Newsbytes: VR Arcade Talk + VR 4DX; Spiderman Pinball Color; PIUP2; NTG#87

Happy weekend everyone. Today’s weekend post is a bit heavy on the VR application in the arcade space.

BBC – Could VR Bring Back The Games Arcade? : Developing technology is always part of the E3 talk and at this E3 event, VR popped up frequently. The potential that VR has in the amusement industry isn’t new to us and it was only in May that the world’s first VR Arcade conference was held. I know that just about every major arcade developer has been looking into applications for the tech for a while now so it will not be a surprise if we see even more setups at IAAPA this November than we saw last year.

As to the question that the BBC article presents, I think it depends on how you define bringing the arcade back. We’ve documented the large uptick in new arcade locations opening their doors over the past few years but a vast majority of them are bar/arcades with a focus on retro – not expensive high-end tech. VR often has cost and space requirements that most venues cannot handle. For things to end up like it was 1982, you really need compelling content that can only be provided by the tech and at a reasonable cost. Just throwing out anything VR and expecting it to rake in millions is not going to work just because of the hype machine. There are other issues but we’ll just leave it at it being a difficult balance to achieve that we’ll keep an eye on.

Simuline Introduces the 4DX VR Attraction – As one example of something now shipping for amusement facilities is the new Simuline 4DX VR ride. This is based on their X-Rider Motion Theater technology but uses a Samsung Gear VR for the display instead of the projectors. Unfortunately this promo doesn’t show the content at all, just shows the people being moved around. From what I’ve been told, just about any non-interactive VR program can work with the system although it wasn’t clear how that works on translating the motion correctly.

Spiderman Gets ColorDMD Support – ColorDMD continues to impress with their products, now supporting both versions of Stern Pinball’s Spiderman and Spiderman Vault Edition games. As always, the results are beautiful. Since we’re on the subject fo pinball for a moment, rumor has it that the next Vault Edition that Stern will release is TRON…but getting back to Spiderman, here are trailers for both editions. I like the Vault Edition more as the contrast from the art is nicer but that is down to the original content as opposed to ColorDMDs work.

Andamiro Working on Pump It Up Prime 2 – Announced at the Japan Pump It Up Fest 2016. Andamiro looking to make the game more appealing to Japanese players. More at Bemanistyle:

https://twitter.com/soinlove/status/741840680746520581?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Rare TRON Cocktail on eBay – If you live in Ohio then here’s an arcade build you don’t see very often of a highly sought after game. TRON Cocktail Video Arcade Unit On eBay.

Sale on Arcade Heroes Shirts and Phone Cases – Check out our Teepublic store, everything is on sale including phone case designs.

Flyer of the Week – Neo Mr. Do! : The Neo Geo MVS wasn’t all fighting games, with titles like Neo Mr. Do! providing some variety to the popular arcade system. Mr. Do! itself was a digging game that served as a rival to the likes of Dig Dug, although Mr. Do got a boost from unique variations to the original concept with titles like Mr. Do’s Castle or Mr. Do’s Wild Ride. For the Neo Geo remake, it also allowed co-op play; full flyer can be seen over at FlyerFever :

Name That Game #87 – Answers for last week:

#1 – Mazan: Flash of the Blade by Namco

#2 – Street Smart by SNK

#3 – Top Gunner by Exidy

This week:

[Discuss on the AH MeWe group]