Newsbytes: Flynn’s Retrocade; Golden Tee; Skycurser; NTG#90

It’s the last weekend in July, so make sure to get out and play some arcades or pinball (Ok, that’s our advice for every weekend)! Onto news:

Flynn’s Retrocade Opening In Roy, UT On Aug. 6th – A new retro themed arcade is opening up not terribly far from me, although I almost never find myself in that particular area (it’s about an hour away, depending on traffic). Regardless, if you are in or near Roy then Flynn’s Retrocade is bringing the Utah version of the bar/arcade to life by offering a soda bar instead of adult beverages (IIRC, there is an arcade in Michigan that also does something similar). Their game roster: 720, Berzerk, Defender, Donkey Kong Jr., Fix-It Felix Jr., Galaga, Joust, Marble Madness, Mario Bros., Paperboy, Q*Bert,  Space Duel, Star Trek (Sega, rare cockpit version), Star Wars (Atari, rare cockpit version), TRON, Varkon (very rare upright pinball game that looks like a video arcade), Xevious, Zaxxon and more; they also have a few pinball machines including Star Trek The Next Generation and TRON Legacy. You can visit their Facebook group here and we wish them the best of luck in business!

Golden Tee 2017 Courses revealed – Graphically this game is still behind-the-times but that said, this is the best looking GT yet and most GT players don’t really care too much about the looks anyways. They are happy to get new courses and features. The Golden Tee Youtube channel has uploaded trailers for the five new courses that are a part of this year’s update, here are a couple of them:

Pinball Playfields Exhibit In Rochester, NY – AH writer Sara Z. took a quick look at the new exhibit for pinball at the Strong Museum of Play. It looks like quite the place!

Interview With Skycurser Art Director Christopher Cruz – We’ve been covering the indie arcade game Skycurser quite a bit but in case you haven’t been following their efforts, this should get you up to speed with what they have done and where they are going with the game PLUS new games for the Airframe platform. This was done by a guy local to me, his game blog is called Lemony Vengance:

New Updates To Mario Kart Arcade GP DX Released In Japan – More character and kart unlocks have been added; don’t forget that there are two new courses the game is getting too. We haven’t heard yet when the US updates are going to hit…I’ll see if Namco has an update next week. Check out the new Japanese updates here.

Seen at ReplayFX – Vertical Video Pinball Machine: Well that is an interesting way to go for a virtual pinball machine. It’s coin-op too:

Digging these Vertigo virtual #pinball cabinets! Definitely could see owning one. #replayfx #arcade pic.twitter.com/fN2SvXFWDz

— PowerPakBlog (@PowerPakBlog) July 30, 2016

New Shirt/Case/Print/Cup Design: Arcade/Pinball ’16 – Sure this isn’t the most original idea I’ve come up with but it is the season for such things 😉 Get it here for $14 over the next 72 hours!

Flyer of the Week – Front Line by Taito: When ever I would fire up the Atari 2600 as a kid, often one of my favorite games to play was Front Line. As my exposure to the arcade scene was limited, I had no idea at the time that it was a port (same with many other games like Reactor, Q*Bert, Venture, Zaxxon, etc.). The arcade version that the game was based on was a bit different, benefiting from extra detail of the arcade board and a joystick/spinner control scheme. Either way, this was one of the first “macho” arcade games that would dominate the 80s, a One-Man Army kind of game that would influence so many titles afterwards.

Name That Game #90 Repeat

Since we had zero guesses last week, I’ll be lazy, save the space and repeat it again. 😛 I know you can guess what these games are!