Great Lakes—Michigan/Ohio Fellowship — ALL welcome!

[Davey]

Yeah I had a great time, but I did very little shmupping, so other than briefly saying hi to beatsgo I didn't really interact with y'all. Hey, awkwardness has always been a specialty of mine. Then again, this is a niche video game convention we're talking about... the bar for social etiquette isn't particularly high, so maybe I'm just par for the course.

I'm in that video around the 4:44 mark at the VOOT cab. I remember playing that guy; he had played VOOM back in the day but not VOOT, so he was struggling. After our games I was explaining some of the differences between the two, right as you walked by apparently.

Here's Tommy and I from the silly photo. I had only seen the "serious" photo, this is so great... just look how ecstatic Tommy is:
https://imgur.com/a/Z50S65E

He and I both plan on returning next year, although unless Dangun Feveron makes an appearance, my shmupping will probably be pretty minimal again. Or who knows, maybe I'll catch the shmup bug again before then.

[tommyb]

Had a wonderful time at Raj of the Garage 5. Really can't wait to return next year.

Davey and I are both thinking of hitting up Michigan Masters this year, too. I intend on traveling around a bit more to more of these conventions because Raj was such a fun, affordable time and I rarely get an opportunity partake in this niche hobby for extended periods like that.

EDIT: I promise I was having a much better time then I look like in that picture Davey posted, lol.

[beatsgo]

To all,

It was a pleasure to hang out with everyone even if time together was short considering I was competing multiple rhythm games for the whole weekend. If you recall, I'm the other Asian dude with glasses who mostly played IIDX, DDR, PIU, and Futari Black Label. It was a pleasure to see people enjoy my Futari board and looking forward to another meetup at Raj.

[Sonic R]

hey guys!

It’s been long time...
I guess my last visit was December 2017!

I just recently had time of reminiscing of old days long past...
I cannot say I play too much shooter games... or any games at all .
lately, I had been playing a lot of NES games... just anything at random.
and I always enjoy playing my Neo Geo AES... recently playing Money Puzzle Exchanger. It’s an addicting game for puzzle game.

I was playing some Xbox 360 shooters recently. and sometimes I play Neo Geo shooters too.

Not sure what everyone is up to nowadays... I would love to hang out or meet up , even if not to play any games.. it is the cold season so I am spending more time playing games as my other interests will not be active until the warm days and fair weather arrive.

For the record, my telephone number remains the same as it have been for 21 years now!
I am available every weekend as I finally advanced my career where weekend work in no longer necessary like many years ago!

But anyways.. hope to hear soon and maybe gather with old mates

[Davey]

Money Puzzle Exchanger is great. Tommy and I were lamenting that they didn't have it at Raj. We did get to play plenty of Magical Drop, though!

I'm usually free. Been busy lately on account of work stuff (including online training in my free time), but I could surely carve out time to meet up if people want to make that happen.

[tommyb]

If we plan it out far enough in advance (like at least a month), I could try to make the trek up from KC to hang out, too.

[tommyb]

Raj 2019 details are starting to emerge. Its the weekend of December 13-15 in Columbus, OH.

This is the rhythm game/arcade game con that Davey and I went to last year and had a blast at. Michigan's own Psychic Drive and Tokyo Attack are going to be providing the cabinets again.

Just posting this in case there's any interest from anyone in the Great Lakes area, I'll be going for sure and I know Davey is currently on the fence about it. I'll most likely be staying at the Hyatt again like last year.

Lemme know if anyone would like to join!

[SFKhoa]

I'll be there.

[remixSSBM]

i'll be at the big house 9 and raj 2019 although i still need to book raj

[pestro87]

I'll be at RAJ 2019 as well B-) Looking forward to it! Cheers

[Davey]

I'll be going for sure and I know Davey is currently on the fence about it.

This is now swapped, haha. This year has been kinda shitty for me health-wise, so I didn't want to commit before. Still not 100% but should be good enough to go, so I'm registered now. Tommy's still figuring things out.

[tommyb]

I'll be going for sure and I know Davey is currently on the fence about it.

This is now swapped, haha. This year has been kinda shitty for me health-wise, so I didn't want to commit before. Still not 100% but should be good enough to go, so I'm registered now. Tommy's still figuring things out.

I am now registered and flight is booked. See y'all at Raj 2019!

[tommyb]

Any interest in me bringing any of my shmup boards to be put in at some point?

I have Ibara, ESPGaluda, ESPGaluda 2, Raiden Fighters 2, Raiden Fighters Jet, Gekirindan, and Progear.

[SFKhoa]

Galuda / Galuda 2 sounds pretty good, since that's what last year lacked.

[Davey]

I think I played even fewer shmups than last year, unless you count TSS. I didn't even know there was going to be a tournament, definitely a pleasant surprise. Healthy turnout of 25 players too. I always thought it was weird that these kinds of events never had TSS tournaments even though it always sees a lot of play whenever there's a cab for it, so it's nice to show there's sufficient interest out there.
https://twitter.com/psychicdrive/status ... 3751288832

I took second, much better than expected for a washed up old man that still doesn't know all the rules of the game.
https://twitter.com/The_Allimo/status/1 ... 1281054720

[Davey]

I was in my car and heard Pinball Pete's mentioned on NPR. Felt weird. For anybody wondering when they would offer a $200 limited edition t-shirt, the time is now:
Donations to help arcade Pinball Pete’s stay afloat during the pandemic reach $65K in four days

Not sure if anybody even checks here anymore, but if you're reading this, hi! It's been forever, and I hope you are all doing well.

As an S-tier introvert with a job that can easily be done from home, 2020 was a lot kinder to me than it was to most people. Although I think work and home being the same physical location has taken a toll on my mental energy level, or at least that's the excuse I'm using for not making any progress on my modest quarantine goals. But given the state of the world, I can't complain.

[majors]

Not sure if anybody even checks here anymore, but if you're reading this, hi! It's been forever, and I hope you are all doing well.

<waves>

As an S-tier introvert...

You must have a strong parry game, b/c I didn't catch that about you.

[Davey]

Tommy does a pretty good job of getting me out of my shell. And beer of course.

Here's hoping RAJ comes back with a vengeance in 2021!

[TriggerHeartExelica]

Hello peeps! Long time no post. Hope all of you are doing well! I was just reminiscing the other day about our meet ups.

[TriggerHeartExelica]

I regret to inform you, SonicR has passed. He passed on the 5th of February. We had to delay his funeral because of funding but we are doing a funeral and visitation from 1-8pm Sunday March 6th at vermeulen sajewski funeral home in Westland, MI.

[Davey]

Really sad. Katie sent me the news a couple weeks ago, but I hadn't heard anything since then. I'm not 100% sure I can make it, but I think so. I'm way out of the loop... any of the old crew still around? Oddly my only contact in recent years has been random, once in a blue moon messages with people that around here anymore (Tommy and Katie).