Long-time readers to the site will be familiar with exA-Arcadia, a platform I’ve discussed many times on the blog. If you haven’t heard about it before, they are akin to classic Neo Geo MVS, offering a modern take on that idea. Their model is quite beneficial to the modern arcade operator, allowing for certain genres like fighters to make a comeback to the market. They are coming to IAAPA 2022 with some new products so let’s give you a look at what they are doing.
The exA-Arcadia ARC-1
First off is a brand new cabinet design. The exA-Arcadia system itself was initially launched as a conversion kit that could go into any JVS or JAMMA (with I/O) compatible cabinet & monitor, giving it a wide range of existing cabinets that it could be put into; It was also given a limited run of ‘Showcase’ cabinets manufactured in conjunction with Fun Company. In full disclosure, I have two exA cabinets – one in a FunGlo V4 with modded artwork that I had made and the other being the official 4-player model that exA-Arcadia & FunCo did.
These new cabinets are being built at exA-Arcadia’s new USA factory and come with a much smaller footprint. They also are modular, meaning that operators can purchase different kinds of control panels (1-player/2-player or 4-player); Ops can also easily change the orientation of the monitor from horizontal to vertical within a few minutes if desired. The monitors are included and are 32″ 1080p models with low 1ms display lag.
It’s possible that you’ve seen a few arcades out there posting that they have one of these models on test; the big debut will be at IAAPA where visitors to the exA-Arcadia booth will feature over exA-Arcadia 30 titles spread across 16 ARC-1 cabinets available to play. These also use a newly developed exA-Arcadia JVS’ I/O board which extends the existing JVS standard to further reduce input lag to what exA-Arcadia calls the game industry leading “Sub 1” input lag to achieve near 0 frames of lag.
Last but not least on the cabinets is that they will come in at a low comparative price point, which can be obtained at the show. ExA-Arcadia has signed on new nationwide distributors such as AVS Companies and others, who will be announced at IAAPA. As it is, the pricing is well under $10k which puts it into a very competitive territory; On top of that, they are also shipping this year – not next. Financing options will also be available but interested buyers will need to consult their distributor.
New games
Cabinets are an essential part of any arcade experience but they are useless without software. At IAAPA, there are some new games which will be playable, although only one of them is something that has not been unannounced – until now. These are titles that were specifically mentioned as being playable at the show (but not limited to; scroll past these to see a full IAAPA game list):
Donut Dodo Do! – This is the new announcement – the original Donut Dodo (available on Steam) is a like a cross between two early 80s Nintendo games, Donkey Kong and Popeye (perhaps a little more of the latter). Instead of collecting Olive Oil’s hearts around the level, you are collecting donuts. The exA-Arcadia version has been “completely remade,” offering 5 stages, new exclusive play modes, and simultaneous 2-player fun. It will be a budget release, meaning the kit will be under $1k. A trailer for the exA-Arcadia version will be forthcoming:
Arcana Heart 3 Xtend – The final version of the 2D fighter Arcana Heart 3 had been announced in the past but as far as I am aware, this is the first trade show where the game will be playable. I would venture to guess that this will be the next fighting game released for the platform. Visit the official game page here.
Jitsu Squad – This 4-player beat ’em up made some waves when we first heard about it way back in February 2021 and recently the game has landed on PC, with console versions not far behind. We have heard little about the exA-Arcadia version but it will be playable for the first time at IAAPA. I’ll have to grab the PC version to compare; I played the very early PC demo but I imagine a lot has changed since then. You can see more on the official page,
Shinorubi Pink Label – This shmup was unveiled at a special event in Japan back in April. This is the first time it will be available to play. Visit the game page here.
Here is their full IAAPA game exhibition list. For already-released titles, each will be sporting new “quality of life” updates that reduce input lag. For a full list of version changes per game, click here.
exA-Arcadia will be located at booth 415, right across from Stern Pinball and in-between Betson/Raw Thrills and Really Big Crane Company. If there are some specific questions you would like for me to ask them, or videos to focus on, let me know and I’ll make sure it’s a part of the coverage.
