Why bother

NTSC-J · Post by **NTSC-J** » Sat May 06, 2006 11:21 am

I love having access to actual arcades now, but sometimes watching a master player perform goes from 'wow' to 'man, knock it off.' Today was probably the most discouraging moment in shooters today. At home when I watch a superplay I often get inspired to pick it up then and there because there's that thought ringing in your head 'hey, if he can do it, so can I.'

Well, today I saw so much perfect playing I kind of wondered what the hell is going through my brain when I pick up a stick, because it sure as fuck isn't what these kids are doing.

I was at the arcade for all but an hour, and in that time I watched:

G-Darius get one-lifed,
next to it, Gradius III getting looped a few times,
next to that, Gradius IV getting looped even more (the guy had 10 ships in stock before I left)
Raycrisis was getting annihilated by a girl
behind her, Radiant Silvergun was getting it hard,
meanwhile Ikaruga next to that was being handled with ease,
two guys playing that brutal Tetris Grand Master game and were fucking it up with lots of Tetrises,
in the Raizing section, a guy got a F,xxx,xxx clear in Battle Garegga,
the guy next to him on Batrider got a D,xxx,xxx Advanced Course clear,
Batsugun Special Edition similarly taking it pretty hard,
all 3 Shikigami no Shiro III cabs were getting raped,
I turn around and look at Strikers 1999...the only coin of the day was a 2mil+ ALL score,
Pink Sweets even had an A,xxx,xxx score and I saw a guy go into stage 6 with 5 lives, he looked like he had been playing it for 10 years,
and I walked over to Ibara Black Label, only to see Mother Teresa going down in flames.

Dizzy with awe, I walked over to DDP for a quick run and saw the top three scores of the day were in the 200-300 mil range and ended in 2-6. I played for a minute but the guy next to me on DOJ was chaining the whole thing and I got rattled, died in 1-3 and just got up and walked away in disgust.

Seriously, wtf. I've been in Japan for a little over a month, I've been drinking the water, eating the sushi, and nothing yet. I know the answer is practice, strategy sharing, blah blah...but come on, it's not even funny anymore. What's the trick.

Macaw · Post by **Macaw** » Sat May 06, 2006 11:25 am

Obsessive practice combined with some natural talent.

Or you just happened to walk into the arcade at a really, really bad time.

LUNardei · Post by **LUNardei** » Sat May 06, 2006 11:47 am

NTSC-J wrote:What's the trick.

A combination of nature + culture + environment. Tht's why a western player cannot sit down and get a WR as stated in the famous "Skills" topic. Or at least, not in 2006.
I'm reading this, very interesting:
http://pinker.wjh.harvard.edu/books/tbs/index.html

zlk · Post by **zlk** » Sat May 06, 2006 12:00 pm

You should not feel discouraged. Look at it this way: you are new to the Japanese arcade scene. Those people have probably been going to the arcades a couple of hours a day, almost everyday, for the last few years. It is also not the case that ONE guy was playing all those games at such a high level. You are probably watching people who have been playing the same game for a while.

If that doesn't make you feel better, remember why you started playing shooters in the first place: to have fun. If you want to break a world record, you are going to have to practice at least as much (if not more) than the other players. Pick a game and play it/watch others for 2-3 hours a day. If that sounds boring, just play whatever you like and enjoy yourself.

Post by **system11** » Sat May 06, 2006 12:53 pm

zlk wrote:remember why you started playing shooters in the first place: to have fun.

Quoted for truth. This is too often forgotten in a sea of competitiveness and strangely fucked up idol worship.

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Sat May 06, 2006 1:09 pm

Hey, if shmups were only worth playing for the sake of setting world records, then only 1 person per shmup would actually have "accomplished anything."

If you're not as good as player xyz, then either a) practice some more, or b), if you'd rather not devote a ridiculous amount of time to a game, just don't worry about it, do the best you can with what you have, and enjoy yourself.

PsikyoPshumpPshooterP · Sat May 06, 2006 1:10 pm

i would kill to be in a place where pure amazing godly skill is around me. thatll only encourage me to practice even more..just imagine..you're at the NASA of arcade shmupping. shit, ill bring a camera with me just to record all the magical goodness. if i saw a girl 1cc a shooter, i would no longer be scared to talk to her..in fact, i would be turned on, oh yeah..TURNED ON.lol..

Valgar · Post by **Valgar** » Sat May 06, 2006 1:19 pm

Just gotta remember that each person is probably good at only 1-2 games at a time. That is all they play.

sven666 · Post by **sven666** » Sat May 06, 2006 1:27 pm

PsikyoPshumpPshooterP wrote: if i saw a girl 1cc a shooter, i would no longer be scared to talk to her..in fact, i would be turned on, oh yeah..TURNED ON.lol..

sheesh.. talk about being hard to please

NTSC-J · Post by **NTSC-J** » Sat May 06, 2006 1:45 pm

Absolutely they're meant for fun and I love to play them not thinking about world records. When it gets to be like work I stop. Still, today was a humbling experience if anything. I meant to post this more out of a "that darn Japan" tongue in cheek, then a serious mid-life shmupping crisis.

It's true about someone being great at only one or two games, but the two Gradius players I know I've seen smashing on other games before, one I'm pretty sure was the guy that put the 2-6 on DDP. I suppose the fact that I've seen them more than once means maybe they spend too much time in the arcade.

Incidentally, the girl with the Raycrisis skills was uh...eh, yea. Maybe she has a nice personality, I dunno, at least her coordination is tops and she's good with her hands. The best-looking ladies were the ones bored and texting their friends while their boyfriends shattered some game.

Edit: LOL, I just looked at our Raycrisis board and that girl totally roasted the two fellows that posted in the thread. Like, over 10x the score roasted. Well done.

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Sat May 06, 2006 2:17 pm

NTSC-J wrote:The best-looking ladies were the ones bored and texting their friends while their boyfriends shattered some game.

Talk about cultural differences...most gals around here prefer convicted criminals or athletes (but I repeat myself

) to VG nerds.

NTSC-J · Post by **NTSC-J** » Sat May 06, 2006 2:44 pm

Well, they were the better looking nerds. The more unkempt, out-of-shape fellows with the thick glasses were flying solo...but even some of them get chicks I'm sure. The Raycrisis girl was watching some guy trump Pink Sweets and I was waiting to witness the first ever shooting game groupie in action, but it didn't happen.

They don't call it nerd heaven just because of the copious Gundam, man. I'm as nerd as it comes and women throw themselves at me here. It's a wild scene (but that's for another thread).

Post by **Icarus** » Sat May 06, 2006 3:01 pm

It's easy to get discouraged if you are trying to match the world leaders in score and skill, as often you can be watching a live performance and wonder just what kind of cyborg impants these guys get.

If you play to your own levels and push your own limits, instead of setting yourself a bar too high to reach, then you can ensure that your own progression will be improved. Personally I don't care if my score is several hundred million lower than the best of the best, or that some guy I've never met or talked to can multiloop [insert game name here]. If I play to the best of my abilities and walk away happy with my performance, then I am satisfied.

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Sat May 06, 2006 3:14 pm

NTSC-J wrote:They don't call it nerd heaven just because of the copious Gundam, man. I'm as nerd as it comes and women throw themselves at me here. It's a wild scene (but that's for another thread).

Bah, figures, I was born in the wrong freakin' country.

Randorama · Post by **Randorama** » Sat May 06, 2006 3:37 pm

I still wonder where the "omg Rank is so evil!!1!" thread, it's the only one that's still missing from the re-runs of the forum

*Sends PM to somewhat with a Parodius avatar*

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Sat May 06, 2006 3:46 pm

Methinks, ironically enough, you've effectively scared everyone but me away from coming within a mile of that topic via our past exploits.

EDIT: It also strikes me that your "complain about the repetitive topics" posts have by now become as regular and redundant an occurrence as the repetitive topics you complain about.

Post by **Dave_K.** » Sat May 06, 2006 3:56 pm

Icarus wrote: If you play to your own levels and push your own limits, instead of setting yourself a bar too high to reach, then you can ensure that your own progression will be improved.

Couldn't agree more. Set realistic goals, and be disciplined in meeting them! As LUNardei also indicated, this is part of the Nature/Culture in japan, while westerner's look at it as "work". If you put in enough time, it will happen. Taking advantage of Mame and Console ports can shorten the practice time considerably since you can jump to individual levels/bosses to work on. But still, some of these guys in Japan have been playing DDP religiously for 9 years now, so you can't set your goals too high.

Randorama · Post by **Randorama** » Sat May 06, 2006 4:00 pm

NTSC-J · Post by **NTSC-J** » Sat May 06, 2006 4:15 pm

What are the best Dreamcast shmups?
Which is better, Saturn or PSX DDP?
What was your first 1cc?
Why does Rando whine all the time?

Ah, the eternal questions of shmups.com...even when answered, someone out there will always continue to wonder...

Randorama · Post by **Randorama** » Sat May 06, 2006 4:22 pm

NTSC-J wrote: Why does Rando whine all the time?

Because the rank re-run hasn't still showed up, dammit!

(but i'm pretty sure that other old favourites are missing, say: "Is Ikaruga a puzzle game in disguise?").

Ah, and the always charming " why people on this forum suck at shmups?" Or whatever was that thread of yours.

Twiddle · Post by **Twiddle** » Sat May 06, 2006 4:32 pm

how do i play rayforce that game is full of cheap and aerial seemingly point blanks

Valgar · Post by **Valgar** » Sat May 06, 2006 4:52 pm

WILL CAVE PORT ______ TO PS2!?

howmuchkeefe · Post by **howmuchkeefe** » Sat May 06, 2006 5:58 pm

What is "Ketsui"?

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Sat May 06, 2006 6:14 pm

Just sounds like Hey on a Sunday to me. Everytime I've gone, at least one person has been midway through the 2nd loop of Ketsui. My only little contribution to that is that I sat down and played ESPGaluda cold after months and 1CC'ed it (while waiting for a Galuda 2 cab to open).

Kiken · Post by **Kiken** » Sat May 06, 2006 6:14 pm

Which version of Thunder Force V is better, Saturn or PSX?

Kiken · Post by **Kiken** » Sat May 06, 2006 6:16 pm

Randorama wrote:Ah, and the always charming " why people on this forum suck at shmups?" Or whatever was that thread of yours.

I thought that was Kaneda...

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Sat May 06, 2006 6:33 pm

Thunder Force IV vs. Thunder Force III vs. Thunder Force V.

I have a question for the man in Japan. Was anyone there learning any games (were you just noticing the masters?). Is there a lesser arcade where they go to build up the skills and save them for the main arena? I would suck at any game I'm decent at if I thought someone was watching.

raiden · Post by **raiden** » Sat May 06, 2006 6:46 pm

Kiken wrote:
Randorama wrote:Ah, and the always charming " why people on this forum suck at shmups?" Or whatever was that thread of yours.
I thought that was Kaneda...

and I thought NTSC-J = Kaneda...

Blade · Post by **Blade** » Sat May 06, 2006 8:56 pm

Best complaint I ever heard:

"Why do people still play on non-tated TVs?"

I forgot who said that...

icycalm · Post by **icycalm** » Sat May 06, 2006 9:09 pm

I would like to officially complain about Randorama complaining about recurring threads. I haven't been here that long but it's already getting to me.

I don't have much to say on-topic, apart from the fact that "I wish I was there".

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