New games 2012 for Reflex

Hi all,

in Januari I went tot EAG show looking for some new games for our arcade hall.
Sadly again, there wasn't much to see...

I'm interested in buying some new video games. But first I want to hear your opinion about my selection...

In 2011 I went for the GRID DLX because I wanted a new Race game. This was a succes.
This year I wanted to go for a new Shooting game. But there isn't much to choose from . So I was wondering what you all suggest.
This is what I had in mind:

Shooters:
- Namco Terminator
- Namco Deadstorm Pirates DLX (not moving)

I like deadstorm more because it's more fantasy, and something entirely different than what we have currently..
I also was thinking about Operation GHOST. But I still have Ghost squad, so I don't want to buy it because it's too much lookalike and Ghost squad is still working great!

Racers:
- Namco Dirty Drivin twin
- Namco Deadheat twin

I like Dirty Drivin a lot because all our video arcades are "realistic" So this game would be something entirely different.

I'm curious about your comments. It would help me a lot to know what you guys want...
Any Comment / suggestion is welcome!!

thanks

Laurens

Deadstorm pirates, for sure!
I only playd it on ps3 but the graphism are excellent.
Also, as you said, it's a fantasy games, therefore it will attract more customers (of all ages and kind) than an army shooter.
I love Gaia Attack4 too, but sadly we cant have it in Be .


off topic: I just looked at your website,nice display, but too bad there is no french version..

Without hesitation: Deadstorm Pirates!

I would go for Deadstorm Pirates too. Terminator Salvation is good too but Deadstorm Pirates is better and might be better to attract girls (I mean couples will play together instead of the girl watching her boyfriend play alone).

I agree with Eurotronic, Gaia Attack 4 is very funny and 4 players, it's more like Point Blank. There was an English version on test in London. Taito might sell that cab if you ask them...

Regarding racers, both games are great but Dead Heat is already at Sportland (where the two cabs weren't linked the last time I checked meaning it was single player only ). I think that I would choose Dirty Drivin', it's 100% fun and furious! Dead Heat is neater graphically but is a bit light content wise. As Namco racers go, I'd rather wait for the possible European release of Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 4 which will be much more complete...

By the way, did you check the Super Monkey Ball redemption? It's not bad at all! I also like Deal or no Deal but the games last too long to be profitable on busy days.

Eurotronic wrote:

Deadstorm pirates, for sure!
I only playd it on ps3 but the graphism are excellent.
Also, as you said, it's a fantasy games, therefore it will attract more customers (of all ages and kind) than an army shooter.
I love Gaia Attack4 too, but sadly we cant have it in Be .


off topic: I just looked at your website,nice display, but too bad there is no french version..

I know, the website is just very basic. It still needs to be translated to french and english! It's only a matter of time

Gaia Attack4: I've never heard of this game. It looks a bit old no?



@ Nomax:

Actually I don't like Terminator that much. The cabinet looks great but the game is kinda "neutral".

Deadstorm is something entirely different. But it costs A LOT of money. that's the only disadvantage. I only like the DELUXE because it looks GREAT! The small version sucks because the gun is too close to the screen..

Because we bought the GRID DLX last year, I really want to go for a Shooter.. If not, I agree with the Dirty Drivin. I played Deadheat @ sportland and it's not that special..
Wangan Midnight looks great. nice graphics. looking forward to see this one next year!

I recently changed my Killer instinct kabinet into a Multigame with the help of Maarten (You might know him for his multigame sales). It has a list of 75 games we thought were the most wanted ones. (pacman, Ki, Mk, tetris, wonderboy, ninja, TMT, terminator etc...)
If one of you guys think it really needs more games in that list, please contact me so I can update the gameslist!

You guys know that you can always contact me for new ideas / comments / dislikes etc!

I also created a home made Markee for the Multigame using Illustrator:




thanks for the replies!

Nice marquee Reflex.

Did you allready put the cab in your arcade?

I'm curious of what will be the interest of customers for multigame's cab.
My thought is that clients might be upset by the gamelist . I mean by the fact that they have to choose the game. Not everybody know all games name.
I ask because i want to open an arcade here in Liege,with retro games too , but i was thinking more of collecting loads of old cabs and putting 2 or 3 in business and changing them every 2-3 months.


Edit: about Gaia Attack4, the game is from 2010 so it no old at all.
The thing that are great about this games is that; it's funny, quiet rare in modern shooter, it's 4 players and it's set in Tokyo, with some nice view of the city.
Like Deadstorm Pirates it's a whole familly game, wich is good, especially at the coast.

Eurotronic wrote:

Nice marquee Reflex.

Did you allready put the cab in your arcade?

I'm curious of what will be the interest of customers for multigame's cab.
My thought is that clients might be upset by the gamelist . I mean by the fact that they have to choose the game. Not everybody know all games name.
I ask because i want to open an arcade here in Liege,with retro games too , but i was thinking more of collecting loads of old cabs and putting 2 or 3 in business and changing them every 2-3 months.


Edit: about Gaia Attack4, the game is from 2010 so it no old at all.
The thing that are great about this games is that; it's funny, quiet rare in modern shooter, it's 4 players and it's set in Tokyo, with some nice view of the city.
Like Deadstorm Pirates it's a whole familly game, wich is good, especially at the coast.

Thanks!

Yes it's been there for several weeks. And it's 'ok'.
Very hard to compare it with the other arcades but I'm glad I have it because it creates a wider range of clients.
But I think you are right about the gamelist. I think most clients are too lazy to check out the complete list. But you have some people who search for a game, play the game so the games change sometimes...
So you always have clients who give the example how to change the game.

Also I think, those who play the multigame cab very often, are the people who pass by frequently

I don't think it's a good idea to fill your arcadehall with tons of retrogames...

That's nice to hear that someone is willing to open another arcade hall!!

For the moment it looks like i'm gonna go for the Deadstorm dlx.

Another question for you all: Do you think it's necessary that I search for a sportsgame (naomi cab?) ? For example Tennis / football / NBA? If so what version do you guys suggest?

thanks

reflex wrote:

For the moment it looks like i'm gonna go for the Deadstorm dlx.

Great choice!

reflex wrote:

Another question for you all: Do you think it's necessary that I search for a sportsgame (naomi cab?) ? For example Tennis / football / NBA? If so what version do you guys suggest?

It's not necessary but it would be a nice addition. Virtua Tennis 4 is great: awesome graphics, 4 players, and it features the current top players. It will be out next month. Only issue is the price. I bet that it will be around 5000 € for the cab. You can buy a used Virtua Tennis 3 Naomi cab for less than 1500 € but it's 2 player with an older line-up (btw, this game looks better in a Lindbergh cab).

As football goes, Virtua Striker 4 Ver. 2006 is the best you can get (I wouldn't risk the arcade PES episodes although they are cheap because they might appeal to more technical players only). To equip a Naomi with Virtua Striker 4 Ver. 2006, all you need is a Triforce motherboard, a GD-ROM drive, a GD-ROM of the game and a control panel with analog joysticks (+ wiring). Card reader is optional. This hardware is quite common on arcade forums. Personally, my favourite football game is Taito Power Goal because you have a button to punch other players but it's a bit old... It's great fun nonetheless.

If you have the money, Virtua Tennis 4 is the best choice but I really don't know how much time it would take to get a ROI knowing that sport games earn much less than shooting games and racers. It all depends on the visitors you get. I worked in an arcade that was located beside a bar. One of the bar's waiter (an Italian guy) was coming everyday to play VS 4 Ver. 2006 during his break. He earned us a lot of money in the long run... but it's quite rare. Virtua Tennis 4 appeals to all players and 4 of them can play at the same time, which is good for the cashbox. I think it's a good game for tourist places. The cabinet has a modern look too.

I think sport games aren't necessary.
For my little research, i saw only peoples playing those cabs if all there others cabs are in use.
Also what is the more interesting in an arcade games is the cool interface games (shooter or racer, for ex.), and sport games with a simple joystick is just too simple. Customers can have a way cooler experience playing on a Wii.
VT4 is a nice game, but it run on a Lindbergh,and you ll have to charge 1eur/play. Just like HOD4 or OR2.

Eurotronic wrote:

VT4 is a nice game, but it run on a Lindbergh,and you ll have to charge 1eur/play. Just like HOD4 or OR2.

VT4 runs on RingEdge. VT3 runs on Lindbergh. Indeed 1€ per play is too much for an upright game.

The only reason I want to have a sportsgame is, like Nomax said, for a nice addition. So I would have something for each and everyone.

It's too bad we can't make a multigame including VT 3 & VS etc..
Maybe the only way to do this is using 2 / 3 different naomi gameboxes and changing them every 2 months...

Yes the VT4 looks great. It's possible to buy a lindbergh gamekit from sega, but I thought that was about 750$...

reflex wrote:

It's too bad we can't make a multigame including VT 3 & VS etc..
Maybe the only way to do this is using 2 / 3 different naomi gameboxes and changing them every 2 months...

Well you could easily switch between games like Virtua Striker 2 Ver.2000 (VS 3 with a Naomi 2), Virtua Tennis 2 and Virtua NBA using netboot method but you would have to do it. The game would not be player selectable. Even if you put a user menu to select games on the cabinet, the machine needs to be rebooted and takes a while to load the game into memory so it would be not practical at all. Not to mention that you enter gray territory as with mutigame...

The best would be one cabinet per game (Naomi cabinets are cheap nowadays). If space is a concern, take a Naomi 2 mainboard and switch the game cartridge/GD-ROM (between Virtua Tennis 2 and Virtua Striker 3) every couple of weeks, it only takes about 2 min...

reflex wrote:

Yes the VT4 looks great. It's possible to buy a lindbergh gamekit from sega, but I thought that was about 750$...

Lindbergh is for Virtua Tennis 3 which is great too but 2-player only. 750$ is ok for an original game with motherboard. STV sells a Lindbergh motherboard for 370€ on this forum but it's without shipping and without game.

By the way, if you want something original, why not pick Darius Burst Another Chronicle? It's a shoot'em up that's about the price of a Terminator Salvation.It offers 4-player gameplay. That game is awesome; the atmosphere, visuals and music immerse you in the Darius universe (you have to try to see for yourself). It's a breath of fresh air! Only bad point is the size of the machine if you're short on space.

Nomax wrote:

The best would be one cabinet per game (Naomi cabinets are cheap nowadays). If space is a concern, take a Naomi 2 mainboard and switch the game cartridge/GD-ROM (between Virtua Tennis 2 and Virtua Striker 3) every couple of weeks, it only takes about 2 min...

That's exactly what I would like to try! First I want to know what's the most popular Naomi Game..
Maybe after that we could switch to a newer version with Lindbergh...

Nomax wrote:

By the way, if you want something original, why not pick Darius Burst Another Chronicle? It's a shoot'em up that's about the price of a Terminator Salvation.It offers 4-player gameplay. That game is awesome; the atmosphere, visuals and music immerse you in the Darius universe (you have to try to see for yourself). It's a breath of fresh air! Only bad point is the size of the machine if you're short on space.

I'm really into that game! I like it a lot. Maybe second hand in the future..
Strange that I missed it at the EAG show...

But first Deadstorm Pirates. We'll see how this goes..

thanks

Laurens

reflex wrote:

That's exactly what I would like to try! First I want to know what's the most popular Naomi Game..
Maybe after that we could switch to a newer version with Lindbergh...

On Naomi, you have Virtua Tennis and Virtua Tennis 2. Virtua Tennis 2 looks much nicer and is still very enjoyable even today.

As for football games, Virtua Striker 2 Ver.2000 on Naomi plays slower than Virtua Striker 2 on Model 2 but is good nonetheless . There's alsoVirtua Striker 3 which is graphically better (but requires a Naomi 2 mainboard), it is regarded by some as the weakest of the series but personally I like it. . All these games exist in cartridge and GD-ROM format. Although more expensive than GD-ROMs, cartridges are the best choice because the games start faster after power-on and GD-ROM drives fail after a while.

Another option is Virtua Striker 2002 on Triforce (an updated version of Virtua Striker 3). There're also Virtua Striker 4 and Virtua Striker 4 Ver. 2006 which are the best but as they need analog joysticks and extra buttons for tactics, it's not an option for an easy switch (except if you switch panels between standard/analog).

reflex wrote:

I'm really into that game! I like it a lot. Maybe second hand in the future..
Strange that I missed it at the EAG show...

I love Darius Burst AC too!!! Very fresh and captivating! Too bad that we can predict if average joe would play it...
So it's a risky bet for sure...

It wasn't at EAG, I played it at Casino arcade in London. I really don't understand why they didn't showcased it at the show instead of ugly games like Panic Museum II for example. I guess that space was an issue.

It's a very scarce machine, there are only about 200 pieces worldwide (only 2 or 3 in Europe which is a shame).

reflex wrote:

But first Deadstorm Pirates. We'll see how this goes..

Yesss!!! A Deadstorm Pirates in Belgium!!!
Please tell us when it's in operation so we can publish a news item about it.
I'm sure it will do great! Plus it's a perfect game for a seaside arcade.

This is what I want to try: Buy a good nice working naomi universal cabinet (hopefully with LCD, but not a problem as I still have a new flat CRT specially for naomi cabs) that has virtua Tennis 2 (like you suggested).
And because I still have 3 gameboxes:
- virtua nba naomi1
- virtua striker 2 ver2000 naomi1
- virtua striker 3 naomi 2
But that's it, I don't have any GD roms / cartridges for these games. so I'm guessing I will have to buy these (do those cost much?)

In short, I want a naomi cab so I can switch the gameboxes + gd-rom/cartridges to see what is most popular...

What do you think

I'll try to have the Deadstorm when Easter begins and will let you know as soon as I got it!

thx

Laurens

reflex wrote:

This is what I want to try: Buy a good nice working naomi universal cabinet (hopefully with LCD, but not a problem as I still have a new flat CRT specially for naomi cabs) that has virtua Tennis 2 (like you suggested).

Naomi games look better on a CRT monitor because of natural "antialiasing", correct aspect ratio and lower response time.
It's the case with all games of the CRT era.

reflex wrote:

But that's it, I don't have any GD roms / cartridges for these games. so I'm guessing I will have to buy these (do those cost much?)

These games are sold on this forum: https://www.arcadebelgium.net/t3358-vds-atomiswavechihirotriforcenaomig-netst-vlindbergh

reflex wrote:

I'll try to have the Deadstorm when Easter begins and will let you know as soon as I got it!

Awesome!

Nomax wrote:

Naomi games look better on a CRT monitor because of natural "antialiasing", correct aspect ratio and lower response time.
It's the case with all games of the CRT era.

Oh good to know because I still have a NEW flat crt screen from sega for a naomi universal cab. So now I won't sell it any more

Nomax wrote:

These games are sold on this forum: https://www.arcadebelgium.net/t3358-vds-atomiswavechihirotriforcenaomig-netst-vlindbergh

great!

How about Crazy Taxi? That's Naomi too, but again a racer.
I always thought sports games did wel in arcade, especially soccer games. That surprises me.
I went to Reflex this summer, there were less games I think than last year? I thought Reflex was slimming down too but it's very nice to see that the owner invests in new games. I'll visit Reflex again as soon as I can.

cyberbeast wrote:

How about Crazy Taxi? That's Naomi too, but again a racer..

indeed..

cyberbeast wrote:

I always thought sports games did wel in arcade, especially soccer games. That surprises me.
I went to Reflex this summer, there were less games I think than last year? I thought Reflex was slimming down too but it's very nice to see that the owner invests in new games. I'll visit Reflex again as soon as I can.

Yes we did get rid of some old games..
But when I think about it, we got rid of too much games

thx