Sega’s new plan for arcades

Posted November 8, 2009 by Shaggy
Categories: Arcade Games
Tags: ,

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(Thanks to everyone who sent this in!)

When you run a company, you need a plan if you want to succeed in that business. Some corporations are more open about their plans in public than others and when it comes to the arcade industry, most companies are tight-lipped about what they intend on doing. Every company in the industry should be interested in seeing arcades expand and grow and when it comes to that, Sega has a plan for doing their part to revitalize the business as we read in an article from Siliconera.

Now the article does start out with a slightly false premise by suggesting that “arcade business is down, way down”. I guess it depends on what era you are comparing it too but really, my own arcade business is doing great at the moment and I know of others who also are seeing good business this year, even though many other industries are having a tough time. Couple that with many new releases that have come along this year and will come along in the next as well as new companies joining the fray, I think that it’s safe to say that we’re not on the brink of collapse. But it sure would be nice to see earnings like we have in certain past ages and the arcade sector does need some help, especially since the premise in the minds of many is that the industry is dead as a doornail.

So what is Sega’s plan for dealing with the challenges that we face? They break it down into four parts:

-Promote revenue sharing with operators that includes connectivity through Sega’s ALL.NET service to connect player communities together

-Make use of standardized cabinets so content can be replaced quickly and cheaply (this is something we have discussed before on the forums)

-Effectively promote their new Ringedge and Ringwide hardware to reduce costs (and BTW certain fanboys – no mention of using Ringwide as a home console)

-Diversify their product line-up to attract more players to amusement centers

I personally think that these are all great ideas that should see widespread adoption, and to elaborate further on what I think about it, continue reading by hitting the link below

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Namco Funscape opens in Gateshead UK

Posted November 7, 2009 by Shaggy
Categories: Arcade Games
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(Thanks to reader kieranmay for the tip)

Namco is well know for operating hundreds of arcade across the globe and now they have added one more place to their list – the Namco Funscape in Gateshead UK. As you can see from the video below, their selection of arcade games is very solid, featuring several new releases including four MaxiTune 3 cabs, 2 Guitar Hero cabs, 2 Nirin cabs, a deluxe Rambo, two Need For Speed Carbon cabs, and more. They also offer entertainment for people of all ages, spanning from a soft play area for kids to a bar and pool hall for adults. It looks like an impressive facility and we wish them the best of luck in their business!

[Official site for Namco Funscape Gateshead] [BBC news article about the location] [Discuss on the Forums]

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Incredible Technologies brings Carnival King to WiiWare

Posted November 7, 2009 by Shaggy
Categories: Arcade Games
Tags: , , ,

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News has been slow this week – which I will blame on the upcoming IAAPA show as companies hold onto announcements for the big event. But one piece of news that is sort of arcade related that has been brought out before the show is that Incredible Technologies is embracing the Wii once again(they had ported Target Toss Pro: Bags to the Wii a little while ago) and they are bringing one of their older games back from the coin-op world, Carnival King. If you are unfamiliar with Carnival King, it is a shooting gallery style game that IT released back in 2002 and the WiiWare port will only run you $7. IT sees this plan of bringing some of their content to home consoles as a way to develop interest in their current coin-op market titles. For more details on this new WiiWare release, see the press release after the break.

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Pinwall by Urban Screen

Posted November 4, 2009 by Shaggy
Categories: Arcade Games
Tags: , ,

(Thanks to Seven Out for the tip)

How do you take a normal building face and turn it into something interesting? With Pinwall, of course! This project was designed by Urban Screen who have gone about creating similar projects in the past although this would mark the first time pinball is involved. You have to admit, that this is one great way to help increase interest in pinball, even though it’s more like video pinball that has flippers which are spaced too far apart. Check it out below.

[Via Gizmodo] [Discuss on the forums]

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New entertainment facility under development in Omaha

Posted November 4, 2009 by Shaggy
Categories: Arcade Games
Tags: , , , ,

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If you live anywhere near Omaha Nebraska then you have a new entertainment facility to look forward to visiting sometime in the future. At the moment it is called “The V” which I am guessing stands for “The Venue”. The multimillion dollar project is currently looking for investors and other entrepreneurs to help make the project a reality and from the sounds of it, The V should be a cool place to check out once it is finished. According to the website:

The V is a 45,000 square foot multi-attraction entertainment concept consisting of a variety of amusement attractions and a casual dining restaurant targeting families, young adults and corporations.  Amusement attractions offered by The V will include a 16 lane open play bowling center, 4 lane upscale private bowling lounge, 110 player station game zone, rock climbing, mini-bowling, laser tag arena, multi-player game attractions, billiards, darts and shuffleboard.  The V will also have dedicated private meeting space for corporations and groups and party rooms available to host family parties.

As you can see from the picture above, the facility will have plenty of open space and it sounds like it will have a sizable arcade although we will have to wait and see how they will go about designing that. From the sounds of it, a major focus at the facility will be one geared towards providing a modern bowling experience. At present there is no ETA given on when they expect to have everything built and ready to go but you can find out more information can be found at the official project website here.

[Discuss on the Forums]

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Sega Racing Classic preview at 1up.com

Posted November 3, 2009 by Shaggy
Categories: Arcade Games
Tags: , ,

After hearing of our report that Sega was testing Sega Racing Classic at the Gameworks in Chicago, 1up writer Andrew Hayward made his way to the location to check the game out and give everyone a preview of the game in action. In addition to that he grabbed a couple of videos of the game in action and so while this is a location test (meaning that the game seen here can change from the final release), so far it is not encouraging in case you were hoping for a major upgrade in the graphics department. In fact I am very surprised that so far this is apparently just a high-resolution upgrade of the original game minus the licenses – the model geometry appears to be the same, the trees are still 2D sprites, etc. Lets hope that the game gets more of a facelift before it is released to arcades with maybe a couple more additions to the tracks, play modes or something else. Otherwise it seems to me that all the buzz this has been generating online so far will be lost on what appears to be a relatively minor upgrade.

Kevin Williams in the comments below made a point about this being targetted towards operators who still have the old Daytona on location, and that does make sense especially if the price point on the game is well below the average charged for an arcade racer these days.

Of course since this is on location test now, it should be at IAAPA in a couple of weeks and we’ll see if it’s any different than the loctest as well as a few other promised upgrades. I would post the videos from 1up directly here but since wordpress won’t allow for that sort of thing from Gamevideos.com, you can see them at the link below.

Now a question for any operators out there – from what you have seen of Sega Racing Classic, how interested would you be in upgrading your old Daytona games to this?

[Sega Racing Classic Preview @ 1up.com] [Discuss on the Forums]

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Prepping for 2010 with a look back at Combatica

Posted October 31, 2009 by Shaggy
Categories: Arcade Games
Tags: , ,

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A short time ago we reported about a new company that is joining the amusement industry called Titan 4 Games. Their plan is to bring gesture-based motion gaming to the coin-op industry next year and as we are finding out from The Stinger Report, they aren’t the only ones looking to do the same thing. As such it is looking like next year will be the year of the gesture-based game and Kevin Williams sent us this brief piece to remind us where the next possible fad in gaming all started.

“The Stinger Report is just preparing coverage regarding new motion-tracking arcade systems in the works, (Arcade Heroes already reporting on one – the ‘Titan-4-Games’ system – revealed this month). And wanted to mark the 10th anniversary of the use of motion-tracking technology in video games originated (as always) in the amusement scene.

Launched in 1999 – the ‘Combatica’, from Holoplex, allowed two players to have their movements represented on fighter game characters, in the companies unique cabinet enclosure; many years before the EyeToy, or the proposed Natal home console system peripherals. Similar initiatives went on to be used in the ‘MoCap’ system from Konami, and more recently the ‘UFO Stomper’ from TrioTech – but was originated some 10-years ago by Holoplex.“

[Discuss on the forums]

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Lunar Lander goes mechnical

Posted October 31, 2009 by Shaggy
Categories: Arcade Games
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Back in 1979, Atari jumped into the vector monitor market with an arcade title called Lunar Lander. As the name implies, you pilot a lunar landing module and have to balance your speed and fuel in an attempt to land on different spots on the moon that are worth different points. Come down too fast and you’ll crash, equaling game over. It was a fairly difficult game but certainly unique in it’s presentation. Even more unique is this machine created by engineer Iain Sharp in the UK. He has recreated the Lunar Lander game mechanically, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the moon landings that came this year. The game took about a year to build, cost $800 and to top it off you can play it if you drop by the Southwold Pier in Suffolk, England. To see the game in action, check out the video below

[Official site: Lushprojects.com] [Via Popsci.com] [Discuss on the Forums]

Comments: 2 Comments

Exergaming with Dogfight V2

Posted October 31, 2009 by Shaggy
Categories: Arcade Games, Exer-Gaming
Tags: , ,

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Exergaming has become a lucrative commodity for gyms and Nintendo in recent times but it can also be a nice addition to an arcade location. One company that is in the business of developing exergames is Electronic Sports and we have previously reported on Dogfight, a title by the company that combines an exercise bike with a flight simulator. Players turn the plane with handle bars located on their side and the game can be linked up with a second unit where players can duke it out head-to-head. The reason for this post on the game again is the company has released an updated version of the game (aptly named Dogfight V2 and yes we are a few months late on this) which includes at the very least an improved cabinet that looks much nicer than the first edition. Unfortunately the website doesn’t get into any details regarding the software and whether they updated that but the video I embedded below shows the UI from May 2009 which should be what they are using in V2. The game does make heavy use of online functionality and users can create profiles where you can earn ringtones in the game and have that sent to you. Overall, the concept behind the game is cool, it’s certainly something different and the exercise appeal behind it could make it something worth trying out in arcades. I have contacted the company as to whether or not these can be built with coin mechs or not and also how much a unit goes for.   I will update this post when they get back to me and in the mean time you can see the latest version of the game in action below. After doing some research it appears that there are a couple of places in my state which already have the game so I will have to find some time to drop by and check the game out first hand.

[Electronic Sports website][Discuss on the Forums]

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Chuck E. Cheese posts profit jump in Q3 – How is your arcade doing?

Posted October 31, 2009 by Shaggy
Categories: Arcade Games
Tags: , ,

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For the past little while, the only stories we have posted regarding Chuck E. Cheese have been negative stories, dealing with the wave of adults who get into fights with each other at their kids’ birthday parties. So it’s nice to see a positive story about the company popping up for a change, especially where they are posting a nice increase in profits for the 3rd quarter of 2009. With this story dropping it leads me to ask those of you out there who are running an arcade/FEC/route location – how did your business do last quarter (or how has it been doing for the past year)? I have heard from some operators recently that they have been having a good year, one even told me that they were having their best year ever. Personally the beginning of this year was pretty bad but after I moved locations last quarter we are seeing our best earnings yet but since we are in a different spot, it is difficult to pin it up against last year seeing how the new place naturally picks up more foot traffic by being inside of the mall.

If you would like to share how your arcade is doing, comment below or discuss it on the forums.

 

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