Japan shooting scene
Japan shooting scene
Well i've just come back from Japan and i'm so glad i went. When i went into HEY! arcade i was amazed by some the skills that i witnessed there.
It was really great being able to play some of the shooters that i've never had the chance to play yet : Raiden III, Trizeal, Gigawing Generations, Mushihimesama etc, however it felt incredibly intimidating as well.
Example : there was a guy playing Mushihimesama on Ultra and he got to the beginning of Level 3 in one credit! This was projected onto a screen, with about 20 people watching. I wanted to play once he finished but was nervous about making a tit of myself, which of course i did. I still love that game though.
"Retro shooting" games are FAR more popular there than i thought, and i guess it really opened my eyes. It also made me wan't to get a lot better at these games.
Well my game haul ended up being :
1. Blast Wind (Sat)
2. Imperishble Night. (PC)
3. Perfect Cherry Blossom. (PC)
4. Sexy Parodius
5. Metal Black. (Sat)
6. Ketsui. (pcb)
7. Dangun Feveron. (pcb)
8. Insanity DVD The madness of Battle Garrega.
9. Chaos Field (DC)
So I've got plenty to get started with. It was a real experience that i'll never forget.
It was really great being able to play some of the shooters that i've never had the chance to play yet : Raiden III, Trizeal, Gigawing Generations, Mushihimesama etc, however it felt incredibly intimidating as well.
Example : there was a guy playing Mushihimesama on Ultra and he got to the beginning of Level 3 in one credit! This was projected onto a screen, with about 20 people watching. I wanted to play once he finished but was nervous about making a tit of myself, which of course i did. I still love that game though.
"Retro shooting" games are FAR more popular there than i thought, and i guess it really opened my eyes. It also made me wan't to get a lot better at these games.
Well my game haul ended up being :
1. Blast Wind (Sat)
2. Imperishble Night. (PC)
3. Perfect Cherry Blossom. (PC)
4. Sexy Parodius
5. Metal Black. (Sat)
6. Ketsui. (pcb)
7. Dangun Feveron. (pcb)
8. Insanity DVD The madness of Battle Garrega.
9. Chaos Field (DC)
So I've got plenty to get started with. It was a real experience that i'll never forget.
Last edited by Ord on Thu Jan 27, 2005 4:13 am, edited 1 time in total.
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PsikyoPshumpPshooterP
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- Location: I shit on Danmaku Dreamer's head
Nice haul. Did you get them all in Akihabara?
I wished I lived at HEY!. It would be cool to work there at the shooter floor, since the cashier/info place is right by all the new games. And all you do is pretty much pick up and empty the ashtrays. So they hooked up Mushi to the big screen, man that must be impressive. When I was there in October they hooked up Ketsui to it. There are definitely skilled folks there, and what a pleasure it is to watch them.
I wished I lived at HEY!. It would be cool to work there at the shooter floor, since the cashier/info place is right by all the new games. And all you do is pretty much pick up and empty the ashtrays. So they hooked up Mushi to the big screen, man that must be impressive. When I was there in October they hooked up Ketsui to it. There are definitely skilled folks there, and what a pleasure it is to watch them.
To answer some questions. Yes i got all those game at Akhibarra. Raiden III played extremely well and looked fantastic, and I for one cannot wait for this title to get a port.
I thought Trizeal was quite poor to be honest, which is a bit of a dissapointment as I quite enjoyed XII Stag. The graphics looked scrapy and the gameplay and "feel" of the game was just a bit crap. Probably won't pick up the DC port.
I really wish i had the opportunity to play Ibara though. Jesus that game looks stunning.
I thought Trizeal was quite poor to be honest, which is a bit of a dissapointment as I quite enjoyed XII Stag. The graphics looked scrapy and the gameplay and "feel" of the game was just a bit crap. Probably won't pick up the DC port.
I really wish i had the opportunity to play Ibara though. Jesus that game looks stunning.
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Raidenfighter Kirkov
- Posts: 198
- Joined: Thu Jan 27, 2005 4:06 pm
- Location: Vienna / Austria
[quote="ord"]To answer some questions. Yes i got all those game at Akhibarra. Raiden III played extremely well and looked fantastic, and I for one cannot wait for this title to get a port.
quote]
Thank you very much for the information !
Can you tell us a little bit more about the bosses ?
Have you seen the spider tank endboss ?
Greetings
RFK
quote]
Thank you very much for the information !
Can you tell us a little bit more about the bosses ?
Have you seen the spider tank endboss ?
Greetings
RFK
Ahh, if only arcades all over Japan were like the HEY! center. The shmup fans might gather there, but outside of Tokyo... good luck finding someone else who recognizes the name "Cave" or "Raizing"
Ahh well, at least my local arcade still has Mushihime-sama. I can drown my sorrows away it in if necessary.
Ahh well, at least my local arcade still has Mushihime-sama. I can drown my sorrows away it in if necessary.
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Super Laydock
- Posts: 3094
- Joined: Tue Jan 25, 2005 10:24 pm
- Location: Latis / Netherlands
Guess we all should have some pilgrimage some time then!Cthulhu wrote:Ahh, if only arcades all over Japan were like the HEY! center. The shmup fans might gather there....
Would be great if a lot of us could gather there at the same time to play some co-op shmupping at HEY! Gajin shmupo's invasion!
Barroom hero!
Bathroom hero!
Bathroom hero!
I don't suppose you were able to meet up with any of the forum members living in Japan? I had posted pics of my shmuppin' day with EightOne and Yamo Skrap on the old forum, but unfortunately that thread is long gone.
Did you take many pictures of your trip, gaming or otherwise?
Did you take many pictures of your trip, gaming or otherwise?
Undamned is the leading English-speaking expert on the consolized UD-CPS2 because he's the one who made it.
Unfortunatly i didn't get to meet any of the forum members. I was trying to meet up with Cthulhu but the forum went down and i didn't know how to get in touch with him. I was also hunting around for a Dodonpachi Dai-Ou-Jou Black label pcb kit for Trevor Spenser, but i couldn't find one. Sorry Trevor.greg wrote:I don't suppose you were able to meet up with any of the forum members living in Japan? I had posted pics of my shmuppin' day with EightOne and Yamo Skrap on the old forum, but unfortunately that thread is long gone.
Did you take many pictures of your trip, gaming or otherwise?
It's funny how Super Laydock mentioned the word "pilgrimage" As that was exactly how it felt for me. It's something i really recommed to any who havn't been. It's amazing. Really amazing.
On another note concerning RaidenIII. i only got to the first boss. the boss was actually two large tanks. They both had these two huge revolving gun turret that spewed out bullets and lasers. The turrets resembeled the gun barrels of an aold revolver. The gamplay felt like the old raiden crossed over a little with the fighter series. The ship was a little slower that i was used too, but not prohibitly so. The "tooth paste" laser was also NOT green but back to it's old colour.
I'll post some pics when i move my stuff and get settled into my new flat, which should be next week sometime.
Ord: Yeah, sorry about losing contact. I totally blame gamespy. The bastards. I'm glad you made it to Hey! and some of the other places in Akiba though... it's just cool to go there. I never get sick of it. (My friends -DREAD- going to Akiba with me though... )
While shmups are still a pretty niche genre overall here, there is enough interest to keep games coming out, and to make little places like this pop up.
While shmups are still a pretty niche genre overall here, there is enough interest to keep games coming out, and to make little places like this pop up.
http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-x-1 ... 0-h36.htmlzyloj wrote:I'd like to know something about Trizeal. There are rumours about a dreamcast release in April...
Famitsu confirmed it'll be released April 7, cost 7,000 yen, and I'm pretty certain the first run will come with a cloth (bandanna?).
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- Posts: 41
- Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2005 8:12 pm
I had a look at Mak Japan, and they had a good selection of pcb's but they didn't have Ketsui which was the one i was after. So i went to GameFront which has a HUGE selection and they had every Cave game there, including Mushihimesama! They were quite cheap and very helpful. Great store.Tychom wrote:I'm curious where you picked up the pcbs from (Mak?) and what kind of selection they have there when it comes to shmups.
Ikaruga review now up in PLASMA BLOSSOM
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Trevor spencer
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- Contact:
Tim Rogers seamlessly interweves fact with fiction in a gooey nugget of pretentiousness. He is a ROCKSTAR JOURNALIST SUPERSTAR.df0notfound wrote:yeah but hes just a big liar dont listen to himjordy wrote:I've been reading a fair bit of insertcredit recently, in particular Tim Rogers exploits and I must say it has really peaked my interest in visiting the temples that they call arcades over there. Its on the list, thats fo sure.
Fact: Tim Rogers cannot go for two sentences without mentioning something/someone Japanese.
UnFact: Tim Rogers never stole a pink Gameboy Advance from a Japanese woman he slept with.
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chtimi-CLA
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Ok folks i've just got myself hooked up to broadband and my digital camera is cookin. Some of you have asked for some pics so here are a few -
The first thing you see when you get off the JR line from the subway. Follow the sign to Electric town.
Viola!
This is Hey! Arcade and it's really, really great!
This is the second level where all the games are shooters. This is also where i saw and played Raiden III for the first time.
A closer, and blurrier (sorry) look at this very cool game.
This is what melted my heart. All these cabs playing Cave games. There were more Cave games round the back.
I reluctantly left Hey! and went looking for a pcb board seller. I found what i was after at Gamefront. A New Ketsui Kit and a used Dangun Feveron Board. Yes this is me and my newly purchased goodies.
Another excellent arcade. In truth everything here puts the arcades in the west to shame.
If verts arn't your thing, then that's no problem
And finally i get to spend some QT with the stunning Mushihimesama
Thanks for your time.
The first thing you see when you get off the JR line from the subway. Follow the sign to Electric town.
Viola!
This is Hey! Arcade and it's really, really great!
This is the second level where all the games are shooters. This is also where i saw and played Raiden III for the first time.
A closer, and blurrier (sorry) look at this very cool game.
This is what melted my heart. All these cabs playing Cave games. There were more Cave games round the back.
I reluctantly left Hey! and went looking for a pcb board seller. I found what i was after at Gamefront. A New Ketsui Kit and a used Dangun Feveron Board. Yes this is me and my newly purchased goodies.
Another excellent arcade. In truth everything here puts the arcades in the west to shame.
If verts arn't your thing, then that's no problem
And finally i get to spend some QT with the stunning Mushihimesama
Thanks for your time.
Ikaruga review now up in PLASMA BLOSSOM
Well i got by with my phrase book, a little preperation and some good manners. People there were really very helpful.Fighter17 wrote:Good to know Japanese?
Really, it helps learning the language?
Ikaruga review now up in PLASMA BLOSSOM
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GaijinPunch
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Defcon 5
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- Location: Vienna - da real otakus home
- Contact:
Wow nice pictures, very very cool location ! Wonder why it's all that empty ?
Check out my Shooter Videos
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TWITCHDOCTOR
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Awesome pics man!!! You totally made my day now.
I'm off to go and mount a blue ashtray on my X-Arcade right now...gotta run!
Hey, am I just a freak, or do all those storefront lights/signs look like GIANT Spine Cards!!!???
(second pic, to the left. Looks like I side profile of a giant import Dreamcast game) The arcade itself, looks like a shelf housing at least 5 PC-Engine cd's.
I'm off to go and mount a blue ashtray on my X-Arcade right now...gotta run!
Hey, am I just a freak, or do all those storefront lights/signs look like GIANT Spine Cards!!!???
(second pic, to the left. Looks like I side profile of a giant import Dreamcast game) The arcade itself, looks like a shelf housing at least 5 PC-Engine cd's.