Shmups is a more popular term now than I thought.

[null1024]

Hmm.
Shoot Em Up
SHEMUP! Or what about SHEMP?

Anyway, like many others here I think "shmup" sounds dumb and I never use it in coversation.
Why is it shoot 'em UP anyway? You don't say "shooting up stuff" (unless it's heroin). You blow up stuff. You shoot enemies.
I usually call them 2D shooting games or 2d shooters. That leaves little room for misunderstandings.

I remember it being from beat-em-up, just replace the beating with shooting. Just like you beat up hordes of random people, you shoot hordes of random ships. The 'up' is a remnant from the beat...up part of beat-em-up.
Man, now I'm reminded of people who call Street Fighter and KOF beat-em-ups, and I want to mash their faces in, bleh.


I know enough people that recognize and say shmup in conversation [they aren't big shmup fans though], even though it sounds like ass and I'd love to just say STG [which prompts confused looks].
Saying shoot-em-up is best: more people will recognize and understand it. Also, it doesn't sound horrid to the ear.

[K-J N.]

That Zzap page is interesting, but I don't know if I believe that he just pulls a new phrase out of the hat like that without explaining it. That could point to the term already being in some currency before we see it there, but maybe it doesn't.

It's also in the glossary in the same issue, page 114:
http://www.zzap64.co.uk/cgi-bin/display ... azine=zzap

[O. Van Bruce]

Welp, for any spanish speaker I've talked with it, shmup doesn't sound silly. It soudns just like any other anglicism in our language.

I use shmup all the time when I talk in person, or danmaku 'cause I barely talk about old school STG's.