Here are several different booths for one post, hope you enjoy.
First is the Raw Thrills’/Betson booth. Many were distracted at this booth not so much by the game but by the scantily clad pole dancing booth babes at the adjacent Apple Industries booth. I had to avoid filming that so the video isn’t flagged (and we need to stay focused here 😉 ). At the booth they had Terminator Salvation, H2Overdrive, Big Buck Hunter Open Season, and the new Wheel of Fortune video redemption game. Terminator was running what was likely to be the release software, which now sports cut scenes, voice acting and updated graphics from the IAAPA build. There was a surprise with H2Overdrive there – they now have 32″ H2Overdrive cabs that are intended for smaller locations and budgets. In addition to the smaller screen it also lacks some of the LED attract lights on the back but it’s still a nice cabinet. These will likely run $700-$800 below the deluxe versions. Also for a new product was Wheel of Fortune. While it’s a video redemption title, think of Deal or No Deal (which also has a street version that dispense different kinds of tickets for locations that can’t take redemption tickets) in where they are going with this. The game has a spinner controller for spinning the big wheel and an HD touch screen for selecting letters.
Here is something I missed from IAAPA by TrioTech – the new Stomper DLX. It’s a modified version of their UFO Stomper that can fit into more venues that it’s predecessor could. The system works out in the same way by detecting the players foot movements and it includes a variety of mini-games they can play. I’m not sure what the price is on this one but it certainly is in a lower realm than UFO Stomper was.
Here’s some news out of the Raw Thrills’ camp today, with two press releases on two separate products.
First off Terminator Salvation will be shipping out in limited quantities to certain locations with the game hitting full production in March. The reported test location earnings have been quite good (between $983 and $805 a week at one US theater; $1395 1 week at a Japanese arcade, etc). These earnings which were released to distributors caused a “fury of sales orders” for the game worldwide; it also is at AOU 2010. As far as the sampling goes, I have heard of two places that are getting the game in my state prior to the full release, I imagine that such is the case in other places as well so if you’re looking to play the game, you might get lucky and find one within this next week.
Also H2Overdrive, which was released last summer is still making news, with a player in Texas achieving a rank in the game that so far, no one else has managed, Fleet Admiral. The reason why this is news is that it takes between $500-$600 of money spent on the game to reach this rank. It certainly helps that H2Overdrive is arcade exclusive but this also is testifies to the replay value of the game. Betson is also reporting that the game has sold almost 2000 units since last June, which is pretty solid for video in coin-op.
Raw Thrills’/Specular Interactive’s H2Overdrive is making headlines again, first with news that Universal Space (UNIS) will be exclusively carrying the game in China. I know that the game has been seen in Japan already but I do not know how it has been received over there but either way the Chinese market is a big one so that is good news for the game. UNIS was showing off the motion version of H2Overdrive at their IAAPA booth but now we have an ‘official’ announcement about UNIS carrying the game (motion and non-motion versions) in China.
Even bigger news however is H2Overdrive will making a red carpet appearance at Spike TV’s upcoming Video Game Awards. I can’t recall a time where any arcade title has been given this honor that generally focuses on non-coin-op aspects of gaming, so this is a really good sign for arcade gaming overall. According to the press release: “H2Overdrive will be prominently displayed on the red carpet for the entertainment of celebrities and video game fans attending this event.” The event takes place at the Nokia Center in LA on December 12th and hopefully SpikeTV will give the game some generous coverage on the air.
On last thing that was tucked into the SpikeTV press release is a game locator for H2Overdrive on www.h2overdrive.com. As the press release states: “Operators, players and locations are encouraged to post the location(s) where an H2Overdrive can be easily found for players’ enjoyment.” I checked the link and lo and behold, they have completely overhauled their website with a new design and much more information on their company then they had there previously. They also have begun to hint at their next game, although like last time there is very little information about what it will be. According to the site: ” We can’t really say much at the moment but we have signed a contract to do another arcade game for Eugene and Raw Thrills. Rest assured it will be just as kick-ass as H2Overdrive…even more so since this time around we’ll get to do some of the crazy things we didn’t have time for last time.”
Hit the link below to check out the press releases
Raw Thrills’/Specular Interactive’s H2Overdrive is making headlines again, first with news that Universal Space (UNIS) will be exclusively carrying the game in China. I know that the game has been seen in Japan already but I do not know how it has been received over there but either way the Chinese market is a big one so that is good news for the game. UNIS was showing off the motion version of H2Overdrive at their IAAPA booth but now we have an ‘official’ announcement about UNIS carrying the game (motion and non-motion versions) in China.
Even bigger news however is H2Overdrive will making a red carpet appearance at Spike TV’s upcoming Video Game Awards. I can’t recall a time where any arcade title has been given this honor that generally focuses on non-coin-op aspects of gaming, so this is a really good sign for arcade gaming overall. According to the press release: “H2Overdrive will be prominently displayed on the red carpet for the entertainment of celebrities and video game fans attending this event.” The event takes place at the Nokia Center in LA on December 12th and hopefully SpikeTV will give the game some generous coverage on the air.
On last thing that was tucked into the SpikeTV press release is a game locator for H2Overdrive on www.h2overdrive.com. As the press release states: “Operators, players and locations are encouraged to post the location(s) where an H2Overdrive can be easily found for players’ enjoyment.” I checked the link and lo and behold, they have completely overhauled their website with a new design and much more information on their company then they had there previously. They also have begun to hint at their next game, although like last time there is very little information about what it will be. According to the site: ” We can’t really say much at the moment but we have signed a contract to do another arcade game for Eugene and Raw Thrills. Rest assured it will be just as kick-ass as H2Overdrive…even more so since this time around we’ll get to do some of the crazy things we didn’t have time for last time.”
Hit the link below to check out the press releases
I have finally resolved the problem with Youtube not accepting the videos for Dead storm Pirates and the UNIS booth – convert them to AVI files. Unfortunately they become blocky and lose detail so I will be trying to find another way to get the better quality versions online soon. In the meantime…
Dead Storm Pirates (Namco) – I was surprised to see this game at IAAPA – we hadn’t heard anything about it possibly coming over to the US although it seemed like the style of gameplay would be a nice fit over here. The software was 60% complete so there were only a couple of levels to play but it was a lot of fun. There’s also more to it than being Let’s Go Jungle with a pirate theme, Namco is taking the time to help the game stand out on it’s own. The emphasis on shooting the targets at the same time is greater and if you both can keep your sights together long enough, the shots become more powerful. Another exciting part of the game I saw is when you man the cannons to blast another ship out of the water – hopefully there will be a few more scenes like that in the final release. Also the rudder wheel feature is pretty cool, with the game presenting you with so many seconds to turn the thing for a pass or fail event. In several wheel events the game goes into “bullet time”, slowing down just enough so you can attempt to turn. DSP is running on Namco’s System 357 hardware, which is PS3 based and is the same hardware used on Tekken 6 and Razing Storm. As such the game looks spectacular but unfortunately due to the uploading issues I have had with getting this on Youtube you won’t notice those details as nicely.
Universal Space booth – We broke the news about UNIS bringing Cooking Mama to arcades and I have noticed that a number of blogs have picked up on that news but unfortunately only one source gave us any credit for that (so we tip our hat to them GameSetWatch). Such is the nature of the blogging biz I suppose. Either way, one detail that needs to be emphasized about the game is that it is available in the US right now – and I already saw it’s appeal to younger kids. When I was posting the IAAPA pics at my arcade, a girl who was about 8 or 9 years old saw the picture of Cooking Mama and asked if we would get it saying she would play it all the time (right after my brother was saying that no one would play it).
Overall I was happy with the UNIS booth because there was a number of different and new ideas there that other companies don’t have.
One of those was Butterfly Garden – which is an interesting return to the tabletop game with four players. You control a net and you attempt to capture as many butterflies as possible. It’s another cutesy game that is something different. They had a couple of virtual bowling games which were fun and I was also impressed with Panda Family, a party game by IGS that uses a face avatar feature. There are a number of mini-games to pick from and movement is controlled by large buttons. The cabinet is really nice and this is one I wouldn’t mind getting for my arcade.
Of interest to Panic Park fans they also had a game called Ultimate. The control scheme works exactly like Panic Park does where you play tug-of-war on the controls in each mini-game. I was very impressed by the price on this one – only $4600 for a game with a 46″ screen. I couldn’t get a good feel for how the mini-games played in it however as you really need two people to get the full effect.
H2Overdrive fans will be pleased/surprised that UNIS had a new version of H2Overdrive at their booth. This version uses a motion base and it was a collaborative effort by UNIS, Tsunami Visual and Bandai Namco games. The motion version should be available in the US in 2010, with the game also going to Asian markets.
Apologies for the bad video and sound quality in this one, it’s another one I had to convert from MOV to AVI.
Big Buck Hunter Pro: Open Season – I got a chance to check this out but where I am more familiar with Big Buck Safari than I am Hunter, I couldn’t notice the differences in the update off the top of my head. I do know that there is more focus with online play via the Coin-Up network, like they do with Safari. I also found the mini bonus games to be a little more entertaining than what is in Safari (they even have an Asteroids bnous round, not sure if that is new or not)
Textminator – Strangely enough this game is attracting all sort of attention on various tech blogs all of the sudden, even though it has been out for a while. This was the first time I had a chance to play it myself and while I am not a texting person by any means, it was a decent game. Words fall from the top and you have to text out what it says before the word hits the bottom. One thing that could hurt the appeal to this is how many cell phones are converting over to full keyboards, making the old way of texting out-of-date but still, this is something unique and the cabinet catches your eye as well. The pads are interesting – it’s like using a payphone pad but it seems like they should hold up to the normal pounding found in your average arcade.
Since I don’t have the opportunity to visit the JAMMA show in Japan, we have to rely on what other sites are showing us in regards to what is going on over there. Thanks to several Japanese game websites, here is a run down of what has been going on at JAMMA.
While nothing has been shown on Arcana Heart 3, two teaser pics on the Examu blog seem to indicate that AH3 may in fact be a 3D fighter. (see the Upatsu scoop post on this link)
Just so I don’t overwhelm the front page with a long post with all of these big images, you can see more by hitting the link below. And to entice you further here’s what you get: Shots of Namco’s new pirate-themed light-gun title; a card-game from Namco; H2Overdrive in Japan; Shining Force Cross and more Giant Tetris; Project Cerebus; two new and unique games from Taito; Cyber Diver, KOF Sky Stage and more. UPDATE: Pics added for Tetris: The Grand Master 4, Speed Rider, Heat Up Hockey and others via Game Watch (which was found via AM Net)
Hydro Thunder fans, the day you have been waiting for has finally arrived as Raw Thrills’/Specular Interactive’s new take on Hydro Thunder, H2Overdrive is arriving at distributors around the country and then they are going onto various locations around the US. The game was shipped last Friday and I know that a few distributors already have the game on their showroom floors although from what I have heard, those are not sticking around for very long. With this news, you should be able to find the game at certain locations by this weekend – if you don’t find it, ask them about it.
For previous H2Overdrive coverage, click here. Keep in mind, there are no plans for this to come to game consoles at present time so this is an arcade exclusive title.
Here’s a little bit more H2Overdrive info to whet your appetite, this is the last part of the interview series that Noe V. did with the Specular Interactive team and in this part he finishes discussing the game with Steve Ranck, CEO of the company. Instead of posting this to his 1up blog, Noe V. has provided us with the video link first, to which we thank him! They talk a little bit about track and game design, delve further into the hardware running the game and then comes the question about a home release. I have seen rumors in different spots that a console version is in the works but as it turns out, this is not the case. See the video for the response and the reason why.
Personal thoughts on H2Overdrive being an arcade exclusive: As an operator this pleases me tremendously. As unprofessional as this sounds, nothing sucks more than to buy a big expensive game that has a console release come along and undermine sales a short time later. We can always debate the real effects of home ports but either way I look at it like this (as both an operator and a player): consoles get their exclusives that never come out on anything else and so I do not see why arcades cannot share the same idea. Granted home releases are a little different due to accessibility, but a great arcade game generally will see awesome sales that can lead to the game showing up all over the place.
OK, so I have decided to try ‘podcasting’ – of course I don’t know if you can really consider this a podcast, it’s just an MP3 file to download here where you can listen to me discuss the latest happenings in the arcade industry over the past week that we have posted about here on AH. I don’t have a lot of technology to work with though so right now it’s pretty plain, but as I become more comfortable with it and get some input from you guys, we can make it better.
For this first episode I discuss E3 and what involvement arcades should have with it; Metal Gear Arcade, H2Overdrive and the many other new games that have come along over the past couple of weeks. If you have any comments – good or bad or you just want to discuss the latest happenings over the past couple of weeks, post the comments here. As a side note, I did record this while on the job at my arcade and I even had a couple of people in playing games while I did it although they didn’t seem to notice what was going on. 🙂
Unfortunately I cannot upload the file directly to WordPress as apparently we need an upgrade to store even simple MP3 files on here now (which is a recent change), so you can find the file off-site by clicking here. It is about 37MB in size and it’s an MP3 but please let me know if there are any problems with the recording, I had an awful lot of trouble uploading it on the connection I am using.
Minor update: I just remembered that I forgot to mention a few other contributors, including Phil ver0 (who posts regularly in our forums) and Oga Shi. I apologize for forgetting to mention you both during the recording.
OK, so I have decided to try ‘podcasting’ – of course I don’t know if you can really consider this a podcast, it’s just an MP3 file to download here where you can listen to me discuss the latest happenings in the arcade industry over the past week that we have posted about here on AH. I don’t have a lot of technology to work with though so right now it’s pretty plain, but as I become more comfortable with it and get some input from you guys, we can make it better.
For this first episode I discuss E3 and what involvement arcades should have with it; Metal Gear Arcade, H2Overdrive and the many other new games that have come along over the past couple of weeks. If you have any comments – good or bad or you just want to discuss the latest happenings over the past couple of weeks, post the comments here. As a side note, I did record this while on the job at my arcade and I even had a couple of people in playing games while I did it although they didn’t seem to notice what was going on. 🙂
Unfortunately I cannot upload the file directly to WordPress as apparently we need an upgrade to store even simple MP3 files on here now (which is a recent change), so you can find the file off-site by clicking here. It is about 37MB in size and it’s an MP3 but please let me know if there are any problems with the recording, I had an awful lot of trouble uploading it on the connection I am using.
Minor update: I just remembered that I forgot to mention a few other contributors, including Phil ver0 (who posts regularly in our forums) and Oga Shi. I apologize for forgetting to mention you both during the recording.
Arcade Heroes 
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