[‘Roboto-chan!’ is a fortnightly column by Ollie Barder which covers videogames that feature robots and the pop-cultural folklore surrounding them. This week’s column covers the foibles of owning an arcade gaming classic, in this case Virtual ON (all photos were taken prior to cleaning, just in case you are curious) and special thanks to Saur and Trevor for their fearless assistance in the rebuilding.]
Konami is not just renowned for publishing video games. They have a sneaky gambling division as well. And they have been apparently naughty. “On Friday, an Ontario gambling operator shut down 87 Konami video slot machines in the Canadian province out of concern that they may contain subliminal messages that would encourage players to keep gambling, according to CBC News. The Canadian news service discovered that three brands of video slot machines sold by the publisher’s gambling division, Konami Gaming, flashed winning jackpot symbols for one-fifth of a second during every spin.” I betcha Blizzard does the same with World of Warcraft. I get freaking purple loot to flash across my screen for one-fifth of a second as I play.
Konami is not just renowned for publishing video games. They have a sneaky gambling division as well. And they have been apparently naughty. “On Friday, an Ontario gambling operator shut down 87 Konami video slot machines in the Canadian province out of concern that they may contain subliminal messages that would encourage players to keep gambling, according to CBC News. The Canadian news service discovered that three brands of video slot machines sold by the publisher’s gambling division, Konami Gaming, flashed winning jackpot symbols for one-fifth of a second during every spin.” I betcha Blizzard does the same with World of Warcraft. I get freaking purple loot to flash across my screen for one-fifth of a second as I play.
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| Tokyo, Feb 27, 2007 (JCN) – Sega announced the release of ‘Initial D Arcade Stage 4,’ the newest version of the popular racing game. In the new version, players will be able to race against other players in different arcades by the use of ALL.Net (a comprehensive arcade network service) and the ‘Initial D Driver’s License (IC Card).’Sega also plans to provide a paid service called ‘Initial D.NET’ starting in March, where players can access through their personal computers or cell phones to look at stats, to customize their cars or to form racing teams.
Initial D Arcade Stage 4 wilis available for play in arcades around the nation starting from February 21, 2007. |
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| Tokyo, Feb 27, 2007 (JCN) – Sega announced the release of ‘Initial D Arcade Stage 4,’ the newest version of the popular racing game. In the new version, players will be able to race against other players in different arcades by the use of ALL.Net (a comprehensive arcade network service) and the ‘Initial D Driver’s License (IC Card).’Sega also plans to provide a paid service called ‘Initial D.NET’ starting in March, where players can access through their personal computers or cell phones to look at stats, to customize their cars or to form racing teams.
Initial D Arcade Stage 4 wilis available for play in arcades around the nation starting from February 21, 2007. |
Well into 2007 and two major amusement shows down, for an industry that is meant to be dead there seems to be a lot of action. The big UK gaming show soon followed by the second largest Japanese event gave a flavour of arcade factory development and fashions, with driving games back, big interest in crossover with consumer and an upswing in the fighting genre.
[Continue reading over at Spong]
Thanks Kevin Williams
Well into 2007 and two major amusement shows down, for an industry that is meant to be dead there seems to be a lot of action. The big UK gaming show soon followed by the second largest Japanese event gave a flavour of arcade factory development and fashions, with driving games back, big interest in crossover with consumer and an upswing in the fighting genre.
[Continue reading over at Spong]
Thanks Kevin Williams
Spain’s Yelmo Cineplex company recently splurged on a “Cinegames” setup, converting one of its small theaters into a sizable LAN arena. Inside, some 50 17-inch LCD screens have been bolted to armrests, a gamepad dangling below each one. Once the fog and low smoke start to roll in, the black light and flashing green lasers get going, and the seats start vibrating, one gets a sense of why this innovative concept could reinvigorate the movie theatre business — and resurrect the arcade.
I was completely unaware this exsisted, and I’m assuming it did taken off very well seeing as I’ve never seen one. Anyone know of any sites that have this game, that’s presuming it actually made it out.
Counter Strike is one of the most popular and most played video games of all time and now it will be coming to an arcade near you. CS Neo is a team based game in which you have to take out your enemies with conventional weapons including a myriad of rifles, pistols and knives.
This version of CS will feature futuristic characters unlike the modern military characters in the original CS game. There are also new levels for people to play in. No word if this is based on the new Half Life 2 engine or the original Half Life engine.
The 63rd Amusement Trade Exhibition International (ATEI) was one of the most eagerly anticipated and discussed in recent years. A barometer of the industry health. The London show had a hard act to follow, let alone the impact of its sibling show, the International Casino Exhibition (ICE), with the smaller International Casino Exhibition Online (ICEi) component. Hit the link to read the Highway Games round up of the show.
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