Since this is so late, I’ll be rushing a bit without too much commentary on the news items of the week that I missed, overlooked or didn’t have time to get to.
[h=2]The Exa-Arcadia Arrives[/h] A week shy of two years ago, I posted about the Exa-Arcadia multi-game system. On the edge of two years later, I have received my EXA board and have installed it into the cabinet. I have filmed some of the process, but because it arrived while I was at the aforementioned tech summit, I was unable to get to installing it until this afternoon (which was nicely busy at my place, which makes it a little tough to do filming). That said, I got it into the cabinet and playable for customers to enjoy. There were some minor issues in the configuration that caused some initial problems(my misconfiguration of the JVS I/O board, my TV settings and needing to finish wiring my cabinet up). I wasn’t able to finish filming tonight, but will do so on Monday.
[h=2]Iron Man Getting A Vault Edition[/h] I’m kind of surprised that I haven’t seen this posted anywhere except from a mention at a distributor, although I admittedly didn’t look everywhere that pinball news is shared. Stern Pinball’s Iron Man is getting a remake via the Vault Edition method, revamping the old but popular game with new tech and LEDs. The page mentions that availability is limited, although how limited isn’t stated; I’m hearing there will be two runs, one now and one later in the Fall. If you ever wanted to get your hands on a brand new Iron Man, then this looks like the way to do it (assuming you’ve got the budget for it at the moment).
[h=2]Got An Original Rampage? Add A Topper[/h] Working in conjunction with Szabos Arcades, Brian F. Colin has designed a limited edition marquee topper that fits nicely atop your Rampage arcade machine (if you have one). They are $140 and are available to pre-order now; orders begin shipping out next month in March. Check it out here; they are also offering custom “original” side art for the cabinet that the Rampage at Galloping Ghost Arcade has (and is light-years nicer than the lame green & yellow lines that Midway gave the cabinet originally)
[h=2]Xeno Crisis on MVS Update[/h] Thanks to Arcade Belgium for this one, where they quote progress on the indie made game Xeno Crisis. It’s been a year (almost exact) since this game was first mentioned on the blog and it is nearly finished for the Neo Geo MVS (and many other platforms). By the sounds of it, it should be out of testing within the next month or two.
[h=2]Galactic Battleground Update[/h] Also continuing to get updates is the indie game Galactic Battleground. This video shows of gameplay of a new game mode, Warzone. To quote the YouTube description: “… orbs hold a lot of potential (for victory or defeat). If you are hit by the enemy, you lose all of the orbs you possessed and expose them to the opposing team to collect. Think about how quickly the tables can turn if one team is close to victory but only 1 teammate holds all of the orbs.” Check it out:
[h=2]Atari Hotels?[/h] This week the internet erupted with…confusion, over an announcement that a group has licensed the rights from the current owners of Atari (known as Atari SA) to develop Atari themed hotels. Reader Michael L. did a bit of research on this, finding that the company that has registered the domain name for AtariHotels.com is located in a nice house in Arizona, but not exactly an office building. I don’t know – everything Atari SA has done in recent memory seems to be with the sole aim of inflating their value in the hopes of finding a buyer of the brand and remaining IP. It’s not run by people with a real vision for tech & entertainment, it’s just about slapping the Atari name onto something and milking whatever quick bucks they can get for it. So, I can’t say I find this all that exciting by what’s been revealed so far.
Well, that’s all I’ve got for this edition. Tune in Monday or Tuesday for a post diving into the Exa-Arcadia board in more detail.
The post Newsbytes: Exa-Arcadia Arrival; Iron Man Vault Edition; Xeno Crisis MVS; & More appeared first on Arcade Heroes.
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