Two new arcade games are available for arcades and other entertainment venues to pick up for their locations, but the release news for each game may have become a little lost in the other news about Amusement Expo 2011, so I am going to give them a post all of their own.
First is the gun game Friction, which we have been covering since it was first revealed back in 2008. This one is significant for a couple of reasons – first off it’s a kit that has been made to go into a large variety of cabinets, allowing an operator to reinvigorate an old cabinet. Sure kits aren’t anything new but we really haven’t seen many of them in recent years, especially for light-gun shooters. Second, this was an independently made game, or “indie” game if you prefer, which is quite a rare sight to see in this industry. We hope that Friction does well enough for Friction Game Studios to keep on producing new arcade titles as we’re happy to see new blood in arcades. A press release was sent out today showing that a large number of pre-orders were taken for the game, with the first kits shipping out last week and more being built to satisfy demand. A dedicated version is still in the works so we will have to wait and see on that but in the meantime, you can read the aforementioned PR here, ordering info for the game can be found here @ Coast-To-Coast Entertainment.
The second game game to talk about is the surprise of the Amusement Expo show, Frightmareland by Gamewax/Taito/GlobalVR. This carnival/clown/horror themed light-gun title fills in a void in that style of game that we haven’t seen much of in recent years and there are a couple of game elements that help it stand out beyond that, such as tracking how many hostages a player saves from the evil clowns, and a variety of built-in “mini-games” that take place in between certain levels. It features vibrant color and can be found in the standard 42″ and deluxe 46 or 50″ cabinet configuration. More details regarding the game can be found here and also our premier sponsors, BMI Gaming has produced a sleek video showing more of the game being played which you can watch right here:
I also have added both games to our Released catgory on our Arcade Games Release list for 2011
Friction and Frightmare look truly awful. I can’t believe the environments and characters are so far behind the current state of the art. The manufacturers should be embarrassed.
I’m guessing the margins in the coin-op industry are so tight now that the execs think there is no way to fund high quality projects. The indie scene is loaded with teams that could produce high quality games. Small teams on tight budgets are making games that I would actually pay to play. There is no way I would put quarters into these abominations.
Wake up, manufacturers! This is not the way to revive your industry.
You should probably actually try each game before passing final judgment on them – especially Friction which was put together by a very small team from scratch. I’ve found it enjoyable to play, I haven’t spent a lot of time on Frightmareland yet.