It’s been a time for travel and vacations so things have been kind of slow around here lately. That doesn’t mean that news has stopped though, let’s look at what is going on in the world of arcades.
Mario & Sonic At the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Arcade Edition Shows Up For The Real Thing – There are numerous arcades in Brazil, something that I have covered before, although they don’t often get the latest games. With the Rio 2016 Olympics in full swing, it makes sense to bring the only Olympic and multi-sports arcade game on the market to Rio as well, the picture below comes from game setup as seen at the Rio 2016 Olympic Village in Barra. The cabinet design has been modified from the typical 4 player setup but otherwise would play the same. I’d be curious to know how some gold medal winners would fare on the games that are their events on this one.
New Densha De Go! Released In Japan – This happened earlier in the week and got a bit of coverage on mainstream English gaming websites but the only chance you might see this in the US is if Round1USA decides to try it out. Or you can go to Japan, that works too. The last time we heard about a new Densha game was way back in 2011 when Taito announced that the game would be released in 2012. I cannot find info that the 2012 release ever occurred so it is likely that the project was shelved for a time, only to return in this new triple screen simulator form. What’s also surprising is Taito still doing something Their arcade efforts as of late have been somewhat muted with sequels to Groove Coaster making up almost all of what they are doing these days. That said, this once again shows the versatility of the arcade simulator in place of the VR headset. Via Famitsu.
3D Projection Mapped Taiko No Tatsujin – Most of the games we see projection mapped onto buildings have been variations of Tetris or Pac-Man but with this project in Japan, they’ve brought a more modern arcade title into the mix – Bandai Namco’s Taiko No Tatsujin. Check more details in Japanese at this site here.
Point Blank X (aka Gun Bullet X) In Singapore (thanks to Jerenze for the tip) – More locations seem to be getting their hands on Bandai Namco’s Point Blank X, although I have heard from more than one person in the US that the game was cancelled for the West (I have reached out to Namco for comment on that). If you are in or near Singapore and know where the Virtualand arcade is, head over and you can check the game out (link at their Facebook page)
Spoofs For Comedy Film Based Arcade Games – Liberty Games, a UK distributor, recently ran a post where they showcased some spoofs they did combining some films with arcade machines for promotional flyers like we tend to see in the industry when promoting new games. Granted, comedy films are probably the worst translations into an action arcade concept but if you need a laugh, click here to see the five others!
Arcadethings.com Launches – A site dedicated to sell arcade related ‘things’ like themed glasses, board games, ice cube trays, etc. has opened for business. There’s plenty of Pac-Man and Mario to enjoy there, check it out here.
Flyer of the Week – Hyper Olympic ’84: The most famous arcade sports game that had something to do with Olympic events was Konami’s Track & Field. Some variations on the concept were created to capitalize on the idea, which gave us a sequel of sorts, known in the US as Hyper Sports but in Japan as Hyper Olympic. Thanks to the Japanese edition of the game, we received this nice looking flyer. I wonder what this might have looked like had they gone with the style of using live actors that made for some amazing flyers over the next few years.
