We haven’t really done an ‘Open Thread’ before, where you talk about pretty much anything in the comments (still prefer arcade/pinball discussion) but today I feel like starting one, along with some various pieces of news. I meant to get to these at some point over the weekend but Monday mornings are good as well if you need something interesting to look over.
The Downsized Donkey Kong Cabinet(Stinger newsfeed 1042)
At the next Kong Off we should see who can dominate the mini-DK’s.
Stealing a pinball machine (they don’t say which one) to help pay the rent, that’s a new one. He stole a restaurant ice machine too.
Sega Amusements Europe has an updated website
I’ve actually been meaning to get to this for a while now, I really like the new design and prefer it over the old one. They have different content depending upon the region (Europe or US) although the Sega Amusements USA page (www.segarcade.com) is still in dire need of an update. There also has been some news about Sega Sammy seeing a sales decline this past quarter but I haven’t been able to find the amusement numbers to compare yet.
New Aquapazza fighting game being tested in Japan
We’ve covered this game in a post before but because it doesn’t have a big name attached to it (Street Fighter, Marvel Vs. Capcom, Tekken, Mortal Kombat) the players don’t really seem to care. It is indeed a tough prospect to break into the fighter genre these days. Also of note, Soulcalibur V was announced for consoles this past week, solidifying Namco’s stance apparently to not give the series anymore arcade appearances.
After how popular tekken 6 proved with the players I would’ve thought they would’ve released soulcalibur V in the arcades first before porting it to consoles. Namco and other game companies need to release fighters again in the arcade. When I went to manchester last year I found a converted time crisis 2 deluxe cabinet running street fighter 4 and I couldn’t get on it alot of the time it was that popular and yet it was already out at least a year so it just proves that fighting game are still popular in arcades. They’re really missing out on a big opportunety by not releasing any fighters to arcades asside from tekken and sega virtua fighter (but only in japan). I’m sick of just racers and even gun games sometimes but deffinatly racers, I want other genres too like puzzle, scroller fighters eg streets of rage, more originality arcade exclusive etc
You’re not alone in that Kieran. Thet Japanese companies need to come up with a good strategy for fighting games in the US and Europe. Using the Japan model on these games does not work well outside of Asia.
And yes we need a better variety. Take a look at everything that is available out there and imagine building an arcade out of nothing but new games. The selection is quite limited, not because of the number of games so much as the fact that there isn’t a large variety in the kind of games to pick from.
they do work adam but the problem is the price and the fact that arcade excecutives would rather release the game on consoles rather than the arcades as well. there are far too many games to choose from anyway for consoles and its only the people with lots of cash will desperatly buy asap not really casual gamers and younger players who mostly are too busy playing online, DS and ipod games. but if they saw this in the arcades they would play the game and it would build up the hype for the game who are keen to get it when its released on consoles and it also gives new players a taste of what its like( kids who I met mostly play games like club penguin, moshi monsters, angry birds, cut the rope and cover orange) plus who owns a joystick controller, thats one thing the console hasn’t manages to do, even though you can buy them in the shops they’re not very cheap. another thing is alot of people (including myself wait for the game to be cheaper so really there no better on consoles than the arcade as theres far too many games to choose from. it first came in the arcades and its where it should be now and not just consoles, not everyone has every game they find plus moneys a strain too if they want every game, lol its just not possible at least arcades level it out 🙂
There needs to be new strategies for making arcades fun from a social stand point. People would rather stay home or play games on their portable devices. I like the social aspect of arcade games. Online gameplay wether it is on a console or pc is odd at times because you aren’t even in the same room as the other person. Many arcade games take on a whole new experience when you are actually playing “with” people instead of virtually. There are only a handful of arcades around my area in NJ. There are actually a couple that popped within the past couple years. It almost seems like arcades are making a comeback. One game I want to play in an arcade is the new 4 player pac-man game. Anyone know where I can play that game in NJ?