Danmaku

弾幕, often translated as "barrage" or "bullet curtain", is a sub-genre of shoot-em-up games. I usually use the term 'danmaku' to refer to the entire shmup genre, as it sounds exotic and cool, and represents the genre taken to its logical conclusion. Top-down, space-themed shooters have essentially existed since the dawn of video games, and for many people the term 'video game' will immediately conjure images of steadily approaching space invaders or exploding asteroids. Shoot-em-ups are ubiquitous, yes, but they lacked an identity that would set them apart from the wider gaming landscape; each game would inevitably be replaced in the public conscious by the latest graphically-superior simulation of spaceship combat, ad infinitum.

The solution? Video game logic. Take the established bullet-dodging and enemy attack patterns and exaggerate them to saturated extremes; forcing those tense, joystick-clutching moments to the forefront of gameplay. Games that followed this mold would soon prove mesmerizing for both spectators...

"[...] in the danmaku game, orb- or arrow-shaped projectiles form the atomic units of pulsating, multi-hued latticeworks and arabesques. Sometimes these designs will manifest as screen-swallowing circles with equidistant radii or spokes, or will wheel across the entire screen space in the form of undulating tendrils, or on other occasions will rain down like multi-colored confetti streamers. They will coalesce into individual strands of menacing webs, or spin wildly in double helix formations. In worst-case scenarios, such as the final battle of Cave’s 2004 hit Mushihime-sama [虫姫さま、“Insect Princess”], an uncountable number of angry magenta orbs settle into an oppressive rolling fog, with seemingly no gaps through which to escape."

...and players alike...

"Arcade gamers must learn very quickly, in order to make their sacrifice of 100-200 yen a worthy one, to view these tantalizing clusters of glowing globules or phosphorescent spear tips as the primary focus of their visual attention: no matter how well rendered the digital landscapes are in which the action takes place, or how intricately detailed any of the in-game objects may be, they must be treated as a kind of extraneous visual noise."

The Danmaku Game As A New Optical Art

Early History

 * Spacewar! (1962)
 * Galaxy Game (1971)
 * Computer Space (1971)
 * Space Invaders (1978)
 * Asteroids (1979)
 * Galaxian (1979) / Galaga (1980)
 * Defender (1980)
 * Centipede (1980)

Touhou Project
The Illusory Land of Gensokyo