Hotel - Gears of War 3 Map Diagram

Since the release of Gears of War 3, we have been playing the “Team Deathmatch” and “Execution” game types on Xbox Live nonstop. For those times when you just don’t have access to an Xbox 360, I thought it would be great to have the map diagrams handy (you never know when a new tactic will pop into your head). I was unable to find the complete set of diagrams when searching the internet so I decided to make my own. They’re not the highest quality but they should be sufficient for most uses. You can download full the map diagram pack here. Enjoy!

We’re starting up our weekly Fight Night once again at our new location in Absecon, NJ! This will be a weekly event starting at 8PM every Monday night beginning on September 12, 2011. We’re trying to build the fighting game community in Southern NJ so please come out and show your support! Please check out our Shoryuken.com event page for directions and other details.

See you there!

This documentary talks about the evolution of the genre and includes interviews with important “players” in the industry. It also talks about modern shmup mechanics and development complete with a visit to the offices of one of the most revered shmup developers, Cave! It even gives some tactics for you to use when playing.

Unfortunately for us native English-speakers, the documentary is in French (with interviews in Japanese translated to French) so you’ll probably have to read the subtitles but believe me, it’s worth the trouble! I’ve embedded the YouTube videos below:

Part 1 of 3

Part 2 of 3

Part 3 of 3

Now Go Play Some Shmups!

If you’re anything like me, after watching this documentary you’ll get the feeling that you haven’t given this genre the attention it deserves; there are some really fun and innovative shmups out there. Yes, shmups are usually geared toward the “hardcore gamer” considering their higher-than-normal difficulty and most shmups do require you to put a little practice time in. However a good shmup is, at the very least, a refreshing change of pace especially when compared to the “let’s make a game anyone can pick up and enjoy” attitude most video game developers have been adopting lately.

I’ve compiled a list below of the titles mentioned in the documentary and the easiest way you can play them now, in 2011. Game titles are listed in order of appearance.

If you have any corrections for the above chart, please leave a comment and I’ll be sure to make the necessary changes.

More Shmup Information

If you’d like to learn more, here are some great sites to check out:

• shmups.com
• World of Arcades
• Confessions of an Arcade Addict
• RacketBoy’s Shmups 101
• Cave Database

I was lucky enough to travel to Paris for my wedding anniversary. Naturally, the first thing I did was check if there were any arcades in the area. With the help of the dedicated owner of Arcade Otaku’s IRC chat, I was able to get the low-down on the arcades of Paris. To my surprise there are actually two: La Tete Dans Les Nuages (LTDN) and Arcade Street.

I’ll start with La Tete Dans Les Nuages which translates literally to “head in the clouds.” The facility was big and pretty clean. Not only did it have a large arcade but also pool tables, a bowling alley, a video game store and a cybercafe. I was warned beforehand that the prices were a bit high but I was really surprised when I saw how much tokens actually were… 2 euro each! Most new games were 2 tokens (that’s $6 USD per play!) and some of the larger games were 4 tokens per play! Overall the cabinets were in poor condition. Most of them were big racing cabinets but there were some candy cabinets to be found. They had about 8 New Astro City cabinets (puzzle Bobble and Metal Slug 3) and a bunch of Megalo-type cabinets (Street Fighter 3: 3rd strike and KOF). LTDN reminded me of a sub-par Dave and Busters. I was not impressed so I didn’t bother taking any pictures.

The other arcade was called Arcade Street. Holy crap this place was AWESOME! It’s a Japanese arcade in Paris located right off of the Nation metro stop. It’s a cozy place and the owner even approached me when I entered the first time to make sure I knew how things worked (he spoke English too). This place had everything: 4 Vewlix cabinets (Street Fighter IV: AE), tons of Blast City (CVS2 and Guilty Gear X2), 6 New Versus City (3rd Strike and SSF2T), tons of New Astro City (DoDonPachi and ESP Galuda 2), Sega Lindberghs (Tekken 6), Delta 32 (KOF XII? and BlazBlue: CS) and even a couple of Egret IIIs. This is by no means the full game/cabinet list but you get the idea. I was able to try every cabinet I ever wanted; I even got to play on a real Taito Vewlix!

Brett Playing a real Taito Vewlix!

The cabinets were well-maintained and everything I played was in working order. The prices were very reasonable too; most games were 50 euro cents and the newer games like SSF4AE were 1 euro per play. The decor was pretty cool too; they went for the urban look with arcade-themed graffiti and metro signs all over the walls. They even had some couches for “break time.” Overall you could really tell that running this arcade was a labor of love for the owners. It reminded me of good ol’ NPVG and I felt right at home.

The thing that separates a good arcade from a great arcade is the community (at least from a fighting game point of view). The community really came out to this place; there were tons of people playing SSF4AE, as well as BlazBlue. The 3rd strike community seemed to be especially large in Paris too; more people were playing 3rd strike than SSF4AE when I was there. The players were skilled and fun to watch.

Bottom line: if you go to Paris, you must visit Arcade Street!