More footage of Raw Thrills’ Super Bikes 2

Today is just brewing with arcade news to talk about! BMIGaming has posted a longer clip of their footage taken from the recent AAMA Gala and this time it’s from the new Super Bikes 2 by Raw Thrills. This shows that the game has 9 tracks and 12 bikes to choose from and it shows the locations you can race in (including a place from my home state, Moab, Utah).Perhaps the most unique track shown is a space level, where you travel from one planet in the solar system to another and it looks really good, especially the part where you ride through Saturn’s rings. Perhaps Raw Thrills should consider a Starfox-esque space shooter for their next game 😛

Here’s a direct link for HD goodness.

[Raw Thrills’ Website]

More footage of Raw Thrills' Super Bikes 2

Today is just brewing with arcade news to talk about! BMIGaming has posted a longer clip of their footage taken from the recent AAMA Gala and this time it’s from the new Super Bikes 2 by Raw Thrills. This shows that the game has 9 tracks and 12 bikes to choose from and it shows the locations you can race in (including a place from my home state, Moab, Utah).Perhaps the most unique track shown is a space level, where you travel from one planet in the solar system to another and it looks really good, especially the part where you ride through Saturn’s rings. Perhaps Raw Thrills should consider a Starfox-esque space shooter for their next game 😛

Here’s a direct link for HD goodness.

[Raw Thrills’ Website]

Racer by Sputnic

Now here is a novel mixed reality idea for the arcade racing genre. Simply called Racer, a team called Sputnic has developed a game where a player sits down in an arcade racing cabinet, which then serves as a controller for an RC car that is setup on a cardboard race track. A camera is mounted to the car, which is in turn transmitted to the arcade unit. It looks like they have plans to develop a professional looking track in the future, with the cardboard serving it’s purpose as a prototype for now. For large-scale attractions this could be a great idea, with the track coming in different modules it makes it very easy to change things up. I imagine that you could even do something like this with RC boats in an attempt to recreate H2Overdrive.

Once they develop this technology with real vehicles, that will create the most realistic driving experience you’ll get in an arcade 😉

Unfortunately they won’t allow the video to be shared on our domain but to see it in action, click here.

Sputnic’s Website

Check out the BestSim Racing simulator GAMEFRAME

There are many ways to make a racing simulator and that is perhaps the reason why we see so many variations on the idea. This one by BestSim is certainly interesting in that it doesn’t have a lot of bars that get in the way, making for a simulator that takes up little space compared to other sims. It essentially provides a sleek and stylish frame for the seat, controls and monitor(s) to sit on, along with extras like bodyshakers to provide the kind of racing experience you expect to find in an out-of-home entertainment environment. Check it out via the link below.

[GAMEFRAME at BestSim] [Discuss on the Forums]

9 year old drives familiy car after some practice on an arcade racer

Are racers more realistic in the arcade than at home? Usually, thanks to the built in steering wheels and pedals that are far more realistic and less clumsy to handle then you generally see with home setups. But any of us that drives a vehicle and plays arcade racers can confidently say that playing a game is quite a way off from the real thing. That didn’t stop a 9 year old boy from taking his family car for a spin after “watching dad and playing at the video arcade”. Fortunately the boy wasn’t hurt and he didn’t hurt anyone else, which is quite a feat considering that his height didn’t give him any advantage in driving. Strangely, the police warned the parents to “look after their car more carefully in the future” (emphasis mine) – I would think that they would say that about the kid since it’s not like it was the car that decided to take the boy for a spin!

This did make me think about my own son though – he is two and he absolutely loves cars and he especially enjoys arcade racers. Every time I bring him to the store, he wants to play our Tokyo Drift racer and makes me throw in a couple of dozen credits so he can race. He also gets mad if he sees someone else sit down to play the game when he isn’t playing and has even thrown a fit or two when someone is playing “his game.” It’s a hoot but I know it will be fun making sure that he understands that he can’t take the wheel until he is old enough to drive.

[Via Mainichi Daily News] [Discuss on the Forum]

New Raw Thrills’ game, NickToons Nitro Now Available

Raw Thrills’, Betson & Chicago Gaming have just announced the release of their latest racing game, NickToons Nitro, which is a game we mentioned some time ago when I got my hands on an early flier. Since then, they have changed the cabinet design (and the flyer – I saw an ad for this the other day in a trade magazine) and apparently the graphics too. The nice thing is that this is another game we can expect to stay arcade only, or so says Eugene Jarvis:

“The design team captured all the excitement and fun of the Nicktoons characters and packed it into a new driver that appeals to everyone. The only place you can experience this new original title is in the arcade!”

Arcade exclusive titles are always welcome and in addition to allowing 6 cabinets to link up one thing that has caught my attention on this racer is the sub-$6000 price tag that my distributor told me (prices will vary according to each distributor), they said expect around $5200 which is about the same for Big Buck Safari. I’ve said many times that this is a trend that needs to continue across the board, especially for games like racers where you have to buy more than one to make it worth your while. As to how the game will play, I hope to find out soon – it might be targetted towards a younger audience but every arcade game is worth trying out no matter what your age.

And while we’re on the subject of new games, I have heard that Raw Thrills’ has some big plans to show off some games that will “change the industry” sometime soon, probably next month at the big arcade shows. I don’t know what it is they are planning to show (I am guessing that part of it has to do with a game being worked on by Specular Interactive) but I certainly am eagerly awaiting what it is that they are going to show off.

Click on the jump below to read the full press release for Nicktoons Nitro and we have moved the game from “Upcoming” to “Released” on our Master Arcade Game List for 2008.

[Raw Thrills’] [Betson] [Chicago Gaming] [Discuss on the Forum]

New Raw Thrills' game, NickToons Nitro Now Available

Raw Thrills’, Betson & Chicago Gaming have just announced the release of their latest racing game, NickToons Nitro, which is a game we mentioned some time ago when I got my hands on an early flier. Since then, they have changed the cabinet design (and the flyer – I saw an ad for this the other day in a trade magazine) and apparently the graphics too. The nice thing is that this is another game we can expect to stay arcade only, or so says Eugene Jarvis:

“The design team captured all the excitement and fun of the Nicktoons characters and packed it into a new driver that appeals to everyone. The only place you can experience this new original title is in the arcade!”

Arcade exclusive titles are always welcome and in addition to allowing 6 cabinets to link up one thing that has caught my attention on this racer is the sub-$6000 price tag that my distributor told me (prices will vary according to each distributor), they said expect around $5200 which is about the same for Big Buck Safari. I’ve said many times that this is a trend that needs to continue across the board, especially for games like racers where you have to buy more than one to make it worth your while. As to how the game will play, I hope to find out soon – it might be targetted towards a younger audience but every arcade game is worth trying out no matter what your age.

And while we’re on the subject of new games, I have heard that Raw Thrills’ has some big plans to show off some games that will “change the industry” sometime soon, probably next month at the big arcade shows. I don’t know what it is they are planning to show (I am guessing that part of it has to do with a game being worked on by Specular Interactive) but I certainly am eagerly awaiting what it is that they are going to show off.

Click on the jump below to read the full press release for Nicktoons Nitro and we have moved the game from “Upcoming” to “Released” on our Master Arcade Game List for 2008.

[Raw Thrills’] [Betson] [Chicago Gaming] [Discuss on the Forum]

Maximum Tune 3 gets a sequel – MT3 DX

We just received confirmation that Namco will be showing off a sequel to Midnight Maximum Tune 3 called (wait for it….) Midnight Maximum Tune 3 DX. All we know about it at the moment is that it will include new courses, cars and music and it will be shown next month at the JAMMA show. Stay tuned to what else will be coming along at JAMMA – hopefully Namco has something else up their sleeve.

So this adds another racer to the list, which has been added to our Master Arcade Release List for 2008. Let’s hope that the new game also carries a lower price tag than the original as well so more operators can get it.

[Discuss on the Forum]

Konami’s GTI Club Cabinet revealed

I’m used to seeing arcade cabinets designed in a way to attract people’s attention but I have to say that this new image of Konami’s upcoming Mini racer, GTI Club takes the cake for anything I’ve seen lately. It portrays the look of a quaint shop you’d find in a narrow alley way in certain cities (not any where I live) which is not what I expected when I first read about GTI Club. In case you’re out of the loop in this racer, it is a sequel to a Konami game of the same name that was released way back in 1997 and it involves racing with Mini’s. In addition to that it has special game modes such as Mini-Soccer and one with something involving bombs. It certainly has piqued my curiosity but with it testing in Japan now, it probably will still be a little while before it gets out to the general public.

[GTI Club Location Test] [Discuss on the Forum]

Konami's GTI Club Cabinet revealed

I’m used to seeing arcade cabinets designed in a way to attract people’s attention but I have to say that this new image of Konami’s upcoming Mini racer, GTI Club takes the cake for anything I’ve seen lately. It portrays the look of a quaint shop you’d find in a narrow alley way in certain cities (not any where I live) which is not what I expected when I first read about GTI Club. In case you’re out of the loop in this racer, it is a sequel to a Konami game of the same name that was released way back in 1997 and it involves racing with Mini’s. In addition to that it has special game modes such as Mini-Soccer and one with something involving bombs. It certainly has piqued my curiosity but with it testing in Japan now, it probably will still be a little while before it gets out to the general public.

[GTI Club Location Test] [Discuss on the Forum]