotes by RegalSin etc.

...and perhaps in the middle of the book, a pop up page with highlights from the dick stock thread, edited by BIL.

[Jonpachi]

It's about this point the author would be expected to show up and defend their work...

*insert Pulp Fiction gif of John Travolta looking around*

[cj iwakura]

^ Are they any good? I remember reading a couple of articles and at least those had important misinformation that anyone playing the game could notice.

I contributed to the Best Games and SMT ones, and yes, they're very well written. They use the articles as a foundation, but get expanded on and edited from there. Way better quality than this KS looks to be, anyway.

[mice]

Backed it. Sucker for screen shots in print.