Newsbytes: Cruis’n Blast Motion In Action & Other Assorted Fun

Hello fellow heroes, welcome to the weekend and another newbytes post. Let’s see what’s worth filling up your weekend with this time:

UNIS Showcases Cruis’n Blast Motion

It’s been a while since we’ve heard about the Chinese-only version of Raw Thrills’ Cruis’n Blast game, a product that has been available through UNIS for some time. It’s shown up in photos a few times in the past, but I hadn’t seen it in action until now. The game isn’t listed on the UNIS website, probably to help prevent confusion as to which regions this is allowed to be sold into, but the company did publish this video showing how it works:

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ColorDMD Adds Capcom’s Big Bang Bar

Well this is an interesting, if not a slightly perplexing addition to the ColorDMD line-up. Capcom’s Big Bang Bar is a famous unreleased prototype machine that was created back in 1996. Only 14 units were produced, although a larger indie reproduction model was created in 2007. I didn’t expect to see such an effort made for a limited release like this, but if you’re one of the lucky few owners of a BBB machine, this has to be welcome.

If you’ve wanted to have a physical copy of the soundtrack to the upcoming arcade shoot ’em up known as Aka & Blue (Aka To Blue in Japan), and you like remixes, then this is for you. Granted, I’m not sure if exports are done through the site, but when the game appeared at CAX2018, they were selling CDs of the OST…perhaps these remixes will go on sale in the States down the road.

【謝辞】東京ゲーム音楽ショー2019にご来場頂きありがとうございました。今日本当に幸せでした。本日販売させて頂いた『アカとブルーYM-2151+PCM4オリジナルサウンドトラック』は来週から私のショップWASi303STOREでも販売しますので、どうぞよろしくお願いします！#TGMS2019 https://t.co/xt4Wlaf2Rm pic.twitter.com/lav3tjhff3

— WASi303 (@WASi303) February 23, 2019

Speaking of STG games that are headed to the Exa platform, Devil Engine is now available on the Nintendo Switch (so is the game that the RPG-like title Lightning Knights, but it’s known as Iron Crypticle on consoles). As a reminder, the arcade version will have some differences, although we aren’t sure what those are yet:

The Arcade Hunters Reviews Hammer Away

Curious as to how the unreleased Sega shoot ’em up Hammer Away plays? Nick from The Arcade Hunters gives us this review to dig into the details!

Direct Capture Footage Of The Spectre Files

If you want to see some directly captured video of the prototype, limited release, restored Midway laserdisc game The Spectre Files (geez, that was a mouthful), then here you go. It’s incredibly long for an arcade game, but I’ve had a lot of fun coming back to this and playing it. You’ll notice the actor in the preview image below is none other than Brian Colin himself, the game’s designer. He also plays the hippie and I think a couple of the masked characters like the elevator zombie and the Flying Friar:

New Manga About Girls Who Enjoy Japanese Cranes

Could this be the next Hi Score Girl? Maybe. I finished Hi Score Girl this week and everyone I was watching it with (brother, my two older kids) really enjoyed it. I was talking with someone from Japan about it this week who said that the manga for HSG had a lot more Sega content in it than the anime did, which was apparently unlicensed in the print version. Anyways, could this new manga eventually become like HSG? I guess we’ll have to wait and see, although HSG’s focus on video games is what I’d prefer over crane machines.

Speaking of HSG, this scene from one of the later episodes (I think it is ep. 12) gets at the heart of why playing video games at the arcade is so satisfying…much more so than redemption stuff (sorry redemption fans, but it’s true 😛 )

And speaking of cranes, I had a chuckle over this image shared on social media by Stick With Us Amusements. Drawing credit: Edward Steed

We’ll leave you this weekend with this quick but poignant thought. Have a great weekend!

Arcades are still thriving throughout the world #EXA基板 pic.twitter.com/T6VvINAFrw

— exA-Arcadia社長 (@exaarcadiaceo) February 23, 2019