It’s been a busy week, especially for new arcade releases. As you’ll gather from today’s Newsbytes, there’s even more of that action going on, but we’ll cover some other quick pieces of news. Let’s get to it!
The Forums Are Back
After some of you readers got into a discussion about the state of modern arcade games on Twitter(and it was asked for), I decided to install some forums on the site. They aren’t their own separate site like it used to be, but they are easy to use. Just sign-in to your WordPress account (the same that you would normally comment with below any post), go to the Forums, then start posting.
JAEPO 2019 – Bandai Namco Shows “Reflair” Videmption Cabinets
Here’s something that we completely missed until now; thanks to Kevin Williams at The Stinger Report for uncovering a bit of news at JAEPO that the Japanese media didn’t cover (unless I overlooked it, which is certainly possible).
Many of you have been asking me what Bandai Namco is up to in regards to video games, since the last new & original coin-op video game they released was Maximum Tune 5 in 2017 (skipping Pac-Man’s Pixel Bash as that is just a compilation of 80’s arcade hits; They also have been working on LBE VR games, which will be at Amusement Expo). While I don’t think that Reflair can be put into that category at this moment, it is close. Reflair appears to have been made as a general videmption software cabinet. Whether or not this is intended for the West is unknown; if it’s at Amusement Expo then question resolved. If not, then this is probably just to see how the Japanese market takes to it. That said, if it is headed our way, I’m curious what software it might run, as what was shown at JAEPO featured Adrenaline and Coastal Amusements games (and they already use their own cabinets).
New Games For Japan – Street Fighter V Type Arcade & WCCF Footista 2019
With the console version released way back in February of 2016, Capcom’s Street Fighter V finally comes “home” to arcades with the release on March 14th of Street Fighter V Type Arcade. I’ve heard through the operator grapevine that a chain here in the States did consider the game for a short time, but last report was that they’ve rejected it since it’s too close in content to the console version. Even then, I’m sure that there is interest from a handful of independent locations out there; our friend Kevin Williams was asked by Taito to gauge interest in sales of 2-player kit for the US. I don’t know the price tag on that, but you can count me out on it this time.
Sega has also released the latest edition of their WCCF soccer games, WCCF Footista 2019 to the Japanese market (marking two soccer games launching out there). If you are unfamiliar with WCCF, it is a card based video arcade game where you have pplayer cards that you put onto a sensor playfield, which then inserts those players and their stats into a soccer match. Sega did bring WCCF over to Europe back in 2006 or so, but the series has not received Western support since.
Zero Latency & Dark Slope Team Up For A “Next-Gen VR Platform”
About a month ago, we mentioned news of a new multiplayer LBE VR setup in Toronto by the name of Scarygirl Mission Maybe, developed by a newcomer to the VR business called Dark Slope. If that game interests you, but you don’t find yourself anywhere near Toronto (Canada), then this is for you. Dark Slope has teamed up with Zero Latency to bring the game to ZL’s various installations.
There is more than that to the story however, as Scarygirl Mission Maybe will be a launch title of sorts for Zero Latency’s “next generation” of VR hardware; it’s also the first 3rd party title that ZL will add to their collection of content. You can read the press release here, then to check out ZL’s new hardware (which makes the users look a little bit like Robocop), you can watch this video:
Final Fight To Get A 3-player Mod
If you’ve ever felt like Capcom’s Final Fight was meant to be played with 3-player co-op, then you’re in luck, as fans are finally bringing support for such play to the arcade version of the game with a ROM hack (or mod, if you prefer). When released, this will work on CPS-1 arcade boards. All you’ll need, apart from a ROM burner, is a 3-player cabinet. I have an old Xenophobe that was converted into a Knights of the Round that is ripe for such a change (as unfortunately, no one really plays KotR, even though it’s awesome). Check out the preview trailer here; via Destructoid:
After Burner Climax Headed To Mobile Again
If you love Sega’s 2006 arcade game AfterBurner Climax, and don’t have easy access to the arcade machine, then you’ll probably be happy to hear that the game is headed to mobile again via the Sega Forever service. More details over at Segabits.
Play DDR Naked At A “Love Hotel” In Japan
Um….I’ll just leave this here. (Safe for work)
Arcade History of the Week: Formula-X
While surfing the web, I came across this old flyer for a Namco EM (ElectroMechanical) game I had never heard of called Formula X. In doing a little bit of research, it turns out that it was the predecessor to F-1, another EM game that Namco eventually released in the States via Atari. This was not a video game in the digital sense, but an analog one, with all of the graphics produced through motors & backlit art slides. I’ve not seen footage of this one, but you can see the sequel, F-1, by clicking here.
I've always found EM arcade games to be fascinating, as game devs came up with clever ways to produce something playable and fun, w/o a video screen. Here's one I had not seen before, Formula-X ('73) by Akira Osugi for Namco. Later downsized & improved as F-1 pic.twitter.com/muP2vY27Pj
— Arcade Heroes – The Saviors of Coin-op Newsblog (@arcadeheroes) March 12, 2019
Arcade Humor Of The Week: What does the Raiden guy say (High Score Girl)
https://twitter.com/MKOutofKontext/status/1104973498382979075
That’s all I’ve gathered for this week. Thanks for reading and have a fun weekend!
Good stuff as always Adam.
For Namco’s “REFLAIR” general videmption cabinets, it seems that they could fulfill quite a good niche on game rooms that are more into generic cabinets. I even remember from the interview with EXA Arcadia that they are open to all sorts of ideas, especially with some small talks with redemption game companies.
I am sure that there are more good arcade news to come.