GlobalVR @ AMOA 2008 – Need For Speed Carbon, NASCAR & talking with John Ray

Sorry about the delay in completing my AMOA coverage – I just wasn’t at a proper computer to do so most of yesterday. But now getting back into it here is some information I got from GlobalVR at their booth. When you first approached it the most obvious thing on display was Need For Speed Carbon, thanks to the large banner and the bright color scheme (yellow). They had two deluxe and two standard cabinets there and later on they will have a motion cabinet for NFS Carbon as well. As you know, this was first released as a kit but surprisingly there were no converted NFS cabs to be seen. One thing I did not know prior to the show was what exactly came with a kit but they had fliers there to show you what you get, which also includes a plastic marquee shell that can make the top look like the standard dedicated version of the game along with a new backplate for the chairs and artwork for the sides (as you can see in the flier pictured to the right here, just click on the thumbnail to expand). Some other details I uncovered about the game include that the graphics card is from the nVidia 9600 series and you can use previous NFS cards on this one as it has a card reader device. I was able to play the game for a few minutes (before the fire started, which again probably had to do with the fact that they had to share the booth with TrioTech which has a number of big games which probably pull an awful lot of amps) and I was impressed with what I played – the graphics are slick and the sound is just downright amazing. I still haven’t played the console version of the game but I have a feeling that the arcade version once again is better. I did not get a chance to play the Drift track so I can’t say how that works but the idea of a NOS pedal is pretty cool. The presentation that the cabinet itself produces with lights is also eye-catching and there were people playing this game all the time.

I also was able to see the NASCAR update, which adds the Atlanta Motor Speedway, the Watkins Glen Road Course and of course the updated rosters and Car of Tomorrow.  In case you’re like me and have no idea what the whole Car of Tomorrow thing is about, click here to find out more. (Everytime I hear that term I think back to an old 60’s short ad film called Design For Dreaming where they use that term a lot, it’s a really bizarre film and the only way to watch it is with MST3k). I did get some video from the Atlanta Motor Speedway track, it looks really good although I didn’t get a chance to play it (I did record it though as you can see below). I’m not sure, but they might have updated the song list which is one of my favorite things about the game – right now I still have one of the songs stuck in my head.

In addition to that they also had a Blazing Angels, a GlobalVR Classics Collection and Paradise Lost inside a new cabinet that was designed for Aliens: Extermination. I also had some great conversations with some of the GVR staff, including the marketing director Caryn Mical and John Ray, who spent much of his career working for Atari (both Atari and Atari Games respectively). He worked on games such as KLAX, Pit Fighter, Guardians of the Hood and the entire Rush series. I know he played a major role in creating Rush 2049, one of my favorite racers of all time. We had a great conversation about the arcade industry, past and present as well as some technical details with the games as that is his specialty. I asked about Justice League too – it looks like they are waiting to reveal it still because (to paraphrase a little) “Warner is very happy with the game but we are not just yet – we want it to be perfect”. But I believe that we will find out more in the next few months – I did try to unearth some extra details about how the game actually works but we’ll have to wait. I did find out that the game is NOT based on any of the current titles on game consoles which are using the Justice League title and it’s completely original and exclusive to arcades.

And here are the videos:

NASCAR Racing

Need For Speed Carbon Arcade