Every name for this genre sucks!

[Special World]

Shoot-em-ups: gross and unwieldy
Shmups: yuck (no offense, website)
Shooting games: like Halo
Scrolling shooters: awesome but uninclusive when you consider games like Galaga and Space Invaders
Spaceship shooters: uninclusive of my anime underwear magic girl games
STGs: STDs
Schmups: get out

[drunkninja24]

Shmups is a bit unwieldy to say, but its pretty much the one I stick with these days lol

[opt2not]

Back in the day we used to call 'em Scrolling Shooters. Only in the last 10 years or perhaps less have I started calling them shmups.

[trap15]

Either "STG" or "arcade shooters". Latter generally makes it pretty obvious to a westerner what I'm talking about, isn't super long, doesn't sound stupid.

[BIL]

I just say "games like superman."

[Kollision]

down here we say "spaceship games" and that's it, everybody gets it

[pestro87]

I was under the impression that we had all agreed that it's smhup from now on.

[Damocles]

shumps.

Duh.

[Blackbird]

I thought that we were just calling the genre Ikaruga now =D.

[broken harbour]

What's wrong with 'shmups'?

What about 'scrolling shootem ups' or.... 'Sshmups' for short?

[Jenseits]

Talking to myself (cause noone really cares) i call them "Shooters" or to be more specific about my preference: "Vertical Shooters".
I don't care about getting that confused with "First Person Shooters"...

What is it called in Japan? Shooting Games, i'd guess...

"Shoot-em-up" is probably the most specific term and not too long when spoken (doesn't sound as weird as "shmups") but in written text "shmups" fits fine.

[monouchi]

Danmaku

[Xyga]

I thought that we were just calling the genre Touhou now =D.

Fixed for lulz.

I don't feel 'shmups' sucks, actually I like the puzzled look on people's faces when I answer the fatal 'what games do you play' question.

[Jenseits]

Danmaku

Would they call Raiden "Danmaku" too?

[CIT]

Shooters

[ptoing]

Either "STG" or "arcade shooters". Latter generally makes it pretty obvious to a westerner what I'm talking about, isn't super long, doesn't sound stupid.

That could include gun games and stuff like Blood Bros and Cabal as well. As could all the other names really. At the end of the day. Who cares. The people who are in the community know it and if you talk to someone who does not initially know what you mean you can tell them stuff like Ikaruga, Raiden, Gradius, R-Type, the Touhous, whatever. They will get it.

[Herr Schatten]

I usually use "2D shooters".

[TwinBee Hypno]

null.

[DJ Incompetent]

I usually use "2D shooters".

[amdiggywhut]

Talking to myself (cause noone really cares)

This.

[shmuppyLove]

Arcade shooters

[manatworks]

How about "pointing games"??

[chempop]

I usually use "2D shooters".

THIS.

arcade shooters

: like Time Crisis and Virtua Cop

[Mortificator]

Horizontal shooters and vertical shooters, which I think of as two distinct, but related, genres.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Guns N' Roses.
Guardian Force and Zero Gunner 2 auto-scroll in more directions than two. Doesn't R-Type III scroll down at some point?

[KAI]

Mata Marcianos is best shmup name.

[Strikers1945guy]

I usually say "arcade shooters" to anyone I'm talking to who i know would take "shooters" as Halo or COD.

[cave hermit]

Bullet Dodgers?

[Cagar]

Everyone I know around here in Finland say "dodging games"

[Xyga]

Everyone I know around here in Finland say "dodging games"

Dodging ? What happened to the Simo Häyhä DNA ?