Welcome to another Newsbytes on Arcade Heroes. We’ve not had one for a little while since I’ve been busy working on videos and news from IAAPA 2018; I’ve still got more to get to this week, so stay tuned.
As a note before we get started, today is “Small Business Saturday”, an invention that was designed to bring some focus on the little guys out there in the aftermath of Black Friday. As many arcades out there are just small, independent outfits, they should be included in that mix, so be sure to get out and support your local small arcade if there is one to be found. That should include what we call “route operations,” where a small business installs games into a different company (movie theater lobby, truck stop, etc.). If you need help in finding a location, check out Aurcade.com.
Also, Wreck-It Ralph 2 is out in theaters. So far, I’ve heard zero reactions from those in the community about it…I’ll probably get a chance to go see it on Tuesday.
Now, onto the bytes of news!
Stern Announces Primus Pinball
When I first saw this, I wondered if it was something like a mid-year April Fools joke, but it is legit. Stern is no stranger to limited-run “boutique” machines, Supreme Pinball being one of their most recent designs. Now Primus joins the list of both boutique and music pins, recycling the layout used with the retro-style Whoa Nellie! and focusing on the odd band.
This is one that is really for fans however – only 100 units are being made and they are selling for $8000 a piece. I’m not sure why the Whoa Nellie layout was picked to recycle here, but it does have an upgraded sound system, for playing 13 of the band’s songs. Although I wonder why you wouldn’t just allow buyers to upload their own MP3s on something this expensive (I highly doubt you’ll ever seen one of these in the wild). This Week In Pinball has all of the details if you’re curious.
Video of the game being played can be found here. I had a friend in the 90s who was really into Primus, although experimental rock never was a genre I could get into 😛
Billy Mitchell Streams Donkey Kong play; obtains over 1 million points
The Donkey Kong arcade score saga continues into it’s umpteenth episode, as competitive gamer Billy Mitchell streamed Donkey Kong Arcade play over Thanksgiving, matching both of the scores in question over at Twin Galaxies. Naturally this has set social media on fire with talk about the game again; on Twitter I’ve been wanting to see reactions about it, with these being the results so far (looks like indifference is winning at the moment):
News has it that Billy Mitchell performed a live play of Donkey Kong and topped 1 million points. Your reaction?
— Arcade Heroes – The Saviors of Coin-op Newsblog (@arcadeheroes) November 24, 2018
Kraut Buster Begins Location Testing
Ok, so this is over a week old at the moment, but anyone interested in a new game for the Neo Geo MVS hardware is in luck, as NG Dev Team nears production on their Metal Slug-like game Kraut Buster. We’ve been following this one since it was first announced back in March 2015, offering occasional updates as they have provided them. The team has not announced a release date yet, but it sounds like it will be very soon…finally.
New Indie Arcade Game: Armed And Gelatinous
(Thanks to Gabe Folkes on Twitter for pointing this one out)
We’ve got quite a few indie games to talk about today, which includes what looks to be a one-off titles designed for an arcade by the name of Button Mash in Los Angeles. We’ve mentioned them before, and they are happy to let local game developers install their own arcade creations like this one into their facility. I looked into this one a little and it does exist as a PC game thanks to a Kickstarter run a while back. The trailer makes me think of what Slither.io would be like if it had guns 😛
Good Vs. Evil Pinball
For another piece of news that was almost overlooked here thanks to IAAPA, was the Dutch Pinball Open 2018 event. Streamer and pinball wizard Dead Flip was there to check the games out, which included this interesting homemade head-to-head pinball machine.
The absolutely amazing home-brew head-to-head “Good VS. Evil” #pinball machine is at Dutch Pinball Expo! pic.twitter.com/W0nPIRMKwH
— DEAD FLIP (@DeadFlip) November 9, 2018
Sega Amusements’ IAAPA 2018 Booth
Where I’m still trying to finish up my videos from IAAPA, you can find some manufacturers touting what they had on their own video channels, such as Sega Amusements. I didn’t really record Transformers 2 since I did so at Bowl Expo, but I have more footage of Scarlet Dawn and the new Hot Racers and Jelly Bean Ticket Beananza to get to:
Official Trailer For Dicey Jump
For another that I still need to get to, but for those who can’t wait, Touch Magix released this trailer showcasing one of their new videmption game pieces that was at IAAPA 2018, Dicey Jump. By the video title, it garnered more attention than any of the other pieces at their booth, presenting a very simple style of game that is difficult to master:
That’s all I’ve managed to find for this weekend, so we’ll end it with an image of the limited edition (and not for sale) Red Bull version of Pac-Man’s Pixel Bash that Namco has created:
It must be a hoax: That spitting guy, who sings about beavers, will get his own pinball table. Shocking! The visions of Mr. Stern start to make me nervous. 😉
Speaking of namco, did they have anything to show this year at the show?
I take it also that sega atv slam wasn’t at the show.
Namco did have two new Batman & Joker themed air hockey tables; a new version of We Play VR; and a crane/vending machine called Find The Key. For anyone who had missed Bowl Expo in Vegas (which would have been me on any other year), the Pixel Bash cabinets were also new. Otherwise for a big new headliner video game, no, nothing unique. They seem to be doing extremely well with their DC Superheroes card/coin pusher and the Mario Karts.