Shaggy the Atarian

Just as a helpful reminder to everyone making suggestions(or debating ), arcade manufacturers have two customers to consider - the arcade operator first, then the end user. It's a delicate balance, as those are two very different groups, but you can't have one without the other. The reason why ops are first is because they need to Operators care about one thing - will this make me money? They're spending thousands of dollars to buy the game instead of $60, so that makes sense. Some arcade games cost more than a brand new truck. You don't want to spend anywhere between $10k-$50k on a game for charity. Of course, a great game will draw in players and that will equal earnings. But at the same time, the features that equal giant amounts of sales in console sales do not always translate over to what works in the arcade space. Right now, the games that make the most money are redemption - but for video, it's light-gun and racing. If you look at who gets the most sales out there, its Raw Thrills. Their gameplay is usually quite casual but they tend to have some kind of element about them that sets them apart from what you can do on a console. They tend to ask "What else can we do that makes this bigger and different from what you can do at home?" If that means using two screens instead of one, or vending cards, or adding VR, that's what they do. Presently, that's why they're leaning hard into VR. But, they just won Manufacturer of the Year and their games are consistently at the top of the charts. Whether you love or hate their titles, they make money. Speaking as an arcade operator going on 16 years myself, I can tell you that almost no one from Gen Z has a clue what Missile Command is, and has zero nostalgia attached to the idea of a trackball and blowing nukes up. Also, I consistently see light-gun games make much more than my joystick stuff. Having a gun is cool and relatively unique, whereas with a joystick, there isn't that much of a difference from that to a thumbstick. Here's a great example of why people are drawn to light-guns more than other types of controllers in an arcade setting. These have metal casing and feel real. The air compressor force feedback compliments it too: Give Missile Command a light-gun like that and it might make bank. Even without a rifle, people would play it who have never heard of MC before, although it's likely that most Atarians would scoff at it. The only potential issue though is that the calibration sucks, as you want pinpoint accuracy. But just a gun with a different design will attract people to it. That said, trackballs are uncommon in the home space for gaming still, so I think that a large trackball in a game like MC would still be plenty cool to set it apart from what you'd be able to do at home.

The Samurai Pizza Cats are coming to arcades as a part of the beat 'em up game, Jitsu Squad. Also, a smaller 2-player version of Minecraft Dungeons Arcade is available now: And now you can get a boxing machine (these are big money makers) with Power Slap branding on it:

First video from the event, had to make sure it was Asteroids

I'll have more on this soon but best I could throw together after getting to hotel late and tired:

I like the idea of the giant asteroid and/or black hole. There's a few challenges already in recharged where you just have to survive for a certain length of time. From what I understand, they'll integrate challenges into the waves. I'll know for sure when I get a chance to play it tomorrow One thing to keep in mind though with any suggestions (not saying this about yours, more just in general for anyone reading this thread), is that since this is an arcade game, they have to take into account the desires of operators too. If anyone can play AR for 40 minutes on a single credit, the game won't make money and operators won't buy it. Of course I'm not saying it should be like Raw Thrills games, which have a "time to die" clock on them, but they certainly need to balance things out in a way that makes players and ops happy. That's always a difficult balance to figure out.

They are headed in that direction with the monitor bezel, from this render (also, I can confirm they have a nice subwoofer inside)

Yeah, Drakons is definitely aiming for that virtual roller coaster segment of the market. From what I've heard, it's been doing well out there...I just couldn't begin to think about affording one. ($35k~) I do like Asteroids Recharged, but there are a few things it could do better. I think the music it has doesn't work as it reduces the tension of the original. I don't mind other types of UFOs, but the way they all work is a little weird and they feel like less of a threat. It's also strange how asteroids will move from one edge of the screen to the other - it's like they couldn't figure out how to wrap the screen around so they just spawn the rocks on the other side. It also would've been nice for them to include the OG game on the "Classic" mode instead of just changing it to give you lives - but I'm probably being too picky about it now I do enjoy the challenges in particular and that there are so many of them; I also like the power-ups. But should be interesting to see what Alan-1 does to change it up

In case anyone is curious as to what the Hangar looks like...it's crazy full of arcade historical goodness. When I was there on Friday, I got to play a round of Solvalou, Hercules pinball, and Atari's Space Lords. I don't envy the task they have in getting this place going for the public though...

If you were to go out and do a "man on the street" interview, asking which console comes to mind of the average person, there would be one answer The Atari 2600 The rest we all have love for but there's just no question that the only Atari product to sell 10s of millions of units is going to be the one that people know. The next closest was the 7800 at 3.7m I think, a 10th of what the 2600 moved. There might be some conflation with the 400/800s but only hardcore gamers might know about any of the others.

Time for the full-blown preview! https://arcadeheroes.com/2024/03/19/amusement-expo-2024-the-full-preview/

In case you missed it in Atari General, the first of the Atari Recharged games to get the coin-op treatment will be Asteroids. I had the chance to see the cabinets this past Friday and even help a little on their construction. More behind-the-scenes details and other aspects about it can be found here.

Atari let the cat out of the bag sooner than expected so here you go. The first of the bunch is Asteroids. Atari's Asteroids Recharged Is Coming To Amusement Expo 2024

Ah gotcha. Controversial would probably be something like Gravitar or Quantum, just due to how obscure and difficult those games are; Sensible is a well-known IP like Yars' Revenge, Berzerk, Asteroids, Centipede, Breakout, etc. It'll be nice that I can just say what it is tomorrow, lol. But I can't imagine that anyone will find an issue with it being the first one.

Not sure what you mean by that but if you're referring to how today's arcade-going audience tends to move, it's more towards super easy, super dumb stuff like claw machines, ball toss, and coin pusher games, while ignoring anything that requires a small effort on their part. For video games, that's why driving and light-gun games rule the day, as everyone knows what to do. But even those have become dumbed down, often times there's no brake on the car and the gas goes by itself; Gun games often don't require any reloading anymore, it's just spray and pray. Difficult games tend to bomb, and when you're spending $15k, $25k, $50k on a game, you probably can't afford to lose that kind of money, unless you're making a fortune elsewhere. It's certainly possible, James at Alan-1 mentioned some other ideas he has for some Atari games, but I imagine it'll be a while. Of course if this first game is a big success, then perhaps those will happen sooner rather than later.

Per the press release they said they have the rights to all ten Recharged releases, although I imagine if they release them all will depend on how this first one and subsequent ones do. It will also take some creative thinking to make some like Gravitar and Quantum palpable for today's very casual arcade audiences, who often don't want to have more required of them than just swiping a card at the right time or throwing a ball at a screen. I think the first game they are doing is the most sensible pick, but of course, how the market will take to it will depend on various factors. The few changes I've heard about so far are in that "right direction" but more will certainly come along after the game pops up at an arcade trade show here on Wednesday, and they get feedback from that particular, picky audience (who generally just cares more about how much money the game makes per week instead of how good/bad it plays. Surprisingly the latter doesn't always affect how a game earns.) That is Alan-1 themselves. They have the VCS & PC version out; The arcade version is coming in the next few months (before the first Recharged release) Alan-1 also sells repro arcade parts for things like Atari's vector monitors, repro Star Wars yokes. When I asked, they said those had been selling well.

Here's a thread for the new arcade games that will be shown off this week in Las Vegas for the Amusement Expo International 2024 event. Seminar/education stuff starts tomorrow; The proper show floor opens up on Wednesday. I will be sharing news, photos, & videos on my blog and YT channel but also can share some extra stuff here for anyone interested. One reason this can be of particular interest to Atarians is that the first Atari Recharged cabinet will be at the show, alongside the Joust-like game, Avian Knights (Alan-1 booth). Which one of the Recharged games will it be? That announcement is coming on Tuesday. I've seen the cabinet (even got to do a little work on putting it together, although my contribution was minor) and I think that fans will be pleased. A couple of other games that have been announced: Eugene Jarvis' latest effort, Godzilla Kajiu Wars VR. Eugene will hold a seminar on Tuesday that discusses "How to make a great VR game," which will mainly focus on Godzilla. I played this back in November and the best way to describe it is Gunblade NY with giant monsters and in VR. For some reason, this trailer is silent: Here's an off-road racing/combat game from LAI Games called Smash DX. A new game for this Immersive Reality Game Room, QBIX, will debut at the show. It's called Chef Express and sounds like it might take a page from Burgertime. There's no trailer of it though, so here is what the system looks like with a zombie shooter game: exA-Arcadia will be showing off the near-final build of Jitsu Squad, a beat 'em up that launched to consoles a couple of years ago. The arcade version is different in a few ways and will include an exclusive character from a 90s cartoon show (that character will be unveiled at the show; The build below did not have them yet): Sega is probably not going to reveal a previously unknown game, as they tend to announce those before shows and they haven't said anything like that for this show. That said, the production version of their new racing game, Apex Rebels, will be there: No clue at the moment what Bandai Namco will have - their IAAPA booth was disappointing. But, one potential game is Bike Dash Delivery, which just showed up at the Round1USA in Aurora, IL for testing. Think of Crazy Taxi meets Prop Cycle meets UberEats I will have a full preview up on Tuesday and will also do a livestream on YT to talk about it. If you have a question for a dev, let me know and I'll see about getting it answered!

Just standing next to the printer made me feel dirt poor 😅 🤑

Just got back from the Alan-1 facility and saw the game. The software wasn't installed yet since the cabs for the trade show next week were under construction. After being given a tour, I helped install some T-molding and some sound wiring on the Recharged cabinets; Also installed some buttons into the two player model CP. The cabs are looking really sharp; The art on the control panel looks excellent. The artwork on these machines not only looks good aesthetically, it's some of the highest quality prints I've seen. The art has texture to it and they can print additional layers on top of what has already been printed. This is the new Avian Knights cab (2p) They've got a seriously heavy duty commercial quality printer that prints the artwork direct to the surface of the cut MDF pieces instead of it being vinyl applied by hand. They also also working with Tim Lapentino on art approvals(Alan-1s people have done the art, Tim gives thumbs up/down, makes suggestions). The official announcement for the first game is coming on Tuesday so hang tight for that. I was already told about some significant changes to the game from the console version. It will be interesting to see how people react to it (particularly arcade operators who play it on Wednesday)

Yeah, a vast majority of retro arcades do the Galloping Ghost model now - it really seems to be the only way to make retro truly work. But it's always weird in that they'll mix it in with expensive new pinball machines and skeeball. Most places that have both of those though will charge for those games, since upkeep on them sucks. Funny you mention Elev8. I know the CEO and I've been to the one in Sanford. I've done a little bit of contract work for them, although most of the stuff I've done is for a company that supplies their arcade machines. Either way, the Sanford location does have a large retro arcade space downstairs the last time I was there, but I also am not sure how it is faring. Online reviews there seem rather negative, and I guess the Seminole Mall was just shut down? Tampa on the other hand (which I haven't visited) seems to be garnering positive reviews though. When it comes to those big Family Entertainment Centers, retro is just filler for old guys. It sucks, but unfortunately kids/teens just don't play those enough to make it worthwhile, at least in that pay-per-play type situation. That's where I think that the graphical presentation needs to look modern to help draw them in. It's anathema to say "graphics matter," but in the modern arcade, they do if you want people to drop a coin or swipe a card. On another note, I was sent a couple of pics of the first Recharged game cabinet (a 2p and 4p model). It's only the cab and the artwork but they are looking really nice. I probably won't be able to post them after I visit tomorrow(embargo until the Amusement Expo show), but I should be able to speak generally about what I see. Anyone want to guess as to which Recharged game will be the first?

Yeah, I get the sense that your general consumer thinks that retro arcades still rake in tons of money, thanks to all the retro hype that's been driving both pop culture arcade awareness and the various retrocades that have opened their doors out there (with Galloping Ghost leading the pack). The unfortunate reality is that they don't, unless there's some kind of really unique hook to them. World's Largest Pac-Man is one example of the latter. I've also discovered that indie arcade games that are brand new but intentionally look old/retro, also are duds. I've owned and operated Cosmotrons, Skycurser, ReRave, Deathstalker, The Act, then several indie console games ported to arcades on the exA-Arcadia. It seems that people see these games, think it's some obscure game they never heard of that I put into a new cabinet to hoodwink them, so they move on to other games that they either know or have a better hook. The result is that almost all of those mentioned games have been poor investments as the amount of money they make week-in, week-out, is dismal. A single Cruis'n Blast can make more in a week than any of those games manage to make over the course of a year. I'll be happy to test out the Alan-1 games and see how they do, but if they don't manage to earn their keep, I won't be buying them. I could go on, but I've made a few videos about the subject where I share numbers. While a couple of years old now, nothing has changed.

A different company is working on a new 4-player Food Fight that is exclusive to arcades, but they are going to be announcing it at Midwest Gaming Classic. A Neo Sprint arcade could possibly work - possibly better than any of the joystick games. If it has a steering wheel, it usually does well. That was their focus first - real arcades and not homes. I do hope these games do well, but I have my reservations due to experience. My Atari games generally don't make much on-site, then as mentioned in another post up there, joystick games never perform better than or even on-par with your typical light-gun or racing game. 😕

Ah you were in town for that. Unfortunately I wasn't able to make it. The Recharged cabinets are using the same I/O system that powers all of the extra widgets on Avian Knights (knocker, fans, LEDs, rumble). So the experience you had with AK will be similar to the Recharged games. While Alan-1 will be producing versions for collectors, the first and foremost market is to arcade operators, who then in turn would put them on location for the end user. The physical additions are certainly one way to stand out but so are things like social play next to each other on a multiplayer game, a unified audio/visual experience, and Alan-1 will be pushing their eSports thing. Don't worry about that. Both of the guys I know at Alan-1 are huge arcade collectors and know this. The CEO of the company is the guy who bought the Grinkers Arcade collection in Idaho. They even went as far as to faithfully reproduce the Atari Star Wars yoke controller that you can buy and drop right into an OG Star Wars cab. I've seen these and they feel exactly like the original. Personally I wouldn't mind seeing them use a spinner on Asteroids for that one (reflecting the Blasteroids control scheme). I have a hunch that most regular arcade players will get confused by the buttons, so a spinner would be better for a casual audience. Ah gotcha. Avian Knights did have some very high quality artwork when I saw it a year ago, but I'll report back on that factor when I visit their manufacturing facility on Friday.

There will be a collector's edition (at least for the first game - I imagine others will depend on how that sells), otherwise they are looking at making it work for the scene. I will likely be testing both Avian Knights and the first Recharged game out here in the near future. We'll see how they earn and I'll be happy to provide them with feedback. But, I've seen this go different ways, depending on how receptive the developer is to constructive criticism. Just due to how I've seen things like indie and joystick games work out over a long period of time, I do have my reservations. Joystick games make little money these days and games that look retro often get ignored (I had Cosmotrons which was basically a new Gravitar - the $3500 game only managed to pull in $5/wk :/ ). Unfortunately even a game like Minecraft gets trounced by any light-gun shooter or driving game. They'll have to do some really cool cabinet tricks to draw people in. In regards to DSM, DSM is no longer building their own, I believe; They are working with a couple of others out there, including Fun Company. I'm not sure if Alan-1 approached Fun Company at all. FC is experienced, but their location make shipping costs a bit stupid at times. Alan-1 was trying to work with a cabinet maker here in UT who flaked out on them, so now they're doing it all in house. That is where I'll be going here on Friday to see their setup in person.

While I don't have that agreement in front of me, I believe it ended back when Midway bought Atari Games, or more likely when Midway ceased all arcade/coin-op operations. The Atari name has been out there on the arcade scene over the past 10 years, but it's been kind of sporadic. All of them have been licenses from Atari SA though and not Warner Bros.