Any non-nerdy shmups? Or just a "nerdy" genre?

[DJ Incompetent]

From the Dragon Blaze tourney scoring thread:

.......yeeeah, less D&Dish shit for next week? The goal was not to become the nerdiest guy I know.

a game about space and blasters isn't any less nerdy tbqh

I..have no rebuttal…..’cept maybe Batrider...or Strikers..

you win

I'd also be interested to hear more about non-nerdy shmups.

No such animal.

...yeeeah, less D&Dish shit for next week? The goal was not to become the nerdiest guy I know.

Uh, you spend your free time competing in an obscure video game tournament with strangers via the internet. Regardless of your character's sprite, that ship has sailed.

Well, maybe not, but I'm assuming you don't hang out with any LARPers.

LARPers..?...um...I don't think I'm gonna google it...I got nothin' to prove there. I'm blank on what LARPers are. Should I be hoping I don't hang out with them? 'Guessing yes. 'Guessing I must avoid said LARPers.

hmmm, how to sink that boat while still playin' the torney

I'd also be interested to hear more about non-nerdy shmups. Strikers is a pretty good suggestion, DJ. Definitely needs further investigation, though. My vote goes to Raiden.

I dunno. From experience on reactions of people who caught me on the machines, I'd conclude that a (US) nerdy one would have one or more of:
- Spaceships
- Space
- Traditional or cutesy anime character portraits
- Any anime-ish dialogue
- Goofy or cutesy-looking bosses
- Any fantasy-esq or playful backdrops
- Dragons

And then to a lesser extent,
-Fictional robots and/or mechs

The 'nerdness' would cut in half if it was NES era or earlier.

Soooo, I say Batrider is quasi-nerdy because ya never really hit space and no passers-by know what the fuck you're riding in. If you pick Carpet, you're screwed if somebody watches you beat a stage. If you pick Strawman, you're cool 'cause nobody raises an eyebrow when you pick the cliche big black guy character. Strikers is alright 'cause of the real planes thing. Just don't let the historic-plane-crazed 40-year-old in the room watch you take on any boss' 2nd form? But I'd say no on Raiden only because of the big red or blue spaceship-looking...ship. Maybe a Raiden Fighters Something could fly though.

Well, until somebody in marketing gets command of a focus group, I guess this is one of those theory things that would only blow up into multipage sentence-cutting quote replies that roll a screen long per post.

I'll just stay out to dodge a one raised eyebrow from the girl and roommates when they catch me playin' me hobby. The demanding 30 minutes of my time hobby.

ai cho aniki is the most badass manly thing ever you should play that

I bet the Cho Aniki shmups aren't considered "nerdy". They're probably considered a lot of other things, but I'd wager nerdy isn't one of them

Defeating The Point Loophole +1!
Witty though. I like.

I thought all games were pretty much in the same area, or at least everything between mmorpgs and sports games.

Yeah, this came up at the bar and at select chill shindigs a few times after the Halo thing changed a lot of stuff and some party people who never spoke of games ever and did the pretty-boy lifestyles started buying consoles. I think the genre order from 'pop-culture acceptable' to 'basement nerd' went from
-Madden
-all other sports games
-Halo
-Gran Turismo (or PGR Forza flavor of the 9 months)
-FPS's
-GTA
-Burnout
-Smash Brothers
-select sandbox-ish games
-select third-person games
...
everything else
...
-MMORPGs

I've been guest in enough houses to believe this still holds true today.

This deserves its own thread. But if it keeps the Dragon Blaze love alive, I'm hardly going to complain.

Anybody else?
Or even, "are there shmups you may play with other people around but there are others you only play when isolated from other people's view?"

[Turrican]

I'd also be interested to hear more about non-nerdy shmups. Strikers is a pretty good suggestion, DJ. Definitely needs further investigation, though. My vote goes to Raiden.

Strikers: Allies and Axis planes fighting together versus huge mechas in a sort of anime-parody of WWII.

Raiden: blue and red aircraft take off from sky aircarriers, fight crystal-controlled mechas and eventually leave the atmosphere to fight big purple evil crystal in space.

If your criteria for non-nerdy shmups was realism, I'd say better luck next time, Prof.

Come to think to it - is there a "realistic" war-themed shmup? It's a serious, non-rethoric question. I think some Toaplan game might fit the definition, perhaps. Surely not Same! Same! Same!, where the Red Baron's old biplane is loaded with more weaponry than the Vic Viper.

[DEL]

I don't think shoot'em ups are nerdy

Look Here's me before I took up shooting:-

[rolins]

Anybody else?
Or even, "are there shmups you may play with other people around but there are others you only play when isolated from other people's view?"

I don't generate crowds when I'm playing a shmups, it seems like I'm the only person in my neighborhood who gives a damn about this genre. There's a few shooting games on the NEC PC-98 that would rather play in private because of the Hentai scenes such as Steam Heart's and Night Slave.

[Acid King]

I think the cutesey or fantasy themed games would be father to the nerd end of the spectrum, atleast on initial visuals alone. I think the real source of looking like a nerd is when you start to explain scoring mechanics.

[Randorama]

I think the cutesey or fantasy themed games would be father to the nerd end of the spectrum, atleast on initial visuals alone. I think the real source of looking like a nerd is when you start to explain scoring mechanics.

Personally, i would freak out if i would ever meet someone who writes guides on how to play shmups for scoring purposes

[Acid King]

Personally, i would freak out if i would ever meet someone who writes guides on how to play shmups for scoring purposes

I know... fucking nerds.

[shinsage]

Everyone looks super cool weaving in and out of crazy ass bullet patterns.
Until they back up into a bullet they just avoided.

[Dandy J]

Ketsui and Guwange hella non-nerdy. Guwange has Japanese stuff but it's like old mythological shit and while that usually is nerdy, it's so strange and crazy looking that it really gives off a non-nerdy vibe. Under Defeat would be if it didn't have the pics of chix.

[FatCobra]

I think shmups are just nerdy to begin with, much like how D&D and MMORPGs are. The fact that the mainstream crowd does not like them much should be enough proof.

[Gungriffon Geona]

Everyone looks super cool weaving in and out of crazy ass bullet patterns.
Until they back up into a bullet they just avoided.

9 times outta 10, that's what kills my stupid ass.

[ntscGee]

FatCobra mused:

I think shmups are just nerdy to begin with, much like how D&D and MMORPGs are. The fact that the mainstream crowd does not like them much should be enough proof.

You are being ironic, right?

[JJG]

I think you're only a nerd if you let other people's perceptions of hobbies you have effect what you choose to do.

[Randorama]

FatCobra mused:

I think shmups are just nerdy to begin with, much like how D&D and MMORPGs are. The fact that the mainstream crowd does not like them much should be enough proof.

You are being ironic, right?

No, but please don't feed the trolls. A brief check to past posts will give you a clear picture.

On topic: shmups are more like a freak hobby. They involve abnormal attention towards game mechanics, usually hidden under some weird graphic styles. In my experience, "space and ships/planes and military themes" is perceived as nerdy, Psikyo non-striker stuff as weird/hentai, characters as "otaku" (i.e. nerdy and lame).

I also usually beat the shit out of anyone who dares to question study of gameplay mechanics if he knows all WoW handbooks by heart (last case: Saturday).



You should also do the same, by the way

[/shmupsnazi][/u]

[Twiddle]

I also usually beat the shit out of anyone who dares to question study of gameplay mechanics if he knows all WoW handbooks by heart (last case: Saturday).

WoW, EQ, and anything like them are completely devoid of any actual gameplay mechanics beyond macromanagement by the raid leader so I wouldn't be surprised that EQ-derivative players are skeptical of actually learning things about games that have complex mechanics.

[Gungriffon Geona]

I'll tell you why people hate shmups. it's because they hate dying over and over again. that's why anyone who proves they can get through without dying is a gigantic nerd.

Speaking on that, since when has "no miss" become "no deaths"?

[Twiddle]

no mis(take)

[BulletMagnet]

Speaking on that, since when has "no miss" become "no deaths"?

IIRC if you get through a stage in DoDonPachi without dying you get a "No Miss" bonus...maybe some other games use the term as well.

[Randorama]

WoW, EQ, and anything like them are completely devoid of any actual gameplay mechanics beyond macromanagement by the raid leader so I wouldn't be surprised that EQ-derivative players are skeptical of actually learning things about games that have complex mechanics.

Ok, but nerdy= learning things by heart without dwelling into complex things, cool= problem-solving involved in complex scoring systems (FTW!)

[Twiddle]

WoW, EQ, and anything like them are completely devoid of any actual gameplay mechanics beyond macromanagement by the raid leader so I wouldn't be surprised that EQ-derivative players are skeptical of actually learning things about games that have complex mechanics.

Ok, but nerdy= learning things by heart without dwelling into complex things, cool= problem-solving involved in complex scoring systems (FTW!)

by that logic contributing to this forum makes you cool

[Icarus]

The only gameplay in WoW, EQ and similar is learning how to install the latest time-saving addon for raids and item management. Yawn.
Although it is fun when a noob asks for directions to the nearest village/city and you direct them straight into enemy territory.

[ParegoricKid]

Hmm, reading the posts here it seems some of you have quite different definitions of "nerdy" or being a nerd while others obviously don't take it seriously.
To me it's all cliché and generalisation and while there's usually a grain of truth in all these simple stereotypes, I (try to) refuse them.

I did a quick search about the definition and while the entries I found did vary a little the current attributes are:

usually male, under 35
socially inept, introspective or antisocial, often unattractive
have passionate love for technology/computers, science fiction and fantasy
others perceive their intelligence as above-average

I don't fit these criterias (partly I do) and most of the people into gaming I know/knew don't fit that profil either.

Depersonalizing terms like nerd, yuppie, punk, hippie, geek... origin basically from dualistic thoughts, something is either this or that, black or white, good or bad etc., widespread by the media and fueled by our own biases, prejudices and preconceptions. Labelling people like that annoys me a little, it doesn't do justice to each and everyone's uniqueness.
Also these stereotypes add to the confusion when 2 people discusing something have different definitions to begin with. I did study semantics/linguistics a little and part of it is the lack of agreement concerning the definition/meanings of words between discussing people. It's a little hard to express what I mean because english is not my mother tongue so when it comes to more complex subjects I struggle, but I disgress anyway, so I just want to ask you guys: Which ones of you guys does think of himself as a nerd? What does "nerd" mean to you anyway?

[Gungriffon Geona]

Thanks for clearing that up actually. and here I thought it meant not letting any enemies get by. (which fell through the minute I watched a Zanac Neo replay that said "no miss".)

You could possibly say Battle Bakraid isn't nerdy... up until you get to the boss rush level, then it's nerdy as all hell.

[professor ganson]

Often nerdy is contrasted with cool, but for me so many nerdy things are cool. Does that make me a nerd? One thing is fairly clear to me: I'm the least nerdy professor I know.

[No_not_like_Quake]

Chicks that dig games aw at my skills. Stroke my ego.

[Ganelon]

Speaking on that, since when has "no miss" become "no deaths"?

IIRC if you get through a stage in DoDonPachi without dying you get a "No Miss" bonus...maybe some other games use the term as well.

JP folks have always used that terminology. It's like how a JP player wouldn't know what you were talking about if you asked him about how to "block" in a fighting game but would immediately understand if you asked how to "guard."

[Pirate1019]

Hmm, reading the posts here it seems some of you have quite different definitions of "nerdy" or being a nerd while others obviously don't take it seriously.
To me it's all cliché and generalisation and while there's usually a grain of truth in all these simple stereotypes, I (try to) refuse them.

I did a quick search about the definition and while the entries I found did vary a little the current attributes are:

usually male, under 35
socially inept, introspective or antisocial, often unattractive
have passionate love for technology/computers, science fiction and fantasy
others perceive their intelligence as above-average

I don't fit these criterias (partly I do) and most of the people into gaming I know/knew don't fit that profil either.

Depersonalizing terms like nerd, yuppie, punk, hippie, geek... origin basically from dualistic thoughts, something is either this or that, black or white, good or bad etc., widespread by the media and fueled by our own biases, prejudices and preconceptions. Labelling people like that annoys me a little, it doesn't do justice to each and everyone's uniqueness.
Also these stereotypes add to the confusion when 2 people discusing something have different definitions to begin with. I did study semantics/linguistics a little and part of it is the lack of agreement concerning the definition/meanings of words between discussing people. It's a little hard to express what I mean because english is not my mother tongue so when it comes to more complex subjects I struggle, but I disgress anyway, so I just want to ask you guys: Which ones of you guys does think of himself as a nerd? What does "nerd" mean to you anyway?

Holy Shit! I must be a nerd! I fit all of those catagories. Except for maybe the social one. I like to hang out and stuff, it's just that the world is full of so many stupid people. I fit better into the group people made up for me. It's called 'That angry kid who yells a lot'.

I don't think Shmups are nerdy, per se...but they do fall into one of those things that almost nobody does, and so it is classified as 'weird' or 'abnormal'.

I play almost anything in front of my friends, except shmups with any sort of anime influence, because that is immediately grouped with 'anime porn' and 'nerd' where I live.

Overall, it's not a big deal, because whenever somebody says these games are simplistic and how Madden is better, I sit them down and ask them wether they want to play Ikaruga (one of the only shmups I have for console) for score, or survival. Then they get their balls blown off and they never say it again

P.S.
Steroetypes and conformity are asinine. The only real groups you should split people into are 'Stupid', 'Dumbass', and 'Normal'.

[DEL]

Pirate1019 wrote

P.S.
Steroetypes and conformity are asinine.

That's it in a nutshell.
People seem to like to try to compartmentalize you when they first meet you. Most times they get it wrong.
The "Video Games = Nerdy" stigma is mildly annoying.

[Ceph]

A friend of mine, a casual gamer who owns a PS2 (and no other systems) bought Strikers 1945 I+II a while ago. The reason he purchased it was that he mistook it for Capcom's 1942 which he remembered from his childhood. He later told me he liked Strikers. I suggested to get Gradius V next.

So apparently even today shmups can be enjoyed by non-nerds.

EDIT: Another good shmup for non-nerds might be R-Type Final.

[Randorama]

A friend of mine, a casual gamer who owns a PS2 (and no other systems) bought Strikers 1945 I+II a while ago. The reason he purchased it was that he mistook it for Capcom's 1942 which he remembered from his childhood. He later told me he liked Strikers. I suggested to get Gradius V next.

So apparently even today shmups can be enjoyed by non-nerds.

EDIT: Another good shmup for non-nerds might be R-Type Final.

Have him play DOJ or Dimahoo for score. True nerdism, as proven by STs, lies in spending hours on how to get big scores. Casual shmupping is still somewhat sane