Hello humble readers, welcome to another Arcade Heroes Newsbytes. Here we compile quick news items into one post so that you have something arcade related to read over the weekend. Also don’t forget to check out the lengthy post about an upcoming arcade game by LAI called Outnumbered. Let’s get started:
The New Elvira Pinball Cabinet (For Those Who Just Can’t Wait)
Yesterday, Stern took advantage of Friday the 13th to unveil their next machine, Elvira House of Horrors. That tease didn’t reveal the game cabinet or playfield, but there are always well-connected people in the business that get things a little early, so here’s the image that’s being passed around all over the interwebs today. I’m pretty sure we’ll have something better to look at, along with more details come Monday. Until then, here’s one cab with more JPG artifacts than anything else:
What Was At The AAMA Gala This Week?
Usually I have a “mole” that attends the AAMA Gala event to let me know about what happened to be there, but not this year. So, we’ve had to piece together things here and there – it’s not much.
UNIS has been the most open about what they had, as they’ve been promoting it on their Instagram account. That included the Jetball Alley augmented reality alley bowler and something that might be considered augmented reality basketball called To Tha Net. I’ll try and embed it here, but Instagram isn’t always web friendly, so you might have to click through. Suffice it to say, it turns the back board in a video screen. While an innovative idea, I think the main question we’re all wondering is just how durable will this be? It’ll be at IAAPA for us to see first hand. As a note, I am working on a story about one of UNIS’ upcoming video games (non-redemption/videmption), hopefully that will be ready at the beginning of this coming week.
Replay Magazine also posted a photo from the Gala, but they usually focus on the players instead of the games. This article discusses the charity work that came through the event and some other “inside baseball” details. But they also had this shot of people playing Adrenaline Amusements’ next piece, something we mentioned a little while ago called King of the Road. This appears to have been modified further from the version at Two Bit Circus, now supporting six players instead of eight. That could make it a little more attractive for smaller venues, although either way the game looks huge. This is another one that I expect we’ll see at IAAPA.
Barron Games also posted photos of some charity work they are involved in and their/Magic Play’s Lollipops game. That is all I’ve found from the event though – they tend to be low key. As a reminder, this next week is IAAPA Expo Europe, so there might be a little more news to come out of that.
Speaking of King of the Road & Two Bit Circus
I had received a press release about Two Bit Circus this week, which was supposed to go out on September 12th, but it ended up in my spam folder so I didn’t catch it until now. The “micro amusement park.” To fill you in on what they have added to their attractions:
In addition to regular attractions and events, the carny crew is introducing new story rooms, gaming leagues, tournaments, shows, and more to its 38k square foot park.
These unique experiences include:
Clash of the Carnies, where teams of 4 participate in a rapid-fire combination of gameplay including 4-player, single-player, VR, arcade games, and everything in between.
Board Game Nights, a spin-off of popular Beta Nights, where guests play for free and developers get valuable feedback. Both Exploding Kittens and Cards Against Humanity will be debuting new games at the kickoff event.
Dr. Botcher’s Minute Med School, a new Story Room (a carny version of your usual Escape Room) that takes classic Operation to a whole new level.
And so much more!
Billy Mitchell Threatens Legal Action Over Pulled Scores
The saga that never ends continues to keep arcade forums busy, with pro-gamer Billy Mitchell firing back with alleged evidence that he says proves that his scores should be restored. If they aren’t in two weeks, he’s threatening legal action against Twin Galaxies and the Guinness World Records. If you’re interested in following the latest in this scoring soap opera, Ars Technica has a great spread on it, with statements from both sides.
Shikhondo Red Purgatory Location Test
The new game tests keep racking up for the Exa-Arcadia platform in Japan; no word on international orders yet.
「ロケテのお知らせ」#ＥＸＡ基板
縦スクロールシューティング
第３弾
「食魂徒（シクホンド） 赤煉獄」
少女ＣＶ：ダイアナ・ガーネット@Tonkhaikichi
サウンドエンジニア@WASi303ロケテ日時：
９日（月）から１６日（月）まで場所：
高田馬場ゲーセンミカド@babamikado是非ご参加ください！ pic.twitter.com/HLxaTC9b2A
— exA-Arcadia 【公式】 (@exaarcadia) September 9, 2019
New Promo For I-Bowl Dinos
When I came across this mini bowling video game at IAAPA last year, it was still a ways out from being complete. Developed by Brazilian company Imply, they had said that it would be ready “in about a month,” but I didn’t hear anything about it after that. Until this week, when the company posted this promo video to YouTube. It’s essentially the same thing as UNIS’ popular Lane Master, but with a dinosaur motif that appeals to kids a little better. They also kept the smoking volcano marquee, which is a cool touch:
Taito’s Arcade Love At The Tokyo Game Show
This week was the Tokyo Game Show, and as a part of that Taito has been busy. First, they promoted these awesome Silverhawk jackets, something from their Darius series:
限定生産品「MA-1 ダライアス」登場！
ミリタリー商品の老舗「HOUSTON」社の協力による特別な一着。9/12から開催の「東京ゲームショウ2019」タイトー物販ブースにて先行予約受付開始！
9/17からはアーケードライブバー #MEGARAGE（溝の口）で予約受付開始。https://t.co/Ge9AXKAeS3#TGS2019 pic.twitter.com/BSABA9uJj3
— タイトー公式 (@TAITO) September 10, 2019
Then, ZUNTATA came back to jam some game tunes from Darius and Ninja Warriors:
https://twitter.com/TAITO/status/1172771327444279296
They also had the creator of Space Invaders, Tomohiro Nishikado, sit down to play the Arcade1up version of his creation on stage:
https://twitter.com/TAITO/status/1172026440662994944
That’s all I managed to find for this weekend, stay tuned for more good arcade stuff this next week. Also, in case you missed it, here’s the latest unboxing video I did. I’m still working on the arcade graphics video, but it’s extremely media heavy, so that is making it take longer than I had hoped (in between the 100 other things I’m supposed to be doing lately). Have a great weekend everyone!
