Do you like to Big Buck Party?

Posted June 22, 2009 by Twisted Supreme
Categories: Arcade Games, Big Buck Hunter, Big Buck Safari, Play Mechanix, Raw Thrills
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This ticks all the boxes for me. Beer, pretty ladies, prizes and Big Buck Hunt. If it ticks all your boxes too, then why not try and get down to one of these Big Buck parties that are taking place in across America.

Big Buck Party Schedule:

Thursday, June 18th at Delta House in Omaha, NE
Friday, June 19th at Jack’s Bar and Grill in Lincoln, NE
Saturday, June 20th at Side Pockets in Omaha, NE

Thursday, July 9th at Grand Avenue Ale House in Bellingham, WA
Friday, July 10th at O’Malley’s in Tacoma, WA
Saturday, July 11th at Bleacher’s in Seatlle, WA

Thursday, July 23rd at Coach’s in Houston, TX
Friday, July 24th at Mulligan’s in San Antonio, TX
Saturday, July 25th at Lavaca St. Bar in Austin, TX

More dates to be announced soon.

For more info visit BigBuckSafariOnline.com or BigBuckHunterProOnline.com.

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The Sega Honeymoon

Posted June 22, 2009 by Twisted Supreme
Categories: Arcade Locations, Japan, Sega
Tags: , ,

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My good lady ain’t in to the games. I’ve tried to convert over the years, but she won’t have it. But there are some men out there in the world who’s other halfs are thier gaming buddies too. Well UK:R reader Radguy is one of those lucky men, not only does his with like games, they went on a Sega arcade tour whilst honeymooning in Japan. Lucky sod!

Head over to UK: Resistance to see more excellent pictures

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Arcade Heroes Week-in-Review Podcast Ep. 2 – Terminator Salvation, console ports, new Sega hardware rumor, Robo-Basho loc test and more

Posted June 22, 2009 by Shaggy
Categories: Arcade Games
Tags: , , , , , , ,

Another week has passed and here is another podcast reviewing what went on throughout the week but discussing the topics in more detail where possible. On top of several topics which you have arleady read about, from Arcaderepairtips.com to Terminator Salvation on location test, I also discuss a new rumor regarding the next piece of arcade hardware after Ringedge that I have heard about and I also detail the current location test of a robotic coin-op game that we have discussed before known as Robo-Basho.

Click here to download the podcast!

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A challenge towards the George Castanza Frogger high score happening now

Posted June 20, 2009 by Shaggy
Categories: Arcade Games
Tags: , ,

If you have ever watched the sitcom Seinfield, chances are good if you are an arcade fan that you have seen the episode where George Castanza comes across an old Frogger arcade machine at an old pizzeria that he went to as a teenager. It’s a pretty funny episode and one thing that has stood out from it is George’s high score on the game – 860,630 points. The reason it stands out is because in the real world, the world record high score for the game according to Twin Galaxies for many years was a bit lower than that, although a few players have made some strides towards the Castanza score.

Right now, Donald Hayes is trying to beat that score on a real Frogger machine. He has actually accomplished the feat in MAME and currently there is a live video on Twin Galaxies of the attempt that you can see by going here.  A press release detailing the event which is happening at the Challenge Arcade in Pennslyvania can also be read by clicking on the link below.

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Insert Coin Expo 2009 already shaping up to be a big hit in Europe

Posted June 20, 2009 by Shaggy
Categories: Arcade Games
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Another arcade show is fast approaching, this one is taking place next month on July 18th-19th in Northampton, UK. Already the event has sold over 7,000 tickets and will cater to every aspect of the arcade industry from the players on up. Several tournaments are slated to take place (including competitions on SFIV and Tekken 6) over the two day event and on top of that players will be able to pick from over 250 games to play and they can even purchase parts and see some of the latest coin-op offerings. It is shaping up to be a major show and will even be covered by some television and radio sources so we can add this yet again to the arcades are not dead argument we’re constantly pushing forward. ;)

For more details, check out the press release after the break

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Terminator: Salvation Arcade seen on location test

Posted June 20, 2009 by Shaggy
Categories: Arcade Games
Tags: , , , , , ,

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[Thanks to Malovane for sending us these shots]

As arcade location tests are rarely announced in the US, at times savvy gamers who frequent game websites visit their local arcade and just so happen to come across these secret location tests. One player has done this and has come across the Terminator: Salvation arcade game, which is being done by Play Mechanix (who has done both Aliens: Extermination and Big Buck Hunter/Safari) and Raw Thrills. You might recall that we posted about this rumor a little while ago and while we didn’t have many details on it at the time, with this revelation we learn quite a bit about the upcoming title. As you can see, the cabinet is just like the deluxe cabinet for Big Buck Safari, which a large LCD screen. Of course the cabinet could change by the time they release it but I imagine that it would be easier to use these modified cabinets. It is interesting to see how they made a “Sneak Preview” version of the game for the location test, I have not heard of using this technique before but it certainly is a good idea. The artwork on this cab is pretty good although at the moment you can’t really tell how it performs graphically. More information will probably be forthcoming so stay tuned. Click on the thumbnails below for the full view

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Sega Japan to begin big push for card-based coin-op games

Posted June 19, 2009 by Shaggy
Categories: Arcade Games
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While I have never played a card-based coin-op game, I do find the idea fascinating as it capitalizes on something which continues to have a strong following among kids who enjoy both video games and card games. I would have thought that card games would have just been a passing fad but even at the mall where my biz is located they hold regular card-game tournaments. Sega created the card-based coin-op game but they have lost market share to competitiors in Japan and now they are promising to ramp up their developments in this sector to take the share back, according to this article.  After reading this, I finally understood exactly what this recent announcement about a “double touch screen” style cabinet from Sega was all about.

While such games get most of their play in Asia, I am acutally surprised that Sega has not pushed the concept in other areas like the US where as I previously mentioned there are businesses setup for players to come in and play card games. Those same players usually like video games so it would seem to be a natural fit but perhaps market information says otherwise.

[Via AndriaSang] [Discuss on the Forum]

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Check out anti-cheating techniques for coin mechs

Posted June 19, 2009 by Shaggy
Categories: Arcade Games
Tags: ,

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Back at the height of the “Golden Age of Gaming”, clever players found ways to cheat the arcade system – to the anger of arcade operators. Come to think of it, methods used could have been considered a very early form of piracy since players were getting games for free but that didn’t last terribly long as manufacturers were quick to resolve the problem by making the coin mechs more complicated. They had to come up with a number of fixes, including the prevention of pennies or nickels giving a credit, a quarter on a string, slam sensors and more. Those anti-cheating methods were documents and one website has posted a number of these documents up for viewing. While I have some experience with coin mechs themselves, I never looked much into how they can prevent cheating.

[Via Tokens Only] [Discuss on the Forums]

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One place arcades are also still popular: beach towns

Posted June 18, 2009 by Shaggy
Categories: Arcade Games
Tags: , , ,

HermosaBikePath

I found an interesting little article today that we can add to the batch of evidence we like to point to that arcades are not dead and in many places they even thrive. One of those places, beach towns. A particular article that can be found on Delmarvanow.com takes a positive look at arcades found in such towns and it discusses how even classic games are managing to hold their appeal in the modern era of gaming. Even with redemption in the mix, one owner is quoted as saying:

“There’s definitely still an interest in arcade video games, although it’s changed a little bit from when I was younger…There just doesn’t seem to be much interest in games like pinball these days, but we do still provide things like that.”

As a side note, which could be anecdotal but important nonetheless, I also have noticed an uptick in e-mails from people asking about starting their own arcade biz and the term has been popping up more lately in the what people are searching for info we get. I guess if you live in a beach town then this could be one good path to take and the more arcades across the country, the better for the industry as a whole.

[Via Delmarvanow.com] [Discuss on the Forums]

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Steve Ranck discusses more H2Overdrive and dispels console release rumors

Posted June 17, 2009 by Shaggy
Categories: Arcade Games
Tags: , , , ,

Here’s a little bit more H2Overdrive info to whet your appetite, this is the last part of the interview series that Noe V. did with the Specular Interactive team and in this part he finishes discussing the game with Steve Ranck, CEO of the company. Instead of posting this to his 1up blog, Noe V. has provided us with the video link first, to which we thank him! They talk a little bit about track and game design, delve further into the hardware running the game and then comes the question about a home release. I have seen rumors in different spots that a console version is in the works but as it turns out, this is not the case. See the video for the response and the reason why.

Personal thoughts on H2Overdrive being an arcade exclusive: As an operator this pleases me tremendously. As unprofessional as this sounds, nothing sucks more than to buy a big expensive game that has a console release come along and undermine sales a short time later. We can always debate the real effects of home ports but either way I look at it like this (as both an operator and a player): consoles get their exclusives that never come out on anything else and so I do not see why arcades cannot share the same idea. Granted home releases are a little different due to accessibility, but a great arcade game generally will see awesome sales that can lead to the game showing up all over the place.

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