The death of shooters

No, I'm not talking about the FPS. Though they might be becoming a bit too similar to each other, they are certainly alive and well. I'm instead refering to an older genre that relatively few people know about: the 2d shooter/STG. Most likely, you remember that from games such as this, from the 80s and early 90s. This genre has moved on quite a ways since then. However, since 2001, very few major releases have appeared outside of japan, with the most recent being Raiden IV in 2008. Most people's knowledge comes from downloadable games, such as geometry wars and shoot 1up, that are based upon the state of the genre in the early 90s but use HD graphics, and from youtube videos of people killing the ultra hard extra bosses you get as a reward for playing the rest of the game very well. The graphics are also a common complaint, mainly consisting of highly detailed 2-d rather than 3-d. The graphic can't actually be much more complex without comrpomising gameplay, as already these games are capable of slowing an xbox 360 to 3 fps at some points, so the processing power for extra graphics is far less important when the game runs at 1/20th speed.

Modern STGs focus on scoring well rather than seeing the ending, and if the player does not realize this, the game will appear extremely short, often around 30 minutes. Scoring mechanics have become increasingly complex over time, with games released only 4 years ago having scoring mechanics that appear primitive compared to today's new releases. That isn't to say that they were simple then, however. For example, ESP Galuda 2 from 2005 has the following as its basic mechanics: killing enemies produces gems, more if they're killed with your laser weapon, and double if you kill them at point blank. These gems are used to fuel kakusei mode, in which enemy fire slows down, and the player's attack become stronger. Killing enemies in this mode turns all bullets fired by that enemy into gold, and gives points for each bullet transformed. This is subject to a multiplier up to 100x, which increases for each bullet transformed, and resets to 1 when you exit kakusei mode. The gold is used with gems to fuel zetsushikai mode, in which killing enemies destroys their bullets in the same way as kakusei mode, but does not generate gold, instead allowing the multiplier to reach 500x. When an enemy is in this mode, they will spawn bullets on death, and all the bullets destroyed by killing the enemy reapear, aimed directly at you. These respawned bullets are destroyed by killing any enemy, which will cause them to respawn again each time you kill an enemy, until you leave zetsushikai mode.

Earlier this year, this game was ported to the 360, and recieved 3 additional modified versions, as well as an easy mode for the original game and one of the new versions. The game came out 2/25/10, and we still haven't even figured out the basics of any of the new versions. Here's what we actually do know. If you would like to see these mechanics in action, see here for the new version, played using the easy mode, and here for the original, played on original arcade difficulty. Before you panic about the difficulty, note that the actual area where the player can be hit is tiny, only a single pixel on an HDTV. You can also activate a invincibility barrier, and you can do that four times per life, assuming you don't pick up a refill item. In the easy mode, said barrier will trigger automatically if you get hit, and you can use it 10 times. The refill items also give you all the charges back, not just 1. On top of the slowdown, these features make the game at least somewhat accessible

ESP Galuda 2 was only released in japan though, negating the effect. However, the regular edition of both galuda 2 and mushihimesama futari, the previous port by the same company, are region free, meaning that they can be played on any 360 if you're willing to spend the money to import them. Also, DeathSmiles, still by the same company, is going to receive a US release in june. Similarly, there have been various attempt to get the genre known outside of japan, such as Intergalactic Shmuppreciation Month, and their yearly give aways, this year the prize is an arcade stick made using genuine arcade parts and compatible with the 360 and ps3. Similarly, someone noticed something on a dedicated forum, and the result was a general explanation as to how the genre went from the dominant genre in the 80s to its current state.

Now, I ask you: how did STGs get into their current state, and what can be done in order to get them out of it?

I would just say technology. Most gamers prefer immersive FPS's and open world third person shooters. Not alot of room for side scrollers anymore, although they do have a niche market in japan on the xbox 360.

It's funny, since shmups seem to do really well on systems with small marketshares, such as the Dreamcast, 3 years after sega stopped supporting it and beyond.

I don't think anything can be done, except make quality (and good looking never hurts either..) story based shmup's with a traditional arcade mode and hope they sell. Developers with large resources would rather spent time on larger scale games though.

Shmups are not completely dead

I feel like the industry doesn't make good shooters, well outside of Japan.. and the games companies just focus on the types of games that will generate the most sales, like FPS and RPG games, companies like to play safe and not take many risks. Okami and Shenmue will have scared companies even more.

Oh the first link is my video ^_^

Quality STGs do exist within japan though, and the 2d graphics in HD look FAR better than anything I've seen in 3d. The music simply cannot be beat. And to the people complaining that games today are getting too short, you'll spend at least 100 hours if you try for a good score. That is only for one game mode. Depending upon how different the game modes are, you may spend from 20 to 75 hours minimum on each of the other modes. All of this is assuming that you can already play this type of game well and thus can start at arcade difficulty. If not, you can practice on novice difficulty, which will add at least 10 hours more to your first game mode. For ESP Galuda 2, that is 300 hours minimum to score well in every mode. Mushihimesama Futari is around 150 base, and extra 50 from the black label DLC, and about 25 more if you manage to find version 1.01 DLC, assuming that you can play the infamously hard ultra mode when you first get the game, which nobody here can. DeathSmiles is the shortest at only 110 hours base, and an extra 20 from the MBL DLC, which is going to be free with the US version.

They also will not feel derivative, unlike quite a few games out there today. The original arcade normal difficulties will most like provide quite a challenge to those who manage to clear the hard modes of many other action games, and when it comes to stuff like ultra mode, the pros who manage to demolish the super hard modes (stuff like legendary dark knight in devil may cry, Master Ninja in ninja gaiden, battletoads, or hardcore hell in diablo 2) will most likely last around 30 seconds. If you are not some sort of master gamer, the novice modes are something that most people can expect to be able to survive relatively quickly, and can be used to enhance your abilities so you try the arcade difficulties. They certainly are not cakewalks though.

I could easily see games like these coming to an end. These games may have been the best around in their time (though I can't tell you, little young for the atari generation myself.) but today games like this can only go so far. Yes, it can be entertaining, but for how long? 2d shooters as far as I'm concerned are old news, but don't let that offend you, I like some too. I'd say people just got bored of them with their short attention spans, a game such as the one you show me in that youtube video can become very predictable. How much room do these games have for growth?

There is plenty of room for growth. Just look at the existing variety: Touhou series, DonPachi Series, Psyvariar Series, and Giga wing Series. An explanation: Touhou series, you score by collecting the blue items. They're worth more if collected higher up on the screen. Donpachi series: you score by chaining enemies together, and by collecting the fixed value items. In the most recent game, you can also activate hypermode, which makes you invincible and causes enemies to fire more bullets. You gain points for every bullet that hits you in this state. When it ends, all bullets on screen are destroyed. Psyvariar series: having a bullet come close to your hitbox raises the gauge on the top. When it fills, you are completely invincible. Giga wing series: you have a multiplier that increase when you pick up various items. It affects all point gains. You can also use a reflective shield to bounce bullets back at enemies. High scores for generations start at 1000000000000000000. There are plenty more that I didn't cover.

These games also have absolutely no padding, by the way. Many genres have extreme amounts of padding, sometimes taking up over half the total play time. JRPGs in particular often have short, post-fight victory poses, taking about 15 seconds. These play for each of the approximately 1500 random encounters for the duration of the game, resulting in about 6 hours out of 60 of nothing but watching these victory poses. Other genres utilize this as well, but generally don't have playtimes as long as JRPGs. In an STG, the longest pause in gameplay is about 5 seconds for the end of stage score screen. This is about 30 seconds for 30 minutes of gameplay, shorter than the pause between rounds in an FPS.