It has been a while since I first heard about the Delta 32 cabinet but at AOU, exhibitors were proud to show it off. Arcade cabinet production is certainly quite varied in Japan and these Delta 32 cabs are quite impressive for their quality although I am not sure how much they cost. It’s really nice how easily the monitor changes positions and if you’re a shmup fan or owner then this is a great cab to go with.
Another show with coin-op arcade and pinball gaming delights is fast approaching, this time in Seattle Washington. Now just like their previous shows, attendees can expect to find a giant collection of excellent games, whether it’s pinball, video or even electromechanical games. Pricing varies upon age and whether you will just stay for one day or for the weekend but after admission all of the games are on free play. The show starts on June 12th and goes until the 14th and will include tournaments and seminars so between that and the games it should be easy to stay entertained for a while.
Here’s a video from last year’s show that was made to promote the upcoming one, enjoy
[NW Pinball and Gameroom show website] [Discuss on the Forums]
I noticed that Google today is paying homage to the 25th anniversary of one of the greatest video games of all time – Tetris. Tetris of course has graced the arcades several times and it’s influence on puzzle gaming reaches heights that are hard to trace. I too tip my hat to the game as it is a favorite of mine when it comes to puzzles but at the same time I would like to throw out the reminder that today is also the anniversary of the D-Day invasion of Normandy, a profoundly important part of history that ultimately led to the defeat of Nazi tyranny. It’s impossible to say what the world would be like without the sacrifice made by all of those who fought in WW2, especially on this day so I think that it’s far more important for us to remember that sacrifice than to pay homage to a video game, even if it is a hugely influential one. With that I am slightly at a loss as to why Google would choose to honor Tetris and not D-Day or couldn’t find a way to honor both since a lot of sites pick up on the things that Google does on certain anniversaries. I have also noticed many other gaming sites mentioning the Google Tetris page but overlooking D-Day and that’s why I write this, which is a little different from what I normally write about. Either way it’s possible to remember both so perhaps today I’ll hook up my Tetris board to a JAMMA cabinet and later follow up with some Call of Duty.
We’ve got more news of new arcade locations opening and this time it’s from one of our readers who has opened up their own arcade in Fairfield Ohio. Called Arcade Legends, they have over 3000 sq. ft. filled with the right mix of classic games (like Robotron 2048/Joust, Galaga, Tron, Dig Dug, Millipede, Ms. Pac Man and more), fighters (such as Marvel Vs. Capcom 2, Darkstalkers 3, Super Street Fighter 2, Mortal Kombat 2), light-gun games (Ninja Assault, Carnevil, Area 51 Site 4, Gunblade), a Supergun cabinet with 30 boards they can swap out and much more to provide a wide variety of arcade gaming goodness. They also have a few pins, including Star Wars Episode I, Pinbot and Terminator. To top off the gaming they have 3 Xbox 360’s setup, one of which is hooked up to a 106-inch screen where players can expect to play SFIV/KOFXII/BlazBlue and they also have a small network of gaming PCs to play. All in all, it is a real gamer’s paradise and they opted to eschew coins for an entry fee where you pay once and then everything inside is free (except the PCs). The admittance fee does change depending on the day but the details are on their website. Top this all off with some tournaments that they will be holding and Arcade Legends is one sweet arcade that I would love to visit if I am ever out in Ohio. I also want to send the best of luck to the owners and welcome them to the arcade operator fold. Be sure to support them if you live nearby or if you are just passing through!
Another new and interesting fighter is soon going to come out in Japan known as Demon Bride and thanks to Aaron Auzins, here is an in-depth look at the upcoming game and the hardware it runs on known as the eX-BOARD. Andamiro has already brought one eXamu game to the states with Arcana Heart 2, so here’s hoping that they will keep it up with Demon Bride as well.
Here’s Aaron’s article, to which we thank him for the contribution!
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Examu has announced to Famitsu, its newest 2-D fighting product, Demon Bride, will be ready to hit arcades in Japan on July 16. If you’re scratching your head, Examu is the development muscle behind Arcana Heart and its recent sequel.
The fighting game takes on a holy vs. hell theme, but still maintains Arcana Heart’s four-button scheme of weak attack, strong attack, shooting (formerly the Arcana deity assist in the latter series) and dashing. For those intimidated by the fast-paced action, a simple mode can be activated for easier activation of moves.
Six specific arcades in Japan have received “early experience events.” It also appears prizes are being awarded through the course of the events and players can enter for a chance to win one of six prizes – entries will be taken through June 12 and five people will be chosen to receive a Demon Bride clear file case and felt coaster and one lucky winner will be sent a Demon Bride coffee mug.
It is frustrating that when the announcement of an arcade business closing hits the internet, it’s fairly easy to find stories where people imply that it must mean utter doom for the rest of the entire industry but those same writers generally overlook the announcements regarding the opening of new arcade businesses. Of course this is the worst amongst gaming journalists, who assume that the industry itself is completely dead, despite the flow of new games that come along every year. Either way, I am happy to welcome a couple of new arcades to the fold here, one in Glace Bay, Canada called Eastcoast Arcades and one in Steamboat Springs, Colorado called Wolf Mountain Pizza.
Eastcoast Arcades opens this Saturday and is owned by Brad and Darlene Andrews. It will start out as a smaller arcade with 10 arcades, a pool table, an air hockey table and 3 Xbox 
360 systems. They sound quite confident that it is a good location and the article I will link to about their story has some good info on how they researched the business and put it together. [Article]
Wolf Mountain Pizza is an existing business that is actually expanding into a larger space and with this expansion they will be adding some arcade games to their growing restaurant, although it does not say how many will be added to the location. [Article]
Both of these will be smaller operations but just because an arcade might be smaller does not mean that it should be overlooked. I personally know how it can be a challenge to operate a small arcade and the more of us that are out there, the easier it becomes to find coin-op games near you. It also potentially creates more customers for arcade game companies to sell to and the higher their sales are, the more games we can hope to see.
One new addition to the realm of arcade manufacturers would be Pentavision and their first release to the US is here with DJ Max Technika. We had heard that it was supposed to come out earlier but it appears that they held it back until now, fine tuning the game a little more to fit their desires. I did get a chance to play this at ASI and it is a fun game with an excellent cabinet, plentiful online features and some great songs, but we will have to see how many will be able to pick the game up with it’s around $11k price tag. Either way I hope that we get to see more from Pentavision in the future as the more companies around making different and interesting games, the merrier.
[Via BemaniStyle.com] [Discuss on the Forums]
A few months back Arcade Heroes was privileged to reveal H2Overdrive to the world and now I have done an interview with the man whose company is behind the game’s development, Steve Ranck of Specular Interactive. We go into more, never-before-revealed details on Raw Thrills’/Specular Interactive upcoming boat racer and a few other arcade related things. So without further adieu, let’s get started and remember to click on the link at the bottom to read the full thing.
First, about Steve:
Steve Ranck is the President and founder of Specular Interactive, Inc. He’s been developing games since age 12, and professionally since 1994. Prior to Specular, Steve cofounded Swingin’ Ape Studios, Inc. which developed the critically acclaimed Metal Arms: Glitch in the System before the company was purchased by Blizzard Entertainment in 2005.
Q: Tell us a little bit about your company and history in the arcade sector.
Specular Interactive was formed in 2007 to develop great arcade games. Most of our employees have worked together before at former companies, and a good number of us worked on the original Hydro Thunder arcade game back in 1997-1999. Collectively, we have a lot of seasoned arcade developers here. But at the same time, our team members have also worked on a number of console games and so we have a lot of experience with modern engine architecture and graphics hardware. Our goal is to develop a series of high quality arcade games by combining our arcade design experience with modern graphics technology and hardware, and do it all at a price point that’s affordable for today’s 
operators. Our first game which we feel delivers just that is H2Overdrive, a high-action, addictive power boat racing game.
Q: How did the idea for H2Overdrive come about?
In early 2007, Eugene Jarvis, developer of arcade megahits such as Defender, Robotron: 2084, and the Cruis’n series, was receiving feedback from arcade operators that wanted a boat racing game that would succeed Hydro Thunder. Eugene’s company, Raw Thrills, had already developed a number of very successful arcade games before getting requests for a boat racing game. Eugene called and proposed the idea of me forming a team to develop the game. The idea of developing a high-action boat racing game on modern graphics hardware for the arcade sounded like an incredible opportunity. I formed Specular Interactive shortly after and we began the ground-up development of H2Overdrive.
Q: How long has the game been in development and how large of a team has worked on it?
H2Overdrive’s been in development for 2 years, starting with a team of 3 and growing to 14 developers during the peak of development.
Q: There are several aspects that H2Overdrive shares with Hydro Thunder, what makes H2Overdrive not only different from HT, but better?
Arcade Heroes
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