Do you feel like playing shmups consistently has improved other areas of your life?

[blazinglazers69]

So I think it's pretty much not really taboo for people into these games at this point to understand that they have a tendency to attract neurodivergent people. In my case, I've been diagnosed with ADHD since I was an adolescent.

One of the ways that manifests for me is in sort of all-or-nothing type thinking and action. For example I won't clean my house for 2 weeks, and then I'll suddenly get a surge of motivational feelings and spend 10 hours straight cleaning. But when I do clean, I'll clean parts of rooms at a time rather than finishing one room at a time in a more linear and organized way. My brain is chaotic, essentially.

But I gotta say, I really feel like the last 2 years or so of practicing shmups and playing them consistently have really been great for for my cognitive health. With shmups, unless you're a savant or you're just picking games that are too easy, you're never gonna be able to just breeze through a 1cc blind. You HAVE to learn small chunks and break the game down into sections to learn it efficiently--at least that's how I save state practice, i.e. a level a day.

Doing this I feel like has helped me develop better habits. So for example I've gotten better about tidying small areas of my house throughout the week instead of the occasional mega-clean. I've also noticed that after a really good practice session before work, I'm better able to multitask at my job and generally have a better more upbeat attitude. Basically, I feel like shmups give me a stronger sense of executive function.

They just feel like such a natural fit for my brain with its craving for constant action vs complicated board games where I just tune out while trying to learn 20 rules and form long-term strategies.

Just curious if anyone else has had experiences like this.

[xxx1993]

Yes and no. I have Asperger's but it's pretty much safe to say that shmups have become my comfort spot. Not just shmups, but also light gun shooters, rail shooters, and run and guns.

[mirkvid]

Absolutely. I don't 1cc games very often, but when I do it reminds me I can accomplish anything and I usually go on a small rampage accomplishing other goals afterwards.

I finally decided to clear DoDonPachi this year, and once I finally did, I got a massive confidence boost, just in general. Good stuff.

Playing consistently has also improved my focus and allowed me to better deal with failures towards accomplishing my goals. I know all the failures/deaths are part of the process of achieving something big now.

[Jonpachi]

Has had a detrimental impact on my bank account. 1 Star. Would not recommend.

[sunnshiner]

Kind of, but it's not just shmups, it's most arcade style, quick-play-get-killed, thanks-for-coming games that help keep me right. See also: drawing, playing guitar and mountain biking (not at the same time, obvs). Stuff that fills my head with the activity at hand pushes the rest of the shit out for a bit and playing a good bullet hell can almost be meditative.

[blazinglazers69]

Absolutely. I don't 1cc games very often, but when I do it reminds me I can accomplish anything and I usually go on a small rampage accomplishing other goals afterwards.

I finally decided to clear DoDonPachi this year, and once I finally did, I got a massive confidence boost, just in general. Good stuff.

Playing consistently has also improved my focus and allowed me to better deal with failures towards accomplishing my goals. I know all the failures/deaths are part of the process of achieving something big now.

This makes me happy. I've had similar experiences. Congrats on the DDP clear!

Has had a detrimental impact on my bank account. 1 Star. Would not recommend.

Ha! Do you collect PCBs or something? I emulate arcade and console stuff so I feel like if anything this hobby is very cheap. You don't even need a super strong PC. I'll indulge here and there like with the 90 bucks I spent on my wireless 8bitdo arcade stick that I adore.

Kind of, but it's not just shmups, it's most arcade style, quick-play-get-killed, thanks-for-coming games that help keep me right. See also: drawing, playing guitar and mountain biking (not at the same time, obvs). Stuff that fills my head with the activity at hand pushes the rest of the shit out for a bit and playing a good bullet hell can almost be meditative.

Agreed. I get a similar high after a good workout. Goals in general are a wonderful thing and our brains do give us those sweet, sweet dopamine hits when we accomplish them.

[spmbx]

No

[Jonpachi]

I don't emulate games. I try to support developers to keep the hobby going, not steal other's work.

[blazinglazers69]

I don't emulate games. I try to support developers to keep the hobby going, not steal other's work.

Oh see I love stealing. I downloaded my new car.

[Sima Tuna]

I don't emulate games. I try to support developers to keep the hobby going, not steal other's work.

Oh see I love stealing. I downloaded my new car.

A man after my own heart. I'm planning to download myself a nice Prime Rib after posting here.

[spmbx]

I don't emulate games. I try to support developers to keep the hobby going, not steal other's work.

Cave doesnt get impacted in any way, positive or negative, when you spend a truckload of money to buy one of their pcbs on the second hand market. The guy that sold you that pcb that he bought 10 years ago for a fraction of what you paid is laughing his ass off though.

[sunnshiner]

I don't emulate games. I try to support developers to keep the hobby going, not steal other's work.

Cave doesnt get impacted in any way, positive or negative, when you spend a truckload of money to buy one of their pcbs on the second hand market. The guy that sold you that pcb that he bought 10 years ago for a fraction of what you paid is laughing his ass off though.

Forum needs a 'like' button.

Yeah, emulating old games that are well out of production and only available second hand hurts nobody apart from the dealers and flippers who can get right in the fucking sea. New stuff is different, I'll happily pay for good new stuff.

Anyhoo, back on topic... Shmups, eh? They're great.

[Lemnear]

I don't emulate games. I try to support developers to keep the hobby going, not steal other's work.

Sure!
But purchasing a second hand PCB (or any second handed game) won't help the developers but only the person who sold it to you.

I only emulate things that are not available either digitally or physically (New)...or to test before buying.

https://www.pcgamer.com/study-finds-ove ... n-archive/
https://www.theverge.com/2023/7/14/2379 ... dation-esa
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2023/07/ ... g-history/
https://metro.co.uk/2023/07/11/87-of-vi ... -19108592/
https://www.eurogamer.net/video-game-hi ... navailable
https://www.businessinsider.com/majorit ... &r=US&IR=T
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/87-of ... 0-6515806/

[Jonpachi]

Cave’s games are hardly out of production. If you saw the recent numbers from the DDPDFK Livewire port, it actually charted in Japan. I’m talking about supporting the present day hobby. You can download these games, or choose to help support the little publishers that still work to keep them preserved and in the public eye.

[blazinglazers69]

Cave’s games are hardly out of production. If you saw the recent numbers from the DDPDFK Livewire port, it actually charted in Japan. I’m talking about supporting the present day hobby. You can download these games, or choose to help support the little publishers that still work to keep them preserved and in the public eye.

...you can do both, dude. Lol. I don't get this black and white thinking. You do you. This discussion is trite at this point. Do what makes you happy.

[Sima Tuna]

I've bought every Cave Live Wire game posted to the eshop. I have dozens of shmups purchased legally on my switch. Before that, I purchased shmups on other systems and even imported them at times, despite that company making zero effort to provide the game legally in my region.

But if a game isn't available easily on a modern console, I have zero qualms about pirating that shit. Preservation of the industry also requires emulation, as corporations see these products as disposable.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Preservation of the industry also requires emulation, as corporations see these products as disposable.

Basically, this. Supporting modern releases is important and good, but some games literally are not accessible without emulation (how the hell is anyone going to play Harmful Park PS1 otherwise for instance?).

Back on topic, I don't honestly know if it's helped my reflexes or not. I'd like to think it has, but I don't have any real way of knowing what my reflexes would be like without shmups. Videogames do make people into better human beings, so there's that going for me! And I've met a lot of really cool local folks to hang out with through the shmups community, so that's another big positive.

[blazinglazers69]

The sensible pro-emulation comments reflect my feelings completely. I just don’t have the patience to articulate them online anymore

Roo, that’s cool you’ve been able to meet up with people IRL. Definitely a plus. There’s a great online community too. I’ve really been enjoying Shmuptopia’s YouTube channel in particular.

[Sima Tuna]

Shmup channels have really been springing up on YouTube. I think the Switch as well as more Steam ports are bringing shmups to larger audiences. The Switch alone probably accounts for a number of people getting into shmups during the corona virus lockdowns. It's cool to see a niche community growing and more people participating in the discussion. I just wish that this level of community feeling could materialize for other games and hobbies I enjoy. Small as the shmup community may be, it's still bigger than the dying earth fantasy community, wuxia community or the beat em up community.

[Lemnear]

Shmup channels have really been springing up on YouTube. I think the Switch as well as more Steam ports are bringing shmups to larger audiences. The Switch alone probably accounts for a number of people getting into shmups during the corona virus lockdowns. It's cool to see a niche community growing and more people participating in the discussion. I just wish that this level of community feeling could materialize for other games and hobbies I enjoy. Small as the shmup community may be, it's still bigger than the dying earth fantasy community, wuxia community or the beat em up community.

True, for some reason the SHMUPS Love is contagious .

SHMUPS games (or arcade racing games) obligates me more than other genres to focus on them for their entire lenght to win.
Fighting games works too, but my concentration can't last for more than 15-20min. So i use savestates possibly for game longer than 40mins, i can go max to 30min.
I have an ededic memory for memorize tracks and patterns and i can repeat those patterns endlessy in the same identical way..for less than half hour but only if i like them .
For some reason only the Dark Soul Trilogy and few other things that aren't "arcade-ish" works.
My training session usually last 60min, with 2-3 SHMUPS every time.

[kid aphex]

Eyesight… but this could be said of all videogames.
I’m 40, still have perfect eyesight.
But, two years ago I stopped playing videogames entirely and locked up everything in storage.
For the first time in my life, my eyesight started to degrade.
I started playing games again (speficically, Geometry Wars 3) regularly and the troubles I was having reversed remarkably quickly.

Eye-muscles are responsible for shifting focus, so… as with everything to do with the body: If you don’t use it, you lose it.

[MaXXX]

I don't emulate games. I try to support developers to keep the hobby going, not steal other's work.

If the devs can't be bothered to released it on PC I'm stealing it. (This is aimed at you, M2, once PS4 emulation is decent I'm stealing all of your remakes)

[MaXXX]

My mother interrupted me when I was about to 1ALL DeathSmiles once and I flipped my lid. Things got pretty heavy. I was out on the streets for a while. Doing low level jacks and small time drug dealing to get by. But I moved up in the underworld and now I'm a high level heroin kingpin. I eat beluga caviar daily and jet set all over the world.

Thank you, shmups.