The Shmup Talk Show

I sit down with The Hidden Fortress for a wide-ranging conversation about retro gaming from a shmup player's perspective to content creation and many things in between.

When did playing old games turn into collecting them? We get into absurd retro prices, CRTs and PVMs, physical collecting, emulation, MiSTer and FPGA, expensive PCBs, modern shmup ports, game pricing, YouTube hype, and what The Hidden Fortress calls the “retro gaming industrial complex.”

We also talk about why shmup players tend to approach retro hardware differently. If the goal is actually learning and clearing the game, does it really matter whether you're playing an original PCB, a port, MAME, RetroArch, or FPGA? And when a $36 modern port gets called “too expensive” while original hardware can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars, what exactly are we valuing and how are we valuing it?

Along the way: EarthBound in the bargain bin, $5 boxes of Genesis games, ridiculously priced CRTs, Batrider apparently trying to cook every piece of hardware it touches, the magic of playing on a CRT, growing up when you couldn't own everything you wanted, and why sometimes the best thing you can do is stop worrying about the collection and just play the damn games.

#TheShmupTalkShow #Shmups #STG #RetroGaming #RetroGames #RetroGameCollecting #GameCollecting #ArcadeGaming #ArcadeGames #CRTGaming #CRT #MiSTerFPGA #FPGA #MAME #Emulation #RetroArch #PhysicalGames #GamePreservation #ShootEmUps #BulletHell #Batrider #BattleGaregga #CAVE #Raizing #PCEngine #SegaGenesis #PlayStation #NeoGeo #GamingPodcast #RetroGamingCommunity #ketsui #retrorelated #superstation #retroremake

On episode #5 of The Shmup Talk Show, I sit down with Koa: longtime shmup player, scorer, rhythm game player, and a familiar face in the online STG community.

Follow KOA here:

https://x.com/dwrkoa

https://www.youtube.com/ ⁨@sfkhoa⁩ 

https://www.twitch.tv/sfkhoa

Koa's history with shmups goes all the way back to the early '90s, growing up around arcade cabinets. But around 2005, something changed: he started thinking about these games competitively.

A huge part of that story is Cho Ren Sha 68K.We talk about his decades-long relationship with the game, the routing and audio cues that have become second nature, and the incredible run he pulled off live on Twitch.

This is a conversation about getting better, chasing scores, remembering where you came from, and finding other people who care about these games as much as you do.

#ShmupTalkShow #Shmups #STG #ShootEmUp #ShootEmUps #BulletHell #ChoRenSha #ChoRenSha68K #MushihimesamaFutari #FutariBlackLabel #CAVE #MarsMatrix #GigaWing2 #Ketsui #Touhou #RType #RTypeLeo #ArcadeGames #RetroGaming #ArcadeGaming #SegaBlastCity #Xbox360 #HighScore #ScoreAttack #1CC #OneCreditClear #ShmupCommunity #RhythmGames #Beatmania #DDR #gamingpodcast #braveblade #raizing #shmuppodcast #shmupcast #videogamepodcast #highscorerun #twitchstreamer #megadrive #genesis #sega #MUSHA #compile #thunderforce

For Episode 4 of The Shmup Talk Show, I sat down with Filipe, creator of ShmupsBR and Pixel Pilots, for a conversation that ended up going just about everywhere.We talk about his history with gaming and arcades in Brazil, the rise of ShmupsBR and Pixel Pilots, creating shmup content on YouTube, his popular Shmup Drops series, and the differences between retro and shmup culture in Brazil, the UK, and elsewhere.We also get into physical games and preservation, the current state of shmups, scoring versus survival play, gaming events, and the shmup community, and what it takes to keep creating content around such a niche genre.Toward the end, we dig into Filipe’s own game currently in development, KaiBuster, including its mecha influences, design philosophy, development challenges, secrets, music, and where he hopes to take his projects next.

Episode 3 of the Shmup Talk Show is a sit down with bord3rlin3, owner of EC3 Arcade, one of the East Coast's most prominent shmup, fighting game, and puzzle arcades, located in Shelton, CT.We talk about how he got into shmups during the pandemic, the early days of running candy cabs out of his own home, hauling them to conventions before he had a physical space, and the eventual leap into opening EC3 as a real, standing arcade built around community first and machines second.We also get into Summer Carnival '26, the new major shmup event EC3 is hosting: what it is, why it exists, and what it means for the East Coast scene.If you've ever wondered what it actually takes to go from I have some candy cabs in my living room to running an arcade people travel for, this one's for you!EC3 YouTube:    / @ec3_arcade   EC3 Website: https://www.ec3arcade.com/homeSummer Carnival 26: https://www.ec3arcade.com/events/sc26Arcade playlist 1: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4L0...Arcade playlist 2: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1JX...

What drives someone to spend eight months building their first shmup?In Episode 2 of The Shmup Talk Show, I sit down with SealBro, Director at XtraSoft, to talk about the development of Emerald Blue, one of the standout indie shmups of the past year.We get into the origins of the project, how a small hobby team turned their passion into a commercial release, and why they designed Emerald Blue with beginners in mind without sacrificing the depth that veteran players expect.We also dive into Crystal Rev, the game's final major update, the design philosophy behind its scoring and difficulty, the influence of Cave classics like Ketsui and DoDonPachi, the importance of story in shmups, and what it's really like trying to make a living developing games in one of gaming's most niche genres.If you've played Emerald Blue, or you're curious about the people making the next generation of shmups, this is a conversation you won't want to miss.

Emerald Blue: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3977390/Emerald_Blue/Emerald Blue Soundtrack: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4206020/Emerald_Blue_Soundtrack/ @ec3_arcade  Summer Carnival 26: https://www.ec3arcade.com/events/sc26The Shmup Talk Showhttps://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5rhb2bL-z8xnFOvrl8TWADb-F5vUvQTlhttps://open.spotify.com/show/033vxdZ1Fo4dWBFhELEpEp?si=cad4a883bc7e4271https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-shmup-talk-show/id1896903178Topics include:• The origins of Emerald Blue• Designing for new and veteran players• Crystal Rev and post-launch development• Ketsui, DoDonPachi, Mushihimesama, and Cave's influence• Storytelling in shmups• Playtesting with members of the shmup community• The realities of indie game development• What's next for Xtrasoft

#Shmups #STG #ShmupTalkShow #EmeraldBlue #Xtrasoft #BulletHell #ShootEmUp #IndieGames #GameDev #SteamGames #CAVE #Ketsui #DoDonPachi #Mushihimesama #CrystalRev #GamingPodcast #IndieDev #ArcadeGames #RetroGaming #Zirolux #shmuppodcast #videogames #gaming #gamingdiscussion #shmupdiscussion #summercarnival

For the very first episode of The Shmup Talk Show, Zirolux sits down with DrBossKey, founder of Uplifting Goat and creator of Interstellar Sentinel and Interstellar Sentinel 2. What starts as a conversation about indie shmup development quickly turns into a three-hour-plus deep dive into game design, arcade history, storytelling, cyberpunk influences, fighting games, development tools, community building, and why shmups continue to inspire so many of us.

Where to find DrBossKey

• Steam: ⁠Interstellar Sentinel⁠
• Steam: ⁠Interstellar Sentinel 2 Demo⁠
• ⁠Interstellar Sentinel Discord⁠
• YouTube: ⁠DrBossKey⁠
• X / BlueSky: DrBossKey

The Shmup Talk Show on YouTube

• How Zirolux and DrBossKey first connected through the IS2 Steam Next Fest demo
• The surprising impact that demo had on both the game and Zirolux's content creation journey
• DrBossKey's path through the game industry, from LucasArts QA to working on major titles including the original Battlefront
• Building an indie studio while working in the games industry
• Discovering and adopting Shmup Creator as the foundation for Interstellar Sentinel
• Why Life Force and Gradius helped shape the direction of IS1
• Horizontal shmups vs. vertical shmups and the different feelings they create
• Storytelling in shmups and why worldbuilding matters even when most players never see it
• The hidden lore behind Interstellar Sentinel's characters, bosses, and worlds
• Fighting game influences, including a legendary Tekken VHS project
• Cyberpunk inspirations and the origins of Gresl and the IS2 universe
• Mortal Kombat, Castlevania, D&D, anime, and other influences hiding inside Interstellar Sentinel
• Why DrBossKey continues to update IS1 years after release
• Caravan modes, Hudson Soft history, and score attack culture
• The evolution of Interstellar Sentinel 2's design philosophy
• Environmental storytelling, bullet hell influences, and lessons learned from games like Deathsmiles, Akai Katana Shin, Einhänder, and R-Type

• DrBossKey reveals that Interstellar Sentinel 2 removes IS1's pacifist mode and leans harder into danmaku-inspired gameplay.
• IS2 places a much greater emphasis on environmental storytelling and large-scale set pieces.
• DrBossKey shares his philosophy on making players feel clever, skilled, and curious through game design.
• A fascinating discussion on deterministic game simulation, bullet behavior, and why shmups present unique technical challenges.

We have some fantastic guests lined up. Be sure to add our feed to your podcast app of choice!