STG roundtable: Degica, Cave, G.rev, Moss, Qute, Δ, Pyramid

[GSK]

http://www.4gamer.net/games/038/G003821/20160301020/

Here's a very long and very comprehensive discussion about the future of STG from most of Japan's prominent developers/publishers; they cover a wide range of topics concerning PC, arcade, smartphone and multi-platform STG development/publishing and many other things besides. This interview was conducted after Transition and the DBCS release, so it's quite up-to-date and does give a few hints at how certain games are selling, domestically and internationally.

It's waaaay too long and in-depth for me to even attempt to translate but hopefully someone else will take a stab at it sometime.

[RecklessRave]

Thanks for posting. I think my favorite part was the mention of Barcades in the US and how trendy hipsters love frequenting them, and the mention of upright cabs in fast food places in the Western world. Also it seems like a French Cave fan and collector who throws house parties got a shoutout as well.

I also like how they noticed that people outside Japan are less likely to re-buy games. I know that's definitely true for me.

[d0s]

Man I have such a love/hate thing with barcades. Here in NYC it's seriously the only way to play STGs in an "arcade". We have something like 4 barcades in the region and combined I can play these games, a subway ride away:

Daioh (6 button)
Aerofighters 2
Blazing Star
Ikari Warriors
Metal Slug
Metal Slug 2
Contra
Life Force
Galaga
Gyruss
Dragon Spirit
Shock Troopers

That's just shooting games, fighters and beatemups have a similar pretty good selection (if you're into late 80's/early 90's). It's honestly really great for someone like me who is mostly into the older stuff. The problem is these are absolutely lousy places to play games, they're loud and chaotic (as in, blasting music on the sound system and people yelling, not the natural chaotic noise of arcade machines, the volumes are all turned very low) and everything is really poorly maintained. They get absolutely packed full of people. I can go down the street to a pinball-only place where everything is treated reverently and there's no bar and the crowd of drunk idiots that comes with it, but there's no place like this for video games. Forget about any of these places having newer shooters or fighters, that's far too uncool.

When people point to barcades as the saviors of arcade gaming in the US I wonder if they've ever been to one, because it's kinda shit if you actually remember what real arcades were like. It's better than nothing though.

[Stevens]

Dos- Those are all valid praises/crititcims of Barcade and I agree with you on them. If you can get to one on off hours though - like at opening - you'll have a good one to two hours of relative quiet.

The other thing I really like about Barcade is that in between all the hipsters/people who have never set foot in a real arcade, there are some people who actually have set foot in one, and some of those people are ridiculously skilled.

I was lucky enough one day last year to be there the same day that the guy who has the high score in Millipede (Chelsea location - 9 million something) fall short of beating his record.

Have you ever watched a high level player on a trackball? It was unfucking real.

[d0s]

Dos- Those are all valid praises/crititcims of Barcade and I agree with you on them. If you can get to one on off hours though - like at opening - you'll have a good one to two hours of relative quiet.

I normally work during those times but I managed to make it to the Brooklyn one at like 4PM the other day and had a good time playing Aerofighters 2 and Ikari for a few hours, place was completely empty for a while and it was pretty awesome. It does sound rad to come across a player like that no matter what kind of location it is, it's cool that stuff like that can still happen.