It seems like London is a getting a lot of arcade love recently with different companies testing out games there. The latest game to show up is IGS’s Speed Driver 2, a 3D racing game that reminds me of Sega’s Initial D. I do like the cabinet design as it’s sleek and flashy – if you have had a chance to play it, comment on what you thought about it below. I know that the 3D stuff is still somewhat new for IGS as they have primarily focused on creating 2D games (including Oriental Legend 2, which I have played and it’s excellent).
When it comes down to what sets arcade games apart from video games in other areas of the spectrum, the controls certainly stand out as a key feature. Developers have come up with some revolutionary designs over the years and many times it’s the controls that bring the “true” arcade experience, even in classic gaming (take QBert for example – as simple as the controls were for that, you never had a diagonal control quite like it at home). The controls are important to every single person who approaches the game and something to complex can turn some people away or it can even prevent them from playing, as might be the case with players who have a disability of some form. Arcades have been able to provide disabled players with the opportunity to experience gaming in many forms over the years and in case you are curious to know some of the history on that then below is a link to an article that discusses the history of video game accessibility in the 1970’s, which naturally includes a number of arcade games like Atari’s Touch Me or SteepleChase (the latter of which I will have at my new arcade location and it is an absolute blast to play, in part due to it’s simplicity). It is a very interesting article that also includes some non-arcade one-switch solutions but it only goes through the 70’s so perhaps we will have to wait to see what else they dig up beyond that.
When it comes down to what sets arcade games apart from video games in other areas of the spectrum, the controls certainly stand out as a key feature. Developers have come up with some revolutionary designs over the years and many times it’s the controls that bring the “true” arcade experience, even in classic gaming (take QBert for example – as simple as the controls were for that, you never had a diagonal control quite like it at home). The controls are important to every single person who approaches the game and something to complex can turn some people away or it can even prevent them from playing, as might be the case with players who have a disability of some form. Arcades have been able to provide disabled players with the opportunity to experience gaming in many forms over the years and in case you are curious to know some of the history on that then below is a link to an article that discusses the history of video game accessibility in the 1970’s, which naturally includes a number of arcade games like Atari’s Touch Me or SteepleChase (the latter of which I will have at my new arcade location and it is an absolute blast to play, in part due to it’s simplicity). It is a very interesting article that also includes some non-arcade one-switch solutions but it only goes through the 70’s so perhaps we will have to wait to see what else they dig up beyond that.
A long time ago we posted about some nifty paper arcade models that anyone could print up and make their own little mock cabinets with. It was a cool idea but if you want something that is a little tougher than paper and you want something that is collectible, then this might be just what you are looking for – especially if you are a Sega fan. A company called Kaiyodo in Japan are the creators of these awesome and very detailed models but I have not been able to find a price for them although according to the translation they have been available since August although I think it means to say that they will be available in August. To get a closer look at them, click on the thumbnails below, images via Hobbymedia.it.
Bemani fans have a lot to be happy about these days, with DDRX right around the corner and the news that Konami will being testing the 17th game in the Beatmania series starting tomorrow in Japan. Called Beatmania IIDX 17 Sirius (it always seems to be a mouthful with the Beatmanias), I do not have any information yet on what will make this BM game different from it’s predecessors other than that it follows a space theme but I imagine that we will be finding out that information very soon as Japanese players can play the game tomorrow at the Cat’s Eye Machida Arcade and also starting on the 29th until June 2nd at the Rundown Fukuoka Arcade.
In Japan it seems that the crane machine is both an art and a science and it never ceases to amaze me as to what companies cook up for cranes there. I am a big fan of integrating robotics into the arcade scene and this latest “crane” machine does just that. Called Robo Catcher, the player controls a robot inside of the booth and they attempt to grab the prizes at the bottom using the robots arms. It’s a pretty cool concept and to do the idea justice, here is a video of Robo Catcher in action.
Taito has updated the website for their upcoming FPS arcade game Cyber Diver and along with a few more details on the game itself they also mention some new hardware that the game will be running on that they are called Genesys. The original announcement for the game did make a mention about “new hardware” although at the time it was not given a name. Even with this revelation there are no details on what Taito will pack into the hardware although the website does include a couple of pictures from the new game which uses the hardware, which you can see in better detail by clicking on the thumbnails below. Note that the pics below are semi-transparent and show some stuff from the website background which is why you’ll see some extra blue stuff in there. So far the game seems to have a little bit of a “Portal” edge to it with the blue-white devices but other than that it seems to be in a place all by itself with the design. Cyberdiver kits will be released later this year and will be used to update Half-Life 2 Survivor arcade cabinets in Japan. It was rare to find HL2 in arcades outside of Japan so we might not see Cyberdiver but we certainly should start seeing the Genesys if Taito decides to replace the Type X2 with it.
Sega has updated the website to their upcoming arcade mech title (which runs off of their new arcade hardware, Ringedge) Border Break and with it, a rundown of how the cabinet works. As interested as I have been in the game itself, I was really curious to see how the cabinet worked since Sega said it would use a touch screen and it had a sort of mouse-like controller as well. In addition to that, they have included a headphone jack (a feature that is certainly not used often enough) and overall the cabinet looks pretty cool thanks to the lighting.
After watching the video below, I am convinced that the mouse controller is pretty cool and if it became standard in arcades then I think it would open the doors for FPS titles to be tried again (anyone up for an OutTriggers update?). at the same time it almost seems like the touch screen in this game isn’t incredibly useful since the mouse could work easily for menu functions and a wheel on the mouse could do things like switch weapons. Either way it looks like an intensely fun game that in one way the style of play reminds me of Star Wars: Battlefront. A Battlefront-like game could certainly work in arcades although this one seems to be a bit complicated for many Western arcade goers. What do you think?
UPDATE: The Stinger Report also sent us some images of the games in London but I accidentally overlooked the attachments.
KOFXII
The Stinger Report has sent us the rundown on two new arcade titles that are headed to the UK and specifically London. The first is Haunted Museum, which we first heard about at IAAPA but since then there had been no information on the game; the second is the well-known fighter King Of Fighters XII. The Stinger says the following about Taito’s Haunted Museum:
The twin gun game theatre experience incorporates impressive 3D graphics, special vibrating guns and a level of play that will give Rambo and House of the Dead a run for their money.
To get a better idea of those graphics, click on the thumbnails below (images via ITMedia). As for the cabinet, I noticed that it follows Konami’s recent light-gun game designs, as was seen with Silent Hill and Castlevania (ok, CV isn’t technically a light-gun game). I also wonder if the Haunted Museum theme has anything to do with “Night at the Museum” with a weird edge. The themes are quite varied, from Egypt, to killer clowns to space battles so at the very least it offers something for everyone.
Label this under the “somewhat related to arcade games” category but Rifftrax – which is helmed by three former cast members of the hysterically funny show Mystery Science Theater 3000 – has released a rifftrak for the beloved movie which features plenty of concepts gleaned from arcade games, TRON. What is Rifftrax? This link explains all but essentially it is a downloadable commentary that is released for a DVD movie where the commentators riff on the film – similar to MST3k but without the shadows and the hosting segments.
As a fan of TRON, MST3k and Rifftrax I have wanted to see them do TRON for a while now and they finally have – sort of. Unfortunately none of the former MST3k guys are on the track for this one, instead they got Johnathan Coulton, Paul and Storm. I’m not sure who they are but they seem to do a decent job at riffing the movie if the sample below is any indication.
Next up they need to take on another arcade-related movie known as Joysticks (if this movie had been more popular I would maintain that it is the real reason that the game industry crashed but then again it’s mere existence may have caused it too) . I have never seen it myself but from what little I have seen on youtube it looks pretty terrible and thus ripe for riffing.
Arcade Heroes 
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