The Problem with Perikles

[Mark_MSX]

I made a video with my thoughts on the situation:

https://youtu.be/N94kWbcbJZc

[Despatche]

For what it's worth, I actually prefer handcam for some reason and I wish people would do it again. A handcam of someone at a cab, for example, is pretty neat. Adds character, I dunno.

[Gus]

I love handplays as well and I'm all for them if someone can figure out how to do them properly. When I've attempted it in the past(vid) it was really awkward as I had to hold the controller in a specific way to avoid obscuring the screen and even then you can't really get a good view of what I'm doing on the pad. But I'd be all for accepting them as proof if someone can figure out how to get a good view of the hands and screen at the same time.

[Sumez]

Yess, do the Sengoku Blade thing!
I know you don't care too hard about whether your skills are publicly recognized or not (which might easily be the cause of this whole debacle in the first place), but I think it would put a much more satisfying full stop to the thread and the debates - satisfying for both the doubters (of which I think many do want to believe in you) and your supporters.

I'm glad to see you responding to this thread, and I'm impressed how calm you're taking it, considering how heated it got at some points. I would probably have just evacuated the forum seeing this - I'm incredibly averse to controversy (I originally fled this place for a couple of years because something some random person said to me that I can't even remember now). But I hope we get to keep you around for years to come.

[Mark_MSX]

I'm genuinely confused by the turn this thread has taken. Perikles you haven't provided any explanation directly addressing the evidence and concerns with replays in question. It just sounds like you are saying that some of your replays are legit (which is probably true), but you haven't provided anything in terms of the replays discussed in the thread. What is with those dodges that have been shown in this thread? To me they reek of slow-downed game play.

You are right, your long non-direct post does look like the usual cheater response. It didn't convince me otherwise. Answer the concerns directly, did you cheat those replays that we have been discussing in the thread? How are you getting those absurd dodges? What is your routing process like where you are knocking out all these killer clears in such a short amount of time? If you are this strong of a player why haven't you made any attempt to show your skills outside your videos?

A Sengoku Blade 2-all recorded with handcam is cool and everything, but one potentially legit replay erases all the other concerns? To me this looks like if you are around long enough and cheat long then its all good.

[BIL]

I made a video with my thoughts on the situation:

https://youtu.be/N94kWbcbJZc

I get a pattern of caricaturing here.

You talk about Perikles "pumping out superplays," and raise the spectre of him claiming board after board with HAX. Please link me to some of these "superplays," and I don't mean death-strewn 1-ALLs that would've gotten INH's offices burnt to the ground by rioting otaku, had they published them BITD. I've seen his Tatsujin Ou, Raiden II and Same3 replays. None suffice.

Another: board predator. He's remarked to me that he never wants to play Same3, Tatsujin Ou or Raiden II ever again. Looking at his videos I believe him, he got beat up by all three. He's outclassed at Raiden II by saucykobold and beaten by sikraiken at Tatsujin Ou by a smaller margin (the limits of his ability/enthusiasm? more like to throw off suspicion MIRITE). He got the top Same3 spot over saucy by a decisive margin, but neither of them are even worth mentioning by "superplay" standard.



Is this more camouflage from him?

Meanwhile I've never seen someone profess a love for an STG as sincere as his for R-Type II. saucykobold's 2-ALL has outclassed his for over four years now.

The notion of him eyeing your DDP score, held back only by the greater scrutiny he'd face, is pure bogeyman. Are you saying the complete and utter disinterest he has demonstrated in CAVE et al over the past half-decade, and his apparent preference for older stuff, arcade and console alike, is purely down to a perceived ease of cheating on his part?

That's an amazing story. I sincerely doubt it, though. The caricature doesn't fit, not without some extraordinarily committed yet meaningless method-acting on Perikles's part. If the story is true and I end up eating shit for this, that's fine. It's the most incredible tale I've seen on this forum, can't spot 'em all.

If you are this strong of a player why haven't you made any attempt to show your skills outside your videos?

This keeps coming up again and again. In that video you accuse him of chasing internet glory, specifically Youtube glory, with some very specific imagery of addiction. Is it so hard to believe some of us not only aren't interested in, but actively avoid that stuff, and prefer to keep our hobbies just that? No "scene" or "culture," or whatever? It sounds like you were projecting, in hindsight.

[Sumez]

I think that's a really strong point that Perikles does go over in great detail in his post. I've always respected his skill, but never seen him as a "superplayer". He plays these games enough to beat them, and then moves on to the next. I think most people in here would be able to do the same given the dedication - but the dedication is exactly the reason I admire him.

The accusations of cheating really comes down to the few videos with "questionable dodges", and nothing else. Perikles obviously delves into these games and plays them to completion out of a genuine interest in them, so what does he have to gain from cheating? Is it a part of a plot to "cheat himself" maybe, excusing himself to call the game done? I can't say for sure if the runs are legit, but I really don't have any reason not to trust this guy.

[Mark_MSX]

You can try and deflect this on me all you want, but I want to hear something convincing about the evidence presented. All I'm hearing is the same old forum talk. Perikles has been around a long time and he's humble guy just playing shmups for fun, so cheating is fine because he's been around for a long time? Do you not realize how much of a joke this makes the score keeping on the site look like?

Perikles cheating is a special kind of cheating, because he's humble and has an old join date? He's been playing you all like fools and it's funny how this forum proves time and time again that game play really doesn't matter. It's all about your little friend circles so you all can hold hands and talk about the good old days.

You can make whatever excuses for him that you want, but show something actually convincing. Explain these dodges. Explain his routing. Plus let's hear it from Perikles himself, not his fanboys.

[BIL]

You can try and deflect this on me all you want

Just calling it as I see it. Your charge of a dopamine-chasing thespian is inevitably going to raise questions, given Perikles isn't the sort to offer voiceovers let alone show his face let alone run a podcast, and has certainly never pretended to be some pillar of the "scene."

I think you have a very different idea of what engaging with this hobby means, compared to us Joe Nothingfaces. I get it looks paltry, but this is all some of us need to have fun online.

That said: at this point, I don't think it's out of line to (politely) request some token verification of him, given this is a community and he's become a fixture of it.

Also, please keep in mind you brought this angle up in your video, which you brought to this thread. Delving into the mind of [internet person] is kinda Maury material as far as I'm concerned. I know I'm propagating it by even responding, but it was a main plank of your argument. Also I'm awful that way, and I didn't want to clutter the thread before Perikles himself responded.

I want to hear something convincing about the evidence presented.

Roo managed the now-mythical Tatsujin Ou sequence (a failed speedkilling sequence) in this very thread. (hey he deleted the video, oh well never mind D:)

I'd be more interested in that than a faked DDP run, a game whose hitboxes remove it so far from Tatsujin Ou as to make such direct comparisons near-useless. (to clarify, I watched your entire video - I think you should've faked Tatsujin Ou or Same3 instead)

All I'm hearing is the same old forum talk. Perikles has been around a long time and he's humble guy just playing shmups for fun, so cheating is fine because he's been around for a long time?

I've neither implied nor said anything remotely of the sort. It's absolutely not fine if he's cheated. I just don't think he did. Let's keep this as objective as possible.

Do you not realize how much of a joke this makes the score keeping on the site look like?

By anything but the most casual standards, the site's current score verification is indeed a joke - with or without "The Perikles Problem." It's a related but separate issue as far as I'm concerned. Even if he's exonerated beyond all doubt, the system will retain the same vulnerabilities.

Perikles cheating is a special kind of cheating, because he's humble and has an old join date? He's been playing you all like fools and it's funny how this forum proves time and time again that game play really doesn't matter. It's all about your little friend circles so you all can hold hands and talk about the good old days.

Again you're getting pretty heated and responding to shit I made a point of not implying, let alone stating. pls stop, we're all shumps bros. I think? Like I said, maybe I'm wrong and I'll happily accept it if so. I just find it exceedingly unlikely. Also Perikles isn't old, he's a goddamn newbie.

You can make whatever excuses for him that you want, but show something actually convincing. Explain these dodges. Explain his routing. Plus let's hear it from Perikles himself, not his fanboys.

Perikles is my fanboy, actually.

I gave my opinion on Gun.Smoke earlier, that's someone failing a tricky safe strat and keeping their shit together to survive by the skin of their teeth. I've done it too. Looks like a lot of that going on in his replays.

[chum]

Another: board predator. He's remarked to me that he never wants to play Same3, Tatsujin Ou or Raiden II ever again.

You ever thought about why that is? These runs (like many others) make no sense whatsoever and it is almost impossible that they were played legit. In Same3 Perikles conveniently forgets to do any routing on stage 5 onward, with playing on Stage 7 onward that is especially hard to swallow that it would allow for a clear, doesn't use deadzones, doesn't know boss patterns, doesn't know recoveries, never lets go of 30hz, doesn't handle off screen enemies properly, has the most idiotic and improbable looking final checkpoint imaginable (done first try, no less!) and somehow makes it all work with magical lightning speed reflex, high precision flails, massive luck whenever required, and despite seemingly having only a vague idea of what is even happening around him. Of course he lost all his inps, doesn't have MAME on his computer and will never play any of those games and record inps again to prove himself then. What, you think he's saying that for another reason? If you spend the amount of sheer effort that is required to clear one of those games then you should have the capacity to at least play it (not clear it) again. Especially when a large portion of a community is calling you out! If Perikles does not have the mental fortitude to play again then how can I trust he had the mental fortitude to clear those games to begin with, especially given how dodgy his gameplay is? Do you even realize how much planning and effort it takes to clear a hard game like that? You only need a fraction of that effort to just show yourself play it again. Bro, in Same3, getting to stage 10 is half or even less than half the effort needed to clear the game. Afaik I'm the only other english speaking player who has cleared this game and from my perspective as someone who IS good at flailing, Perikles clear is a near-impossibility. Plus, It should require little to no effort on his part to just show off his skills which is the ONLY thing he's had going for him when clearing games like this since he's just barely playing a step above "blind play".
What kinda signals does it send to anyone who's been doubting these videos that he simply refuses to show anything? I will bet you that there was something wrong with those inps and that's why they'll never surface and he won't record them any more. It sounds sad but at this point I'm no longer even remotely neutral about the situation; the more I learn about this the more on board I get with the unpleasant premise.
It's not just those 3 games either, look at practically any replay with a keen eye and the same problems will eventually form. I have some strong doubts that his reaction speed is really humanly possible, based on what I've seen in some random videos I've clicked around that are not Same3, Raiden II, or Tatsujin Ou. Other people remark the same stuff: apparently his Image Fight run is nonsense, his Aku Gallet run is nonsense, his Star Force run is nonsense, his Daioh run... Perhaps everything done in MAME is like this.

Also may I remind you that many of Perikles videos have over 10,000 views and that they are monetized? He's had a lot to gain from cheating beyond just forum recognition. The repeated notion that cheaters have nothing to gain are absolutely astounding. Cheaters can do their thing even in small circles to fool just a few friends for reasons that seem incomprehensible to many. Why in the world is it so hard to imagine that a cheater would do it in a huge scale like this all of a sudden when there is so much to gain in so many ways?

I want to make clear, I have no bone to pick with Perikles, he is not my competitor and I am a very solitary player. his presence has been the most positive thing in this forum that I barely visit nowadays, as far as I'm concerned. This is not a witchhunt.

[BIL]

I want to make clear, I have no bone to pick with Perikles, he is not my competitor and I am a very solitary player. his presence has been the most positive thing in this forum that I barely visit nowadays, as far as I'm concerned. This is not a witchhunt.

Understood - I'm not going to pretend to have any experience with Same3, I'll continue to take your word for it that his replay is incredibly (in the word's most literal sense) sub-optimal.

The .inp situation is unfortunate, but would they exonerate him? Honest question, I've never trusted them since a certain STGT fiasco several years back.

I'd not considered monetisation. That would be a more tangible charge than attacking the guy's apparently inexplicable lack of an urge to flex on stream.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Perikles has been around a long time and he's humble guy just playing shmups for fun, so cheating is fine because he's been around for a long time? Do you not realize how much of a joke this makes the score keeping on the site look like?

There's always been the unstated rule here that we're not Twin Galaxies or MARP. The scoreboards are as much a "hey here's a cool place to keep a record of scores" without needing to worry about making sure every single run has THE EVIDENCE (which we've established is silly cause TG and MARP's standard of evidence is weak and they've both had fake submissions go through). Sure, some people might submit cheated scores (who knows why) but generally it's not really worth worrying about because the community is generally pretty well aware of who's an active player on streams, at meets and events, etc. There's not a huge fear of someone passing off a massively difficult clear that's faked because they're generally scrutinized almost immediately, especially when it comes from someone relatively unknown.

Perikles' case is a bit of an outlier here because he's extremely active but has never streamed or been out to an event and nobody can really vouch for his skill in-person per-se, but his writing on the games is so in-depth that it's hard to assume someone could get knowledgable to that extent without bothering to actually learn the games legitimately, and nothing in his videos really rises to the level of blatant fraud that other infamous replays known for being cheated have. If Perikles is just an eccentric dude who loves the games and doesn't want to show his face. Some people like to leave a minimal footprint online, that's cool. I'd still like to actually see some live play, a) because I'm curious how his style looks when he's learning the games, and b) because I would genuinely like to see this stuff get cleared up so there's no more question about possible fakery associated with him.

We have plenty of examples of cheaters out there but I can't think of a single known cheater who's gone to such lengths as to talk in-depth about the games they've played, in such a detailed way that's always sounded true to the other people who've played the games. That's another reason why the cheating suggestion, though possible, always seemed pretty darn improbable.

Unfortunately I think Perikles is underestimating how relatively easily any suspicions would get cleared up quickly by seeing a bit of live play, and I'd hate for him to stop posting here over this as his last paragraph seems to imply. I was a bit negative and suggested early on there might still be some people who would doubt him no matter what and get off on seeing a hatchet job done on him, but honestly I think now that the majority of the people who have doubts actually are really hoping they're wrong to doubt Perikles' skill and just want to see something to ease their own personal suspicions.

Roo managed the now-mythical Tatsujin Ou sequence in this very thread

To be fair, that just proves it's humanly possible, not that it's very reliable or reasonable to do. I personally don't see it as an example of fakery per se since the dodges look very much like my attempts, but I also had a damn low success rate in my attempts, something like 4 out of 80 currently. That being said, all of Tatsujin Ou is ridiculously hard in my opinion, and if you're going to seriously attempt to clear it you'd have to be very familiar with the ship's hitbox and be comfortable with making those kinds of dodges elsewhere in the game I'd think, right? And if anyone is going to be able to do it, it's the guy who regularly plays unusual games with larger hitboxes and not bullet-hell tiny hitbox style shmups, right? At least, that's what makes me think it's not as unreasonable as some have suggested the dodges there are.

Not that I'm saying me being able to do it a handful of attempts is 100% absolution of Perikles, but it certainly means I don't buy that those dodges are clear "gotcha" example of cheating, either.

I gave my opinion on Gun.Smoke earlier, that's someone failing a tricky safe strat and surviving by the skin of their teeth. I've done it too. Looks like a lot of that going on in his replays.

Yeah, I think there's lots of cases you can look at where players who have a general plan/route screw it up in a live run and manage to flail their way back on-track, or reach a section where they have a plan/route, but it's a difficult section, and are aware that if it goes badly to plan to make some wild dodges. I sure as heck can think of a few examples of games where I know I have to follow a route but know I can mess it up super easily.

The thing that makes you a really good player isn't necessarily just knowing a perfect route, it's being able to execute it reliably and to be confident as well as skilled enough to recover if you screw your route up.

Also may I remind you that many of Perikles videos have over 10,000 views and that they are monetized? He's had a lot to gain from cheating beyond just forum recognition.

I'm not going to say that's an impossible theory, but it strikes me as odd that's he's not produced new videos for a year, and is attempting to monetize recording videos of fairly old, obscure arcade games. He's got many videos under 1000 views, with some under 500 views. That doesn't exactly represent a huge amount of cash if they're monetized. I don't see the idea of him being a cheater to facilitate him running a get-rich-quick-scheme plausible.

The .inp situation is unfortunate, but would they exonerate him? Honest question, I've never trusted them since a certain STGT fiasco several years back

They wouldn't. We already know INPs can be faked, and someone clever and determined enough would find a way to cover the traces of faking. It also means the presence of INPs can't 100% prove someone is legitimate (though if an INP is discovered with clear evidence of use of tool-assitance/slowdown, it would prove the opposite, as is the case for when MARP had some fake INP submissions).

Perikles is my fanboy, actually.

can i be your fanboy

[chum]

I'm not going to say that's an impossible theory, but it strikes me as odd that's he's not produced new videos for a year, and is attempting to monetize recording videos of fairly old, obscure arcade games. He's got many videos under 1000 views, with some under 500 views. That doesn't exactly represent a huge amount of cash if they're monetized. I don't see the idea of him being a cheater to facilitate him running a get-rich-quick-scheme plausible.

After looking around online it seems YouTube monetization got way stricter in 2018 and that Perikles channel might not be eligible anymore? Not necessarily saying this is the only reason to cheat at all so calling it a get rich scheme sounds pretty crazy. I'm just pointing out that there are reasons to cheat outside the scope of this forum including the sheer amount of views he gets on his channel. Any time you search for a game he has a video for his video is probably highest up on the search or close, he's taken great care in a YouTube presence

[Bananamatic]

here's an alternate idea: counterstop tekkaman blade and all accusations will be dropped

[kitten]

It's all about your little friend circles so you all can hold hands and talk about the good old days.

this is phrased like it's a bad thing or something both sinister and pathetic - why? like, yes, the point of a little online community such as this is to share enthusiasm. i don't really see a lot of "good old days" talk on here, though - this is one of few online game communities that talks about older games without the offputting filter of nostalgia. occasionally, a few oldbies reminisce about the forum, but i've never found it offputting or replacing the substance on here as someone still largely fresh to it in comparison to its relative history. besides, perikles hasn't been around here long enough to even fit that criteria, anyway.

i don't understand what you and several other people in the forum think this place is or what it is for, especially with extreme claims some are making like that this is comparable to doping in sports. is your statement a plead toward some higher purpose or vague notion of integrity? if perikles has cheated, sure, he deserves a certain amount of discrediting and loss of validation/acknowledgement, but this is being treated like it's a serious case of stolen valor or something. i don't think he's taken attention or credit away from anyone and to many's admission has helped them through many games or even gotten them to play them in the first place.

the thread has been going in way more productive directions the last page or two, let's not drag it back into this weird & wildly speculative territory with shit like that video.

[BIL]

Roo managed the now-mythical Tatsujin Ou sequence in this very thread

To be fair, that just proves it's humanly possible, not that it's very reliable or reasonable to do. I personally don't see it as an example of fakery per se since the dodges look very much like my attempts, but I also had a damn low success rate in my attempts, something like 4 out of 80 currently.

Oh absolutely. I (with no offense meant to Perikles, who I'm pretty sure would agree with the following) wouldn't hold these up as advisable runs, let alone model ones.

can i be your fanboy

Yes

[Mark_MSX]

Silly me. Here I was thinking that it mattered to the hi score boards if Perikles cheated. By what I'm reading it sounds like it doesn't at all. I get it. It makes sense. You guys honestly don't care if he cheated or not. The actual game play doesn't matter as long as he contributes posts and talks about the games. Not only does this scoreboard not need evidence of an achieved score, it also is fully willing to ignore it if it's inconvenient.

So I guess keep on cheating Perikles. Feel free, nobody minds.

[BIL]

Sweet Jesus, nobody is saying it's okay if he cheated.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Mark_MSK I think is now in the running for the "worst hot take of the thread" award.

i don't really see a lot of "good old days" talk on here, though - this is one of few online game communities that talks about older games without the offputting filter of nostalgia.

This is one of the things I like, too. We enjoy a lot of older games but basically everyone here is totally willing to acknowledge how wonky some of them were mechanically and not pretend they were totally the most pure and perfect games ever because of ~nostalgia.

if perikles has cheated, sure, he deserves a certain amount of discrediting and loss of validation/acknowledgement, but this is being treated like it's a serious case of stolen valor or something. i don't think he's taken attention or credit away from anyone and to many's admission has helped them through many games or even gotten them to play them in the first place.

Also this, so very much. My main concern with him being seen as a cheater is there's still a strong chance he hasn't actually cheated, and having his wide body of informative writing suddenly be discredited because of mere suspicion which would be pretty unfortunate given his writing has been a useful resource to a lot of people. Of course, it obviously does deserve to be discredited (whether in part or in full) if he has actually cheated, but that still seems like it's a substantial "if" at this point...

[Mark_MSX]

Sure, give me all the awards and downplay me as much as you like.

[chum]

Silly me. Here I was thinking that it mattered to the hi score boards if Perikles cheated. By what I'm reading it sounds like it doesn't at all. I get it. It makes sense. You guys honestly don't care if he cheated or not. The actual game play doesn't matter as long as he contributes posts and talks about the games. Not only does this scoreboard not need evidence of an achieved score, it also is fully willing to ignore it if it's inconvenient.

So I guess keep on cheating Perikles. Feel free, nobody minds.

You can't treat everyone exactly the same way. It seems to me that BIL might be an actual friend of Perikles, it's very understandable that he wouldn't just turn his back on his friend. I completely understand that Bil is not going to change his mind unless there is definitive, conclusive evidence. Most doubters, as far as I know, are looking at Perikles runs with uncertainty. People aren't sure what's going on. Best thing is to just accept that not everyone will see his runs the same way you do, and that an impasse is inevitable until a real conclusion has been reached. The truth of the matter is that Perikles has no intention of playing those games again, and because the high score rules are as lax as they are, it is now up to each individual person to make up their own minds on the matter. Whether Perikles scores are removed or not doesn't actually reflect if they are real or not, because Perikles own reasoning is that he's fine with this to avoid quarrels, not because there's been any trickery. It is not like anyone can force Perikles to do anything, and the high score forum is unequipped at dealing with this sort of "special" situation with any real grace or consistency. This is a first, after all.

I think Perikles made it quite clear that we can all just go about our way now and assume what we'd like. You and I both seem to think he's most likely cheated. Some people think that is not the case, while still being open to the idea that it's possible he did. There is no conclusive evidence, meaning that this situation is quite natural.

I take BIL's opinions as seriously as anybody else's and respect his views on the matter. As he's someone who has cleared Gun.Smoke, and thinks Perikles run looks fine, I definitely respect that.

[Perikles]

A Sengoku Blade 2-all recorded with handcam is cool and everything, but one potentially legit replay erases all the other concerns? To me this looks like if you are around long enough and cheat long then its all good.

To quote myself here:

[...] I fully understand that's not exactly an optimal starting position, which is why I took the stance of suggesting to delete the scores. No matter what does and doesn't happen in the future, all the "evidence" for my past scores is presented by the videos themselves, meaning that even in the best scenario, there'll never be further proof for past deeds.

[...]

It's hopefully understandable that I'm not[ going to delete my own scores from my threads, meaning that I willingly surrender all of them to whomever wishes to tend to them henceforth. I'm not going to protest to any and all actions taken, whether you expurgate the scores, put an asterisk next to them, place them in a different table or keep them. And regardless of whatever videos I may or may not post (whether they be live or via emulation) in the future, I won't submit any more scores here or on Restart Syndrome, meaning you won't have to worry about future quarrels regarding me.

I'll gladly recapitulate it one more time: I'm not going to post scores here or on Restart Syndrome (or on any other website) in the future regardless of what transpires in this thread and wherever else appurtenant discussions happen to take place. Let me furthermore alter the last quoted bit: I would kindly ask NTSC-J and Plasmo to remove my scores/videos from the appropriate threads whenever they have the time to do so; if CStarFlare still reads this thread: please delete my profile on Restart Syndrome. I'm not going to contact every single high-score thread owner, but the vast majority of scores are either located in one of Despatche's threads (please erase those at your leisure) or in one of my own - those are all up for grabs.

In other words: no one has anything to fear or lose on that front.

Also may I remind you that many of Perikles videos have over 10,000 views and that they are monetized?

They are not monetized, I'm not getting a single penny out of it - I could've applied (still can, apparently) for the service a while ago, yet didn't. Be that as it may, I've also no qualms deleting the channel/videos right now, but I'm willing to bet that would be seen as me trying to destroy evidence. I'll let the YT channel intact for the rest of the year, that gives anyone enough time to save whatever video they wish for further analysis, exegesis and eisegesis.

Perhaps everything done in MAME is like this [i.e. nonsense].

Let's see a few other reference points for clears of (extremely) tough games we have floating around on YT:

Here's how the Replay Burner Image Fight run looks like during stage 2-7; not what you would call ideal. Here's an example of sikraiken dodging one of the later bosses in Daioh's second loop (you could pick out a lot of other parts in the second loop, really), all the more impressive for the fact you can't even properly discern the lower left part of the screen due to him having 20 bombs at all times. I would've linked to his Tatsujin Ou run, he unfortunately made it private - he picks up (and sticks with) the blue weapon in the final stage which is a rather paltry choice to fend off the threats there, wryly explaining this decision with the fact that blue is his favourite colour. Here you can see some extemporaneous dodging from Barón Rojo in his Twin Hawk (which is considerably more nasty than Daisenpuu) run after running out of resources, here you can see him dealing with (and getting battered by) the fifth boss in Raiden II due to not having a perfect strategy/implementation thereof. Here's a similarly rough performance by edusword against Viper Phase 1's fifth boss, his dodging skills persevere during the sixth boss fight and the seventh, as well. Here's Yace getting through the often-cited spot in Truxton II - he did expend three bombs, but likewise had a really lucky/impressive streak going for him, somewhat similar to my own, actually.

That's just what I immediately recalled, I'm absolutely certain I could present to you not only more harrowing material where a player got through a difficult game under less-than-optimal circumstances, but it's pretty likely you can find even more comparable situations from the same players (and others, of course). And who knows, there's a probability that I happened to chance upon the kairos to find an accumulation of cheated runs here. But if, for the sake of argument, these runs above are legitimate, then maybe, just maybe you might sometimes still soldier on with anemic strategies and/or by trying to ameliorate prior mistakes.

You're not going to find routing and immaculate execution similar to e.g. saucykobold anywhere in my runs, forsooth. My consistency is nowise up to those standards, I'm making mistakes due to nervousness, probably didn't study replays enough, all of that and more. With the Tatsujin Ou run for example, I recall panicking on the fourth boss and using all three bombs on him (in my best attempts, I could beat him with one in savestate-practice, two is what I've originally planned with) to make sure that I didn't die on him, leaving me with no choice but to make the best out of it in stage 5 (which I practiced without using bombs, hence the remark with quotation marks). I'm not going to claim that the dodging presented there was a frame-perfect alternative plan gloriously come to fruition, but the general movement around the screen was somewhat devised in advance. I likewise seem to remember that I did some unnecessary manoeuvers in Same³ - I think I superfluously backed away from the sixth boss and used bombs at the beginning of stage 10 where it wasn't necessary, for example, or so I think. And I'm certain you can list me an entire catalogue of other major and minor mistakes on top.

I stoically would like to intercalate that the conclusion that mayhaps ALL of my runs are ENTIRELY nonsensical is rather exaggerated, seeing that some people even could use them for their own endeavours. Speaking of the Tatsujin Ou run, you can obviously see that after the much-discussed section, I do happen to know where enemies spawn and what to do there in a rather smooth manner. I would have to look up the exact game(s) and quote(s) (and it's getting a bit late), but I know that both Barón Rojo and Yace mentioned to me they could find value in my clears of harder games, such as the selfsame Truxton II/Tatsujin Ou, believe it or not.

If you are this strong of a player why haven't you made any attempt to show your skills outside your videos?

I don't have the set-up/equipment (which would probably not that hard to remedy, truthfully) nor the inclination to interact with people live, for the same reason I don't want to meet (most) people on the forum: I like to keep my internet activities to the exact amount and extent I feel comfortable with. Unfortunately, there is no such option when commuting/being at work, hence my vehement persistence to craft my free time precisely as I would like it to be. Additionally, I have to confess I really don't care whether anyone believes all, most, some or none of my videos and scores. I will work on Sengoku Blade at some point in time, and when I'm successful, there will be a 2-ALL video as described in my last post. If and when that happens, it will not have any consequences on my first paragraph above - even if everyone miraculously were to agree that I'm absolved of my misdeeds in the past, I'm not going to intrude this (section of the?) forum any longer, and I would still wish my then-deleted scores to stay that way. I do certainly concur with you on your point above: such a run (if it happens) doesn't mean anything regarding older runs. As such, my potential success in something else should not be deciding factor of past efforts in any case.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Thanks to a bit of searching, I've found that awful callout video in the first post of this thread appears to have been posted here initially: https://yuki.la/vg/268605256#p268644328 This is a 4chan archive. It probably doesn't need to be said that the people who hang out there (and who are apparently commenting on Mark's latest video proudly proclaiming their detective status and responsibility whilst inviting him to chat in Discord) are probably not bastions of justice and enlightenment with the best interests of the forum in mind.

To the people declaring Perikles' guilt as absolute and undeniable based on this "evidence", I'd caution them that "Perikles is a cheater" appears to be a meme there and there's the very real chance this is born out of some personal beef with Perikles and the guys involved are just trying to rope as many people into believing it as possible to stir up drama on the forum.

[blossom]

Perikles, I'm begging you: whether you did or did not cheat, keep your forum posts and YouTube videos (and their accompanying descriptions) intact. That knowledge is too valuable on its own merit to be erased from the community.

[chum]

They are not monetized, I'm not getting a single penny out of it - I could've applied (still can, apparently) for the service a while ago, yet didn't. Be that as it may, I've also no qualms deleting the channel/videos right now, but I'm willing to bet that would be seen as me trying to destroy evidence. I'll let the YT channel intact for the rest of the year, that gives anyone enough time to save whatever video they wish for further analysis, exegesis and eisegesis.

Ok, my bad.

Let's see a few other reference points for clears of (extremely) tough games we have floating around on YT:

Here's how the Replay Burner Image Fight run looks like during stage 2-7; not what you would call ideal. Here's an example of sikraiken dodging one of the later bosses in Daioh's second loop (you could pick out a lot of other parts in the second loop, really), all the more impressive for the fact you can't even properly discern the lower left part of the screen due to him having 20 bombs at all times. I would've linked to his Tatsujin Ou run, he unfortunately made it private - he picks up (and sticks with) the blue weapon in the final stage which is a rather paltry choice to fend off the threats there, wryly explaining this decision with the fact that blue is his favourite colour. Here you can see some extemporaneous dodging from Barón Rojo in his Twin Hawk (which is considerably more nasty than Daisenpuu) run after running out of resources, here you can see him dealing with (and getting battered by) the fifth boss in Raiden II due to not having a perfect strategy/implementation thereof. Here's a similarly rough performance by edusword against Viper Phase 1's fifth boss, his dodging skills persevere during the sixth boss fight and the seventh, as well. Here's Yace getting through the often-cited spot in Truxton II - he did expend three bombs, but likewise had a really lucky/impressive streak going for him, somewhat similar to my own, actually.

I watched all the clips and to be frank I see nothing weird about most of them, but they are also mostly for games I lack experience in. However it is worth mentioning that many people have accused sikraiken of cheating before (I think most of this happened before I entered the community, so I don't know that much about it, but STGT 2012 was definitely crazy suspicious) and Yace's Tatsujin Ou clip, while that part looks a lot more believable than yours, is actually kind of weird because sometimes the ship stops moving and firing while the video glitches for a moment. It happens occasionally when there are no enemies on the screen. It first happened after a while in your timestamp (go to 33:18). I kept watching and eventually, it happened again (35:38). What does this mean?

[Mark_MSX]

Yes, Shmupg are responding to my video. However, the evidence in question is in the videos themselves, the questionable dodges still exist no matter who initially spotted and documented them. I think it's important to keep objectivity in mind when we are evaluating what we see.

You don't have to delete your videos Perikles, just label them as TAS. Like Blossom says, they aren't without merit, they just shouldn't be on a leader board.

[Gus]

Let's see a few other reference points for clears of (extremely) tough games we have floating around on YT:

Here's how the Replay Burner Image Fight run looks like during stage 2-7; not what you would call ideal. Here's an example of sikraiken dodging one of the later bosses in Daioh's second loop (you could pick out a lot of other parts in the second loop, really), all the more impressive for the fact you can't even properly discern the lower left part of the screen due to him having 20 bombs at all times. I would've linked to his Tatsujin Ou run, he unfortunately made it private - he picks up (and sticks with) the blue weapon in the final stage which is a rather paltry choice to fend off the threats there, wryly explaining this decision with the fact that blue is his favourite colour. Here you can see some extemporaneous dodging from Barón Rojo in his Twin Hawk (which is considerably more nasty than Daisenpuu) run after running out of resources, here you can see him dealing with (and getting battered by) the fifth boss in Raiden II due to not having a perfect strategy/implementation thereof. Here's a similarly rough performance by edusword against Viper Phase 1's fifth boss, his dodging skills persevere during the sixth boss fight and the seventh, as well. Here's Yace getting through the often-cited spot in Truxton II - he did expend three bombs, but likewise had a really lucky/impressive streak going for him, somewhat similar to my own, actually.

I watched all the clips and to be frank I see nothing weird about most of them, but they are also mostly for games I lack experience in. However it is worth mentioning that many people have accused sikraiken of cheating before (I think most of this happened before I entered the community, so I don't know that much about it, but STGT 2012 was definitely crazy suspicious) and Yace's Tatsujin Ou clip, while that part looks a lot more believable than yours, is actually kind of weird because sometimes the ship stops moving and firing while the video glitches for a moment. It happens occasionally when there are no enemies on the screen. It first happened after a while in your timestamp (go to 33:18). I kept watching and eventually, it happened again (35:38). What does this mean?

Sikraiken is a highly suspicious player, yes. Especially during his last few years of play, he was under intense scrutiny for only backing his scores with screenshots and promising replays but always failing to deliver. I had never doubted the Tatsujin Ou run before as it was backed by a replay, but, having played the game now, it does seem odd that it apparently only took him a matter of days to learn such a long and difficult game, and with a crappy shot type to boot. I also have no idea why he'd make the video private. Definitely seems it would be worth reevaluating it if anyone can play the inp.

As for the Yace run, I'm going to be bold and suggest that we are looking at splices. The timing is just too perfect to coincide with how you'd play with savestates to just seem to be a video glitch. There's similar examples of him stopping his shooting and the video glitching before or after hard sections, such as 13:52 and 17:29. Probably the most bizarre is at 6:30, where you can clearly see the scrolling even reverse a little before the stage 1 boss. Pretty funny if Perikles is bringing down 2 other cheaters with him.

[Lags]

A Sengoku Blade 2-all recorded with handcam is cool and everything, but one potentially legit replay erases all the other concerns? To me this looks like if you are around long enough and cheat long then its all good.

To quote myself here:

[...] I fully understand that's not exactly an optimal starting position, which is why I took the stance of suggesting to delete the scores. No matter what does and doesn't happen in the future, all the "evidence" for my past scores is presented by the videos themselves, meaning that even in the best scenario, there'll never be further proof for past deeds.

[...]

It's hopefully understandable that I'm not[ going to delete my own scores from my threads, meaning that I willingly surrender all of them to whomever wishes to tend to them henceforth. I'm not going to protest to any and all actions taken, whether you expurgate the scores, put an asterisk next to them, place them in a different table or keep them. And regardless of whatever videos I may or may not post (whether they be live or via emulation) in the future, I won't submit any more scores here or on Restart Syndrome, meaning you won't have to worry about future quarrels regarding me.

I'll gladly recapitulate it one more time: I'm not going to post scores here or on Restart Syndrome (or on any other website) in the future regardless of what transpires in this thread and wherever else appurtenant discussions happen to take place. Let me furthermore alter the last quoted bit: I would kindly ask NTSC-J and Plasmo to remove my scores/videos from the appropriate threads whenever they have the time to do so; if CStarFlare still reads this thread: please delete my profile on Restart Syndrome. I'm not going to contact every single high-score thread owner, but the vast majority of scores are either located in one of Despatche's threads (please erase those at your leisure) or in one of my own - those are all up for grabs.

A eulogy.
Here lies Perikles,
He never proved himself.

His were replays which lacked, indubitably, the concrete support which raised players beyond suspicion, but his time here was undeniably an extremely jubilant one. He never experienced the thrill of ambition legitimately fulfilled, but, on the other hand, he never knew the agony of ambition legitimately frustrated. His name, when he passed, would not live for ever in Shmup forum's annals; he was spared the pain of worrying about this by the fact that he had no desire to score. He had no desire to participate. Yet, he was possibly as nearly contented a human being can be in this current year of alarms and excursions.

May his thesaurus abide with him forever (and ever).

Peace. Peace. Peace.

[BrainΦΠΦTemple]

video games are dumb

[Aggro Sky]

For whatever reason, I read through this entire thread. The whole thing is rather sad honestly. And that's all I have to say about that...