Mere weeks after being revealed to the world, Utah-based Alan-1 Inc. has begun testing out their new Asteroids Recharged arcade game. What is slightly unusual though is that this is a location test where I’m not reporting about it from photos sent in to me – this time, I’m the source.
Let’s explain.
Asteroids Recharged Recap
In case you missed the news, Asteroids Recharged Arcade is an arcade port of the home game that was released in 2021. Handled by newcomer Alan-1, they inked the deal and received the code only six weeks before Amusement Expo 2024. Thus it was impressive that they already had both a cabinet and a significantly different game on hand.
The Test
Yesterday afternoon, Alan-1 brought the 3-player version to my venue in Utah, Arcade Galactic. They will be testing it at my place for three months. That’s quite a bit longer that the typical six weeks that many games see for testing, but that number can vary. This also being public from the get-go is different from the usual “keep it secret! Keep it safe!” method that most companies use in the States.
Will that warp results? I don’t think it will make a notable difference. I’ve noticed over the years that most people who follow my arcade on social media are not local. Most customers that do visit, discover us because they are already in the mall. Thus, a majority of visitors are casual players just looking to kill some time. Yes, we do get some people seeking us out, but I more often see newcomers than regulars.
The Cabinet
The cabinet I received is the same 3-player unit that I saw before it went down to Amusement Expo 2024 in Las Vegas. It sports a 55″ screen, LED back-lit buttons, wind, rumble & knocker effects, and a good 2.1ch sound system. Some of the lights in the marquee appear to not be attached but aside from needing to modify the coin mechs, there wasn’t anything else I needed to do.
The software is also the same build as found at Amusement Expo – for the moment. This will certainly be changing soon.
I forgot to ask why, but it seems that the intention was for it to be a 4-player model. This is because there are four start buttons mounted onto the control panel and the coin slots are set to work individually (there are four slots). Yet, only three are connected and only three supported in software. There might have been an issue in getting the four to work in the rush to have the cabinet ready for Amusement Expo. That said, the pre-order listing still says three players.
There is a software issue with the coin pulses at the moment, but Alan-1 is working to have that fixed. Until then, any earnings might be slightly warped, just because the game is awarding two credits on one pulse and awarding a bunch of credits when you die.
This of course is why you do testing – to work out all of the bugs & kinks. The more you can test in real world locations before you start taking orders, the better you’ll be off for both the presence of the game on the market and getting sales in the first place.
If there is anyone who reads this that is in my area, just keep in mind that this is a work-in-progress and your feedback can help shape it into a better game. Be sure to let us know what you think though, so we can pass it along.
Wow! This takes me back, even though it doesn’t really.