Newsbytes: DDR ACE; Arcade Expo 3.0; Argus; NTG#80

It has been a busy weekend so far! Hopefully any of you that owns arcade locations out there are seeing good business or if you are a gamer, that you find some arcade goodness to enjoy. Here are some bits and bytes of news to enjoy – make sure you read the news about the new arcade titles seen at Midwest Gaming Classic if you haven’t already!

UPDATE – I’ve added a couple of items so please check below!

Dance Dance Revolution ACE (DDR A) Coming This Summer CORRECTED – Just a note that Round1USA has corrected the image and game name on one of their Facebook pages. It is not DDR USA but in fact the new DDR A, also known as DDR Ace that will be finding its way to the USA. Thanks to Steven Miranda for pointing out the error.

We already knew that both Dave & Busters and Round1USA would be getting some new version of Dance Dance Revolution this Summer but it hasn’t been clear what – until today. Round1USA posted a few tweets to their different Twitter feeds to unveil that this new version is called Dance Dance Revolution ACE. Previous hints had suggested that the game would be the 2014 or 2015 version so it is likely that with an English translation and certain song changes for our market. The remaining question is whether or not the rest of us will be able to get this game through general distribution or not.  We’ll keep an eye on this as it develops.

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Fire up your dance moves! #DDRUSA will be coming to Round 1 in June 🙂 pic.twitter.com/ELe8oJG6mx

— Round 1 Arlington (@Round1Arlington) April 9, 2016

Arcade Expo 3.0 Trailer – Speaking of arcade events/expos, the Arcade Expo in Banning, CA has just released the trailer for promoting next year

Eerie Abandoned Arcades – Check out these old abandoned arcades via PC Mag. Plenty of sadness packed into those pictures. 

Checking out Taito HEY At Close – Thanks to Kent Fund for sharing this, apologies on missing it in the original post. Here’s what it is like when they are closing down an arcade in Japan. I see they have the same issue with players on their fighting games right at the end 😉

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Argus Attract Mode – One game that Galloping Ghost Arcade mentioned that they would take to MGC2016 was the unreleased prototype game ARGUS, that was in development at Gottlieb (makers of Q*Bert) back in 1982. I was curious about it and came across a video showing the attract mode for the game but thanks to commenter Arcadezero, here is a much longer play on this one. Nice and colorful graphics weren’t enough to save it though: 

The Hobbit At MGC 2016 – They weren’t at Amusement Expo 2016 but Jersey Jack Pinball brought their two in-production pintall titles to MGC 2016 as shown through this tweet:

2 Hobbits and a WOZ at the Midwest Gaming Classic! #pinball #hobbit #wizardofoz #jerseyjackpinball pic.twitter.com/yxmBm9WXOk

— Jersey Jack Pinball (@JJPinball) April 9, 2016

Skycurser Paper Cabinet – I have a few of these paper arcades setup on a table inside of a display case at the front of my arcade, this Skycurser cabinet would be a nice addition to the mix [direct link]:

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Point Blank X / Gun Bullet X Gets Tested In Japan – Also not found at Amusement Expo 2016, Namco has begun testing Point Blank X in Japan. It is known as Gun Bullet over there. Ariesu has a location test report where like other reports, it is basically seen as an HD version of the originals.

Flyer of the Week – Lode Runner : I remember discovering Lode Runner on a friend’s Atari 800XL and finding it ok, but not my favorite game to play. I’d heard other kids talk about it but little did I know that the game was quite popular in Japan (like another title that I enjoyed more, Spelunker). This flyer for the arcade version touts the popularity of the game as suggested by gaming magazines from back in the day. The graphics were more colorful and detailed than any other version available on the market at the time and the series would find a home at arcades several other times culminating with the release of Lode Runner: The Dig Fight in 2000.  Kind of funny that this was considered more advanced than ‘simplistic’ games of 1982…they must have meant in that this was more of a puzzle game than a shoot ’em up. Full flyer @ Flyer Fever.

Name That Game #80 – Thanks for all of the participation last week. In case you missed the answers, here you go:

#1 – Batman by Atari Games

#2 – Pig Newton by Sega

#3 – Finalizer: Super Transformation by Konami

For this week: