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For all you home arcade enthusiasts out there here’s a great opportunity to snap up all those issues of Game Room Magazine that you are missing.
“Every back issue on sale!
In order to celebrate the soon-to-released Digital GameRoom Archive CDs, I’m having a fantastic sale on the “real thing” – all GameRoom back issue copies are now 60% off! There’s a wealth of great interviews, gamerooms, and photos of arcade games both old and new. Travel back in time with GameRoom!
Space at Preview 2008 is running out, with organisers Howard & Wikberg inundated with requests for larger stands, with some companies increasing their presence at the show by up to five times.
In the Champagne Suite the most obvious changes to visitors will be that Crown Direct has combined stands CH14 and CH15 to create the largest ever stand at Preview. Astra Games has doubled the size of its stand and now occupies CH2 and CH3. United Distributing Company has increased their stand size, and others such as Brent Electronic have moved from the Entrance Hall to a new larger stand, CH17, inside the Champagne Suite.
There will also been significant changes in the Chablis Suite. Hamayoon Amusements has moved from NT55 to NT50, effectively increasing its area by five times. Hazel Electronics has doubled its stand size, and Playsafe Monitoring has moved from NT36 to NT58. Reflex Gaming has chosen a significantly larger space to showcase its latest products.
Preview 2008 will be packed with the latest products from the best manufacturers and distributors the coin-op industry has to offer. It will take place from the 10-11th of October, at Novotel London West. The official site can be found here
Two new videos are available through the official KOFMIA site this time showcasing a fight between Ninon and B. Jenet and between Mignon and a character whose name I can’t read as the video is compressed too much. I admit that I’m not up to speed on all of my King Of Fighters characters nor games (although I do own KOF ’98 which is an excellent game) but you’ll be able to see who it is for yourself.
One thing that these videos show is that KOFMIA seems to be taking a page from DOA as far as the ladies go. I’m not sure if that is common with the other 3D KOF games but it’s pretty obvious in these videos as they contain a little bit of ‘bouncing’ in them. I suppose it always had that with Mai though…
Taito has held a showing in Japan of some arcade titles and fortunately some news has trickled out about their upcoming releases. Unfortunately we do not know when or if these games will be released outside of Japan. Thanks to Am-Net however, we have some information regarding Taito’s upcoming arcade releases along with some pictures. Click on the images to enlarge.
Chase H.Q. 2 – Current release set for December 2007. Price listed at around $5,500 USD (using current exchange rates)
King of Fighters MI Reg. A is still on for July 13th. It is only listed as a kit and not a dedicated cabinet, and from the show pictures it looks like it uses the same cabinet that they created for Battle Fantasia. Hopefully this will be made available outside of Japan soon after that release.
Half-Life 2 Survivor is listed for a November 2007 release and will be available in Deluxe and Standard configurations. Click here for the official Half-Life 2 arcade page (Japanese). It would be interesting to know if Taito plans on bringing this title overseas or not, if the game is designed differently enough from the PC version it would probably do fairly well. Using current exchange rates the Deluxe cabinet is valued around $10,000 USD. They will be location testing HL2: Survivor during the middle of July in Japan.
Digital Leisure has announced the development of Dragon’s Lair for Nintendo DS. The game sees players take on the role of a valiant knight on a quest to rescue the fair princess from the clutches of an evil dragon.
Also Midway has announced the development of Ultimate Mortal Kombat for Nintendo DS. The game is a conversion of the Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 arcade game only with a few extra bit and bobs thrown in.
The DS version will include local and online play, complete with record tracking, plus the Super Puzzle Fighter clone, Puzzle Kombat.
Ultimate Mortal Kombat is currently scheduled for release in the US in November, but we’re still waiting to hear from Midway regarding a European release.
[via Pro-G] [Discuss on the Forum]
The subject of arcade prototype games is an interesting one as it’s amazing to look at what arcade companies were trying to cook up. Lately footage from a couple of lost prototypes has been uncovered including The Last Starfighter and now Air Race.
Both games were in development by Atari around 1984-85 and they really would have pushed the envelope of 3D graphics had they been released. Youtube has a video of The Last Starfighter footage (see below) and Digital Press just released a video of a long lost game called Air Race. The file is somewhat large, 51 MB but it offers an interesting look at what could have been. Hit the link below to watch the movie (or right-click and choose save as). Air Race video credit, Digital Press. Last Starfighter footage credit: youtube user Wolfmanjm.
[Atari Air Race footage - Digital Press] [Discuss on the Forum]
Brain Age is a pretty popular title for the Nintendo DS handheld and it is now available for the Nintendo Wii(as Big Brain Academy). So how would an arcade version sound? It looks like Namco Bandai games is planning just that as there is a webpage to be found on their site complete with pictures of a Brain Age-like game along with the arcade cabinets. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that this is being developed by Namco/Bandai as they are also responsible for both Mario Kart Arcade games (I just wish they would restart StarFox Arcade).
I imagine that if this were planned for something outside of Japan we would have heard of it by now so for the time being it looks like another Japan-only title but it’s interesting to see how they are taking the concept into the coin-op venue. Check out the ‘game’ pictures after the post break.
As today is Wednesday and it’s Atari’s anniversary then it’s only natural to review a classic Atari game. This isn’t the first time I’ve done it but it’s the best thing to do. This week I will make it a little different, covering the Atari 2600 and 7800 versions as well as the arcade (I haven’t played it on the Atari 5200/800 so it wouldn’t be fair for me to say anything on that). This week: the classic Centipede
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Centipede by Atari (1980)
Players 1-2
Introduction
Save the Magical Forest from the evil Centipede and his fellow minions! Take control of a garden gnome in this timeless classic that was crafted to play in the same vein as Space Invaders, while offering a more intense and colorful alternative to that title which also was the first game to widely appeal to women (being programmed by a woman on top of that).
Gameplay
The object of Centipede is to destroy the descending centipede while surviving any collisions with one of its pods, fast moving spiders or falling fleas. Each centipede is made up of several pods that will initially be connected together. They separate as you blast them, making it slightly more difficult to eliminate the centipede as a whole and with each wave you will see the Centipede start off with a pod or two already broken off from the main body. The playfield is riddled with mushrooms (not those magical mushrooms that will make you bigger) that while they will block your attacks against the centipede they can be completely destroyed after a few shots. The mushrooms will either hinder or help the centipede make it’s way to the bottom of the screen as once the head of the moving centipede runs into a mushroom, it will descend one line down on the screen. Unlike Space Invaders, if the centipede reaches the bottom of the screen that does not mean game over – instead the centipede’s pods will start climbing back up a few rows. If they reach a certain point, it will cause another centipede pod to come onto the screen. Eliminating one entire centipede causes another wave to begin.
As today is Wednesday and it’s Atari’s anniversary then it’s only natural to review a classic Atari game. This isn’t the first time I’ve done it but it’s the best thing to do. This week I will make it a little different, covering the Atari 2600 and 7800 versions as well as the arcade (I haven’t played it on the Atari 5200/800 so it wouldn’t be fair for me to say anything on that). This week: the classic Centipede
————————————————————————————-
Centipede by Atari (1980)
Players 1-2
Introduction
Save the Magical Forest from the evil Centipede and his fellow minions! Take control of a garden gnome in this timeless classic that was crafted to play in the same vein as Space Invaders, while offering a more intense and colorful alternative to that title which also was the first game to widely appeal to women (being programmed by a woman on top of that).
Gameplay
The object of Centipede is to destroy the descending centipede while surviving any collisions with one of its pods, fast moving spiders or falling fleas. Each centipede is made up of several pods that will initially be connected together. They separate as you blast them, making it slightly more difficult to eliminate the centipede as a whole and with each wave you will see the Centipede start off with a pod or two already broken off from the main body. The playfield is riddled with mushrooms (not those magical mushrooms that will make you bigger) that while they will block your attacks against the centipede they can be completely destroyed after a few shots. The mushrooms will either hinder or help the centipede make it’s way to the bottom of the screen as once the head of the moving centipede runs into a mushroom, it will descend one line down on the screen. Unlike Space Invaders, if the centipede reaches the bottom of the screen that does not mean game over – instead the centipede’s pods will start climbing back up a few rows. If they reach a certain point, it will cause another centipede pod to come onto the screen. Eliminating one entire centipede causes another wave to begin.
June 27th, 1972 – 35 years ago today the video arcade industry was officially born with the creation of it’s first powerhouse, Atari. Their first major success would be Pong, later followed by hits such as Asteroids, Centipede, Tempest, Missile Command, BattleZone and more. They also led the way with many innovations for the coin-op industry and while they were not the only ones to make great games, we owe it to them for paving the way for not only arcades today but all video games. It is true that they weren’t the only ones working on the concept but it is hard to say where we would be without the likes of Pong and other pioneering efforts by the great Fuji.
To celebrate, go out to an arcade if there is one near you and play some good old coin-op games. If you have an Atari of any kind, play that too. “Have you played Atari today? “
Today Atari is a mere shell of what it once was after changing hands many, many times – there is no coin-op division as what was left of that was bought up and later shut down by Midway and the console division died in 1996 with the Atari Jaguar as their last console. Now they are a software company struggling to survive in the current marketplace.
For a rundown on Atari’s coin-op history with a look at many of the great arcade titles that they brought to us over the years, check out our extensive Atari Coin-Op History page. Also check out Atarimuseum.com and Atari Explorer, both excellent resources on the history of the once great coin-op game company. Also be sure to check out our look at arcade games on the Atari Lynx and later today be looking for a classic Atari arcade review as well as some updates to our Atari history page. Long live the Fuji!
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