Shmup of the Month Club Polling

[EllertMichael]

Just a few thoughts...
I don't and won't Mame and I'm sure there are others. I wouldn't mind participating but I owned exactly 0 of the games that made the list last year. Based on the few nominations I've seen so far it looks like I'll own maybe 1, if I'm lucky. You guys want more people to participate you're going to need to come up with SHMUP's that the common and poor/frugal retro gamer like myself actually owns. However, maybe you don't want more people, in which case continue the way you are and have fun with it.

MAME is absolutely necessary to participate in a "Shmup of the Month Club." Focusing only on cheap inferior console ports and cutting out at least 90% of the entire shoot 'em up library is just silly.

MAME also allows more people to participate, not less.

[mjmjr25]

Just a few thoughts...
I don't and won't Mame and I'm sure there are others. I wouldn't mind participating but I owned exactly 0 of the games that made the list last year. Based on the few nominations I've seen so far it looks like I'll own maybe 1, if I'm lucky. You guys want more people to participate you're going to need to come up with SHMUP's that the common and poor/frugal retro gamer like myself actually owns. However, maybe you don't want more people, in which case continue the way you are and have fun with it.

This is the point of making the list early. You have plenty of time to save and acquire the games we'll be playing. Worst case scenario, a game or two will run $120, but even that is rare. Also, you can always get your money back by reselling it after your done...if you didn't like it.

Value of last year's games:
Truxton - $5-10
Axelay - $10-15
Dragon Blaze - $50-80 (or much cheaper if you PAL swap it)
Zanac X Zanac - $90-110
Dimahoo - $150 board, or MAME (free)
Metal Black - $5 PS2, $40 SAT
Radiant Silvergun - $110-140
X-Multiply - $50-80
Exed Exes - $5
Mars Matrix - $25-35
DoDonPachi - $45-65

That puts more than half at $50 or less.

Stop buying 10 crappy DS games and buy one decent shmup. If you don't like the game, sell it for what you paid for it.

I agree with you, MAME is Lame, but that shouldn't keep anyone from participating.

[dsheinem]

Just a few thoughts...
I don't and won't Mame and I'm sure there are others.

Why not? Most decent non-MAME shmups are pricey, lack the full arcade experience, or both. MAME is generally seen by most as a reasonable way to play that's widely accesible. Non-MAME games would/will likely alienate more folks...

[mjmjr25]

Just a few thoughts...
I don't and won't Mame and I'm sure there are others. I wouldn't mind participating but I owned exactly 0 of the games that made the list last year. Based on the few nominations I've seen so far it looks like I'll own maybe 1, if I'm lucky. You guys want more people to participate you're going to need to come up with SHMUP's that the common and poor/frugal retro gamer like myself actually owns. However, maybe you don't want more people, in which case continue the way you are and have fun with it.

MAME is absolutely necessary to participate in a "Shmup of the Month Club." Focusing only on cheap inferior console ports and cutting out at least 90% of the entire shoot 'em up library is just silly.

MAME also allows more people to participate, not less.

You guys are missing his point. He won't use MAME and others won't either. This is true.

The cost part is where the logic is off.

[dsheinem]

Zanac X Zanac - $90-110
Radiant Silvergun - $110-140
DoDonPachi - $45-65

These can all be had via PSN/XBLA for $5-$15 too...

[mjmjr25]

Just a few thoughts...
I don't and won't Mame and I'm sure there are others.

Why not? Most decent non-MAME shmups are pricey, lack the full arcade experience, or both. MAME is generally seen by most as a reasonable way to play that's widely accesible. Non-MAME games would/will likely alienate more folks...

Many people would prefer to use the original hardware and the original pad. Also, many of us don't feel like messing around with roms, downloading, playing on a PC, playing with an unintended pad, etc. As easy and attractive as it is for some it is ugly an experience for others.

I agree, many folks like MAME and it attracts them.

There are a great many folks who dislike MAME.

Games that are playable on both are an ideal. I don't see a problem with last years picks.

[jmbarnes101]

First, I have no problem with people who use Mame but trying to do much of anything on my almost 5 year old Mac is difficult. Mame is out of the question for me. I apologize if my comments came off that way.

The one game I've seen mentioned so far Is 19xx which I have on the first Capcom Collection for the Xbox. Personally, I have some SHMUPS, not a lot, but most of them are on GameCube and Wii with a few for DS and Dreamcast.

Again, these are just a few thoughts from someone who would like to do a couple of months a year but I understand that I'm in a small minority of what i own and can play compared to the rest of you.

[EllertMichael]

Just a few thoughts...
I don't and won't Mame and I'm sure there are others. I wouldn't mind participating but I owned exactly 0 of the games that made the list last year. Based on the few nominations I've seen so far it looks like I'll own maybe 1, if I'm lucky. You guys want more people to participate you're going to need to come up with SHMUP's that the common and poor/frugal retro gamer like myself actually owns. However, maybe you don't want more people, in which case continue the way you are and have fun with it.

MAME is absolutely necessary to participate in a "Shmup of the Month Club." Focusing only on cheap inferior console ports and cutting out at least 90% of the entire shoot 'em up library is just silly.

MAME also allows more people to participate, not less.

You guys are missing his point. He won't use MAME and others won't either. This is true.

The cost part is where the logic is off.

I got his point just fine. He doesn't want to emulate arcade games. But that does not mean we need to "come up with SHMUP's that the common and poor/frugal retrogamer like myself actually owns." Because that's silly.

[noiseredux]

I agree that excluding MAME from a shmup club would be totally silly.

But I also agree that MAME sucks.

[dsheinem]

I agree that excluding MAME from a shmup club would be totally silly.

But I also agree that MAME sucks.

It's usually a hell of a lot better and easier than playing console ports. Many console shmups are imports and require non North American consoles or swap discs, mod chips, etc. I really don't see how MAME is any more technically complicated than getting an ISO of a Japanese import to play or somethng.