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A quick few points from my trip to the beach arcades [last holy refuge of the arcade in the US..I swear, also take ina ccount I haven't been ina decent arcade in a couple years since everyone close by has gone under):

-Guitar Hero Arcade is nowhere near as cool as the home version. Operators generally kept the machines in high traffic spots for them to garner attention, but it becomes troublesome because you often need the space to play. Not to mention they kept the machine's volume down so the surrounding din nearly always drowned it out.

-Has no one come up with a decent arcade racer in the last 5 years?

-Light gun shooters seem to be the dominate modern arcade game type.

-I was disappointed thatt he largest arcades in a resort town didn't have a SFIV machine. Hell, one did not have a single fighter at all.

-Skeeball still kicks ass.

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A quick few points from my trip to the beach arcades [last holy refuge of the arcade in the US..I swear, also take ina ccount I haven't been ina decent arcade in a couple years since everyone close by has gone under):

-Guitar Hero Arcade is nowhere near as cool as the home version. Operators generally kept the machines in high traffic spots for them to garner attention, but it becomes troublesome because you often need the space to play. Not to mention they kept the machine's volume down so the surrounding din nearly always drowned it out.

-Has no one come up with a decent arcade racer in the last 5 years?

-Light gun shooters seem to be the dominate modern arcade game type.

-I was disappointed thatt he largest arcades in a resort town didn't have a SFIV machine. Hell, one did not have a single fighter at all.

-Skeeball still kicks ass.

Home consoles have killed arcade development.

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What's Leynos? Yay VALKEN! I want one! Are these chogokins?

I wish they were chogokin, but they're just the latest line of Yujin's videogame-related gashapon. Yujin has been making shooting-game spaceship/mecha gashapon lately and judging by the size of their M.U.S.H.A. suit, the Valken will be around 3-4 inches tall. Also, this will probably be the only time Leynos/Valken suits will come out in toy form. :(

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Home consoles have killed arcade development.

Honestly, I think arcades killed the arcades.

For a long time after the home systems appeared, arcades were unarguably more powerful, and the home ports were heavily watered-down.

But somewhere along the line, someone got the bright idea of making a standard arcade system board that you could swap games on. To save costs.

Once they quit making new hardware for every game, the arcades quit staying ahead of the home systems.

The Saturn came out, and it could do arcade-perfect versions of CPS2 and NeoGeo games(it needed a RAM cart for some of the later ones, but...).

The PS1 could do arcade-perfect versions of smaller NeoGeo/CPS2 games, and only minor compromises for many of the larger ones.

At that moment, the arcades were doomed.

Capcom's CPS2 team actively sabotaging the CPS3 was probably the final nail in the coffin. Capcom abandoned CPS3 and moved to Sega's NAOMI board, which was... a Dreamcast with extra RAM.

At that point, almost everyone's arcade hardware was a game console with extra RAM(and SNK kept using the NeoGeo). Arcade-perfect ports were a trivial effort.

All that was left to distinguish an arcade game from a home game was controls and multi-screen displays. Thus the rise of the modern lightgun/racing game wasteland.

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Honestly, I think arcades killed the arcades.

For a long time after the home systems appeared, arcades were unarguably more powerful, and the home ports were heavily watered-down.

But somewhere along the line, someone got the bright idea of making a standard arcade system board that you could swap games on. To save costs.

Once they quit making new hardware for every game, the arcades quit staying ahead of the home systems.

The Saturn came out, and it could do arcade-perfect versions of CPS2 and NeoGeo games(it needed a RAM cart for some of the later ones, but...).

The PS1 could do arcade-perfect versions of smaller NeoGeo/CPS2 games, and only minor compromises for many of the larger ones.

At that moment, the arcades were doomed.

Capcom's CPS2 team actively sabotaging the CPS3 was probably the final nail in the coffin. Capcom abandoned CPS3 and moved to Sega's NAOMI board, which was... a Dreamcast with extra RAM.

At that point, almost everyone's arcade hardware was a game console with extra RAM(and SNK kept using the NeoGeo). Arcade-perfect ports were a trivial effort.

All that was left to distinguish an arcade game from a home game was controls and multi-screen displays. Thus the rise of the modern lightgun/racing game wasteland.

I actually worked for Sega in my youth (during the Mega Drive/Genesis/System 16 & then Model 2 hardware gen). I know the story. Everyone knew the arcade scene would not last long after the release of the 32 bit gen consoles. But they wouldn't just stop completely or continue making custom hardware...thus the home console based hardware.

Edited by Gaijin
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I actually worked for Sega in my youth (during the Mega Drive/Genesis/System 16 & then Model 2 hardware gen). I know the story. Everyone knew the arcade scene would not last long after the release of the 32 bit gen consoles. But they wouldn't just stop completely or continue making custom hardware...thus the home console based hardware.

And yet arcades continued on in Japan, so it isn't just a hardware issue.

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And yet arcades continued on in Japan, so it isn't just a hardware issue.

They are nowhere near as popular or profitable as before, even in Japan. And most arcades in Japan now aren't filled with "video games" as we remember...they are mostly what we see here now...UFO catchers, prize machines, Dance/Rythym games, the odd fighter and racer, and light gun games. They have a few more things, but arcade development is nowhere near what it used to be.

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They are nowhere near as popular or profitable as before, even in Japan. And most arcades in Japan now aren't filled with "video games" as we remember...they are mostly what we see here now...UFO catchers, prize machines, Dance/Rythym games, the odd fighter and racer, and light gun games. They have a few more things, but arcade development is nowhere near what it used to be.

No. UFO catchers make up a large portion of arcade floor space in Japan, but they definitely don't dominate them. Rhythm games don't hold nearly the same popularity that they used to, with stuff like DDR being practically non-existent. Konami's latest Bemani game was for all intents, a flop. Fighters are pretty popular, SFIV helped and the latest Tekken has stayed popular. As far as I can tell, the big thing now are card games like Lord of Vermillion. The Gundam POD game has also remained popular despite it being released a few years ago, thanks largely to constant updates.

In any case, plenty games are still being developed for the arcade and arcades are still very plentiful in Japan which leads me to believe that no, it isn't just an issue of home console hardware.

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Arkham Asylum---PS3 or 360? Anyone heard anything one way or the other?

I'm enjoying the hell out of it. I'm about 60% through. I'm a slow gamer, b/c I like to look around and just enjoy the game. There's a nice detective element to the game, including "detective mode" that illuminates everything in a bluish cast, and highlights electrical panels, removable grates, various hidden clues, and shows enemies wherever they are as skeletons. The "free-flow" combat looks good if you have good timing to counteract enemies' attacks. I'm so-so. Bonus: Mark Hamill voices the Joker and Kevin Conroy voices the Batman. Mark Hamill obviously had a great time in the studio. Of course, there are quite a few gadgets, but they're doled out as the game progresses. Except for scripted fights, it's pretty free-world for Batman within the confines of Arkham Island. There are also Riddles and various items hidden about for every area. Finding stuff and solving the riddles are probably my favorite aspects of the game. It sets it apart from your standard beat-em-up superhero game. I'd definitely recommend getting it, or at least rent it.

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Um, I was asking WHICH version to get, not IF I should get it. :) (I admit my post wasn't very clear)

Sorry, I misunderstood. I have it on PS3. My plasma is a piece, so I can't get the HDMI to sync with the tv's DVI. It still looks good with my current connections. It's a gritty looking game.

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Um, I was asking WHICH version to get, not IF I should get it. :) (I admit my post wasn't very clear)

Lens of Truth gave the very slightest of edges to the PS3, noting that each console had their own unique (minor) issues, and that gamers should, for the most part, be satisfied either way.

Me? I'm gonna wait and see how the PC version turns out. My wife gets the TV more often than not, and I didn't build a gaming rig, invest in a widescreen monitor with a low response time, and invest in a 5.1 sound setup for my PC for nothing.

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Isn't the Joker being playable exclusive only to the PS3 version at the moment?

Correct. Along with some other minor things. Home stuff and blu-ray trailers; behind the scenes stuff.

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Doesn't look like this was mentioned here yet, but the fan translation of Policenauts was recently completed. The patch is available here: http://junkerhq.net/index.php

It's pretty awesome. I've been playing it on my hacked Xbox and really enjoying it.

That's awesome. Considering I have a chipped PS2, does it just require downloading & burning to a disc?

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Heck, David, if you don't mind waiting, get the PC version. Since I have neither a 360 or a PS3 (hope to remedy that in the future), I'm stuck with getting the PC version.

PS: Any reason why the PC version's delayed for a bit?

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for versions of arkham, its more based on which controller you prefer, imo 360's controller is better for third persons,FPS and such,because of the control stick placement, joker exclusive for challenge mode doesn't interest me and frankly i think the joker is really being over used and glorified. my ps3 gets played a fair bit,but i usually only get the exclusive titles for the ps3 and fighting games because of the D-pad, but everything else i get on 360.

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Doesn't look like this was mentioned here yet, but the fan translation of Policenauts was recently completed. The patch is available here: http://junkerhq.net/index.php

It's pretty awesome. I've been playing it on my hacked Xbox and really enjoying it.

Holy shnikey, that's news to me! I signed up to be on their mailing list a few years ago, I guess they forgot about the list. This has been a wonderful time for patched PS1 translations; first we got the Tales of Phantasia PS1 patch, and now Policenauts. :D

Btw, did you have to rip Policenauts to your modded Xbox's hard drive? Or is there an emulator that's finally gotten the Xbox dvd drive to efficiently read PS1 discs?

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Btw, did you have to rip Policenauts to your modded Xbox's hard drive? Or is there an emulator that's finally gotten the Xbox dvd drive to efficiently read PS1 discs?

Just ripped it, as I had the isos. As far as I know there aren't any emulators that can play PS1 discs.

With the default settings the emulator sometimes dropped audio sync during the cutscenes and there was some choppyness, but it looks like there's a work around for it. Haven't tried it out yet, though.

Might be better off playing it on a PC emulator in any case, as the game is mouse compatible and from what I hear the mouse makes the shooting portions way easier to deal with.

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for versions of arkham, its more based on which controller you prefer, imo 360's controller is better for third persons,FPS and such,because of the control stick placement, joker exclusive for challenge mode doesn't interest me and frankly i think the joker is really being over used and glorified. my ps3 gets played a fair bit,but i usually only get the exclusive titles for the ps3 and fighting games because of the D-pad, but everything else i get on 360.

Strangely, I feel the 360 controller works pretty well for fighters... D-pad is, of course, horrible as hell, but I found myself using the analog stick with ease. The only trouble I might still have is doing a dash or a shoryuken-type attack...

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I ended up with the PS3 version----camera's supposed to be zoomed out a bit when fighting, and I do like the general dual-shock design over most controllers. (the 360 and Dreamcast are actually among my least-favorite for long-term use)

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Just ripped it, as I had the isos. As far as I know there aren't any emulators that can play PS1 discs.

With the default settings the emulator sometimes dropped audio sync during the cutscenes and there was some choppyness, but it looks like there's a work around for it. Haven't tried it out yet, though.

That's too bad. While I have modded PS2, I was interested in playing it on my Xbox to check out the extra added filters. Playing PS1 games off the dvd drive would've been sweet because, otherwise, I'd easily fill up the hard drive with rips.

Considering I have a chipped PS2, does it just require downloading & burning to a disc?

Kinda. You'd need to rip both Policenauts discs to your hard drive, apply the patch, then burn them.

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Heck, David, if you don't mind waiting, get the PC version. Since I have neither a 360 or a PS3 (hope to remedy that in the future), I'm stuck with getting the PC version.

PS: Any reason why the PC version's delayed for a bit?

The delay is because the developers are adding PhysX support. I'll gladly trade playing as the Joker on some stupid challenge missions for PhysX and a $10 cheaper price tag.

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Sometimes it pays not to cheat. :3

In the words of my brother in the voice of the Kool-Aid Guy, "OH YEAH! MORAL HIGH ROAD!"

Anyway, it's very nice to see companies have a sense of humor while supporting their games. Although it does suck for the players who did lose their items.

post-10165-1251952959_thumb.jpg

Edited by shiroikaze
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