Thanks to E3 this week, there was very little arcade news to discuss but I was able to scrape together the following to fill in the middle of your weekend. Also in the US – Happy Father’s Day to any Dads out there!
NEON FM Asia – Unit-E Technologies showed off a new build of their music/rhythm game NEON FM, one that has been designed in partnership with Andamiro for sale in various territories covering Asia. As you can see, there are two versions and they appear to be all metal. I reached out to Unit-E for additional info but as of this time of writing, unsure whether or not this will be available in distribution within the US/Europe. I imagine that if you really wanted to, there will be a way to get your hands on one. IMO, this looks sharper than the original US build. More info should be available when the game makes its debut at the GTI China Expo in August.
Konami Tests Museca In Japan – Speaking of NEON FM, Konami has just tested out a very similar game in Japan called Museca. Granted, the original concept hearkens back to Pop ‘N Music but Neon FM changed it up just enough and Museca changes that up enough so that gamers can enjoy these games out there without any lawsuits shutting the other down…hopefully. Museca does do more than just change the button layout – the buttons also can rotate/spin which is used in the game, which sounds similar to Taito’s Groove Coaster and the joystick-like buttons it uses. It also incorporates characters that have perk-style “gifts” to do things like recover HP, which can be lost by playing poorly. While Konami has been noticeably pulling back on many video game developments, this shows they still have interest in supporting the Japanese arcade industry. More info @ 4Gamer.net
Guilty Gear Xrd Revelator Loctest – Also on test in Japan is the latest build in the Guilt Gear Xrd line-up of arcade games.
Nickelcade in Ogden, UT Closes – I’m not sure how common the business model is of a “nickel arcade” is out there although in my state of Utah, there are at least 4 separate companies that use it. The most famous of those has been Nickelcade, which has had more than one location around the state since the 80s. One isn’t far from where I am setup with my arcade, then there is one in Sandy and the other was up North in Ogden, UT – at least until today. It should be noted that this Nickelcade, despite using the same logo and name, states on their website that “We are Independently owned and operated and are not affiliated with other Nickelcades.” Must have been some sort of franchise deal. Anyways, I received a flyer in the mail yesterday about an online auction for their entire inventory which means that the location is closing forever. I haven’t been able to find out the details on why exactly they have closed, perhaps I will find out when I go to grab the games. I don’t enjoy seeing any arcade close but at least I did end up getting my hands on a few games for cheap…as did several other local collectors.
Southern Fried Game Expo, Pinball – I haven’t had a chance to check this out yet but it does promise 15 minutes of some pinball goodness:
New Arcade Heroes T-Shirts – I’ve been busy cooking up some new T-Shirts, which have been mentioned on some of the Arcade Heroes social media channels. Keep in mind that when posted, they are $14 for the first 72 hours, then go up to $20 until the Teepublic site has a site-wide sale (all outside my control). It is just a little way to help support the site.
Name That Game #48 – Last week started out with just one game but I added on a short time later – due to time constraints today (once again), I will have to refrain from gif-ing everything. Here are last week’s answers!
2- Kabuki Klash: Far East of Eden by Hudson Soft
3- Fantasy Land by Electronic Devices
For this week:
1.
2. Dyna Gear
3. Adventures of Mr F. Lee Bailey
No. 1 is Winding Heat by Konami.