[Thanks to John Norman for sending us the info]
For those of us that couldn’t make it to Midwest Gaming Classic, we can always drool over videos taken by those who could. I am determined to make it to this event one year, I just hope that it will be sooner rather than later.The first video has most of the arcade goodness, but you can find some arcade stuff in the other two vids as well. 
Anyone familiar with fighters knows that some of the best games involve a crossover of two series of some sort. One of the most popular fighters out there today is Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 and there have been rumblings of a third installment coming along in that series; more recently we saw Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom and in the past we’ve seen SNK Vs. Capcom. But while Capcom has seemed to get all of the crossover love, there are two other series that might clash together if Tekken 6’s director gets his way : Virtua Fighter Vs. Tekken. Right off the bat I can see some problems with this – since the two games are very different so what style would would the game follow – VF or TK or something new competely? That is a very tough line to follow but if the fans want it, they just might get it. What are your thoughts on a possible VF Vs. TK game?
[Via Sega Nerds] [Discuss on the Forum]
[Thanks to Jon Cox for the tip]
First Konami gave us Silent Hill: The Arcade and then CastleVania – could Metal Gear be the next in Konami’s line-up of console to arcade releases? It just might happen, according to information uncovered on some trademarks thanks to gaming site Kotaku. There are two trademarks that have been registered for services that include arcades/coin-operated video games, namely Metal Gear and Tactical Online Action. Since details are sparse we can only guess as to what it is Konami is cooking up but I’d say that this is quite likely since arcade companies don’t tend to register a hoax under arcade machines. We can assume that the game will use Konami’s e-Amusement online network and I do wonder then if it might involve some sort of cross-play between arcades and consoles, say for Metal Gear Solid Online. Hopefully we should find out more very soon.
[Via Kotaku] [Discuss on the Forums]
UPDATE (6/4/09): Konami announced Metal Gear Arcade at E3 and we have a newer post that includes some in-game screenshots of the game in action. Screenshots will not be able to accurately portray the game however as the cabinet will employ special 3D goggles for a 3D pop-out effect. The new post can be found here.
Well there is a bit of pinball news to kick around today it seems. First off, I wanted to pass along something that I have found out from a couple of different sources and that is what is next on the table from Stern now that 24 is out and about. In something that I found to be a surprise, Stern will be bringing Raw Thrills’ Big Buck Hunter to pinball, which is the first video game license to make it pinball in sometime and after that, they have licensed something to do with the NBA but I could find out very little about that. Having a video game turned into a pinball can be a good idea as it can pull fans from that game into pinball (personally I am surprised that a Halo-themed pinball hasn’t been done yet) – as long as the game is good. Where BBH is still one of the most popular coin-op games in the US I can see where this makes sense but we will have to wait and see what happens with the actual game. As for NBA pinball, that’s something else we’ll have to wait and see on.
In other news, one company is now in the process of creating their own original pinball machine conversion kit. Classic Playfield Reproductions is now working on creating a title called “Lost Vegas” that will be released sometime in 2010 as a conversion kit so you can have a new and original pinball machine. They plan on making 100 kits and possible some full 
machines as well from what I have read. The theme itself is NOT for kids however as the story revolves around a story of strippers set in a post-apocalyptic Las Vegas. This also marks the first non-licensed pinball machine (something I have heard a number of people comment about lately – I think people are hungering for something that isn’t based on a TV or movie license) we’ve seen since High Roller Casino. It’s too bad for operators who target people of all ages that the theme on this one is limited to the adult market as I think it’s great that someone else is giving pinball a shot in today’s age. I am not meaning to play down what Stern has done in keeping pinball alive but at the same time I think that competition is a great thing. Granted with only 100 kits going out it’s not really posing much competition for Stern but they have to start somewhere if that is their goal.
One common problem I see when it comes to arcades over all is that sometimes, people don’t know where to look for one. The yellow pages is a good start but it seems that not everyone always checks the yellow pages. To combat that, we have seen a couple of online efforts where arcade fans have put together very useful websites where players can locate an arcade near them – most notably Arcade Finder and Arcade Fly. What if you are just in the market for some pinball however? While these sites might help, they are focuse
d on arcades which may or may not include a pinball machine on-site to play. To remedy this problem, Stern has given the nod to a website called Pinball Rebel, which in addition to including a lot of information on different pinball games has also added a pinball finder feature so players can hunt down a machine specific to their tastes. I tested it out by adding my two machines to the list from my own arcade and it works just fine although it would be nice if there were a feature where you could upload multiple pins to one location in one setting but for now it’s a good start. As it grows, it should be an excellent resource for players to find their favorite games that they otherwise might have overlooked in their area.
Not long ago we reported that the Sega Gameworks in Phoenix Arizona had scheduled it’s own “Fight Club” tournament and now, the Seattle Gameworks is following in their footsteps. It does help that these recent tournaments have been organized by the same individual, so they are staying fairly consistent across the board in how they are being handled. The Fight Club at the Seattle GameWorks will take works on April 24th-26th and if you would like to sign up, the information should be on the GameWorks website within the next day. The games that will be on location for the competition: Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 and Street Fighter IV. For more details on how the tournament will go down (it is similar to the other fight club tourney), the details have been tucked in after the post break. BTW, the prize pool is over $1000, with the first place winner bagging $500 in cash.
[Thanks to Brandon Jones for the tip!]
Here is something we overlooked from AOU 2009 – Atlus is bringing one of their classic fighters back to arcades, Power Instinct. From the video below it looks like Power Instinct with a little bit of KOFXII flare to it. The game will use the Taito Type X system and it will be released sometime this summer. See the video below and if you want to know more about Power Instinct, click here or here.
I apologize for the lack of updates for the past little while – we are all busy with various ‘things’ in life, personally I have been spending a lot more time at the new arcade store to get it ready to go and I just haven’t had as many opportunities to write posts or research for new ones. We will always post something when we get the time for it though.
Onto a story that The Stinger Report sent us today, about the future growth of amusements and that growth taking place in the Middle East, in particular in Dubai. 
According to the linked article, while the current economic market is slowing things down as far as large amusement parks go, they are still going to be on track for future expansion although it will take a little but longer than they originally planned. These new attractions, which include Sega’s Joyopolis, are primarily theme-parks but you can bet that they will have arcades there and so that will mean more venues for arcade makers to sell their product to and those venues will increase as Mid-East destinations become more attractive tourism spots. This makes me wonder if we will see any game development come out of these regions, I honestly am not familiar with game development as a whole in the Mid-East but we have seen how development has increased in India as the amusement market there has grown.
[Via Ameinfo.com] [Discuss on the Forums]
April is the month that King Of Fighters XII finally arrives and with that there are a couple of things that are worth mentioning.
First remember to check out the official Japanese website for the game for any updates. I know that we have mentioned the site before but the nice thing about these official sites is they start out as teasers and slowly build up from there so if you need a KOF12 fix then that is one place guaranteed to have screens of the game and more.
Second, would you like to have your own KOF12 arcade machine? I sure would and if you are good at fighters and particularly fighters in the vein of KOF, then you have a chance to win one. Evo and Iginition are teaming up to bring the first KOF12 tournament to the US. The grand prize is the aforementioned KOF12 arcade machine and the tournament will be held as a stand-alone event, separate from Evolution that is taking place in July. The KOF12 tourney will take place at 12PM on May 30th at Element in Hollywood, CA. They will hold a 128-man single elimination tournament which you can sign up for here. They also note that the Tilt in Portland, Ore. has a KOF12 machine – I am not sure if any other locations in the US do at this time. More info on this great KOF12 tourney can be found here.
Sega Sammy has announced some management changes to their company, and they have created a new R&D department for creating strategies with their pachinko machines. Since I am not familiar with who was in charge before hand, I cannot say how drastic the changes have been but every time management shuffles around that means you can expect some changes in the way that the company does things (sometimes for better and sometimes for worse)
The details can be found in this PDF.
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