Midway Arcade for the iPhone/iPad

[Mockduck]

Heya! The company I work for (WB Games) just released Midway Arcade to the iTunes app store, so I thought I'd stop by and give it a quick prop here, as I bet some of you will enjoy it.

 

It's a 99-cent app that has Joust, Spy Hunter, Arch Rivals, Defender, Rampage, Root Beer Tapper, and a couple of "amusement" games like a hoop dunk and skee-ball. It has Game Center integration for leaderboards, friending and that kind of thing. There are a couple of expansion packs as well, one with Gauntlet I, II, and Wizard of Wor, and another with Total Carnage, NARC, and APB.

 

I think we did a nice job on this one, and would love to see what you think. If you are interested, feel free to check out the page here, or join us on Facebook here!

 

The emulation is similar to the Midway Arcade Classics compilation from the PS2 days, but the UI and interface has been given a nice overhaul, and the games work well with the virtual joystick-and-button interface that iProducts have.

 

Thanks for reading!

[goldenegg]

Very happy to see this! My one request is that iCade support be implemented.

[ComputerSpaceFan]

Forgive me for a complaint but why does this require the latest versions of iPhone and iPod Touch? I realize my second generation iPod is considered archaic by Apple standards but given these arcade titles don't require much power under the hood, and given the Atari collection runs fine, the Capcom Arcade ran fine (before they yanked it), and recent releases like Off the Leash, Monopoly Hotels, Jetpack Joyride, etc. still support my unit, is it so difficult to make the Midway Arcade compatible with my machine?

 

I'd love to play it.

[Mockduck]

@Dragonstomper - Unfortunately, I'm not sure why the title has its current support limitations, sorry. If I get the chance I will ask.

 

@Moonsweeper - Yes! I know this has been a frequent request, and the folks who work more directly with the game than I do (I'm a community guy, not a dev) are aware of it.

[goldenegg]

Hehehe ... Screen names are one line higher

[+LS650]

What are the touch screen controls like? That always seems to be the downfall of touch screen emulation.

[UberArcade]

I bought it and tried it out. The controls are terrible. There is no way around it though. I don't think they could play much better. You can't play a serious game on any of them with the touch controls. Defender is a joke.

[mckafka99]

I think Joust works decently enough. With All the different iterations of the iCade controller that are due out, I'd say that support for it should be the #1 priority.

[+DamonicFury]

For me, Joust, Rampage, and (surprisingly) Spy Hunter work pretty well! Tapper needs a bit of work in the control department... for some reason, the up/down controls seem pretty flaky. Defender probably works about as well as can be expected for a touch interface (which is to say, not all that well.) But overall, certainly well worth the .99 spent!

[BrianC]

I thought the controls were done very well, considering the limitations. I didn't have a problem controlling tapper once I found out how the virtual stick works (I'm used to trying to control it from the middle, when it works better to press the arrows on it directly). I had music and sound effects cutting out on some games (gauntlet and tapper), but I found the overall package to be very nice. Wizard of Wor is much better than the version of Midway Arcade Treasures 2 (though the voice samples seem to play over each other at times).

 

Forgive me for a complaint but why does this require the latest versions of iPhone and iPod Touch?

 

You mean before 3GS? According to the app store, it supports 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, 3rd Generation iPod Touch, 4th generation iPod Touch, and iPad (which includes iPad 1). That's more than just the latest versions. Some apps don't even support iPad 1 any more. I was glad to see this app works great on iPad 1, even with newer games, when certain apps don't even support it at all (Namco Arcade and Dodonpachi Blissful Death, I'm looking at you).

 

Does anyone else think the announcer sounds like Malcolm McDowell?

Edited March 6, 2012 by BrianC

[ComputerSpaceFan]

Forgive me for a complaint but why does this require the latest versions of iPhone and iPod Touch?

 

You mean before 3GS? According to the app store, it supports 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, 3rd Generation iPod Touch, 4th generation iPod Touch, and iPad (which includes iPad 1). That's more than just the latest versions. Some apps don't even support iPad 1 any more.

 

Actually what I meant was ...

...my second generation iPod is considered archaic by Apple standards but given these arcade titles don't require much power under the hood, and given the Atari collection runs fine, the Capcom Arcade ran fine (before they yanked it), and recent releases like Off the Leash, Monopoly Hotels, Jetpack Joyride, etc. still support my unit, is it so difficult to make the Midway Arcade compatible with my machine?

... so yes you are correct, my wording was wrong, it does support more than just the most recent devices, but why can it not support my Second Generation iPod Touch given so many current more-graphically-intensive games do support my device?

[goldenegg]

... so yes you are correct, my wording was wrong, it does support more than just the most recent devices, but why can it not support my Second Generation iPod Touch given so many current more-graphically-intensive games do support my device?

 

Because this is emulation of arcade titles and not a native iOS game. Emulation requires a lot more horsepower. Narc in particular requires a decent amount of resources to be emulated properly.

[Rob Mitchell]

Midway just updated this collection to iCade compatible!

[Mockduck]

You beat me to it!

 

Yup, we've now updated Midway Arcade to v.1.0.1, which now includes iCade support! Getting support for iCade was a big request, so we're thrilled to be able to make it happen.

 

You can check out all of the details on the update on our iTunes page here, but let's just copy it over as well:

 

What's New in Version 1.0.1

 

iCADE SUPPORT

Get ready to mash some buttons as you enjoy your favorite Midway classics as they were originally played. iCade evokes classic coin-operated nostalgia complete with joystick, retro painted cabinet, and now 12 of some of the most popular games from gaming legend Midway.

 

IMPROVEMENTS WITH CONTROLS

Shatter high scores in Midway Arcade with new, more intuitive controls.

 

FIXED SPY HUNTER THEME LOOPING BUG

Elude enemy agents in Spy Hunter to the classic theme song used in the original.

 

ADDED D-PAD FOR ROOT BEER TAPPER

Keep the drinks coming and earn a handsome tip in Root Beer Tapper with added D-pad support.

 

FIXED CRASHING PROBLEMS ON START UP AND WITH DLC

Play all your favorite Midway titles anywhere with improved stability and performance.

 

It's been cool to hear from you all in this thread here, feel free to join us on Facebook or Twitter as well! I've been posting up some screenshots, videos, trivia and the like, and would love to have you join us over there if you are interested. I'll keep an eye on this thread as well.

[Mockduck]

For me, Joust, Rampage, and (surprisingly) Spy Hunter work pretty well! Tapper needs a bit of work in the control department... for some reason, the up/down controls seem pretty flaky. Defender probably works about as well as can be expected for a touch interface (which is to say, not all that well.) But overall, certainly well worth the .99 spent!

 

I agree that Spy Hunter was a nice surprise, I wouldn't have expected it to work as well as it does with the iPad (in particular), but the tilt sensor seems to fit pretty well with this one. We've fixed up Tapper in the latest version as well.

[Jess Ragan]

Boy, I sure wish I could afford a recent iProduct. Looks like it's back to the Playstation 2 games for me!

 

By the way, I take it that Warner Bros. owns all the rights to Midway's classic library? I was hoping Jarvis would have gotten his old games back, but I still think they're in better hands than they were under Sumner Redstone. What an utter disaster he turned out to be for the company!

[christianscott27]

Any chance of an Android release? I'm really aching to play some Joust on the go and I can't be bothered going the MAME route.

[ledzep]

I'm also interested in an Android version. I love the Atari Greatest Hits app. Which reminds me, any chance of this Midway Arcade having more than 10 games? Midway put out a lot of games back in the day.

[NightSprinter]

Same here. Would be nice to test out how the games work with the various methods of using hardware controls. Hopefully it should be far better than the "xperia play" functionality of R-Type.

[Mockduck]

I'll make sure to pass along your requests that this be released on Android as well, but at this point we have nothing to announce about bringing this to other platforms. Same with requests for additional games, we've definitely heard the feedback!

[Jess Ragan]

Oh yeah, I've got a Droid X coming and would definitely be interested in an Android version of this app. I'd also like to see if that new version of Tapper is available for the Android, since the iOS version won't work with my device.

[NightSprinter]

courderoy guy: how would the numerous types of controllers that can work for Android in their own ways be addressed? This might be a concern, as some game releases from others have little or no support (in terms of emulated arcade games and how they work).

[Mockduck]

Right, I bet it would take some doing to figure out the various flavors of Android. At this point I haven't heard of any plans to bring it to that platform, but you never know!

[NightSprinter]

Not so much as the different flavors (though I've heard issues with HTC Sense and Samsung TouchWiz having incomplete bluetooth drivers), but the various game controllers one can get for smartphones/tablets all work in different ways.