Here’s another collection of arcade news for anyone up this late. Otherwise I guess its something to read for the morning.
It seems like a long time ago that I ran a post about a US-based company called Nanotech Entertainment was slated to release a new driving game for arcades called Xtreme Rally Racing. But as time walked on by, the game never got a release. In fact since then news about this Nanotech company had all but dried up and I figured that they were no longer in business, although the website stuck around. You can still find Xtreme Rally Racing there too. So the announcement that they will have a new videmption game at the Amusement Expo in Vegas in a couple of weeks came as a surprise. There are no pictures of this new videmption title that they are calling Jumper but we’ll get a look at it in just a couple of weeks and maybe find out what happened to the rally game in the meantime. [Via DNA Association]
It wasn’t long ago that I posted about a music video that had something arcade related to it and here’s another one by artist Gowe AKA and directed/animated by Kenson Lee. The music style is different than that other video we had shared and the arcade game in question is something original that’s got some Double Dragon and Scott Pilgrim VS the World vibes to it but the press release that came along to describe the video (first time I’ve see that approach with this kind of news) describes it as an “epic tribute to arcades, 16-bit games, and anime“. The release also breaks down some of the symbolism of the video thus: “In Aurora, Gowe describes the battles in his musical journey as an independent artist against his harsh critics. Gowe’s character fights against a masked villain and his minions, representing Gowe’s struggle against the system and the conformity of mainstream entertainment. The damsel-in-distress symbolizes freedom and the independent underground which in the end, comes back to aid him in the final battle to destroy the system once and for all. Visual motifs in the animation echo Gowe’s search for identity. Cantonese dialogue is juxtaposed with Korean, reflecting Gowe’s epiphany of his Korean heritage and adoption into a Chinese family, first revealed in a previous work I Wonder. What he knows of the world is turned upside-down and obliterated completely, but only to hasten the discovery of new and vast horizons. The music video alludes to many areas valued by Gowe, including Seattle and his love for wrestling. The animation pays homage to both new and old video games of the 8-bit and 16-bit eras, classic arcades, 90’s cartoons, and Japanese anime.“
Either way, the game itself looks like it would make for a fun beat ’em up if it ever came to be.
A long time ago I spoke with a representative of Konami Europe (who no longer works for the company) whether Konami had ever considered blending what they had with DDR and Frogger together. I think it was after a story where someone had done something similar. He indicated that they had kicked the idea around although its obvious all this time later that they never went ahead with it. Too bad. But if you have the time and want to make the effort, we were sent a tip that shows how to do a DIY project with Frogger that involves a device that was funded through KickStarter called MaKey MaKey, an interesting invention aid that allows you to “turn everyday objects into touchpads and combine them with the internet.” For the details on converting it to play something like Frogger, you can read the tips here at Uncommongoods.com. And for a quick race through, this video below. (Thanks to Kara Fillion for the tip)
With the advent of tablets and arcade-type games on them, devices to turn your tablet into a ‘mini-arcade’ have popped up every now and then. I have not seen too many however that are for smaller devices like smartphones. Here is one called Arcadie-Arcade which is not only made for iPhone/iPod Touch but also has games created just for it. That’s certainly one way to offer a twist to make this stand out. [Arcadie Arcade Website via The Stinger Report]
Also for anyone interested in finances and number stuff, here is the latest financial statement from Bandai Namco. They are expecting an increase in amusement arcade machine sales this year over last, so that is always a good thing [Namco Bandai Report (PDF) Via The Stinger Report]
Finally, I’m aiming to have my book available next Friday. If I can figure out how, I would like to do a pre-order thing too. Stay tuned!
How did NanTech’s games look at the Expo? Looking forward to a follow-up review.
They were in such an alpha state that it’s hard to comment further. I had an idea of what they were shooting for but the final product will certainly end up much different from what they showed.