New arcade games have been announced via the IAAPA 2023 trade show, so its time to digest what is headed to venues for you to play. As mentioned previously, instead of lumping all of the companies and news together over the course of a few posts, I’m going to keep most IAAPA coverage focused on the companies themselves. It will take some time to get through all of it, but it should keep things easier to search. Let’s start with Raw Thrills.
The Raw Thrills Booth
For those who couldn’t make it, here’s what the RT booth looked like. The setup is the same across trade shows, although minor changes can happen depending upon what products are on hand. You’ll catch a glimpse of Eugene Jarvis in this video, but I missed chatting with him this time.
Godzilla Kaiju Wars VR
There is a ton of Godzilla content on its way to TV and cinemas, so Raw Thrills is pouncing on that to bring some of that goodness to arcades. This is a VR gun game that plays like Sega’s Gunblade NY, but with modern graphics and more mayhem. This begins shipping around Amusement Expo next year (March/April).
Note that I made a mistake in the text of the first video. The game will ship with two chapters; The remaining three will be added later, for free.
King Kong of Skull Island II
Speaking of VR and chapters, the final two chapters are now available for King Kong. They decided to bill these as a sequel but if you have a KKVR and want to upgrade, contact your distributor about a kit. I’m not sure what the price is for that; Ask the distro. Future dedicated units will ship with the II art and software.
Fast & Furious Arcade SD
For those dismayed at the size and cost of Fast & Furious Arcade when it was revealed last year can now breathe a sigh of relief. The standard version was on display and its available to order right now. This comes in at almost half the cost of the DX, by reducing the size of the monitors (down to 43″) and removing the motion base. Otherwise, it’s the same game.
Big Buck Hunter Reloaded – 2024 Update
No other game in the Raw Thrills portfolio has as deep a value proposistion as Big Buck Hunter, thanks to this latest update. It not only brings back the Caribou animal and adds more bonus games, it adds the full arcade version of The Walking Dead. BBH Reloaded machines are basically multi-game light-gun titles now, which is great for bars out there who don’t have the space/budget to open a full arcade floor. Available on December 1st.
Overall
Of course, other in-production games like Minecraft, Nitro Trucks, Moto GP VR, and Halo were on hand. Out of the selection, Injustice Arcade was the oldest of the bunch. It might not have been Raw Thrills’ biggest showing ever, but it was still excellent.
Which of their games made the biggest impression? It is easy to say Godzilla in this case. It is out of my budget, so I hope they do a non-VR version of that down the road. If you come across one though, give it a spin or two (or three). It plays a lot like Gunblade NY, a style we haven’t seen in an age, the graphics are gnarly, and the sound package is rad.
If you attended IAAPA, what did you think of their booth? If not, what do you think from the coverage?
