Newsbytes: Metal Slug Code J; Terminator Review; Golden Tee Go!; Beat Saber News; & More

Hello and welcome to this summer edition of Newsbytes. Arcade news itself has been pretty slow this week, apart from talking about Chuck E. Cheeses, but we’ve got enough “bytes” to hopefully tide you over for now.

I almost missed this, but happy 48th anniversary to Atari Corp as of today. I always think it’s in July for some reason. What is your favorite arcade game to hail from Atari?

Metal Slug Code J Revealed

SNK had announced that they were working on a new Metal Slug some time ago, and today they finally showed the game off. Under the prototype name Metal Slug Code J (apparently that is subject to change), it looks like part remake, part sequel (seaboot? sequboot?), but my enthusiasm for this is decidedly diminished by it only being available on mobile. I know some have said that there are some great touchscreen-mimicking-joystick controls out there, but I guess I’ve just missed them – everything I’ve tried in that regard just isn’t satisfying. Maybe I’m just an old #getoffmylawn codger who likes playing arcade-style games where they were meant to be played. A modified version of this would make a really nice fit for Exa-Arcadia, and I imagine that it would get a ton of play in arcades – I have a Metal Slug 2 & 6 at the moment and they still do fine.

LAI Games Launches Project: Kickstart; Player Survey

In an effort to help operators get back on their feet with some equipment that can help bring patrons in through their doors, LAI Games has teamed up with financing company Firstlease and some of their distributors to launch flexible financing for some of their games. You can check that out here.

LAI also wants to hear from players out there, as to what their thoughts are on returning to arcades as re-openings are taking place in certain areas. You can fill out that survey here; It’s refreshing to see a manufacturer reach out to players in such an effort.

Arcade Heroes Review: Terminator Salvation

Following up on Cruis’n Blast, I’ve banged out another review, this time for Raw Thrills Terminator Salvation. I did this in part because of the release of Terminator Salvation: Delta Mission on Big Buck Hunter Reloaded. Click here to read through it; since I’ve been focused on these RT games as of late, I’ll do a Sega or Namco game for my next one. 🙂 If you would like to read or watch some other reviews I’ve done, then hit up our Game Reviews page.

Also for an update on the AH trivia game, I made a little progress this week, although most of the time I spent on it was going back and forth between some title screen designs. I don’t care for the default look, but it looks like I have to keep it to some degree. I’ve reached out to the kit designer for some assistance as there are a couple of other big things that I want to figure out, so here’s hoping he’ll respond soon.

Golden Tee GO! Released

The portable version of Golden Tee is now available to buy, and it has a nice trailer to accompany it, showing off the various features. This should prove to be a good alternative to purchasing a full-blown arcade cabinet, although it’s hard to get a feel for the size on this thing exactly. I want to say “semi-portable,” but will need to see it before finalizing that judgment. It also isn’t clear which version of Golden Tee that this is based on, although seems likely that it’s 2019 or 2020. Get more details on it here:

TMNT Pinball Unboxing

Done by VPCabs, who has a pretty nice collection of pins by looking in the background…

Beat Saber No Longer Authorized For Certain Commercial Applications

I had to get some clarification on this one, as when I first saw Kevin Williams mention it, it sounds like all commercial applications of Beat Saber were going to cease, which would rightfully anger a number of operators who had purchased the Beat Saber Arcade machine from VRsenal (which costs more than a Halo: Fireteam Raven Super Deluxe’pictured below). As it turns out, the change affects those locations out there that setup something like an HTC Vive in a small area and want to operate the game in that setting. While that certainly won’t make VR Arcades like that very happy, it does make VRsenal’s product more enticing.

As to why it’s happening, it appears that the developers, Beat Games, just don’t see any upside to supporting it. This comes more to the forefront when the liability costs are considered, although I haven’t heard of anyone getting infected from using VR yet (likely this is a preventative measure, but if that were to snowball to other VR titles, then that part of the industry is in big trouble, excepting those who developed exclusive games for their equipment)

Vritra Hexa To Have Online Rankings

From the developer himself, the upcoming dragon-themed STG on Exa-Arcadia may end up enjoying online rankings, if this test works out:

VRITRA HEXAのオンラインランキングがだんだん出来てきた。
サーバサイド/html/jsの実装は不慣れではあるが概ね完了。デザインはするとして、問題はcss。全然分かんないんだよな〜 pic.twitter.com/QSmRKHOdsv

— h.sawatari@インディーゲーム開発 (@saddy575) June 27, 2020

Coin-Op: The Arcade Guide Nearing A Release

If you need some fresh arcade-related reading, then here’s a new book for you. Coin-Op: The Arcade Guide is looking to cover various genres of arcade gaming, including “…8 classic arcade genres, from “Side scrolling Beatem’ups titles,” “Arcade Driving Titles,” “Action Arcade Titles,” “Obscure Arcade Titles,” “Misc Arcade Titles,” “Arcade Horror Titles,” and
“1 vs. 1 Fighting Titles.” A Kickstarter to raise funds to get the book over the finish line will be popping up next month or August; You can read a little more about it on Facebook here.

Taito’s Amping Up The Love For Their Arcade Classics Space Invaders Invincible Collection For Switch

Last week, I got my hands on review copies of the Darius Cozmic Collection (via Old School Gamer Magazine), and have been enjoying some Darius goodness on my Switch. It is a great collection of most of the arcade versions of that, and Taito isn’t done (cough*milking*coughwheeze) it yet. They announced that G. Darius and Dariusburst Another Chronicle EX+ will be available this Winter in the release of Darius Cozmic Revelation, and they have a new Space Invaders collection on its way too. The Cozmic Collection as well as these others is being done by M2, who have just done a phenomenal job with these kinds of ports, so my expectations are high for them all. Also don’t forget Namco, who just released their own Collection of games recently.

Speaking of Taito, they also posted an ASMR in arcade video this week. If you really, really, love the sounds of coin pushers, and need something to listen to for relaxation, then this is probably for you:

Let’s Play: Blazing Angels Arcade

I’ve been trying to post more videos to my own arcade and promote them locally as a way to drum up business, but it’s hard to say how effective it has been. YouTube does allow you to target ads in a specific region, which I have attempted to do, but I can’t really say that it’s brought anyone in. Still, this gave me the opportunity to do a direct capture of a game that I always hear people praise – Blazing Angels by GlobalVR. I would embed the Bitchute version below, but WordPress still seems to not like those, so here’s the YT version; Oddly enough, my videos on Bitchute have been getting double or triple the views that any non-paid for uploads do on YT (for that channel – my Arcade Heroes YT is still well ahead there). Not sure why that is, but I suppose that’s where it doesn’t hurt to use alternatives:

That’s all for today – have yourselves a good & safe weekend