“Since 1995 the market has been in steady decline. I established INH to protect these games.” – Minoru Ikeda, INH Co. Ltd

Since the dawn of time people, animals and things have been embroiled in bettering each other at ‘stuff’. For example, if pre historical fact (and fiction) is to be believed, volcanoes are better than dinosaurs. The Romans built a better UK road network than the grassy, muddy mess that existed before it (and the current road network that sprawls across the UK if you’ve ever paid a congestion charge or sat in traffic on the M25). On August 16, 2009 Usain Bolt ran 100 meters in 9.58 seconds. This beat the previous world record of 9.74 seconds held by Asafa Powell. This minute difference in times instantly made Usain Bolt better than Asafa Powell.

Then there are video games. I … Read More »

“The game industry in general is having a hard time and we refocus on social games and new revenue avenues. But we won’t give up!” – Hiroyuki Maruyama, President. G.Rev. 

If ever a video game company commanded a mandatory abundance of respect by the bucketload, it’s G.Revolution (aka, G.Rev). A company initially founded for the sole purpose of developing shooting games, G.Rev quickly discovered that even with the goal set in stone to focus solely on shoot ‘em up games, they simply did not have the capital required to jump in to the arena and destroying all before them with magnificent, multi-million Yen titles. Instead, to acheive their goal, G.Rev worked hard on top grade titles for such respected companies as Sega, Taito Corporation and Treasure. The aim being to raise enough capital from co-devloping other projects in the hopes of … Read More »

“I play shmups to travel to different places. My favorite shmups combine great mechanics with some place I like to visit and encountering entities that surprise me.” – Nathan Fouts

If his games Game Type and Shoot 1Up are anything to go by, Nathan Fouts is a man that quite clearly resides in a realm greater, more psychedelic and infinitely more fun than anything us mere mortals can conjure in our lesser, feeble and distinctly ‘beige’ minds. It seems it’s not something remotely new to him either, upon further investigation in to his portfolio. Originally working on big name commercial projects, Nathan Fouts packed it in and decided to go it alone. Now, with just a small number of years solo under his company, Mommy’s Best Games, proudly boasts a plethora of quality titles, each of which has seen major success across all gaming realms.

A … Read More »

“SHMUPS are perfect for pick-up-and-play, and it’s easy to find yourself playing DoDonPachi on the phone while waiting to check out at the store.” – Mike Walz.

Microsoft really did deal a winning hand to the console market with their XBOX Live program by reserving a shelf for indie developers to showcase their wares. For me I think it’s not only a real acknowledgement of the sheer talent out there but a great showcase of some fine video games from teams and individuals who would otherwise not be able to afford to get their work out there. In honesty, the future of product acquisition, in most markets, is digital. Many have embraced the mainstream indie games distribution market, such as Steam and it’s equivalents. But no other service, in my opinion, has made such huge leaps forward in this area as XBOX Live … Read More »

“Some people comment that the overall webpage design is terrible, but I can live with that. I did it all in Notepad, and it was originally designed to only sell ten or so currently available Touhou games!” – Jeff, Tokyo SHMUPS!

For many folks, shopping for your favourite must-have products from the land of the rising sun usually involves sifting through the pages of a certain world-famous auctions web site. The problem many face is that although the majority of items can be had for a cheeky sum (and for an over-inflated sum in many cases), when it comes to shipping the ravenous shopper is usually hit with stratospheric shipping charges. Honestly, a Bomberman postcard does not cost €12 to ship to Ireland from Japan or the USA. Whatever tombola these numbers are being plucked from must have made the owner a very rich … Read More »

I’d like to thank Yusaku Yamamoto and all the staff at Shooting Gameside for kindly agreeing to an interview. Especially with a no-name person like me.

The past.

Ageing gamers the world over may recall with fondness scouring the pages of their favourite gaming or anime magazines only to be left gazing in awe at the wealth of fine publications available to our friends in Japan. The birthplace of said subject matter plays host to everything the mind could possibly conjure up to feed the insatiable masses. From simple, photocopied ‘doujin’ fanzines to pulp monthlies the size of telephone directories and elaborate coffee table centrepieces laden in gold, frankincense and quite possibly myrrh. There is simply no area left uncovered by both the professionals and otaku alike.

At the same time it was with some sadness that these pages we gazed at longingly in our favourite reads were simply pipedreams … Read More »