Hey everyone!

So, if you have been following my podcast with a fine-tooth comb (cheers for those that have, ha), you may recall that there has been a project I have been working on for literally a year, but have not been able to make happen. The original name for the project was “Shmuplore,” an homage to Speedlore by RWhiteGoose. However, since coming up with the concept, I have found that the format of Speedlore, or other world record progression videos, doesn’t necessarily work for shmups for a variety of reasons. The big and obvious one, of course, is that the history of world records for shmups is uber obscure and not easily accessible or identifiable. Maybe a certified shmup historian like Plasmo could piece something together, but just by the nature of how the Japanese world record verification process has been, the best I could do is just read names and numbers off a page — not exactly a compelling video.

So, for a year, I have been sitting around and thinking of how exactly I could make this idea work. Literally every other shmupper I have talked to about the idea could not visualize how this style of video could be possible. I don’t blame them at all, it’s taken me more time than I care to admit to come up with a plan of how this could be presented. As of the past few weeks, however, the solution has come to me.

I’m not going to go into great detail of what the approach will be, but I will say that it will be a combination of multiple elements, not just watching a series of world record videos, as that is not even possible — especially for Dodonpachi. Instead, what I will be doing is going through the entire game stage by stage (mostly for A-L and C-L, but with the other ships sprinkled in), and talking about each stage in detail. I will be showing a variety of video clips to illustrate as much knowledge and fun trivia about the game that I know. I’ll also try to give information and context behind the players and their runs, especially for the players I am familiar with.

This will not be a perfect comprehensive history of Dodonpachi, so leave that expectation at the door. Instead, ShmupSaga will be an in-depth exploration of the game and the players who I have watched and learned from. I’m trying my best to impart how fun and interesting the game can be, especially for people who have only played a little bit of DDP, or none at all.

I will be streaming ShmupSage Saturday, 11/9/19 at 12 PM MST. This is the first attempt at what is a pretty unique video format, so if the live stream of ShmupSaga blows up in my face, I’ll probably re-record the video offline ha. But, I think having a live interactive element with the shmup homies will really go a long way towards making the video more fun, so please join me if you are so inclined.

Link to Twitch Channel:

Link to Twitter (because I am going to tweet reminders):

Cheers!

Mark MSX