shmups.system11.org

Gutted to hear that The HoG had their gear stolen, I hope they get back on their feet soon. The silver lining to this tragedy is that due to all the media coverage, they've now got much better exposure than before. And with their fundraiser almost complete after just 24 hours, the stolen systems will be able to be replaced extremely soon.

Having worked closely with The HoG's owner Mark Starkey last year to get the shmup dan76 and I made running in one of their Naomi cabs, I disagree with that negative comment on Eurogamer:

Mark isn't exactly Keiji Inafune when it comes to marketing and making money, but The HoG has been around for several years now and continues to grow in size, with new games and machines being added regularly, so it's clearly turning a profit.

There are certainly ways they could be doing better financially, an obvious one being to have some vending machines so people don't pop down to Tesco for snacks, but it's definitely profitable.

As for “making the communities put on their own events”, The HoG organises regular fighting game tournaments – the “Gutter Trash” 3rd Strike ones being the most popular – so it's not like all the work is done by the community. At the very least, The HoG's staff have to set up all the equipment and clean up afterwards.

I haven't been to any of these events myself, but several of my friends have and they've had nothing but good things to say about them: it sounds like whoever wrote that comment on Eurogamer had an unusually bad experience at one.

Lastly, to speculate that The HoG don't have insurance is ridiculous: nobody is stupid enough to not insure that much equipment. Especially not a gaming enthusiast who knows exactly how much it's worth.

Don't wanna kick the place while it's down but eurogamer man isn't entirely wrong. They don't take criticism very well and I'd like to know where the hell this non-profit idea came from.

*sigh* I dunno man. I don't go anymore because I don't wanna play shitty rhythm games, (or just get bodied at Third Strike all day) and talking about shmups seemed to be a losing battle. Couldn't even play muh precious ikaruga last time.

Did bulletproof leave? that seems to be the case and I haven't found out why.

Blinge wrote:
He did a while ago and he's railing on Mister Starkey a bit while he's in Finland. Not buying the "gear stolen while people were sleeping there" line.
Like I said......wouldn't surprise me either, but if it all keeps the place going then its still kinda ok by me

I really want to like HOG but it is frustrating navigating it's many idiosyncrasies. After trying (and failing!) to visit it's first incarnation in Potters Bar, I got very excited that it was somewhere more accessible, but North Acton really doesn't have a whole lot going for it. It's not like you can make a day/night of it, like Las Vegas or Casino or Astro City the Brighton Arcades. Also the industrial estate setting seemed very Eraserhead and charming at first, but walking down that footpath by the railway after dark with no lighting is no joke, fuuuuuuck.

I like the place itself, reminds me of some illegal rave. But there's not enough shooters to justify the £10 to get in, the journey there and back and the need to usually bring your own stuff. I imagine it's a godsend for fighting fans who seem to take their marathon sessions ridiculously seriously.

Shame about the robbery. With regards to the 'begging the community for money' assertion, well, no one had to give them money. I imagine they're operating on a knife edge financially. Hope it lasts a few more years for their sakes.

Welp! I hate to make things worse, but I'm moving to Japan with the JET program. I'm going to Gunma prefecture, not far from Tokyo. If any of you ever want to visit you're more than welcome! Thanks for introducing me to the scene and being such a friendly bunch of people!

Take care of Blinge for me.

Sayōnara!

Have fun in Japan! You'll have to try and bump in to HZT, another Casino crew regular who escaped to Japan.

In (slightly) less exotic news, this time next week I'll be moving to Cambridge and thus slightly further away from London than I am at the moment. Don't stop dreaming, guys!

^I'll definitely PM hzt or JWS if I'm in Tokyo in the near future...

I randomly bumped into John Sturges in Casino this evening, I'd asked him about the old shmups he had before the handover, he said he gave-it all away to some arcade in Southend, WOT
I'd also asked him about the DBAC cab, he said 'all smashed-up and sent the hardware back to Japan'... FFS
So I called Albert the engineer (still works for John part-time) about the shmups, he said 'John gave-it all to the HoG's owner'
I might need to visit HoG soon...

I was speaking to Skids earlier, something might be happening in a few weeks time

Yeah Astro City in Southend, probably the best arcade in the UK and my local... For another 6 days until I move again! Actually last time I went in to Astro City there were no STGs which is a shame. Finding Dai Ou Jou Black Label in an Astro City cab so close to home was amazing. Shame none of you made it down. It's probably still worth it for the nostalgia of playing on some very familiar Elrctrocoin cabs

Also HZT: get back to this thread and tell everyone what you've been up to, Jesus!

I'm really envious dude, have fun in Japan! We'll take care of Blinge for you.

I've been doing freelance programming since the last meet, which means that sometimes I'm working 24/7 on a project, and other times have no work and need to be extra thrifty to make ends meet. Basically, I'm not in a position to organise meets anymore, but if someone else wants to take over then I'll turn up to as many as I can!



Also, dan76 and I have decided to release Casino Caravan Collection online for free, as a tribute to Casino (RIP). You can play it in your browser, or download a standalone version for Windows and Mac OS X with added controller support and tate mode. Check it out here:

http://1cc-games.itch.io/casinocaravancollection

well at this moment right now I'm just drinking on my own (at 1pm) and listening to black metal so it's not really that different
got back into shmups a bit more again recently which is why I saw this in the first place

p.s. also I got married

Wow, congratulations hzt! When did that happen?!

Congrats! Yeah I saw the pics on T's Instagram. You should post them here!

^Congrats hzt

I'm living in London now. Popped in Las Vegas while on my way to Primark - who's the guy putting 700 million scores on Espgaulda II?! (Also, why didn't I know Las Vegas was there when I visited a couple years ago? I was literally around the corner.)

If there's a get-together in the future, it'd be great to tag along and put faces to some names.

^Welcome to London CStarFlare

What brings you here may I ask

Apart from Las Vegas with ESPgaluda2 and Gunbird2, there's also H.O.G (Heart Of Gaming) in North Acton on the Central Line which is a bit of a trek

You have PM

Regards CHI

I'm here for grad school - I have to keep reminding myself that I'm not just here to hang out. Reality will kick in in September.

Yes, HOG is probably too far. I recall hearing it's not great for shmups, but I can't find a list of what they have. I may make a trip to Astro City in Southend some time - they've got a good selection of Bemani games which hold a special place in my heart.

^Shmups at the HoG is pretty limited-to-nothing!
I've asked for a list a couple of times, no-one seems to bother replying!
Mainly Naomi shooters and only a handful, when I was last there...

If you have time sometime next week, I'll take you to The Four Quarters in Peckham Rye, that place is pretty cool

I don't remember there being any shmups at Four Quarters - there is an original Tron machine that sometimes flickers to life.

I don't think shmups really worked at HoG. I heard that they didn't get played much and took up valuable fighting game space. Not sure what the situation is now after the... incident

Welcome to London CStarFlare.

^There maybe no shmups there but it's a fucking cool place to visit once in a while *coughSmashTVcough*

Keep us posted whatever happens, i might make it down.

Thanks for the welcomes everyone. Hope to get acquainted soon.

Guess everyone London/UK gamer will be heading down London Alexandra Palace this weekend.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=29&v=nHJY7lQJ9dw
http://www.legendsofgaming.co.uk/

Good Lord, that looks... awful.

Yeah pretty lame set-up for a big gaming event. Are my eyes deceiving me or did I see Ryan Hart sitting on left side of one of commentator/gamers?
Would love to know the behind-the-scenes of this set-up for a future STG gaming event to materialize.

^They would bring Ryan in for that.
He's been doing well from sponsored gaming for a long time now.

JDE and I are heading down to Las Vegas on Wardour street this Sunday, if anyone wants to come along we should be there around 3.

EDIT: no meet today, postponed until next week.

Don't expect to see me for a while, I'm back in NYC... You have been warned

Regards, CHI

Good luck bro!

For anyone who's into music games, there's a new arcade in London that caters to the Bemani crowd:

https://www.facebook.com/VegaLondon

Specifically DDR, IIDX, and Pop'n Music.

They've also got a TGM3, a couple fighting cabs, and some multicab thing. The place is visible from Angel Station, which is super convenient (for me, at least). It's wonderful news. It's not great for me to be falling back into IIDX, though...

NYC, nice! You should start your own shmup-themed restaurant out there


That looks really cool, thanks for the tip CStarFlare! Not very close to me unfortunately, but I'll definitely check it out if I'm in the area.

London's arcade/barcade scene is in good shape now, just off the top of my head we have:

Arcades

The Heart of Gaming
Las Vegas
VEGA

Barcades

The Four Quarters
Loading Bar

Edit: Just caught up with the rest of the thread and saw that CStarFlare is living in London now - so it's a bit late, but welcome to London!