Shmups dissertation

zak · Post by **zak** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 1:14 am

http://www.cowboyberty.com/All%20Your%20Base.pdf

Has anyone else seen this?

Circa2113 · Post by **Circa2113** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 1:23 am

Saved.

135 pages? That's insane!

I skimmed through some things and it seemed very well written for the most part.

Which one of you crazy mother fuckers wrote this?

incognoscente · Post by **incognoscente** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 1:36 am

Presumably Berty.

Circa2113 · Post by **Circa2113** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 1:44 am

Thanks incognoscente, and congrats to Berty for writing your dissertation on the coolest subject possible.

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 1:44 am

Perhaps we ought to have a link to this in our FAQ, if that's permissible. Looks quite interesting. It's odd to me that this is a dissertation: what discipline are we talking about?

JBC · Post by **JBC** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 2:04 am

Lordy! Looks like an interesting read for the most part. If i had the ink to spare i'd hit print, grab a binder and set it in the bathroom ^__^

incognoscente · Post by **incognoscente** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 2:20 am

professor ganson wrote:Perhaps we ought to have a link to this in our FAQ, if that's permissible.

I would like to ask Berty's permission first. (in progress)

@135 pages: page 69 and on seems mostly block-quoted from arcade-history.com

Berty · Post by **Berty** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 2:56 am

Hi all,

This document is actually 3 years old now

. For the most part it is still accurate but it forms only the first 20% of the thesis. I havent updated it for some time, but changes have been made to this section.

I am due to submit the full document in September this year. Currently it is weighing in at about 700 pages and 130,000 words. Page 69 onwards forms part of the documents appendix, so it is direct quote stuff.

The document deals with shmups from a nostalgia perspective and looks at ways in which the genre may be brought back into the mainstream through various prodcution methods. The paper also looks at the physcological impact of shmups on the gamer.

What no-one has seen yet is the final part of the document which is the design analysis of my own shmup assets and intended implementation. Although this is a doctoral work, i am trying to edit the paper in such a way that it is easy to read and doesnt get too boring. For the cultural theory people on the board i am dealing with Anna Freud, C.J. Yung, Giles Deleuze, Guattari, Manovich, Lachan and Zizek to name a few.

it290 · Post by **it290** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 3:34 am

Can't wait to see how Deleuze & Guattari tie into shmups.

sfried · Post by **sfried** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 3:55 am

I noticed there's a complete lack of mention about the European scene, and more of the "Western" comparisons have only been between Japan and the US.

But other than that, pretty incitefull.

Berty · Post by **Berty** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 4:15 am

sfried wrote:I noticed there's a complete lack of mention about the European scene, and more of the "Western" comparisons have only been between Japan and the US.

But other than that, pretty incitefull.

To tell you the truth its hard to comment on the eurpean scene in an academic context without any sort of emperical data. What I would have to say about it then would be considered hersey. I would love to comment on the success(?) of european computer shmup stuff during the late eighties. I can assure you though that I will look into it.

Living in Australia means that the only real empirical data comes from Asia or the US. I have tried to get data from Aussie ops, but our two main organisations NAMOA and AMOA are in disarry to say the least.

Blade · Post by **Blade** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 4:29 am

I just read part of the dissertation, and I hardly find it boring (although I kinda skipped past the citations), what I find interesting is your theory on how the Japanese Videogame culture seems to be slowly collapsing under it's own management. Where the publisher rules and the creator only gets to approve or disapprove the final product before it's release into the market.

Considering the current status of the Playstation 3, as compared to the X-Box 360 and Nintendo Wii (Virtual Console included), do you have any predictions with regards to the how markets will be handled? This is assuming of course that mistakes will be made financially on the part of the big companies, and that other companies learn from those mistakes.

To paraphrase, who do you think will be the dominant gaming market? East or West?

Berty · Post by **Berty** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 4:41 am

Well, I think that publishers have alot to answer for. They are very concerned with Adorno's process of pseudo individualisation to the point where we are seeing a massive stagnation in the market place.

What I would like to suggest is more leeway be given between the producer and publisher, with less interferance from the latter. I would also like to point out that we have this massive back catalogue of software and an aging "average" gamer yet, we are too concerned with the "new".

To some extent, the Wii's virtual console has been moving in the right direction for the market, but "modern" games done by indie publishers get little if no attention in the mainstream market because publsihers consider them to be too much of a financial risk. The popularity of the Simple 2000 series in Japan seems to suggest otherwise but whether this is applicable to the west needs to be explored further.

To tell you the truth, I am still in the process of writing this section so I am hesitant to voice any real concrete opinion yet. What I am confident in though is that we are moving to a massively homoginised market. Local distribution is already starting to receed to international distribution. The further this process is allowed to proceed the more that Adorno's capitalist commentry comes into play and the less variety we will have access too in the commercial realm.

Pirate1019 · Post by **Pirate1019** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 5:04 am

I can't speak for anybody else here, but I think that this is a project worth keeping tabs on.

I nominate this thread as a space for doing so.

mirkvid · Post by **mirkvid** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 5:44 pm

wow. im at work, so im gunna print it out here. for free!!!

Raidenfighter Kirkov · Fri Apr 13, 2007 10:37 am

Thank you very much for the link.

I have just downloaded the file. On the first look: Impressive work !

Question to the writer:
Do you have plans to publish this brilliant book ?

If so: Count me in as a preordering person.

Greetings
RFK

CIT · Post by **CIT** » Fri Apr 13, 2007 11:41 am

This might be interesting for people into shooter theory and history, although it's in Japanese:

http://spitfire.client.jp/

This guy is working on a comprehensive shooter history, and theory of shots, bombs, power ups, etc, etc. (WIP)

Berty · Post by **Berty** » Fri Apr 13, 2007 11:37 pm

Raidenfighter Kirkov wrote:Thank you very much for the link.

I have just downloaded the file. On the first look: Impressive work !

Question to the writer:
Do you have plans to publish this brilliant book ?

If so: Count me in as a preordering person.

Greetings
RFK

Hi,

When it is all finished then it will be freely available for download.

TKGB_Mental_Gear · Post by **TKGB_Mental_Gear** » Sun Apr 15, 2007 8:29 pm

I read the entire thing and loved it. I have a bigger understanding and love for shmups than I could have ever acquire on my own experience.

What other sections are you planning on adding this magnificent article?

Nate · Post by **Nate** » Mon Apr 16, 2007 12:28 am

Words elude me.

I'm printing this when I get paid next weekend.

Great work, Berty. Be proud of yourself.

Berty · Post by **Berty** » Mon Apr 16, 2007 12:44 am

Nate wrote:Words elude me.

I'm printing this when I get paid next weekend.

Great work, Berty. Be proud of yourself.

Thankyou, your kind words mean alot to me.