request for shmup example for my lecture

[professor ganson]

I'm trying to illustrate two ways that a desire might be in vain, pointless.

1. I might desire X SOLELY for the sake of Y, and Y SOLELY for the sake of Z... ad infinitum.
Illustration: Suppose there is a 2D platformer in which the game mechanic requires that I collect a grab a hammer, to smash a mushroom, to collect a star, to get a key, to open a door, to... with no end, EVER!
(I assume there is no game exactly like this, though many feel like this.)
Or:
2. I might desire X SOLELY for the sake of Y, where Y is just more of the same (i.e. no different in kind from X)
Illustration: Suppose there is a 2D shooter in which the SOLE goal of level n is to get to level n+1, where that level is just more of the same (i.e. the goal of level n+1 is solely to get to level n+2). Suppose the game has no scoring whatsoever, and no ending whatsoever (each level is just a new radomly generated enemy pattern, but otherwise the same).
(The philosopher I'm discussing thinks that most of our desires in life conform to model 2.)
So my question is: Are there any shmups at all like this? I cannot think of a single shmup off the top of my head that doesn't have scoring, though there are some that in my experience seem not to end (do galaga and space invaders ever end?).

[raiden]

does the philosopher you´re talking about happen to be Schopenhauer?

[postman]

For your example #2, I'm think of Armada for the Dreamcast. It's a combo RPG shmup, and you can level up, but really to no purpose. And there is NO ENDING in the game. You can complete all the tasks, but the game continues until you reach the highest level (it might be 99), and just plays ad infinitum. So there is a limit to the levels, but not much purpose to them.

I dont know if this is exactly what you are looking for, but it popped in my mind.

[professor ganson]

For your example #2, I'm think of Armada for the Dreamcast. It's a combo RPG shmup, and you can level up, but really to no purpose. And there is NO ENDING in the game. You can complete all the tasks, but the game continues until you reach the highest level (it might be 99), and just plays ad infinitum. So there is a limit to the levels, but not much purpose to them.

I dont know if this is exactly what you are looking for, but it popped in my mind.

Thanks a lot. I've heard about this game, but never tried it. Now I'm intrigued and will have to check it out.

[professor ganson]

does the philosopher you´re talking about happen to be Schopenhauer?

Actually, I'm talking about a more recent philosopher named Richard Taylor, but I have in the past lectured on Schopenhauer on this topic, and if my memory serves me the e.g.s would come in handy there too. As I recall Schopenhauer thinks that all desire in human life is vain or empty, and his argument appeals to certain structural features of our desires. As another example of such a structural feature, you might think of a desire A as in some sense pointless if one desires A SOLELY for the sake of B, which in turn is desired SOLELY for the sake of C, while C is desired in turn SOLELY for the sake of A...

[nullstar]

2. I might desire X SOLELY for the sake of Y, where Y is just more of the same (i.e. no different in kind from X)
Illustration: Suppose there is a 2D shooter in which the SOLE goal of level n is to get to level n+1, where that level is just more of the same (i.e. the goal of level n+1 is solely to get to level n+2). Suppose the game has no scoring whatsoever, and no ending whatsoever (each level is just a new radomly generated enemy pattern, but otherwise the same).

This actually does a good job of describing how I feel about most RPGs...but Final Fantasy Tactics in particular. (Sure, they have an ending if you care about that, but otherwise, just keep building up those stats...and your enemies get more powerful, too).

I bet some of your students play EverCrack. But that probably implies they don't show up to class... ;)