Welcome to another weekend edition of Newsbytes, quick collections of news items from the arcade world. This one is being published a day late from the usual, as I have been caught up in a busier weekend than normal with it being back-to-school weekend in my area. But, better late than never as the saying goes:
Nippon Marathon Turbo On Test This Week In Japan
News on the Exa-Arcadia platform and it’s games has not been super plentiful for most of the Summer, but it appears that is starting to change as more games hit the testing circuit in Japan. Previously we heard about Aka & Blue getting some additional changes made to it along with some tests, and now the odd 4-player party game known as Nippon Marathon Turbo is on test all this week at the Mikado Arcade in Tokyo. It’ll be interesting to see how this one does, given the multiplayer “party” nature of the game.
【ＥＸＡ基板ロケテのお知らせ】
タイトル：
ニッポンマラソンターボ
４Ｐ同時プレイ可能ロケテ日時：
８月１８日（日）から８月２４日（土）まで場所：
池袋ゲーセンミカド是非ご参加ください！#ＥＸＡ基板 pic.twitter.com/2gb4TWrdvs
— exA-Arcadia 【公式】 (@exaarcadia) August 18, 2019
Speaking of Japanese arcades, Bemanistyle.com shared this article from the Japan Times that delves into how Japanese arcades are surviving the modern age – by building a community of players and tournaments.
Golden Tee 2020 Preps For Launch
We’re almost into September, which means the annual launch of the latest Golden Tee arcade game is upon us. If you follow Incredible Technologies on social media or YouTube, then you’ve probably been seeing a lot of posts showing off new courses and features. Let this just server as a reminder that the world’s more popular golf video game is about to get that new version(we’ll have a post about it when it’s time):
Digging Up Some Arcade History
With my home PC on the fritz and behaving strangely this week, I had to go through the hard drive to make sure certain files were backed up. In doing that, I came across a variety of media that was posted to the site from way back in the day. The media serves as a time capsule on a few games from 2006 through 2013 or so.
Starting with 2Spicy, Sega’s obscurish gem of a light-gun game
Exploring an old hard drive, found a cache of 2Spicy media. Sega released this just to arcades back in 2006, very unique light-gun gameplay (move your character around an arena using foot pedals; take cover by pointing away from the screen). #arcade #sega pic.twitter.com/kKGa3yCusR
— Arcade Heroes – The Saviors of Coin-op Newsblog (@arcadeheroes) August 17, 2019
Also from Sega, Primeval Hunt:
Another Sega light-gun game that didn't get a ton of attention, although it was easier to find than 2Spicy, was Primeval Hunt. Released back in 2008, you navigated the map using a touchscreen to arrive at the different dino targets. Guns were rather heavy as I recall pic.twitter.com/toJZukT8kk
— Arcade Heroes – The Saviors of Coin-op Newsblog (@arcadeheroes) August 17, 2019
Instead of embedding a bunch of tweets, here are some other games mentioned in the finds: Namco’s Afrec prototype music game; Dirty Drivin’ prototype cabinet; Let’s Go Island 3D; Friction; The Act: An Interactive Comedy and Battle Stations.
Dynamo Posts Cosmic Thunder Demo Video
We don’t talk about air hockey often as there really isn’t much news to discuss on the genre, but in case you wanted to see what hockey table producer Dynamo has been up to lately, then here’s their new Cosmic Thunder table series:
Jennison Entertainment Acquires Family Fun Companies
This is something that’s “inside business,” and particularly from the side of redemption products, but the company known for Spaceballz and more recently the Wile E. Coyote’s Rocket Wheel games has acquired Family Fun Companies, a business that had been located in IL and produced a number of redemption (and some videmption) products and interactive video game kiddie rides. The employees have relocated to Florida, where Jennison is headquartered.
https://twitter.com/FamilyFunComp/status/1162060535518683136
Ultra Moto VR English Trailer (& Other Amusement VR news)
A while back I posted about a game called Ultra Race VR, and earlier this week, UNIS posted a video of another variation to that game that they are calling Ultra Moto VR. Best I can tell, just the name has changed here, along with a different emphasis on the game compared to previous videos.
But wait, there’s more! Kevin Williams shared this picture with me, further confusing things. The game here below is called Victory Motor VR by a company called Movie Power. By the appearance, it seems to be the same game as Ultra Race/Moto, but also is using a different name. I can’t say that I understand how these multi-owner deals are supposed to work out, but IGS (the original developer) has to be happy. Either way, the Chinese market is all about the motorbike VR games right now:
And to wrap it up, now China will be getting a VR Zone to enjoy in Beijing. Guess we’ll see if it mimics the newer Mazaria or not:
Breaking news – #BANDAINAMCO confirms first Chinese #VRZONE to open in Beijing before the end of the year. pic.twitter.com/z59ZXmwQaG
— DigitalOutOfHomeEnt (@DNA_Conference) August 4, 2019
That’s all gathered for this weekend (practically weekday) – see at the next story!
Man I hated having Primeval Hunt! Those stupid damn speakers inside the gun broke constantly. The guns broke in half if you dropped it. I had a kid shatter both guns one night acting like it was “King of the Hammer” and broke the touchscreen also. Replaced a few touchscreens also. Give me those (at first) faulty force feedback motors inside Let’s Go Jungle any day before I get another Primeval Hunt.