It’s been a little while since we ran an update on the latest locations being opening by the growing Dave & Busters. The last time was this post from September which discussed new locations in Michigan, Massachusetts, Minnesota & New York. Now to catch up a little, here is news on two new locations where you can find some arcade entertainment. From the Dave & Busters Facebook page:

Friendswood, TX (which is in the greater Houston area):

Glendale, AZ

While there is no games list available of what is there, you can safely assume that they have a large selection of some of the newst/newer arcade and redemption titles to play.

Their website also mentions that locations in San Antonio, TX and Springfield, VA are “coming soon”…we’ll have to assume that means sometime in the month of December if the plans are still based on opening in 2015. At IAAPA there was also talk of them opening a location internationally once again (years ago that had been in the UK; this new one is in Dubai), we wish them the best of luck in the continued endeavor of opening new venues.

Have you heard about a new arcade opening up somewhere around the world? Let us know!

The post Dave & Busters Location Updates: Friendswood, TX; Glendale, AZ appeared first on Arcade Heroes.

I hope everyone had a safe and happy Christmas and holiday weekend. We got a lot of snow where I am at although it was the kind that isn’t good for kids to make forts or snowmen out of (or adults to drive in).

There’s a little bit of arcade news to share so lets get into it:

Maximum Tune 5DX Gets Some New Music: The latest version of the popular Maximum Tune arcade driving game is out in Japan and to celebrate, Bandai Namco released this video showcasing some new music to grace the game.  As previously mentioned, Namco has Western plans for the series in 2016 although we are unsure whether they will be bringing just 5 or 5DX to US shores.

Stern’s The Avengers Pinball Gets Colorful Thanks To ColorDMD: The ColorDMD company continues to improve more pinball games, now offering an update for Stern’s The Avengers pinball (2012). Unfortunately we still have to take the rumors of a Color LCD/DMD in brand new Stern launches with salt since that rumor has been around since Star Trek (2013) but they have yet to deliver…in all the rumors about Ghostbusters pinball there is the claim it will finally make the jump but at this point I’ll only believe it when I see it.

360° Video of the Dave & Busters in Milpitas,CA (Thanks to JDevy for the tip): With VR tech out there in some fashion, taking 360° video is becoming more popular. On top of that, video services like Youtube support these kinds of videos so that you can manually look around the video using the arrows seen in the upper left corner of the video (I am not sure what devices that works on…at least this is what I see with a PC). Arcade tour videos are certainly better with this kind of camera and here is a tour of a popular Dave & Busters location in California posted a few days ago where you can also catch a glimpse of a brand new arcade title that we have covered here, Sega’s Mario & Sonic At the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Arcade Edition (about 1 minute in):

Street Fighter 2 Car Bonus Real Life – This isn’t the first real life SF2 thing we’ve shared before and probably won’t be the last I’ll have to look and see if anyone has ever tried to do a realistic Street Fighter 3 bonus stage (with the wooden barrels). That would be a little different…

Name That Game #69 – Here is your last NTG for 2015. Answers for last week:

#1 – Captain America and The Avengers by Data East

#2 – Captain Skyhawk by Milton Bradley (Playchoice-10)

#3 – The Alphax Z by Woodplace Inc. 

For this week:

The post Newsbytes: MaxiTune 5DX Music; Avengers Pinball Color; SF2 Car Bash; NTG#69 appeared first on Arcade Heroes.

In posting about the new Luigi Mansion Arcade as seen at Amusement Expo 2016, reader Jordan Fredrick pointed out on our Facebook channel that the game is already setup at more than one Dave & Busters location (he also provided this picture to the right showing the game at a D&B location. It has green accent lighting that I didn’t notice at Amusement Expo). Then this morning, Dave & Busters posted these two promo videos to tout the latest timed exclusive that they have (as a reminder, this has happened a few times in recent memory, such as with Mario Kart GP DX). Sega has stated that this game will be available for wide purchase this Summer but if you can’t wait to play it then D&B is the place to go. It is also worth noting that the videos show the title with the correct grammar for the title, being Luigi’s Mansion Arcade instead of Luigi Mansion Arcade.

EDIT: Right as I was posting this, the status of the videos was changed to “Private” so at the moment they are showing up blank…perhaps that will change soon. Either way, I think the ‘cat is out of the bag’ so to speak.

Since these are blank, let me share my latest LMA video

The post Luigi’s Mansion Arcade Exclusively Available At Dave & Busters Until Summer appeared first on Arcade Heroes.

Any day is a good day for new venue news. Here are the new places to look at:

Two Grand Openings For Dave & Busters Locations (NY & TX): I thought that we had mentioned the grand opening of the Rochester, NY location from back in March but it looks like it was missed, so here’s the official word on that as well as the San Antonio and El Paso, TX locations that opened this year. San Antonio was in January, El Paso was this past Monday. Games lists aren’t available but you can expect to find a large line-up of the latest video and redemption games on hand, peppered with some occasional older titles. Announcements here via the D&B Facebook page.

Great Escape Social Eats & Crafts Open In Des Moine, IA: Going beyond the standard bar/arcade is an FEC that has opened their doors in Iowa. The Grand Opening was at the end of February and they do not have a lot of information on the arcade but they do have one (their main focus is bowling with 24 lanes). The arcade is not very large and for the video games portion I’ve found that they have Jurassic Park Arcade, Star wars Battle Pod Flat Screen and Super Bikes 2. Otherwise they have several redemption games. Their official website is here; Facebook page is here.

Coin-Op Game Room 3rd location in CA (via Vectorgamer): A 2nd3rd Coin-Op Game Room is coming to California this July. The first location is found in San Diego; another is in Sacramento and the new one is going to be a 10,000 sq. ft. facility in San Fransisco. According to this article at the SF Eater (which does get some things wrong like Galaga’s spelling or the original TRON’s story), they will have a game selection that spans from the early 80s classics until some games from now including the new Ghostbusters pinball. Pinball tables will find themselves in a special upstairs lounge. They will also have a special TRON-themed area that is reached through a hidden door behind a broken TRON game (like in TRON Legacy). That area is apparently going to be more of a VIP bar. Since it is still early an exact games list isn’t available but it is likely there will be some similarities between it and the San Diego location. You can visit the official Coin-Op Game Room site here.

Hub Zero “Immersive Entertainment Park” Coming To Dubai (Thanks to Kevin Williams for tip on this) – This one isn’t really an arcade and it is also very early in the development process but a press release has been sent out to tout this upcoming park to Dubai, that has backing from home gaming companies including “Electronic Arts, Capcom, KONAMI, Microsoft and Square Enix”. The PR follows that up by mentioning: “Thrilling Attractions and Rides Developed Exclusively for Hub Zero, Based on World’s Best-Selling Electronic Action and Adventure Games” – so given the properties that these companies own, it can be assumed that we’ll be getting rides/attractions from some very recognizable games.

That’s all that has been gathered for now, we wish these locations the best of luck and if you have the chance to visit them, give them your support!

The post New Arcades: Dave & Busters (NY & TX); Great Escape Social Eats & Crafts (IA); Coin-Op Game Room 3 (CA); HubZero (Dubai) appeared first on Arcade Heroes.

A little while ago, we reported that Namco was developing a new level to be added to their Star Wars Battle Pod arcade game. Not much was said about it, other than it would be based upon the Battle of Takodana from Star Wars The Force Awakens. Today, popular arcade/FEC chain Dave & Busters uploaded two new commercials to Youtube, finally giving us a very brief glimpse of this level in action:

I extracted the 1 second footage shown and turned it into a gif so here you go:

I have reached out to Bandai Namco Amusements for more info although it is a solemn holiday in the USA today so things are closed. We’ll update when we have more info – I’ve been waiting for this to do my official review of the Battle Pod, so expect that not long after the update is in hand.

The post Star Wars Battle Pod Episode 7 Level Seen In Action appeared first on Arcade Heroes.

June is here and with that school is out and the arcade stays busy. At least in my neck of the woods. We’ve got plenty of video to fill in your weekend:

Unboxing a World Tour Foosball table by Barron Games: It has been a  little while since I updated the Arcade Heroes Youtube channel but the other day I had a good reason to do so as we have a new unboxing to watch! This is much different that the other games I’ve unboxed on camera; thanks to the men needing to be installed one-by-one, the whole process took about 4 hours. You will definitely need someone to help when it comes to putting something like this together:

Ghostbusters Deluxe Edition In Action: A while back we had reported that Dave & Busters had a unique version of of the Play Mechanix/ICE videmption game Ghostbusters. Designed with a theater cabinet, we hadn’t heard much about it although this week I was talking with one of the D&B VPs who told me that surprisingly this version of the game did better without the tickets so that is why you’ll come across it playing as a traditional light-gun game at their venues – as well as the footage from the video here (notice it shows points/score instead of tickets won):

This is an earlier test version pictured that did have the ticket dispensing active.

RC Squared Prototype In Action: Further back in time we reported that an unreleased but near complete Game Refuge/EA arcade title had found its way to the Galloping Ghost Arcade in IL by the name of RC Squared.  At the time we only had a picture of the 4p cabinet but now someone has captured some high quality video to show you how this one played:

Custom Mario Bros. Pinball Coffee Table: Don’t worry, the builder didn’t sacrifice a Super Mario Bros. Pinball machine to create this

Sears Cosmic Pinball TV Commercial – Did you know that Sears sold home pinball machines back in the 1970s? Thanks to this commercial, now you know and knowing is half the battle:

How to Fix Those Annoying Konami Hybrid Sound Chips: If you have owned a Konami arcade game from the early 90s like X-Men or Xexex, then you are likely aware of a poor hardware design choice that they made regarding the sound chips. Using surface mounted capacitors, caps fail and leak over time, which means they cause the sound to experience weird issues or go out entirely; replace them and you get sound for a little while again. Where I own both and have had to replace the caps for my X-Men a couple of times, I’d prefer a total chip replacement that lacks capacitors but the cost of figuring that out would probably be pretty high. For those that need a guide, this post on the KLOV forums points to 7 new Youtube videos that explain how to fix these chips.

Flyer of the Week – Ali: A legend in the sport of boxing has passed so it seems fitting to have the Stern Pinball game which was based on him. From 1980, the game didn’t sell very well but it was a licensed game that used Muhammad Ali’s likeness to the fullest extent possible. RIP Mr. Ali (Full flyer can be seen here)

Name That Game #85b – I’m surprised that no one guessed the second game as the name of it was in the gif (sometimes you can’t avoid that).

#1 – Fighting Layer by Akira

With the gif maker going out and myself not having all day to wait for it to work again, I’ll repeat #2 and #3 this week. As a hint, #2 is a Namco game…

This week:

The post Newsbytes: World Tour Foosball; Ghostbusters Deluxe; RC Squared; NTG#85b appeared first on Arcade Heroes.

It has been teased for a while now that Dave & Busters was doing something with Konami’s popular Dance Dance Revolution series this Summer but it wasn’t clear until today what that would entail.

Thanks to this post by Bemanistyle, we learn that Dave & Busters is going to be testing out the latest version of the DDR series, DDR A. In fact the company has launched a page to promote the game, which you can see here.

From that, we learn that multiple locations are going to be showcasing the game, which has over 650 songs, e-Amusement Pass support (online features which include a player account, events, tournaments, unlockables, etc.), full localization in English and some licenses of Western songs that include names like Pharrell Williams and Selena Gomez.

If the tests work out then D&B will be adding more DDR A units to their locations.

UPDATE: Thanks to a tipster that has passed along accurate info before, Round1USA is also getting DDR A “within the next two weeks”.

@arcadeheroes All @Round1USA locations are also getting DDR A over the next two weeks.

— OMG KON! (@OMG_KON) July 6, 2016

Of course the question that everyone else will be asking is how do you get your hands on one of these DDR A units if you aren’t Dave & Busters? Unless a distribution channel in the US announces that they will be carrying the game then other locations will be out-of-luck (excepting, most likely, Round1USA). However a successful test would mean that Konami would see the benefits of offering a wide release so we’ll just have to keep an eye on that; in the mean time, if you want to play the newest DDR, visit one of those D&B locations later this month!

The post Konami’s Dance Dance Revolution A Landing At Dave & Busters Soon UPDATE: Round1USA Too appeared first on Arcade Heroes.

Popular arcade chain Dave & Busters has unveiled their headlining games for their annual “Summer of Games” promotion. Headlining the titles are various popular licenses including Ghostbusters, Mario & Sonic, Star Wars, Galaga and Star Trek. Excepting the latter, we have covered all of these titles; in terms of Ghostbusters, the company has a unique video-only version of the ICE videmption game on hand:

“Star Trek Arcade”

UPDATE: Thanks to Nick @ ARcade Hunters for sharing these on Facebook:

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Star Trek airing on TV and this week sees the release of the new film Star Trek Beyond. The reboot (known officially as the “Kelvin Timeline”) already received a pinball machine via Stern Pinball in 2013 but no video arcade game has touched the series since Star Trek Voyager back in 2002. The brand new “Star Trek Arcade” as Dave & Busters is calling it, is not an arcade game in the video sense but as a coin/prize pusher. It also follows the classic 1960s show and not the reboot. This newer kind of pusher has become immensely popular with the high earning Wizard of Oz pusher that Elaut released a few years back and involves cards and colored chips instead of just coins. It does have collectible cards to win as via this description:

Control a mechanical arm to launch metal tokens at a mountain of tokens, chips & collectible Star Trek cards. Chips & cards knocked off the ledge can be picked up & redeemed for tickets. The first set of eight character cards, available now through October 2016, feature Star Trek legends from the 1960s TV series including Kirk, Spock, Scotty, Sulu, & a rare card featuring the Tribbles. Each card is also available in a limited, foil-enhanced version, redeemable for even more tickets!

Dave & Busters has this new game exclusive to their locations for the Summer, as shown in this video promotion and this special page on their website (thanks to Jdevy for this link).

Is this the Star Trek arcade game you were hoping for?

The post Star Trek and Ghostbusters Headline The Dave & Busters Summer of Games appeared first on Arcade Heroes.

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The long-awaited redemption game, Zombie Snatcher manufactured by ICE as a partnership with Toccata gaming will be rolling out to Dave & Busters locations everywhere very soon. If the game is not yet in the D&B location you most frequently visit it should be there very soon. This game is part of the Dave & Busters Summer of Games promotion. The promotion lets you have 4 free plays on a select list of games (one play on one game each) with a Power Card charge of $10 or more. Coupons can be used in conjunction with this promotion. Zombie Snatcher was supposed to have a nationwide release earlier this summer however manufacturing issues held its release back a bit.

Zombie Snatcher is a 6-player Zombie themed rotary game where you have to knock chips with various ticket values into slots on the game’s playfield.

Other games that qualify for Dave & Busters summer of games promotion are: Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Arcade Edition, Star Trek Arcade (Coin Pusher), Star Wars Battle Pod, Quik Drop, Crossy Road Arcade, Grand Piano Keys, Typhoon Simulator, Galaga Assault & Ghostbusters Arcade.

The post Zombie Snatcher finally rolling out to Dave & Busters locations nationwide appeared first on Arcade Heroes.

It’s time for some news on fresh arcade locations that are open out there, let’s start with a couple on the international circuit:

Hub Zero (Dubai) – We mentioned this one a few months ago when a press release was sent out to announce the development of another theme park/arcade facility in the attraction heavy city of Dubai, UAE. I expected it to take a little longer to to reach the point of opening there doors but here it is, ready to go. They do have an arcade (called the Time Warp Arcade) stocked with various recent games as well as classics apparently on LCDs instead of their original CRT monitors. That includes pinball, something that Dubai isn’t well known for. Beyond that, they have several giant attractions, turning various popular games into theme park level rides or games (including Plants Vs. Zombies, Asura’s Wrath, Gears of War, a Resident Evil dark ride, pro racing simulators, VR and more). Here is a 360° video walk through; their main website is here.

Frolics Pinball, The “Secret” Arcade in Toronto, Canada – It’s not so secret now but this half-public/half-private pinball arcade in Toronto is getting noticed by local media. To get the address as well as inside the doors, you have to make arrangements in advance with the owners; they also are heavy on charity work as an entry ‘fee’. They have several of the latest games including Ghost Busters, Full Throttle, Game of Thrones, Star Trek LE, Medieval Madness and more. The story about their effort can be found over at Torontolife.com & RealVectorGamer.

Photo Credit: Torontolife.com

Crazy Croc’s Open In Bradford, ON, Canada – Speaking of Canada, an eatercade  opened their doors on July 31st. Unfortunately I am not able to find out what their game selection is (apart from In The Groove 2 and “skeeball, pool and air hockey”) nor how much space is dedicated to games. The Facebook page has little information other than a few reviews and there is no main website. Via Simcoe.com & RealVectorGamer.

New Dave & Busters Locations (Various) – It’s been a little while since we mentioned the new Dave & Busters locations so catching up (links go to the Store Detail pages which have tours, more info on games)

–Summerlin(Las Vegas), NV Opened on August 8th  – This location has a DDR A, thanks to Alan T. for the tip.

–Florence, KY opened on June 27th

–Little Rock, AR opened on June 13th

–Capitol Heights, MD opened on April 25th (thought this had been mentioned on the blog but guess it was missed)

That’s it for now. I am aware of the Taito Densha De Go news but I’ll just save that for Newsbytes this weekend. I don’t really get why mainstream gamer sites go crazy for stuff like that which will only show up at Rounda1USA locations (if that) but completely ignore games like Cruis’n, Mario & Sonic Olympics Arcade or The Walking Dead which do get full international releases.

The post New Arcades: Hub Zero (Dubai); Frolics (Toronto); Dave & Busters (Various) appeared first on Arcade Heroes.

It’s that time again to check out the accumulated news of the latest arcade locations to pop-up out there. But first, this tweet of Bill Murray signing a Ghostbusters pinball machine in Charleston:

Dr. Peter Venkman was kind enough to autograph our #Ghostbusters pinball today. Always great seeing him. Who you gonna call? #BillMurray pic.twitter.com/cChyEblGpx

— The Alley Charleston (@TheAlleyChas) October 17, 2016

New Arcade Venues

Hailey’s Harp-Cade (Metuchen, NJ)

This one opened up a couple of weeks ago, following the standard ‘pubcade’ formula. That includes a number of classic arcade games such as Asteroids, Centipede Defender, Donkey Kong, Galaga, Ms. Pac-Man and more. They also have a few pinball machines with The Addams Family probably catching most of the attention. Their main website is found here.

Bar 145 Opening Soon, Adding “Reset” Arcade To Business (Miamisburg, OH)

Bar 145 is a chain of bars that are found in different parts of Ohio. With the Austin Landing location, they are adding a “Reset” retro arcade to the location. This will feature about 20 classic arcade titles but it sounds like the main focus will continue to be on the bar itself. Their Facebook page is found here.

The Dam Sports Arcade Finishing Up The Arcade Area (Corvallis, OR)

Not entirely unlike Bar 145, this sports bar over in Oregon is adding about 35 games to their business with at least 10 of them as pinball machines. From their Facebook page, a few of those games include Crazy Taxi, Gauntlet Dark Legacy, Game Of Thrones Pinball, Ghostbusters Pinball, & TMNT Pinball. Also, if you are into things like baseball cards, they have great presentation on showing off their collection to patrons.

Flippin’ Great Pinball (Tallahassee, FL)

This is another pinball-focused location to open its doors in Florida. Their selection of pinball includes: Creature From the Black Lagoon, Dracula,Earthshaker, Flash Gordon, FunHouse, Grand Prix, High Speed, Lethal Weapon 3, RollerCoaster Tycoon, South Park, Space Odyssey, Star Trek The Next Generation, Whirlwind and more. They also have a few video games such as Donkey Kong, Mario Bros., Marvel Vs Capcom 2, a NEO GEO MVS, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 and more. From the photos, it looks like they have already filled up their space with games. You can check them out on Facebook here.

“Arkansas City Opens Arcade” 

I saw various links for this showing up on Twitter but the story itself offers up very little useful information. The headline is also misleading as it makes it sound like the city is owning and operating the facility when it is a privately owned small business. Several local news stations have copied and pasted the story to share around so without more info such as a name, there’s not much to say. Now if you live in or near Osceola, AR, perhaps you’ve heard more about it.

Netherworld To Open Soon In Brisbane, Australia

Going international for a moment is news about a new bar/restaurant/arcade opening in Brisbane. Called Netherworld, they will have “more than 15 pinball machines, 25 arcade machines…” as well as game consoles and boardgames.  Apart from a Tales From The Crypt pinball machine, the list of games isn’t mentioned yet. Visit the Netherworld main site and read about it at Concrete Playground.

Virtual World VR Arcade Opens in Israel

Thanks to Nadav S., here is a link(In Hebrew) to a new VR arcade facility that has opened in Netanya, Israel. Here’s their promo trailer:

New Dave & Busters Location Opens In Fresno, CA

As the tweet shows, Dave & Busters continues expanding their location reach. While unsure of the game selection, you can always rest assured that it will have the latest video games and redemption titles available to play.

Are you ready to rock with us! Come celebrate our newest store opening in Fresno, CA today! pic.twitter.com/jlXPmDvBiG

— Dave & Buster's (@DaveandBusters) October 17, 2016

That does it for now. Have you heard about a new arcade opening out there that we haven’t covered? Let us know! Otherwise, make sure to visit one of these businesses if you are close by!

The post New Arcades: Harp-Cade (NJ); Bar 145 Reset (OH); The Dam Sports Arcade (OR); Flippin Great Pinball (FL); Netherworld (Au); Dave & Busters (CA) appeared first on Arcade Heroes.

Here at the Buffalo, NY Dave & Busters we have a new redemption game on location called Tailgate Toss. The ICE factory is very close to this location so its no surprise that we get possible chain-wide location test games earlier here that are by ICE. As of this post this is the only Tailgate toss game in the world. The game is made by Ice and it is a football-themed bean bag toss game. You have to toss bean bags into holes on a circular rotating platform.

(Click to enlarge)

The points are worth 1000, 2000 and 5000 and there are 3 holes. The game is on a timer (as of the version that I played) and you have to toss the bean bags as quickly as possible in the holes to score points. The bean bags are on a sliding platform that moves and spits out the bean bags back at the player.

With an attractive red truck themed cabinet this game is sure to be very popular, especially since football is an extremely popular sport in this area.

If you are in the area come to Dave & Busters Buffalo in the Walden Galleria Mall in Cheektowaga, NY and experience this unique game.

The post New Redemption Game Tailgate Toss by ICE testing at Buffalo, NY Dave & Busters appeared first on Arcade Heroes.

Business hasn’t come to a halt amidst IAAPA, so let’s take a breather from that to shine a light on some new arcades opening up out there.

Kongs of Kings Opening A Bar/Arcade In Cardiff (UK)

(Thanks to Kieran M. for the tip)

A new bar/arcade is coming to the city of Cardiff with a focus on retro games like Pac-Man and Donkey Kong. With table football (foosball as we call it on this side of the pond) and a 900 person capacity, it should prove popular like their location in Bristol. More info can be found here at Wales Online.

Soda Parlor in Nashville, TN Expands by Adding Arcade Games; Re-Opens Nov. 26th

This business first opened in 2014 but I caught this tweet showcasing their expansion that includes the addition of a classic arcade game selection. The business will re-open this Saturday with what looks to be plenty of classic arcade goodness.

https://twitter.com/OlanRogers/status/800058962968072192

New Dave & Busters Opens In Silver Spring, MD

For gamers in or near Silver Spring, MD, the new D&B there will let you get your hands on many of the latest games in the industry. More info here.

The doors are open & the fun is springing up at the #GrandOpening of our newest store in #SilverSpring! View more: https://t.co/BEBOmBT1Nm pic.twitter.com/DkMUNMJxVB

— Dave & Buster's (@DaveandBusters) November 21, 2016

All Amusement Fun Center Potentially Closing Due To Landlord Redevelopment

(Thanks to Mike L. for the tip)

Now for some bad news. LA Weekly calls it “the L.A. area’s last mall arcade” and with the new owners of the Burbank Town Center looking to redevelop and “refresh” the space, that means that rent rates are skyrocketing. For the All Amusement Fun Center that has been in that mall since 1995, that time spent and value added to the area counts for little in the eyes of the landlords who are looking for national brands to occupy the space.

They are trying to fight it with a petition to the CEO of the new owners but are also on the look out for a new location in case they have to move – which may lead them to leaving Burbank.

Hopefully it works out and if you are in the area, be sure to drop by and give them your support.

For the other arcades opening their doors, also get out and visit them if you are nearby – we wish them the best of luck in the business!

The post New Arcades: Kongs of Kings(UK); Soda Parlor(TN); D&B (MD) appeared first on Arcade Heroes.

Welcome To The Latest Newsbytes

If you are new to the site, welcome. Thanks for following us for your arcade news. The Newsbytes posts are generally something we run on Saturday to compile quick arcade news from the week that we might have missed or may not have warranted a full post by itself. For stories ran on the site this week:

New Arcades: Kongs of Kings (UK); Soda Parlor (TN); D&B (MD)

IAAPA 2016 Part #3: Gun Games; Rhythm Games

IAAPA 2016 Part #4: Pinball; Videmption

And in other news:

Indie Arcade Title Skycurser Receives A Major Update

We’ve been watching Skycurser for a while now, made easier by the fact that I have one operating in my facility. They recently sent out WiFi adapters to make it easier to keep the game up-to-date and the first update sent via this method came along this week. While it did not add a new level to the game, the re-balancing, bug fixes and additions to the core software were significant. That includes a revamped scoring system, EX attacks, food pickups and graphical touch-ups. With each update it is feeling like a more complete game so if you have played it before, go out and give it a new try:

#screenshotsaturday of SKYCURSER, a brand new indie arcade #shmup available exclusively at the worlds best arcades. #gamedev pic.twitter.com/yzHtLn2Xoi

— SKYCURSER dev team (@skycurser) November 26, 2016

The latest Edition of Pinball Magazine Is Available For Order

Looking for Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Arcade In The US? Go To The Bay Area:

PSA, Bay Area arcade nerds: Round 1 in Concord has 4x Theatrhythm Final Fantasy cabinets (& Luigi's Mansion Arcade & lotsa rare JP cabs.) pic.twitter.com/cBxK5mowX5

— Simon Carless (@simoncarless) November 26, 2016

More Daytona 3 Footage

Since demand from IAAPA has been highest coming from Daytona 3, here’s the last bit of footage I uploaded that wasn’t included in the original hands-on. I will have more footage of this and a couple of other IAAPA games within the next month or two

Sega Bringing Their Mobile RPG Soul Reverse To Japanese Arcades

While there’s the small possibility that this will show up on US shores at certain locations, I wouldn’t pin my hopes on it. If RPGs were a safe bet in this business, then we would see many more of them. Even in Japan the numbers of Arcade RPGs has dwindled in recent years as fighting & rhythm games have been strong. That said, all it takes is the right concept with properly implemented elements so perhaps Soul Reverse is the ticket. Sega has also handled MOBA type games over in Japan with Wonderland Wars (although I have yet to hear about that one making its way over here). The official site for the game can be found here.

NESiCAxLIVe Library Gets Dumped To PC

Not because Taito or game centers wanted it of course but thanks to that eternal battle between pirates, scammers and creators. This also marks the issue of using off-the-shelf PC hardware and joystick games but it’s a risk that generally hasn’t been too big of an issue. I’m sure that Taito knew that someone was working to make this happen which is behind the push for NESiCAxLIVe 2 next year, where the security measures will be increased again in the attempt to ward of the public game dumps. Here’s one title from the present dump:

Rock ‘Em Sock’Em Robots By Dave & Busters

(Thanks to Jdevy for the tip) – I’ve heard about this one for a while and while at IAAPA it was confirmed to me that Dave & Busters has developed this as a part of their internal efforts to create new arcade products. The other is one we’ve covered recently, the Tailgate Toss redemption game. In this video, you see the giant boxing robots in action at the Orlando D&B (too bad I wasn’t able to stop by this time and see this in person) :

Being pressed for time, I’m going to have to leave Name That Game for next week. Have a great weekend!

The post Newsbytes: Skycurser; Soul Reverse Arcade; Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots Arcade appeared first on Arcade Heroes.

Playland-Not-At-The-Beach In San Francisco, CA Looking For Funding

(Thanks to Jdevy for the tip)

On occasion we hear about non-profit arcades. They are certainly uncommon as the operating costs for any arcade tends to be a bit high so it is difficult to maintain that when operating a for-profit arcade is a challenge.

For Playland-Not-At-The-Beach in SF, they have managed to buck the trend, having been open since 2000. They are  As they explain on their website:

Playland-Not-at-the-Beach is a temperature-controlled 9000-square foot building chock-full of amazing things to see and do. There are 30+ pinball machines set on Free Play, arcade games, videogames, carnival games of skills where you can win prizes, penny arcades full of antique amusement devices, live magic shows, an amazing hand-carved miniature circus, side show acts, miniature dioramas, Fascination games, and historic exhibits with artifacts from the Sutro Baths and Whitney’s Playland in San Francisco. Playland-Not-at-the-Beach is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit Museum of Fun. Designed and built entirely by volunteers, the 20+ interactive exhibits celebrate the magic and history of America’s bygone amusements.

As events happen however, the building that they are in has reportedly been sold and they are seeking funding help to move and continue operations. A Gofundme account has been established for that fundraising purpose with a lofty goal of $750k. That has been going for 6 months now but it doesn’t hurt to spread the word.

New Dave & Busters Opens In Oakville, ON (Canada)

For news on a new location, if you are in Ontario and have been wanting some arcade fun, then Dave & Busters has a new location for you. Bemanistyle.com reports that the location has both a DDR A and a Pump It Up Prime machine but both are currently offline. Also as D&B locations go, you can expect a large line-up of various modern releases for both video amusement and redemption.

The clock strikes FUN in Oakville! Our newest location is officially open! Come by today. Details: https://t.co/LVUb6BTVxw #DaveAndBusters pic.twitter.com/T0DgIF8eJE

— Dave & Buster's (@DaveandBusters) December 5, 2016

The post Location News: Playland-Not-At-The-Beach Needs Help; New D&B In Ontario, CAN appeared first on Arcade Heroes.

Often when the end of the year hits us, we come across news for new venues. So let’s get you up to speed:

Round 1 USA Opens In Exton, PA; Coming Soon To South West Plaza in Littleton, CO

The Japanese owned Round 1 USA is continuing to expand their operations here in the USA. This means more games that you often only find in Japanese arcades like Theatrhythm Final Fantasy are to be found near you. The company has mostly favored the Western regions of the US but with the opening of the Exton, PA location yesterday, this helps balance that out.

Round1 Exton Square Mall (Exton, PA) grand opening on December 9!! pic.twitter.com/XltAlPdLjK

— Round 1 USA (@Round1USA) December 7, 2016

They also are hiring for the soon-to-be-open location in Littleton, CO. Their locations page shows that and a venue in Lithonia, GA as ‘coming soon’.

Round 1 South West Plaza is now hiring as we are approaching our opening!
CLICK HERE TO APPLY NOW!https://t.co/w1hAEzfFVk pic.twitter.com/6llbA5kGOY

— Round 1 USA (@Round1USA) November 22, 2016

Article About The New Silver Springs, MD Dave & Busters

Just a quick note here, we did mention this D&B recently but in case you wanted to see more, this real estate blog has some pictures and details.

X-Treme Fun Center Expansion (Ft. Lauderdale, FL)

Part of the reason for the news slow down this week is that I was back in Florida again on business. I made a trip to South Florida where I got to check out the PrimeTime Amusements facility and the X-Treme Fun Center that they do game operations for. It is quite an impressive facility, housing bowling, go karts, food and of course an arcade. They have a mix of old and new arcades, focusing more on new.

When I was there, I saw that they were expanding that arcade, adding an 8 seat XD Dark Ride and they were talking about getting in dozens of other new titles. It also is the first venue I’ve seen with a rope course, where that course is setup directly over the game area. Add to that a new trampoline park that opened within the past few weeks, an impressive car museum, new escape rooms and more coming in 2017, this is quite the FEC to check out if you are in the area.

Not the best pic but here’s one view of the arcade area

and from the car area just for fun (some are replicas but there were a few that were used as props from certain films) :

Power Play Arcade Opens At The Orlando International Airport

You might recall that a few years ago, famous high score guru Billy Mitchell opened up a small arcade at the Orlando International Airport. It eventually closed but the airport apparently has stayed interested in the idea of having one around. According to this post on the Facebook group Atari Museum, a local Florida operator known as Power Play has opened a location there with titles like Galaga Assault, Star Trek LE pinball & World’s Largest Pac-Man. This location apparently opened up last month but I have been unable to find out where in the airport it is. I’ve been there two different times in the month and did not see it before security or after.

Have you heard about any new locations that are open out there (or will be opening soon)? Please let us know!

If you find yourself near one of these venues, stop by and give them your support!

The post New Arcades: Round 1 USA Expansion; X-Treme Fun Center Expands (FL); Power Play Arcade (FL) appeared first on Arcade Heroes.

Hello again fellow Arcade Heroes! It has been a little while since we did Newsbytes so let’s see what quick items have been happening out there.

Let’s get to the news:

Kokomo, IN Repeals 61-year Old Ordinance Banning Pinball

Believe it or not, there are still some towns out there which have archaic, generally unenforced laws or ordinances on the books that ban pinball machines or arcade games. Such has been the case in the city of Kokomo Indiana until December 13th, when Mayor Greg Goodnight reversed the decades long ban. Funny enough, almost everyone in the Kokomo City Hall had violated the ordinance according to the story in the Kokomo Tribune. Good on them for finally getting this taken care of.

Kokomo Mayor Signs the Pinball Ban Repeal – Credit: Kelly Lafferty Gerber, Kokomo Tribune

Rock ‘Em Sock’Em Robots Setup Via Arcade Hunters

Nick at The Arcade Hunters had the opportunity to unbox a new Rock’Em Sock’Em Robots game by Dave & Busters. I imagine that this D&B exclusive will be installed at all D&B locations by the end of the year. Rock ’em on…

Setting the stage. pic.twitter.com/ucP0q96tuB

— The Arcade Hunters (@ArcadeHunters) December 16, 2016

Skycurser Level 4 Coming Soon

With the various Skycurser units out there having the WiFi upgrade, updates to this indie shooter are much easier to get a hold of now. The recent balancing update was a great demonstration of what they can do with it and soon we’ll be getting level 4 (out of 6) to enjoy:

Get ready for an icy death in Mission 4: Railroad Rampage. Coming to all #SKYCURSER locations soon! #pixelart #gamedev #arcade #shmup pic.twitter.com/MOgH99rZJP

— SKYCURSER dev team (@skycurser) December 13, 2016

AVATAR Pinball Added To ColorDMD Line-Up

The latest pinball machine to receive color support from the fine folks at ColorDMD is Stern’s AVATAR Pinball. It’s one way to spruce up an otherwise underwhelming game.

The Pac-Man Rickshaw (via Arcade Otaku)

I want one just as a decoration in my arcade

Video Of The Power Play Arcade, Orlando International Airport

We mentioned the Power Play Arcade a short time ago and I just came across a video of it. From this shaky cam walkthrough, it appears to be a little bigger than the Billy Mitchell King of Kong Arcade that used to be there. The video maker doesn’t appear to be aware of the latest arcade developments…he needs to read AH to stay up to date!

Name That Game #102

We can blame IAAPA for disrupting out normal Newsbytes reports but that’s ok. We’ll take that kind of disruption every once in a while. For Name That Game #101, click here.

For the answers from last time:

#1 – Time Pilot ’84 by Konami

#2 – Driver’s Eyes by Namco

#3 – Gorkans by Techstar, Inc.

The post Newsbytes: Indiana Town Unbans Pinball; Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots; AVATAR Pinball Color; NTG#102 appeared first on Arcade Heroes.

Time for another look at some new locations that are opening their doors out there! Thanks to Michael L. and George R. for the tips on a couple of these.

Rupert’s Kids Arcade Opens In Shelbyville, IN

Coming across non-profit arcade efforts are still rare but the challenges in operating such an organization do not dissuade everyone from giving it a try. Such is the case with Rupert’s Kids Arcade which opened up in Indiana this past February 4th. This arcade has been developed by a Hoosier celebrity Rupert Boneham, who has been a star on the reality TV show Survivor more than once as well as a candidate for governor back in 2012.

The goal of the arcade project as told by this article at Wibc.com is to take the profits from the arcade and put them into Mr. Boneham’s job training & mentoring program that goes by the name Rupert’s Kids. As Rupert says: ““Everything we’re making is going back to our community teaching young men and women how to make that legal living, sense of self-worth and work ethic.” When it comes to arcades providing teens something else to do, this certainly will help cover that in a different way.

As for the arcade itself, it offers: Asteroids, Batman Forever pinball, Centipede (cabaret), Hydro Thunder, Jurassic Park pinball, Mortal Kombat 4, OutRun2, Pac-Man (cabaret), Rescue 911 pinball, The Lost World: Jurassic Park (upright), Track & Field, WWF Royal Rumble Pinball and more. The charitable organization page is here; official Facebook page for the arcade is here.

2 Eatertainment/Bar-arcades Looking At Some Friendly Competition In Richmond, VA

These concepts are still a little ways off from opening, one in particular hoping to open by April this year. But if you are in the Richmond, VA area then it looks like you will be getting more arcade entertainment by the end of the year either way. Read up on the developments at Wtvr.com

Super Arcade Progress

It wasn’t long ago that Super Arcade in Azusa, CA had announced that they finally had managed to find a location and had begun remodeling work. In case you were curious, this tweet shows the latest…restrooms are important!

Just another update. Additional restroom being framed and existing ones being worked on finally! Slow and steady wins the race! #progress pic.twitter.com/pdXVj6nzl0

— Super Arcade !!! (@SuperDojo) February 13, 2017

New Dave & Busters Opens In Columbia, SC

No games list as usual but you can always assume that they will have some of the latest games on hand along with certain titles that show up at all D&B locations.

Come shake it up with us today for our Grand Opening in Columbiana Centre! The only place to Eat, Drink, Play and Watch Sports in Columbia! pic.twitter.com/lWhpmaCKxE

— Dave & Buster's (@DaveandBusters) February 13, 2017

New Round1USA Opening In Lithonia, GA This Month

I haven’t seen an exact date yet but it is supposed to be February for the opening of a Round1USA location in Georgia. Below is a tweet showing their job fair to find employees for the facility; Bemanistyle.com has a breakdown of all of Round 1’s venue plans for this year and next. I am a little surprised to see one location on track for 2018 – one not very far from me in Sandy, UT at a ‘rival’ mall. A few arcades have been tried there but none have succeeded so far. There is plenty of space however and bowling is pretty big here so I imagine they will fare better than Gameworks did in Salt Lake (that facility closed about six months after opening).

Visit us at our job fair at The Mall at Stonecrest (2929 Turner Hill Road Suite 2800, Lithonia, GA 30038) pic.twitter.com/BC3VL2tC1K

— Round 1 USA (@Round1USA) January 26, 2017

My New Location Progress

I suppose that this is a good time to update you on how my new location is going at the moment. This will mark the 4th location that I have been in over the past nine years, all within the same mall. This time it was my choice however – we just need more space to expand with. The store is pretty close to where I am now but it offers 1600+ sq. ft. So that will mean a party/event room and more space for games. We’re also looking to make this look nicer than any previous store…I haven’t always been happy with the look or the theme of my locations but sometimes you just have to work with what you’ve got (skills and budget wise). This past weekend we made the most progress yet – thanks to a carpenter that my dad knows, we borrowed a carpet removal machine which made that task 100x easier than it was by trying to pull up that much carpet by hand. The next challenge is removing the existing carpet glue; acid washing the floors then building the party room, painting the walls, installing a new desk, etc., etc. If all goes well then I’m hoping that we’ll be moved over and open by the end of March but I’ll refrain from pegging a date down since that would be arbitrary.

Just took this now – I remember back in the late 80s/early 90s when the location was a Kay Bee Toy Store. They had linoleum in place and after removing some carpet, we found that some of the linoleum has stayed in place over all these years. Funny thing is that I remember these tiles with the blue, red and yellow spots on them. Ah, weird random memories:

That is all I have found for now. If you find yourself near any of these venues out there, give them your support by dropping by and playing some games!

The post New Arcades Watch – Rupert’s Kids (IN); Barcades For Richmond; D&B Opens In SC; R1USA in GA appeared first on Arcade Heroes.

Cineplex, a popular Canadian entertainment brand based out of Toronto, Ontario Canada, is set to open 10-15 large entertainment centers called Rec Room in 2017 and beyond. Cineplex is a popular brand of movie theaters in Canada that is expanding more into the entertainment industry. Cineplex bills their new entertainment centers as “social playgrounds for adults and children”, a kind of Dave and Busters type concept. These locations seem to feature more entertainment options than Dave & Busters offers in the states, while its unfair to compare everything to Dave & Busters there is no doubt that Dave & Busters is the strongest entertainment brand at least that I know of in the United States however while they have a couple locations in Canada they have not quite taken hold there like they have in the States. The locations will be between 30,000 sq feet and 60,000 sq feet each.

There is already a Rec Room in Edmonton, Alberta that includes activities such as axe throwing, luxury bowling, CXC racing simulator, Virtual reality, 2 different restaurants, over 100 video and arcade games, pool and ping pong, a large area for concerts, live performances and events and many private dining rooms. In addition guests can earn Scene points on every dollar spent at Rec Room. Rec room is free to enter and is run on a pay-per-attraction system.

For more information on Rec Room in Edmonton you can visit this website:

http://www.therecroom.com/

The next 2 locations set to open are in Calgary, Alberta and Toronto, Ontario. The Toronto location will open in summer 2017 and will take over the former Leon’s Furniture store at Roundhouse Park. The attractions will vary from location to location with the Toronto location expected to be a bit smaller than the current Edmonton location. The Calgary location is also set to open this summer.

The post Cineplex Rec Room to open several large Entertainment Centers across Canada in 2017 and beyond appeared first on Arcade Heroes.

Welcome to this week’s newsbytes, where we distill some pieces of arcade news into one post for your reading or viewing pleasure.

Ironsights – Twitch Produced Mini-Documentary On Big Buck Champ Sara Erlandson

Play Mechanix and game streaming service Twitch have been shared a cozy partnership for a couple of years thanks to the eSports nature of Big Buck Hunter and the World Championships that they hold every year. Now, Twitch has produced a mini-documentary that showcases the journey of Big Buck Champion Sara Erlandson called Ironsights. I’ll embed the trailer below; click here if you want to watch the whole thing (Content warning: language).  Congrats Sara!

Dave & Busters Gets Pirates Fever

With Disney gearing up for another Pirates of the Caribbean movie this May, arcade chain Dave & Busters is jumping in on the action with a promotion of pirate-themed games. You can play certain games for free at their locations from ICE’s Treasure Quest redemption game to Bandai Namco’s Deadstorm Pirates SE. Most interesting about this is an actual Pirates of the Caribbean game that is currently available at D&B locations for a limited time – a PotC themed version of Disney Crossy Road by Adrenaline Amusements. I saw Disney Crossy Road at Amusement Expo 2017 but this PotC version is confirmed to be just for D&B. Units will be converted back to Disney Crossy Road once the promo period is over (although I wouldn’t be surprised if a location or two keeps the unique theme). Here’s a commercial to promote it:

Midwest Gaming Classic In Full Swing

It’s that time of year for the Midwest Gaming Classic, which started yesterday and goes into tomorrow. I’m hearing some interesting rumors about changes at Jersey Jack Pinball and a “new Asteroids clone arcade game” called Cosmotrons. Not sure of the full details on that one yet but here’s a picture thanks to Sean of All Castle Games:

Click here for the official MGC website

ColorDMD Pinball Updates: Safe Cracker; Junkyard and Tales From The Crypt

It has been a little while since we shared an update on pinball colorization but ColorDMD has been hard at work, colorizing old pins to give them a fresh life. I don’t see a trailer for Tales From The Crypt yet (which is available at the MGC event mentioned above) but here’s Safe Cracker and Junkyard:

How Video Stores Survive In The Netflix Age

At first, this article at Popzette may not seem to have any relevance to arcades but they are really hitting on the same idea. I imagine that most arcade fans of today are quite familiar with visiting the local video store to rent movies on tape as that was a part of the 80s & 90s culture experience. But the internet and particularly streaming video services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime made competing in the retail market space extremely challenging. Moreso than arcades vs. home entertainment devices as video stores still have you finding home entertainment outside the house just to bring it back. Arcades give you unique and social entertainment at the location but we still have to be creative to attract customers. For video stores, it’s about pushing human connections and massive film selection; for classic/retro arcades in particular, they need the same thing (human element + large selection of games). Read the full article at Lifezette.com – Why Brick-And-Mortar Video Stores Are Still Kicking

Betson Buys Specialty Coin

For some inside baseball industry news that mainly affects arcade operators out West, arcade distribution company Betson has purchased Specialty Coin. This comes only a few years after Specialty had bought up distributor Mountain Coin; both Specialty and Mountain serviced Western operators from Colorado to California with brick-and-mortar warehouses and service locations. That makes for interesting timing on the video store article above as one considers what a traditional distributor has to do to survive in an age where online distributors have become standard. I’ve done business with both companies and generally had good experiences but to be honest I appreciate the benefits of having some friendly competition so we can shop around with local outfits.

Sorry I don’t have a link for this news at the moment – it’s one of those things being shared on industry newsletters as opposed to blogs/pages.

Arcade To Console Ports

I haven’t come across any “new” ports of old arcade games to old game consoles so here’s a couple of videos from some ‘back in the day’ ports

The post Newsbytes: Ironsights Big Buck Doc; Pirates @ Dave & Busters; ColorDMDs & More appeared first on Arcade Heroes.