I feel like I have to apologize for the cascade of multi-news posts lately but when most of the news is only worth mentioning in a single paragraph, it just happens to work out like this. Amusement Expo is coming up in just a couple of weeks though so I imagine that will change a little as we approach that event.
Well it has been a while since we had seen anything about a drivable Sega OutRun cabinet but to be honest I thought that the story had pretty much passed. We talked about it way back in 2009. No the engineer who built it did not do the same to OutRun 2 but in this article from PopSci.com, they take a refreshed look at it and the software upgrades. Don’t expect to get enough from the article to be able to build your own however. You still would need to be a knowledgeable engineer to make that happen. The video below is from early 2011 so a little more up-to-date than the video that had been spreading around when the story first broke. (Thanks to Stingray Travel for the tip)
We received a tip from someone who just goes by Rob that the Galaxy World in Sydney, Australia has closed. Apparently it is something to do with rent issues but that is all that was given.
For a while now I have dropped little blurbs that I was writing a book about arcades. Well it is completely done and I will be moving forward to digitally publish it soon. I don’t like to mention release dates but before Amusement Expo is the plan. It is called The Arcade Experience: A Look Into Modern Arcade Games and Why They Still Matter. What I have done is taken my own experiences as a gamer, an arcade operator and an arcade blogger to present an overall view of the industry as we know it. After the introduction the first chapter spends some time on arcade history including a look at the never 
really talked about crash of the late 90s/early 00s followed by arcade locations of today, a chapter dedicated to arcade game makers and the games they have made since 2007, a chapter on the social experience of arcades, then the technology of arcades over the years (basically another historical look) and a short chapter on the future of the industry. All-in-all it amounts to 200 pages in length, includes images and a foreword by Kevin Williams of The Stinger Report/DNA Association. He also provided many images and found a great editor, Doug King to take care of that. I hope that everyone that gets it will enjoy it and once I work out a couple of things I will make a proper announcement.
I’m gutted about Galaxy World Sydney closing – the last arcade ‘on’ George Street. (There is a still a small Timezone in a centre on the street, but that’s not the same.)
Such a shame.
Although in recent years the bottom floor went ‘redemption mad’ with very little for people who want to play a GAME to invest in.
Re your book – sounds great! Do find the cover (although well done) a bit incongruous though – being definitely ‘early 80s’ (Asteroids) when your title is ‘modern’ arcades?
What a shame about galaxy world for the Aussies, let us know why it closed when you find out arcadehero. Your book sounds exciting, is it being published yet?
your book is a must read – i will pick it up when it’s launched.
This is amazing news about the book. Looking forward to learning more and of course its release.
Can’t wait to read your book, I always enjoy your opinion pieces on the coin-op industry.