exA-Arcadia Preorders; Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games: Arcade Edition; Ad Astra Arcade Aucti
Good evening, fellow arcade gamers. Today’s news dump isn’t the most timely—especially with more IAAPA 2019 news popping up every day—but I wanted to share these items nonetheless. Prepare for arcade awesomeness.
exA-Arcadia preorders are open!
After long last, arcade operators and collectors outside of Japan will finally be privy to six games from the ever-expanding exA-Arcadia library. Now’s the chance to get a jumpstart on Strania EX, The Kung Fu Vs. Karate Champ, Infinos Exa, Akyrios Exa, Super Hydorah AC, and/or Aka & Blue: Type-R, depending on what suits your fancy.
All titles are available individually and as “exA-Arcadia Hardware + Software Kit” bundles. Orders will be shipped out in the order they are received, pending available inventory.
Unfortunately, this isn’t something I’m able to afford for my arcade route at present, but I’m still very interested. I’m also curious to see how operators and players take to what some would consider a “niche” product. Only time will tell.
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games: Arcade Edition (2020) exists.
In case you weren’t aware—and I wouldn’t blame you if you weren’t—the latest iteration of Sega/Nintendo’s longstanding Olympic games crossover is releasing to arcades at a yet announced point within the coming months.
In a classic case of “zero synergy whatsoever between home console and arcade development divisions,” this release will come well after the Nintendo Switch version that dropped November 5. And the best part is, there seems to have been no cross-promotion between the two versions (at least in the United States).
The arcade version will feature Gymnastics, Rugby, Discus Throw, Triple Jump, 100m, Sport Climbing, Surfing, and Swimming events. This pales in comparison to the 30-plus events offered on the Switch version.
While M&S: Arcade Edition may be a fine game upon its arcade release, it’s abundantly clear to me that the home video game industry and coin-op sector still have no idea how to cooperate effectively.
On the bright side, operators will be able to purchase M&S: Arcade Edition as an upgrade kit for existing Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games units. So that’s nice.
The Ad Astra Arcade Auction is holding a “Holiday Edition” event.
Until I received an email from the company’s marketing representative, I had admittedly never heard of the Ad Astra Arcade Auction. There are so many arcade auctions held across the country that it’s hard to keep up. But I finally caught one—the Ad Astra auction is starting soon.
Out of 65 total items (12 of which are pinball), the Holiday Edition auction will feature some personal favorite titles of mine, including Demolish Fist, Cruis’n World, Time Crisis, Arctic Thunder, and an NFL Blitz/NBA Showtime “SportsStation” duo cab.
There will be a “pop-up arcade” held the evening before the auction begins on November 16, so if you’re enjoy any of these games, I’d recommend playing them before somebody snaps them up.
And now, I am reminded of the time I had the rare opportunity to purchase two near-perfect condition OutRun 2 cabs at the Roller Dome auction for, like, $400. I guess I’ll go cry now.
I forgot to write about the Arcade Perfect book that came out.
This is really embarrassing, but I never wrote about Arcade Perfect: How Pac-Man, Mortal Kombat, and Other Coin-Op Classics Invaded the Living Room on my blog. (Although I did write a preview for RePlay.)
Here’s the gist: Author David L. Craddock, known for prior gaming and fantasy nonfiction and fiction texts, released in September a novel chronicling the efforts of developers and programmers to bring various arcade titles to home consoles of the time.
It contains a lot of awesome original interviews, as well information sparsely documented anywhere else. I thought it was awesome, so I wholeheartedly recommend it to any arcade fanatic.
Arcade Perfect is now available on Amazon in both print and digital formats.
That’s all I’ve got for today, you gluttonous gamers. In the meantime, I’d highly advise you to keep it real. (And join my Discord server.) Bye!
