The educational day of IAAPA 2024 has come and gone, which means that tomorrow the big trade show portion begins (although there are still plenty of seminars to attend). As I was spending most of my time within the trade show area, I was able to scout out a few things, which I’ll share some of it with you now. Unfortunately, my camera is starting to fritz out a bit… I recorded several minutes of LAI Games’ Kaiju Rampage, only for the camera to stop recording out of nowhere, then the file was corrupted. Hopefully this doesn’t screw things up over the week. For now though, here are some things that I saw today – just note that set up was NOT complete in most cases and many games were off.
Check back for seeing them in all of their proper glory.
An IAAPA 2024 slideshow
I don’t have time to edit and upload every photo that I snapped on the show floor today, although you can find a bunch over on the Arcade Heroes Discord. I’ll also upload some to Twitter/X and maybe Facebook if I can also find that precious time (I should be sleeping right at this moment, but I’m being stubborn).
Taiko No Tatsujin USA Model
When I got to IAAPA 2024, this game was on but I was needing to do other things so couldn’t stop and give it (or GoldStorm Pirates) a play. Unfortunately, by the time I was free, Namco had finished up and shut everything off for the rest of the day. I’m guessing the staff had been there for a while already and went to relax in advance of the show. But as you can see, they have two machines there plus the kiddie ride.
Here’s what it looked like while off:
And the drumsticks:
GoldStorm Pirates
GoldStorm looks great and I saw one lady playing it, but right after she must have finished, the game was shut off. I know most of you will be interested in seeing more of Taiko and this, but that can’t be helped…
When BNA’s booth comes back on, I will be sure to get in depth gameplay footage of both major titles here.
Sega Amusements
Sega Amusements were nearby where I spent much of my time today, but thankfully they did not shut their booth down when the team left. That allowed me to get more pre-show photos and a short gameplay video already, including this nice shot, without needing to wait or tell anyone to move:
You could argue that the stars of the booth are the prize games, given how bright and prominent they are…
For us video gamers though, I was more interested in the likes of Alpha Ops VR Strike, the spiritual successor to VR Agent. I did get to play this one all the way through but do note – the software at the show is 70% complete (which was apparent with some bugs like some objects getting stuck in the air) and the cabinet seen here is NOT final. It sounds like that final will be much more flashy.
Unfortunately the headache I get from using any VR game did stick with me for a bit after using it, but I did enjoy this even more than VR Agent since I was sitting down. The only issue I had with VRA (which was previously my favorite of the VR pieces on the market) was that the movement often made you lose the focus of the headset. Here, it’s much easier to maintain, which makes for a better experience. I did have to switch hands after it got a little bit tiring by the end of the first level; the button on the gun is for reloading.
Graphically, the game is quite sharp, showing its Unreal Engine 5 chops. It will be launching early next year.
Also, Apex Rebels has all four tracks on it now, so I will try that last one soon.
On Target is there too and the guns look just like the rifles in JET Games’ Mega Shot. I didn’t get a chance to play this yet though:
exA-Arcadia
I felt bad when finding the exA-Arcadia booth, as both Eric & Andy from exA looked like they hadn’t slept in days. That’s because as soon as the Japan Amusement Expo had finished, they were making their way over here (a 22 hour flight). They had an awesome JAE, where exA was the main draw for some visitors, given they had the most stick-and-button video games of anyone there.
For IAAPA, the new ARC-32 cabinet is on hand. This looks beautiful in-person and demand should be high among candy cab collectors and enthusiasts alike. It’ll look really good on location too. The version seen here has a base that raises it up to standing height, but if you don’t want that, then you can just keep it as a sit down. ExA is also showing more of a focus on single games here, with both ARC-1 and ARC-32 cabinets showing a single game marquee while letting you go into the menu to play something else if you wish. They’ve found that the games earn much better when people think that it’s just one, as opposed to four.
Playing the upcoming Chaos Code Nemesis Experiment
The ARC-32 doesn’t use paper marquees, but the art is printed to acrylic. It also has white LED lighting under the control panel and separate volume controls with headphones jacks for each player (a red light indicates it’s working; if the light is out, something’s wrong). Unfortunately due to the rush, they were unable to bring the trackball controller and the games, so no chance to see Wild Guns Rawhide this time around.
They do have other games around to enjoy however, so stay tuned for those 🙂
NBA Superstars Update
I wasn’t sure what to expect with the NBA Superstars software update, but it definitely looks and feels like an “NBA Jam” update – not only does the gameplay flow faster, the characters are all in with exaggerated proportions. I’m glad they did this as it gives the game more of a whimsical and arcadey feel, than the console games which are more simulator. That can have its place, but less so in the arcade, IMHO:
Angry Birds Fury Road
If you are at IAAPA 2024 and want to try out DOF Robotics’ new Angry Birds racing game, you’re going to either want to start at the north side of the convention center, or you’ll need to walk a bit (most people come in from the south side). When I found it today, the games were already off but the booth space for it is very impressive regardless, bringing some themed fun back to the show that I wish we’d see more of:
Chef It Up
I also found MonkeySplash Studios, who were able to be nestled in a small booth in the Games & Arcade Pavilion area. The designers weren’t at the booth when I stopped by, but I was able to snap this video of Chef It Up. I just didn’t get a chance to play it yet. It feels like I should wait to get some guidance on it anyways, so that I can cover it in detail for the rest of you.
Subsoccer Arcade
Distributor PrimeTime Amusements (who I was doing some stuff for which is where I got to go inside today), has three games at their booth – Killer Queen Arcade, StepManiaX DX, and Subsoccer Arcade. The latter is a new model with a really cool polarized (well, I think that’s what it is. The devs weren’t sure how to explain all of the tech in English) glass top that makes it frosted when not active, making the play a little difficult when no credits have been inserted. Once you pay though, a 90 second timer starts and the view becomes visible so you and a friend can enjoy it. This sort of tech would be very useful in foosball tables too:
IAAPA 2024 Day 0 Wrap-up
There’s actually more than this at IAAPA 2024 already, such as LAI Games’ booth, Jersey Jack Pinball’s “Pinball XP” set up, and a Rollercoaster Tycoon VR game, among others… but it’s already past midnight here, and I need to actually try to get some sleep so I’m not a zombie tomorrow. Stay tuned – Discord will be the easiest place for me to update – but maybe some will hit Twitter/X. Thanks for reading and we’ll see you soon!
