Tune in for another exciting episode of NEWSBYTES…starting right now:
Let’s kick off with some quick NBA Jam history:
25 years ago a small team at Midway Games created NBA JAM and changed the world of sports video games forever. Congratulations to Mark Turmell, Sal DiVita and everyone involved in making a timeless classic! #NBAJam25 pic.twitter.com/0RDqRc3wXP
— Ed Boon (@noobde) August 20, 2018
Connect 4 Hoops Launch & 4Pong
After seeing the impressive Connect 4 Hoops at the International Bowl Expo a short time ago, I knew it was supposed to officially launch “in the summer,” but when exactly wasn’t known yet. This week seems to be the time as Bay Tek uploaded this trailer to showcase the game as it begins shipping out to locations now.
Speaking of that game, you might recall that when we first heard about it, it seemed to have been born of the idea of a homemade project seen on YouTube. So, who knows if this 4Pong idea might also find it’s way into arcades at some point. Since we’ve had beer pong arcade games, perhaps a conversion kit like this would work out in refreshing one of those cabinets: (thanks to Josh Steinberg for the info; 4Pong website is here)
Pump It Up Prime 2 To Get The “11th Final Update” This Coming Monday
If you’re into Pump It Up, then get ready for another update to Andamiro’s signature dance arcade game. This looks like it focuses just on more songs; I imagine that the software itself is fine at this point. Although if it is truly the “final” update, I wonder if that means we’ll be seeing a PIU Prime 3 or Infinity 2 this November at IAAPA…
The Galaga Chronicles Animated Series Picks Up Steam
Thanks to Stingray for sending this my way. I’ve lost track of the many times that Hollywood has talked about turning certain arcade properties into films over the years, but here is one that looks like it is going some where. Still, we’ll have to wait until late next year to see how it is.
Intial D Zero Platinum Time Attack
Sega shared this video on their Japanese Sega YouTube channel this week, which could be of interest to Initial D fans. While there zero indication that this will come out West in any sort of official manner, Round1USA seems to have some of the more recent ID machines at their locations.
The Things We Have To Do To Fix Games
Sometimes, the hardware found in game cabinets don’t co-operate in getting repaired, although this tends to be due to damage caused by rough users. I’m not sure what caused this screw to not want to come out of the control panel on Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 5DX+, but the operator found a way. This was at CP Amusement in Malaysia (via Arcade Belgium)
[fb_pe url=”https://www.facebook.com/cp.amusement/videos/2238076613081825/” bottom=”30″]
If the embedded video isn’t showing up in your browser, click here
Spatial AR System
While I was looking up that 4Pong concept on Kickstarter above, I stumbled across this Augmented Reality project. While also not directly related to arcades, it provides an example of something that I think could be adapted to our sector. I certainly think that there is still a lot of potential to be found among AR amusement tech, certainly moreso than in VR, since concepts like these don’t require wearables:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJH6-Vso-9g
Gunlord Headed To Switch
While it wasn’t exactly exclusive to arcades due to the Sega Dreamcast release, NG:Dev Team’s Gunlord wasn’t exactly an easy title to come across unless you bought at the right time. Now, that will be rectified as Gunlord X is headed to the Nintendo Switch.
That’s all I came across for this time. Have a great weekend!
