Shoot The Core

Thunderforce shirt?

2007-04-19T16:08:00.000-04:00

Ok, the last shirt design didn't go over well at all.......in fact, nobody want ANY, which is a huge setback for me, both motivationally and financially. So this will be the deciding factor - the Thunderforce T. It will look something like this - keep in mind this is still the design phase. I haven't done picture prints yet (the actual ship), so if it's too expensive that will come out, and it will only be the white "222" logo on a blue shirt.

This post is only to gauge interest, so if you would support this project, either reply here, in the STC forum, or send me an email.

EDIT: Changed the design a bit......

Raiden 3 MIA?

2007-04-18T14:00:00.000-04:00

Well, today is the release day for the US version of Raiden 3, and I was hoping to do a short review of it, but unfortunately it didn't ship (at least here on the East coast). Nobody seems to know what's happened with it, maybe it will show up in a day or two. I've already played the import version, but why oh why are shmups so disrespected in the United States?! I hope this turns up soon......

Radical R doujin translations

2007-04-17T12:41:00.000-04:00

Radical R has released English patches for doujin shmups Ifrit, Engage to Jabberwock, and Starleaf. Jabberwock is just screaming to be played, with this translation and the game map that was posted here just a few days ago. This is great work by Radical R, and I hope they focus future projects on shmups.

Thanks to 2Bears for the news, and the patches can be found here.

UPDATE: Looks like Winzip doesn't like the files, use 7-zip to extract them. Also, you will need an ips patcher, I recommend IPS-Win, which you can get here. Just use the original .exe file as the main program, and the ips file from the zip and you are set.

Broken Thunder pre-order@Himeya

2007-04-16T13:58:00.000-04:00

Himeya Soft has started preorders for both the regular and Limited Edition of Broken Thunder. The cost is $39 and $65 before shipping, a pretty steep price to pay if you want a copy of this doujin game. This might be the only Thunderforce you'll see for a while though, so if you need a fix, order here.

Upcoming releases......

2007-04-13T15:08:00.000-04:00

Two newsworthy items from the release front today:

1) Majesco might be releasing a Wii port of Tumiki Fighters.....this info is taken from a Gamefly database placeholder page, and the game is listed as "fighting", so I wouldn't go nuts over this info just yet. If they release it as a stand alone game, I hope they add a bit, it's still not enough material to martket in the current state, in my opinion. A virtual console offering would be the way to go.

2) Ubisoft has officially announced WarTech: Senko no Ronde for the US X-Box 360 (notice the name change). I had been ignoring this game for a while since it's a vs. fighter, but after watching some videos, G.Rev has really included shmup bullet patterns, so it's just enough to qualify as relevant for me. Thanks to NeoCutter for the news.

More Broken Thunder pics!

2007-04-11T12:55:00.000-04:00

Here are a few more BT pics, taken from here. Thanks to Danmaku Gata.

Engage to Jabberwock - pwned!

2007-04-05T21:31:00.000-04:00

I've been focusing on a few older games lately, and since Engage to Jabberwock has been released as freeware, I figured I'd try to finish it up. For those who haven't played it yet, it's basically a Zelda-ish dungeon explorer with shmup type combat - wait until you see the bosses. The shmup comparisons don't stop there, you even have a hyper weapon that can "tug-of-war" with boss attacks, like in G-Darius.

To finish the game, you need to first collect the twelve signs of the zodiac, then find where each zodiac boss room is and destroy it. It would be easy if not for four-color doors and two-color switches to mess around with. Flipping one switch locks one color while unlocking the other - see the problem?

Anyway, to make things easier, I've made a map of the whole game, including boss signs and locations. Its posted in the forum here. Enjoy!

Grab the Platine Dispositif games from Inverted Castle.

First Pictures of Broken Thunder !!!!!

2007-04-01T19:36:00.000-04:00

So far, it looks good ;)

Original picture site: Unit & Noise blog

R-Type Comic

2007-03-27T12:12:00.000-04:00

Please note first off that this is totally FICTIONAL, and just a project I made up with Photoshop...........

With that said, would an R-Type comic book or anime series be totally awesome? There is so much back story in the R-Type universe, you could have tons of characters - at least one pilot for most of the ships in the hangar from R-Type Final, bydo characters, crazy space battle scenes, humans grappling with Bydo technology, the Cerberus plight of being captured and rescued, mankind's messing with biotechnology and the danger it brings.......the possibilities are endless.

You may see more fictional R-Type comic book covers in the future. If I was a half decent artist, I'd draw some original covers, but I'm limited to using existing artwork.

Bombs from Team Fremont

2007-03-23T18:16:00.000-04:00

TF continues to kick ass for shmuppreciation month, dropping some big news on shmup fans. I'd encourage you to listen to the podcast, since the Drunken Gamers are both funny and entertaining, however here's a quick summary:

1) Goat Store will be publishing a new Dreamcast game, Dal Force, which will support 4 players simultaneously! Giga Wing took on this challenge, and it was a bit too hectic for me. Hopefully DF will tweak 4 player gameplay. Nothing mentioned on their website yet.

2 (Here's the big one.....) Twin Galaxies and the Midwest Gaming Classic will be hosting the "best 2D shmupper in the world" compo this June! Sounds like mad fun. Official announcement coming up from them soon......

Another tribute video

2007-03-22T16:11:00.000-04:00

Here's another Shmup music video, this time it's a generic one with background music by Metallica. When the news is slow, I tend to do more extracurricular activities like these.

Thunderforce tribute

2007-03-16T18:18:00.000-04:00

Here's a little Thunderforce tribute I whipped up, featuring none other than THUNDERSTRUCK by AC/DC. Guess the new Broken Thunder material has gotten me back in the TF mood. Enjoy!

Harmotion Overhaul!!!

2007-03-15T22:33:00.000-04:00

This picture is from actual gameplay footage of the new, overhauled Harmotion engine. Your eyes don't decieve you - that's FOUR players onscreen at once! You gotta respect a dev team that listens to the players and responds this quickly. The Harmotion forum-goers mentioned how cool a co-op mode would be, and the Bottomless Pit team read the memo and got right on it. Check out the whole video at their home page. Looks very promising!

T-Shirt design #2: Warning!!!!!

2007-03-13T12:10:00.000-04:00

Shoot the Core's second T-Shirt design has landed! This next shirt features the ominous "warning" symbol that is found in so many shmups. (Note: the back is blank, the one picture just features a backwards shirt.)

There is no pre-order this time, as I already have the shirts stocked. The same sizes and pricing are in effect: The sizes offered are small (5'6" 130 lbs), medium (5'9" 150 lbs), large (6'0" 185 lbs), and extra-large (6'3" 220 lbs) - and from what customers tell me, the shirts run a tad bit small, so you might want to order a size up. Base cost of the shirt is $16, shipping within the United States is $6 (total of $22), and shipping overseas is $10 (total of $26).

Paypal is preferred, the address is postmanjr@comcast.net. Be sure to include your shipping address and also what size you are purchasing. I can also accept money orders or cashier's checks, email me first about that. STC will have a much more organized ordering system set up soon, so keep watching for that.

AND.....I still have some Invader designs left, anyone interested in those plese drop me a line. If the Warning shirt sells well, I'm going to break out the big guns for the next design. Hint: it's an older game with a very popular tagline......

Recently I had the chance to speak with Team Fremo...

2007-03-12T17:43:00.000-04:00

Recently I had the chance to speak with Team Fremont about Shmuppreciation month, and it was quite a fun time. This is the third Shmup featured podcast, and the "drunken gamers" as they refer to themselves are great for a laugh. The lastest show (3-11-2007) has much more than just my interview, be sure to check it out!

A very busy March.......

2007-03-06T11:03:00.000-05:00

A lot going on here, and it's only the beginning of the month! Here's the scorecard:

1) TIGSource has worked with me in creating "Doujin Shmups: An Introduction". This is a good place to start if you are new to the whole freeware shooter thing. Also contributing is Bill from the 2Bears, speaking a bit about non-Japanese games and the programming behind shmups.

2) I'll be speaking with Team Fremont tonight, since it is Shmuppreciation month, talking about STC and the world of shmups in general. The interview will be released later in podcast form (mp3 for those who don't know about podcasts), which will be a first for me!

3) Second T-shirt design to be showcased in just a few days!

Thunderforce 6 still in the works?!!!!!!

2007-03-03T17:28:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the people at Shmups.com forums for this one:

Could this be the attract mode for Thunderforce 6? A few things raise red flags for me - first, it's called "Broken Thunder", which was the name of the TF 6 remix/soundtrack tape. Second, it could possibly be something from Garrow's TF doujin game, Thunderforce Forever. Needless to say, it's a cool movie, and I sincerely HOPE this is the first sighting of Thunderforce VI for the next gen consoles.

March is shmupretiation month......

2007-02-15T17:09:00.000-05:00

.....according to Team Fremont.

What exactly does this mean? Here's a quote from John which appeared on the Shmups.com forum:

"We've got some cool stuff lined up for our so-called "National Shmuppreciation Month". We're going to have some interviews with developers, guest segments, and all around dirty shmup love. Hilden's also cooking up some custom "shmup theme songs" for the show. Also, we're going to have an announcement about something big happening at this year's Midwest Gaming Classic."

That's a whole bunch of going-ons, in my book. Right now you can check out the latest podcast for some shmup chatter (2.11.2007), or browse the forum for some 2007 shmup-off compo info.

UPDATE: Broadcast Gamer has jumped on the March=Shmupmonth bandwagon also.

STC shirt testimonial

2007-02-28T20:30:00.000-05:00

I just got this email from a shirt customer and had to share it:

"Hi, I'm Adam and I'm a hardcore gamer and shmup fanatic. My big 3 shmups are the R-Type series, Radiant Silvergun, and Ikaruga. (In no order) But, I love MANY games; some shmup, some not. So, anyway, today was the first time I've worn my fancy new STC "Invaders" shirt. I decided to jet on down to my local pizza place while wearing this en vogue piece of wonderful attire, when to my surprise I found they had replaced all 4 arcade cabinets in the pizza place with new better ones! Not only that, but the Neo Geo machine was now marked with a Pulstar label! "Sweet",I thought, "I love me some R-Type like action!" Now, of course, I'm a console, MAME, and PC game addict but it's nice to see good games out amongst the uniformed, so to speak. Regardless of my game collection at home, I figured I'd fire up that Pulstar with a shiny quarter... when tragedy struck. I realized I had been lied to. Not only was the supposed Pulstar slot actually filled by Alpha Mission II but APII was glitched up and unplayable for some reason. I HAD BEEN DECEIVED. Thank God for MAME, eh?

So I pose this haunting question. Is the STC shirt cursed? Maybe, it's blessed? Perhaps, if I'd been delayed in my trip by a game of Pulstar, I would have been horribly killed in a car accident on the way home. Or was this all a coincidence caused by a lame half-assed pizza place employee?

...Only time will tell, but regardless I love the shirt's design. Looking forward to the next!"

Thanks Adam. Does the STC shirt increase shmup related probability? I'll have to invesitgate.

Next design should hit sometime next week! Keep watching!

Lethal Judgment 4

2007-02-28T10:38:00.000-05:00

B-Team is really cranking out the games! Shortly after B-Intruders we get news of the fourth installment of Lethal Judgment due out in May 2007. A doujin game reaching a fourth chapter is saying a lot, you don't see many sequels getting up this high.

Check out the preview movie on their home page.

Doujin shmup release highlights.....

2007-02-27T14:35:00.000-05:00

Two things I wanted to highlight today:

1) Thanks to Independent Gaming we are treated to a preview of Space Aggressor from RunTime Entertainment. This game looks to combine pure shmup gameplay with some Warcraft-type development strategy. I like when game makers try something different, and this one stands out a bit. Space Aggressor hasn't been released yet, but when it does it will jump right in the database.

2) SectionS has released the demo of Rayging Blue's Conflict Warred (it's in the database), and they also took a creative turn this time around: you pick two ships that work as a team, and when one gets damaged the other takes over. Worth the download at just over 30 MB.

Raiden US releases

2007-02-27T09:53:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Shmups.net, we get news of an interview done by Team Fremont in which Chong Ahn, project manager for UFO Interactive, talks about what the Raiden series is up to in the United States.

Not only is Raiden III getting a US release on the PS2, Raiden IV is now scheduled to appear on the X-Box 360! It's not clear yet if this will be a standard game or a download via X-Box live, but either way with this news and also Treasure's upcoming shooter, looks like those holding off buying a 360 will have to cave in.

Check the whole interview here.

Shmup replays on YouTube

2007-02-25T21:38:00.000-05:00

Now I finally have YouTube all figured out - the recording, the sizing, the file conversions, all that nonsense......anyway, along with videos posted in this blog to aid with reviews, I'm also going to be consistantly uploading general replays of many shmups just to give people a taste of what's available.

My account name is Shmupnut, and the videos are here.

Requests are also welcome, so if there's a game you've wanted to see, make a comment and I'll see what I can do.
I will also embed movies in blog reviews like Magical Amber when dealing with newer material.

Shirts are IN!!!!

2007-02-22T15:09:00.000-05:00

Great news, all the Shootthecore "Invader" design shirts have arrived, those who pre-ordered should have a bright green colored e-mail waiting for them in their inbox ( just kidding about the green).

I still have a small amount left, so if you didn't pre-order and still want a shirt, shoot me an email about the size and I'll try to hook you up.

STC shirt design number 2 is approaching fast! Keep watching........