sundray

Hamster's really been putting out some shmups lately. Good work!

Sorry about the automated translation, but I couldn't find a native English source for this story. But if you're an R-Type fan, just know that the wait for Dimensions III is almost over!

In context: Apple's shift to India is no longer an experiment in supply-chain diversification – it has become a fundamental part of how the company builds iPhones. In 2025, Apple assembled roughly 55 million iPhones in India, accounting for about a quarter of its global output, according to people familiar with the data. The production surge marks a 53% increase from the prior year and underscores Apple's effort to rebalance one of the tech industry's most sophisticated electronics manufacturing systems.

Invidious link: https://yewtu.be/watch?v=rwsowgBE_P8

Dr. Angela Collier explains why human-shaped robots are not only the worst answer to any problem, but also how they are a figleaf for actual pro-slavery billionaires.

Here is the Itch.io link: https://kornodd.itch.io/rainchaser

After watching this video by SamsoniteSTG, I have to agree with him that this game looks pretty hype. It made Vinu Croissant's list of most anticipated games last year, but I forgot about it 🫢 .

Invidious link.

An incredible scoring achievement!

From the description:

These are the Special Demonstrations, a series of high quality replays by some of the best shooting game players out there, donated by the players themselves. As with the past SD releases, the motto is "great players deserve high quality replays", and I hope to continue that with every successive release.

The series is captured by the players themselves, and the raw footage is then processed by myself using Final Cut Pro X, Motion and Compressor into something that hopefully resembles a commercial replay release.

Over a year ago, MAZ sent me a message asking if I'd be interested in putting together a video once he hits his target in Ikaruga, a 36mil ALL in Normal Mode, which is one of the hardest score targets to achieve in any shooting game to date. Naturally, I agreed, said there was no rush, and to get back in touch once he puts together a run he's happy with (not necessarily a 36mil but anything he'd be happy to share), and off we went.

So, after a long battle with what is considered one of the most challenging games in existence, MAZ finally hit his target of 36mil ALL earlier this year, got in touch with me soon after, and we both set off to work on the edit. It has taken a bit of time to put this one together, as we had a lot of information to put into the video within a small run duration, and had to find some way to fit it all in. Everything is in here: a very detailed commentary by the man himself, additional clips showing the more optimal chains in various places, and the most important thing, a replay that does the run justice.

Take some time off, man! You've earned it!

If you're inspired, Ikaruga is available on a variety of different formats. MAZ plays on the Steam version: https://store.steampowered.com/app/253750/Ikaruga/

More information on the Special Demonstrations is available on the shmupsforum releases thread: https://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=45894

War & Peas