The weeks after a big tradeshow always tend to be a little slow, although I’ve been a little surprised by just how quiet arcade things have been this April. Fortunately we won’t close the month out this way, as we have something to discuss and that is a new model release of NFS Heat Takedown, particularly the Deluxe model. Here’s the cabinet image extracted:
This confirmation comes from the product listing on Adrenaline’s freshly revamped website and subsequent flyer:
Produced by Adrenaline Amusements, this heavily modified version of the home game launched as a standard (SD) model back in February, bringing the Need For Speed name back to arcades after more than a decade hiatus. Motion Deluxe has the obvious feature of a motion seat, which I learned at IAAPA 2022 began its life as a different project at Adrenaline, Drakons. We learn from the flyer above that it offers 16 degrees of motion, with the motion base providing a great experience from what I played at Amusement Expo 2023. I’m not sure what it is about this system that is different from others on the market that led to it being patented – most motion systems out there use the air-based multi-bladder mechanisms that was pioneered by the now defunct InJoy Motion.
Further adding to the ‘deluxe-ness’ of it, the game sports a 75″ 4K screen; I’m still checking on whether or not it ships as a “Twin Model” though, as the setup from the flyer and at tradeshows seems to imply that with the connecting LED header display. Granted, it’s rare that anyone buys just one of a racer like this, but I am curious to know what the marquee/header situation would be in that case. Otherwise, an operator can buy four units to link together.
The core gameplay is the same between the two models (avoid getting caught by the police while also smashing into your opponents), although it seemed to me that the audio package on the SD was slightly better, pumping out a little more “umph.” That could be due to faulty perception on my part, different audio settings for the unit I played on, or perhaps different audio hardware.
As always if you’re an arcade operator, you can check with your preferred distributor on pricing, although in checking with a contact, they are saying the suggested MSRP is around $21k per seat. This would put it at a few thousand under their main competition, Fast & Furious Arcade by Raw Thrills (the MSRP on the SDs is around $13k a seat).
What that means for the gamers though is there is a good chance you’ll find this one out there if you have any big arcades (FECs) near you. Have you had a chance to paly this yet? If so, what did you think of it?
