Is the Genre Seeing an Increase in Popularity?

[XoPachi]

I'm noticing a lot of attention going to the genre recently. We've been seeing a ton of support for ports, original new games being made for big platforms, more people I come in contact are really into these titles or have a big interest.

I think the games are so niche that they're sort of pulling a 180 and becoming..."new" again. Especially when you pull out the bullet hells. I've seen people at LAN parties and convention game rooms absolutely enthralled with two schmucks playing Ikaruga even when there's heated League/Melee/Halo tournaments going. And Cave's iOS support has opened a LOT of people up to these games. When I go out, be it my school (college), or just in general, I see a shit load of people from all stretches of life playing something from Cave on their iPhone (and silently thank them for choosing that over Flappy Bird). Whether they're just idly playing or actually into it, they still play it for a good bit.

And...it's not a genre a lot of people really outright hate. Not what I'VE seen anyway. Not even online.
You've got people who mistake anything in first person for CoD and think the FPS genre is crap. You've got people getting absolutely sick of Nintendo and Sonic games. So many people can't stand sports games. And so on. But these games? The worst I hear is "Oh man, fuck those games, I get my ass beat".

It's just a strange observation I've made. The reactions are just as humbling as the genre itself. I'm wondering if any of you relate and think it means what the title asks or if this is just exclusive to me.

[trap15]

No.

[Xyga]

+1 No.
And most people who are into shmups will soon die of old age.

[ciox]

There's a very slight increase in popularity mainly because more indies are experimenting with shmup or shmup-like gameplay, whether it's intentional or because they've worn out other basic genres like the platformer.
You can see shmups of some kind regularly show up on places like indiegames.com http://indiegames.com/cgi-bin/mt5/mt-se ... 4&limit=20
There also seem to be more 2hu players than ever.

That said, this underground buzz doesn't seem to help retail shmups very much

[EmperorIng]

I think the future is very much the PC market. I mean, this is obvious - we all play most of the shmups we've played through MAME already. The genre's viability will be in how much it can get attention in PC markets and digital download services. I think the Steam release of Ikaruga is going to do very well - a large-profile game on a client service that everyone uses. A game that has the distinction of being "super hard" or "hardcore" so gamers will want to play it to show off how good they are (similar to the appeal of dark souls).

This obviously means you need a different business model, because a company made around an arcade model doesn't successfully translate to a 21st century pc market. I doubt even in its heyday shmups were the type of games to sell over a million units of anything, so adapting for small audiences is a must.

I think as more high-profile releases are made on accessible venues, people will play them and generate interest. I think the interest is there for comfortable profitability from small teams willing to take advantage. I think the 'increase in popularity' is something we'll see as the genre is more open to computers, since that's the only market I see that can actually yield a decent profit. I mean, Japanese companies can continue to snub pcs all they want, but it's not like these low-print-run console ports will keep them in business forever.

[Astraea FGA Mk. I]

Unfortunately most "professional" releases of shmups and arcade games on PC are inferior to the MAME versions

[KAI]

No. Shmups are for turbo nerds.

[EmperorIng]

Unfortunately most "professional" releases of shmups and arcade games on PC are inferior to the MAME versions

Again, that's because these companies have traditionally ignored the PC market, which I think at this point the genre can't afford to do. As arcade hardware moves away from specialized boards to more standard pc equipment I doubt porting will be a huge issue.

Shmups are for turbo nerds.

only Milestone games.

[KAI]

According to my friends, Milestone games are for hypsters.

[MrOldSchoolCool]

+1 No.
And most people who are into shmups will soon die of old age.

hahahah. I'm probably one of the younger ones at 25.

[chempop]

Perhaps. I think a lot of fighting game/neo-geo/candy cab people have started taking the genre more seriously since having the chance to get their feet wet with the cave ports on 360.

[hail good sir]

I switched from dsl to cable recently and the cable guy was asking about my vert monitor so I told him about the stgs and the JP 360 ports and he was familiar with the dodonpachi name and was asking about port quality, and I mentioned being obsessed with ikaruga for a while and he knew the phone version right away. He even owned some cabs and pcbs but no shooters. I should have given him my us deathsmiles and pal AK and DFK but I didn't think about it until it was too late. Anyway yeah the mobile stuff is helping I guess.

[Cagar]

Shmups are not fucking dead.

There's just no real hype around the genre, as these are singleplayer games, but sure as hell the playerbase ain't small, the players are just hiding in their caves.

Shmups forum has like 3x higher post-rate than shoryuken.com forum's Street Fighter IV category, yet evo-tournament has 150k viewers, growing each year.

It's all about shmups being singleplayer games. The genre ain't dead jesus christ

[Bananamatic]

ＳＨＯＯＴＩＮＧ　ＧＡＭＥ　ＮＥＶＥＲ　ＤＩＥ

[BulletMagnet]

A few years ago I might have agreed that shmups were tiptoeing back in the mainstream's general direction, but that seems to have largely fizzled out by now, especially in the west. That said, the genre will never be "dead", as there will always be players looking for something relatively "pure and simple" for their gaming needs, but I doubt it will ever regain the popularity it had years ago, which is both a good and a bad thing.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Shmups are multiplayer. Unfortunately co-op (regardless of the genre) rarely seems to be genuinely successful. Gauntlet might have left too many mental scars on its path.

[Squire Grooktook]

Shmups are not fucking dead.

There's just no real hype around the genre, as these are singleplayer games, but sure as hell the playerbase ain't small, the players are just hiding in their caves.

Shmups forum has like 3x higher post-rate than shoryuken.com forum's Street Fighter IV category, yet evo-tournament has 150k viewers, growing each year.

It's all about shmups being singleplayer games. The genre ain't dead jesus christ

Yeah this.

Sadly probably the biggest misconceptions about single player games is that they are incapable of having as much depth or replay value as a multiplayer game.

[n0rtygames]

Shmups forum has like 3x higher post-rate than shoryuken.com forum's Street Fighter IV category, yet evo-tournament has 150k viewers, growing each year.

Well we do have a lot of shit posts aswell as informative ones!

Still, those numbers are quite promising. I think SRK has seen a bit of a decline over the years but that'll likely pick up when Ultra SF4 comes out. Fighters usually see a big buzz when a major game gets released with a name people recognise. Street Fighter, MK, Marvel being the main big ones that are sort of accessible to the mainstream.

It's nice to know that we have a lot of traffic here though. I have to agree that the future is in the PC market too.

[Squire Grooktook]

Still, those numbers are quite promising. I think SRK has seen a bit of a decline over the years but that'll likely pick up when Ultra SF4 comes out.

I think people are starting to grow really bored of SF4 though. That and MVC3 seems really stagnant IMO.

[Blackbird]

I think there's been a mild resurgence of interest in the genre. I partly attribute this to the "Hardest Boss Ever" viral video, and partly to a general interest in old school/retro gaming. It helps that indie developers are interested in making retro game homages, as well.

I'd kind of like to see what would happen if a AAA studio ever made a serious effort to develop a shmup, but that will probably never happen.

[Formless God]

I'd kind of like to see what would happen if a AAA studio ever made a serious effort to develop a shmup

I think we all know how much of a trainwreck Sine Mora is.

[Squire Grooktook]

Cave's aesthetics are about on par with any AAA studio. I doubt you could make a game much prettier.

[mastermx]

Still, those numbers are quite promising. I think SRK has seen a bit of a decline over the years but that'll likely pick up when Ultra SF4 comes out.

I think people are starting to grow really bored of SF4 though. That and MVC3 seems really stagnant IMO.

Not from what I'm seeing. Most of my friends are sf4 junkies, and most have adapted to stick because of the genre. I have very few friends who are also into shmups like me.

I think the Steam release of Ikaruga is going to do very well - a large-profile game on a client service that everyone uses. A game that has the distinction of being "super hard" or "hardcore" so gamers will want to play it to show off how good they are (similar to the appeal of dark souls).

I think this pretty much hits the nail on the head. As soon as one developer takes a good professionally made shmup to steam, (like ikaruga) and sees those sales coming in, this will encourage all the others to follow suit. I hope cave does port some of their shmups to steam (all hell will break loose if they do). I have a feeling that steam will be the home place of shmups in the coming years, given the changes taking place in the arcade scene at the moment (Nesica).

Steam will also not remain a strict pc platform forever, seeing as how valve want to sell themselves as a console maker too now.

Cave's aesthetics are about on par with any AAA studio. I doubt you could make a game much prettier.

If cave would finally take the bait and move to PC. Steam or not, they could literally sell thousands. No costs for hardware, all digital. Easy cash on old IPs. Perhaps they are scared about piracy, or scared having their back cataloge on steam arcade perfect would unintentionally decrease the value of their pcbs i don't know. but looking at steam, it was only today that I realized that ikaruga and metal slug 3 are coming to steam. what a day it has been

+1 No.
And most people who are into shmups will soon die of old age.

hahahah. I'm probably one of the younger ones at 25.

I am 25er here too I doubt we are the youngest here though.

[Pretas]

I doubt even in its heyday shmups were the type of games to sell over a million units of anything, so adapting for small audiences is a must.

As advertised on its US box, Famicom Gradius broke over a million units sold in Japan.

Sadly probably the biggest misconceptions about single player games is that they are incapable of having as much depth or replay value as a multiplayer game.

That's unfortunately true, though. See "Debunking the Cult of 'Nintendo Hard'."

[RegalSin]

About multiplayer. It is fun to have, when you have friends, otherwise they are boring. That is like the N64 days. Nowadays they are fun, until the service provider denies access to online functions.

Two million units is a decent sale. For the Japanese, they did not care, because people would import
from all directions, leaving everybody else with excess. It is a small place, an island.

.......

As long as their is something to shoot at, it will never die.

Sine Mora

aka "MATRIX: THE SHOOTER" that never was.


Splinter says that last sentence is sappose to be a funny

AAA etc.

More like, lets make something that has so much potential, but then lock it into a vault, until everybody who remembers it die, so we can release "Lone Ranger, the Indian was who off"


Splinter says, either laugh or put out.

[Teufel_in_Blau]

Guys, let us not pretend shit.

The future of this genre is on phones. Like it or not. Aside from that we will get one or two good games every odd year from those fan-made-porn-conventions.

And don't you dare to compare Resoshit to anything past WW2 in Mame. I can't believe this piece of junk is even called a shmup. What a disgrace to the genre. I still have hope in Moss, 5pb and G.rev. CAVE is likely the new Raizing/Eighting (Great past but irrelevant to the genre now). And Treasure? Lol, call me when they start developing NEW games again. Ikaruga my ass, if anyone here truely belives that Ikaruga version 42342 will get anything started on steam, I have news for you. The motherfucking Gamecube had an Ikaruga port. Yes, THE shmup machine! After the release of Ikaruga, GC players couldn't breath from the sheer amount of shmups they got.

[mastermx]

Guys, let us not pretend shit. The future of this genre is on phones.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5R_pS0h5Qk

[ciox]

Guys, let us not pretend shit. The future of this genre is on phones.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5R_pS0h5Qk

I could have sworn that link was gonna lead to this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKiIroiCvZ0

[system11]

The only real future outside of occasional commercial (hopefully not digital only) releases are doujin games, especially now that Cave have betrayed us, and Nesica has killed arcade hardware.

[Squire Grooktook]

That's unfortunately true, though. See "Debunking the Cult of 'Nintendo Hard'."

Perhaps I phrased that poorly. More accurate to say I think that people don't see single player games as having any depth or replay-ability at all and see the idea of competition and dedicated play in single player as something impossible and alien. I feel like too many people treat games like popcorn experiences to be completed once, enjoyed as a novelty, and than tossed aside when it's done.