It has been a little while since our last Newsbytes but this is due to the large amount of time I’m needing to spend remodeling a new spot for my arcade business to move into. When you can’t afford to hire a contractor, you have to do it yourself and it is a time consuming process. Fortunately the mall management isn’t in a huge rush so I’ve been able to take needed time for getting things done. That said, I know the site here has suffered from fewer stories and new posts. Thanks to all of you for sticking around!
April Fools 2017 – Fighting Layer EX / Street Fighter EX4 Revealed And It’s Actually Not A Joke
Thanks to Toby for sending this link our way. There has been very little in the way of April Fools jokes coming from the arcade side of things this year, for better or for worse depending on your opinion about the day.
What started out as Arika’s April Fools joke of showing off a game that looks like Street Fighter EX4/Fighting Layer, it turns out that it is actually a real thing. Given the quality of what is shown in the trailer I am not surprised as you generally don’t put that much effort into a joke. Of course the real joke is that if arcades do get this, it will be another effort that only Japan really gets while the West continues to enjoy nothing new from arcade fighters.
Unreleased Games Page
As mentioned in a post earlier this week, one thing that I have slowly been working on for the past little while is a page dedicated to Unreleased arcade titles. This is far from complete and it will probably remain that way for a long time as documentation on such games from Japanese companies tends to be difficult to come across. This is why American companies are so prevalent on the page as it has been easier to find out about such games. Thanks to those who have contributed additional information to this page since it was launched – keep it coming!
Taito Jumps Into Amusement VR with VR Game Stage
Thanks to The Stinger Report for sending this in. Things have been fairly quiet over at Taito HQ for a while now, which I had chalked up to their parent company Square Enix asserting more control and developments involving arcade games. They certainly don’t have the staff or the budget that they used to but we can still expect to hear about something new from them every once in a while. The latest development to come from their labs involves them jumping onto the VR bandwagon with their new VR Game Stage. This uses both HTC Vive and Samsung Gear VR depending on the program and they have nine VR titles to enjoy for up to four players. This includes a fishing game to which I am a little surprised I haven’t heard of such a thing from VR before (granted, I do not follow all VR software developments). It makes sense given that most VR titles prefer that you don’t really move around from your general spot. This began operation at Taito’s “Big Box” station in Takadanobaba earlier this week and sounds like it will remain there for the time being. Probably depends on popularity.
An “Easter Egg” Has Been Found In Atari’s Starship I
We’ve mentioned Atari’s Starship I arcade game on the site several times before thanks to some of the innovative features it brought to the table including scaled sprites and a yoke controller. Now you can add easter eggs to the list as this pre-dates the famous Easter egg that was put into Adventure (Atari 2600) in 1980. More info at the link below:
A new "first" easter egg has been found in Starship 1, released all the way back in July 1977! https://t.co/lTtZSamb0a
— GoldS (@GoldS_TCRF) March 24, 2017
Michael Jordan in NBA Jam To Be Dumped Soon?
Recently a former employee of Midway by the name of Mark Turmell held an “Ask Me Anything” on Reddit and someone asked him about a different version of NBA Jam for arcades that was rumored to feature players like Michael Jordan. Mark confirmed that a special custom version of the game does indeed exist and he would look into it. That doesn’t guarantee that the bit rot hasn’t gotten a hold of the code, depending on the condition of the media it is contained on but there is a glimmer of hope now:
From Mark Turmell's AMA today. (Attn: @frankcifaldi) pic.twitter.com/GmMnTRRDrx
— Joe D. (@Shake_Well) March 24, 2017
Skycurser Launches This Coming Monday
I believe that this was mentioned on the blog previously but in case you had forgot, the indie arcade title Skycurser is officially launching this coming Monday. The release version will finally enjoy 2 player co-op, another level and additional tweaks to the game. Congrats to the team for making it this far and providing some JAMMA goodness to arcades once again.
SKYCURSER is brave new IP for the #arcade. pic.twitter.com/XV7qjDPjig
— SKYCURSER dev team (@skycurser) March 31, 2017
Classic Arcade Ports Of The Week
Super Mario Bros. (TI 99/4A) – While Super Mario Bros. is rightly thought of as an NES game, it did also make an appearance in arcades so it counts. Here is the game running on the Texas Instruments 99/4A computer with F18A video board for VGA output. It’s certainly one of those things I never would expect to see for the ol’ 99.
Time Gal (Commodore Amiga CD32) – Those with a working Amiga CD32 can also experience a new unofficial port of the laserdisc arcade title Time Gal by Taito. Time Gal is not well-known here in the States due to it only really getting a Japanese release but if these kinds of games are up your alley and you have the obscure CD32…you might as well enjoy it!
That’s all for now, stay tuned to the site for a review of the DJ Max Technika documentary, Touching Sound.
