Initial D5 is still on it’s way and it’s looking better and better with every new video. I’m not sure what ID5 is running on, it could be some version of Lindbergh but I have not yet seen a Lindbergh game with graphics this good (even R-Tuned, which is certainly the best one so far). I know that ID4 was released in the States and while I have not seen it at many arcades I have had people come in and ask for it. I’m sure that the fans will be lining up for ID5 as well.I recommend watching this in high quality by going straight to the video’s page.
It’s a little cheesy but it’s been a little while since I had seen these fighter mock-ups between two people with a video game appearance. This one is about the state of the US economy and who is kicking who’s butt. Of course it’s a very simplified view of everything that has gone on and it’s a bit cheesy but it’s good for a laugh.
When it comes to opening up your own dream arcade, there are always a number of ways to go about it although if you wish to convert an existing business that you own into that arcade, there are a few obstacles you’ll need to overcome, especially where the city you live in may be concerned. As I have mentioned before, every city is going to be different since they all have different laws and codes that need to be followed (and some cities are stricter than others). In the case of Carlos Martinez of Benton, MI, he wants to convert his motorcycle shop into an arcade and is facing just this problem where the city will require some changes to be made to the location to work as an arcade. I can see where increasing the parking lot size can be a problem (that is actually a requirement in the city where my arcade is currently located, there have to be so many parking spaces for the size of the space) but I don’t know how troublesome the other improvements will be for the owner to undertake. Either way, I hope that he can fulfill his dream soon, if the picture supplied with the story (seen above) is from his place then he has some very interesting classics on hand, including four Computer Space machines (!). For more check out the link below.
BTW – This is the 400th newsfeed we have received from The Stinger Report. Our thanks go out to them for their hard work and the news they bring!
We all know how important a good location is – I do especially as I have learned over time how my location stinks. And speaking of locations, there is a story out there about how the Gameworks in Minneapolis wants to get out of it’s current location to head somewhere else. Located in a place known as “Block E” in downtown Minneapolis, it sounds like the area just has not been that great for business, in part thanks to “well-documented problems” such as drug dealing and loitering. The first problem in particular is not good for any ethical business and Gameworks wants out. Hopefully they can find a new place quickly but I imagine that it will take some time to do so as one big bookstore, Borders closed in the area a little over the year ago when they were not able to sub-lease the space, which is what Gameworks is attempting to do. I don’t know what the local economy in Minnesota is like right now, I know that where I live it isn’t terrible where we have among the lowest unemployment rates in the country at the moment but I know of several big box locations that are sitting around empty as there is understandably a bit of fear involved in opening big stores.
The new Guitar Hero Arcade machine has been making the rounds in the US for a few weeks already (in fact every time I have been to my distributor lately, I have seen several going out the door) and now it’s England’s “official” turn to enjoy the same game. I say official as they are stating that Brighton Pier is hosting the first unit to arrive in the UK with ten machines at the Palace of Fun there with a special event taking place on April 25th to officially debut the machine.
Of course we know that there have been some machines in the UK prior to this, notably at the Trocadero and I have heard of the machine already on location at other places as well. But what does make the Brighton Pier thing a little special is the event on the 25th. It is interesting to hear how Activision is taking a role in promoting this game.
It’s great to see any event showcase the release of a new arcade game, I just wish that these sort events would come along more often. All the publicity arcades can get, the better!
I don’t know what it is lately but there really hasn’t been a lot of arcade news going on. Of course I haven’t had a lot of time lately to sit down and scour the internet for new stuff but still, it just seems like things are really slow right now. But it is not completely dead as far as news goes as we see with this latest game revelation from Sega Japan. I admit that I do not know a ton about this game series other than that one of the titles was the favorite game of my friend for his Sega Genesis, which was Shining Force II. And as far as I know, this series has never been in arcades as it was typically a turn-based RPG but now it is coming to arcades at least in Japan and so far, it looks really cool.
One thing I notice about the game from the video is that it’s certainly not a turn-based RPG. To me, it looks like Gauntlet Legends with a JRPG/anime twist to it and I’m certainly not complaining about that. When Gauntlet Legends came out it was my favorite game for a quite a while as it wasn’t just Gauntlet, it was also a cool RPG and you just never really saw that often in arcades. You still never see it in arcades, and personally I’m dying for anything that’s a bit different than what we normally see. So count me excited about the annoucement of Shining Force Cross for arcades, it goes on test in Japan in two weeks. Now we have no idea if Sega would be bold enough to release this in other markets such as Europe or the US but I am really hopefull that they do. If the game didn’t exactly work for those markets as it is, fine tune (or Gauntlet-Legends-ify it more) it so that it could come to other markets I say. What do you think, would you enjoy playing this, at least from the looks of the debut trailer?
If you really want to play something like Street Fighter IV in a proper arcade cabinet, you could buy the actual arcade unit or modify a standard Vewlix cabinet into something you could throw your consoles into or you could build your own Vewlix cabinet from scratch. While I doubt that many people will undertake the last option, it certainly is cool if you could manage to do so. And to help out, someone has created their own modified Vewlix cab, with two MadCatz arcade sticks and a good 32″ HDTV. They opted to use a PS3 to power the game although you could really throw whatever you wanted into it. The creator made the designs first in Google SketchUp 7 and then went to build his own – you can follow all of his progress by clicking the link below and you can even download his completed SketchUp files so that if you are willing and able to do such a thing yourself, you have the blueprints necessary to get started.
As I have been working on a new arcade, my thoughts have turned towards developing a new theme. I liked the theme at my current arcade although admittedly it is lacking since I never finished it up properly. I meant to paint all of the walls with circuit board-like graphics and add more lighting but between the lack of time and where it appeared that I wouldn’t be at my current location for very long anyways, I began to loose the desire to really spend the necessary time I needed to to get it all done. That will change with the new place and one thing I like always seeing are different themes and designs that other arcades around the world use.
Timezone, which operates many FECs found throughout Indonesia and several different Southeast Asian countries is launching a new design that if it works out, may very well become the standard that all of their FECs follow. After looking at it, I wouldn’t be surprised to see other FECs around the world to try out similar designs or ideas. There is a lot to a theme – I think that in addition to the games you find in a place, the theme around you sets the mood that you are likely to feel while there. Timezone’s idea is to go with a futuristic look that you can see in more detail by clicking on the thumbnails below. A press release detailing the changes can be found after the post break.
We all know that one of the best ways for a company to survive in a downturn is to keep your name and product visible to the public with effective marketing and there are many ways to go about doing that. Incredible Technologies has come up with an interesting idea for promoting their Golden Tee series – by having a state issue a Golden Tee themed lottery ticket. Apparently the state of Illinois has done this before and now South Carolina is follwing their lead by issuing a $2 scratch-off ticket where one person could win up to $20,000. Where SC is a major state for golfing this seems to be a wise choice for target marketing – I wonder if we will see any other arcade games show up in similar marketing campaigns in the future.
On top of this, I nearly missed a story where IT is beginning a new phase in their Silver Strike Bowling online efforts with the Bowlapalooza series of tournaments this summer. The Bowlapalooza tournaments will begin in May and IT will be awarding thousands of dollars in prizes throughout the entire summer to the top 200 SSB players and this certainly will make SSB online games a hot item in many locations over the next few months. More details are contained in the press release after the break.
One of the best things about an arcade is that they give you a great place to go and compete. You don’t have to set up anything at home and worry about strangers coming into your house and unlike online tournaments, you can actually see and talk with your opponents face-to-face. So it’s a good thing that we’ve been seeing an uptick in tournament announcements that are taking place in different arcades across the country.
The latest tournament announcement comes to us from the famous Ground Kontrol Arcade in Portland Oregon. On April 19th they are going to hold a big pinball tournament where one lucky player will walk away with their own pinball machine. What machine that will be has not been announced yet (they will reveal it at the event) and players will compete on a number of GK’s 26 different pins. At $10 entry, it sounds like it’s going to be a blast of a brawl so good luck to those of you who compete! More details below after the jump.
Latest Comments