Which console to start out with for shmups?

[mehguy]

Money is a big problem. I'm trying to find a console that plays a decent number of shmups (preferably vertical 90s-now shmups). I'm trying to do as little importing as I can.

[Squire Grooktook]

IMO rather than a console, pc is your best bet for a starter. Even beyond things like emulators or pirating doujin stuff, you have tons of options for great quality games at a very affordable price with low system requirements on Steam, Desura, etc.

My personal recommendation for a console would be a 360, though. Dreamcast and a ps1 are great options too.

[Bananamatic]

pc master race

[nosorrow]

go find another hobby

[Kollision]

Money is a big problem. I'm trying to find a console that plays a decent number of shmups (preferably vertical 90s-now shmups). I'm trying to do as little importing as I can.

Xbox 360

[trap15]

Xbox 360 indeed.

[shmuppyLove]

go find another hobby

Yeah, save your money for food or housing, don't spend it on games if things are so tight?

[professor ganson]

Yeah, I'd have to agree. Find inexpensive reading material, and spend your spare time learning something.

[CStarFlare]

Alternately, the PS2 is pretty cheap these days and can be easily modded to play imports or those other things. It's two console generations in one, and you get access to a nice mix of Cave and pre-Cave titles.

[Plasmo]

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=51367

[Blinge]

Yeah, I'd have to agree. Find inexpensive reading material, and spend your spare time learning something.

Way to patronize the guy, it's not like he's taking the time to post on a shmup related message board after all..

HEY MEHGUY YOU WANNA PLAY SHMUPS ON A BUDGET!? HOW ABOUT IMPROVE YOUR LIFE OR GET A GIRLFRIEND

[Bananamatic]

keep in mind that controllers that don't suck for shmups tend to be pretty expensive too

[Xyga]

Yeah if you're on a budget just buy a good USB arcade stick or controller.

It's optional but get a good tate-able pc monitor if you don't have one, like this badass baby for instance:
http://www.amazon.ca/BenQ-BL2411PT-24-i ... s=BL2411pt
A good monitor will greatly enhance your shmupping experience.

[mehguy]

go find another hobby

Yeah, save your money for food or housing, don't spend it on games if things are so tight?

I live on mars. Things are different here.

Yeah if you're on a budget just buy a good USB arcade stick or controller.

It's optional but get a good tate-able pc monitor if you don't have one, like this badass baby for instance:
http://www.amazon.ca/BenQ-BL2411PT-24-i ... s=BL2411pt
A good monitor will greatly enhance your shmupping experience.

What steam shmups would you recommend?

[Xyga]

What steam shmups would you recommend?

Obvious best is Crimzon Clover: World Ignition if you're not ashamed to play on beginner level for while.
Then Ikaruga, eXceed series, Gundemonium/Gundeadligne, Hitogata Happa, Astebreed...
Steam's selection is quite small, there are hundreds of doujin shmups around.

EDIT: check rancor's website: http://www.sk8tokyo.com/shmup/

[nosorrow]

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=51367

pretty much, lol

[Captain]

PC and emulate anything you like. Then draw conclusions and buy based on them.

[Strikers1945guy]

pc master race

pc master race reporting in

[professor ganson]

Yeah, I'd have to agree. Find inexpensive reading material, and spend your spare time learning something.

Way to patronize the guy, it's not like he's taking the time to post on a shmup related message board after all..

Not entirely sure whether to take mehguy seriously, so I was having fun with him. Relax.

[Bonus!]

Get a game for a system you have access to. Presumably, you've got a PC, so you could get some games on Steam, which are generally very cheap anyway. Otherwise, get an X360, a domestic one is fine, since it will give you access to plenty of great games like Mushi Futari, Death Smiles, Espgaluda, Eschatos, Ginga Force, Akai Katana etc.

[Kollision]

keep in mind that controllers that don't suck for shmups tend to be pretty expensive too

Stock Xbox 360 (d-pad) or PS2 (analog) controllers are just fine.

[nosorrow]

keep in mind that controllers that don't suck for shmups tend to be pretty expensive too

Stock Xbox 360 (d-pad) controllers are just fine.

Yes they are. I just purchased a NIB Japanese Xbox 360 (4 gig) and was quite impressed with the d-pad/controller as a whole for shmups sessions. According to most message board people, you'd think it was as bad - or worst than - the Dreamcast controller... It's actually quite comfortable and feels great playing the 360 shmup library.

P.S. I'm not a huge fan of the Dual Shock for shmups, but it's at least serviceable.

[Kollision]

In my opinion the only controllers that are downright awful are the stock NES (too stiff, practically no diagonals) and stock SMS (too soft, too "much" diagonals).
SNES and PC Engine d-pads are a bit odd, but they get the job done once you get used to them. I have absolutely no problem with later controllers.

[mehguy]

Will steam install onto a memory stick? My hardrive is quite overloaded.

[LordHypnos]

Don't forget about the free doujins on PC! rRootage is a great game, and the other Kenta Cho games, the X.X games (BWR+ et. al.), XOP + remixes. I'm sure I'm forgetting some. Piracy is also an option (MAME, etc). If you're fine with not having a ton of games at once, you could always buy a more expensive game, play through it, and sell it, or just buy the cheapest games in one console's library. Genesis + shmups is also pretty cheap, with a few exceptions (though it might be going up). I seem to remember seeing some of the best of the library around $30 or less not too long ago (Fire Shark, Thunder Force III, Lightening Force, Elemental Master, etc.) Those are very early 1990s games, though I'd recommend not worrying too much about what year your shmups are from if you're on a budget.

There's definately a few options for cheapskates wanting to play shmups...

As far as controllers go, you can learn to use a stock controller. I can do decently well with the DC controller, for example, even though it's usually considered bad. I do usually use Saturn controller + adapter though. Keyboards are good once you get the hang of them (though I sure haven't except for for a few doujins). I'd say that having a low or no lag TV is a bit more important, but it's not too hard to find an SDTV for cheap, a PC CRT that will work with a VGA cable for most DC games and all 360 games, or a TN screen if you don't plan on tateing (those don't rotate well). Not gonna give you the best image quality, necessarily (though PC CRTs are usually good if they are in decent working order, e.g. not way too dark or something), but that should be less of a concern than lag, I would think.

EDIT: I don't know about steam, but most free doujins or DRM-free download-only games are able to be moved onto a memory stick (never tried doing this with a DRM'd game like CC:WI). Only thing that would stop it is if it needs to install things to folders other than the main program folder, which seems uncommon, in my experience. Most of them even come in zips intended to be extracted to just one folder

[Xyga]

Genesis + shmups is also pretty cheap, with a few exceptions (though it might be going up). I seem to remember seeing some of the best of the library around $30 or less not too long ago (Fire Shark, Thunder Force III, Lightening Force, Elemental Master, etc.) Those are very early 1990s games, though I'd recommend not worrying too much about what year your shmups are from if you're on a budget.

+1
Genesis/MD has a great 90's library, and as long as you buy loose carts most games remain cheap.

[professor ganson]

Also, a Genesis + a flash cart is an awesome option.

[Astraea FGA Mk. I]

Buy a nice arcade stick with USB and take it from there ^ ^

[Obiwanshinobi]

Chipped PS2, although unfortunately some pretty sweet PSX shmups are not fully compatible, modded PSX can be found cheap too. USB adapters for Sony controllers will work on PC and if you have any beef with the DS2's analogue 8-directional pad, PSX controllers are cheap as well.
Granted, to get the very most out of the aforementioned, you need a CRT supporting either component or RGB (as well as proper AV cables) and - let's get real here - burn images on good CD-Rs and DVD-Rs. If you don't wanna pirate, well, money IS a problem indeed.
Last but not least - judging by the majority of pre-owned discs I bought, most people don't treat their discs as nicely as I do. Don't be like those people in this regard.

P.S. Oh yes, even if you don't pirate, some PS2 shmups are printed on CDs that make more noise spinning than DVDs would. Usually disc images can be altered and burnt onto bootable DVD-Rs - that's one reason to have a chipped PS2 even for a games collector.

P.P.S. Not very practical in Canada I guess, but - using any of the latest PAL CRTs - PS2 and PSX can be hooked up via the same RGB SCART lead (that in 240p games means about as good image quality as they come). Then, if you have such a telly in PAL countries, you can get mental with modded original Xbox and/or easily soft-modded Wii... I've yet to try 'em out, but word is around MD/Genny emulation on the Wii is magnificent.

[mehguy]

judging by the majority of pre-owned discs I bought, most people don't treat their discs as nicely as I do. Don't be like those people in this regard.

Lol yeah, my friend does that, he just leaves them on the floor and handles the disc where it's not suppose to be touched. XD