A field guide of classic arcade design

Who doesn’t love classic arcade design? I mean, it’s awesome and brings lots of memories from the past! Probably Michael Mateyko and Hans Thiessen have thought the same when they created these Field Guides.

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Watch How Videogames Changed the World documentary here

 

If yesterday evening you missed the documentary How Videogames Changed the World, hosted by Charlie Brooker on Channel 4, it’s no big deal, because C4 has been so kind to upload it on its YouTube channel, full-lenght.

A documentary on how video games changed the world

 

Oh look, there’s finally something interesting shown on TV! Good news folks, if you live in UK, this Saturday a very cool and interesting 2-hour documentary called How Videogames Changed the World will be aired on Channel 4 at 9pm.

Developer M2 talks about SEGA’s Space Harrier 3D port

 

This thursday the 3DS eShop will finally be hit with 3D classics from SEGA, including arcade masterpiece Space Harrier.

The game is obviously published by SEGA, but the actual port of the old arcade game (alongside with all the other SEGA classics for the Nintendo 3DS) is made by developer M2, that started in the industry many years ago and it’s responsible for the SEGA AGES compilations on Saturn, and eventually, on PlayStation 2 and Wii Virtual Console.

Watch Nolan Bushnell answering some questions about Atari

First of all, if you’re wondering who Nolan Bushnell is, please change blog, because here we’re talking about a man that made history.

So well, who wants to hear the Atari‘s dad answering some questions? Apparently he attended to an Italian video games convention in Milan a couple of weeks ago, and some collector guys (probably the same from this video) had the chance to ask him few questions. It’s a quick one, so enjoy!

I Am Street Fighter | 25th Anniversary Documentary

Well there’s nothing much to say, a part that if you’re a Street Fighter fan you MUST watch this feature-lenght, 1 hour documentary made by Capcom, called I Am Street Fighter, exploring 25 years of the greatest fighting franchise ever. If you’re not a SF fan, well, you should watch it anyway.

Filmed by Area 5, the video was originally included as part of the quite expensive Street Fighter 25th Anniversary Collector’s Set and this is the first time it’s been made officially available to the public by Capcom itself.

Be sure not to be interrupted in the next hour or so and enjoy.

A novel about the arcade’s glory years

You already know how fond of Arcades we are. We really care of those magic places, that sadly are almost completely disappeared in the West of the globe. But we’re not the only ones.

Andy Hunt (check out his blog) has written and published a very interesting novel, called The Final Day at Westfield Arcade, a nostalgia-fueled journey back through the arcade’s glory years of the 1980s. Here’s the trailer (be careful, you’re going to cry…a lot).

If you feel like taking a journey into the golden era of arcades (we highly reccomend it), you can buy the book, both Kindle and paperback versions, on Amazon, following this link.

The new Mario Kart arcade version is out in Japan

The new arcade version of Mario Kart, called Mario Kart Arcade GP DX, born after the collaboration between Nintendo and Namco Bandai, is finally out in Japan. Unfortunately we don’t know if this special cabinet will ever see the light of the day outside the rising sun land, but hey…it features a drivable shooting tank! Here’s the brand new launch trailer.

As you can see from the trailer, a part from the already present in previous versions Pac-Man, this new arcade-only chapter will feature a bran new character from the Namco Bandai roaster, Don from Taiko Drum Master. Also, the game has a coop mode, used to combine two player’s kart in a powerful tank!

By the way, here’s how the cabinet looks like.

Namco Bandai is still thinking about a western release…let’s hope.

You will love this OutRun Arcade Cabinet made of LEGO

We all know what a great game is the original OutRun (and possibly even greater is the sequel), but someone thinks it is really special. So special to deserve a LEGO scale model of its original Deluxe Arcade Cabinet!

A blogger called TAGGSTA, that runs an OutRun related blog, decided to create possibly the most beautiful mini arcade cabinet ever, and made out of LEGO bricks! Ah…and completely working!

Taggsta was inspired by a previous OutRun deluxe LEGO creation he found on the net; then he decided to create his own, but then add the real game into it (seems legit!). This little beauty was done using an iPhone with iCade mobile via Bluetooth.

Well, the result is amazing! Check out the video uploaded by the creator!

We’ll definitely buy of those if SEGA and LEGO would collaborate to make it real and mass produced!

The Heart Of Gaming is the closest thing to a Japanese Game Center outside Japan

Everybody always whines about the lack of decent arcades in Europe and US. We obviously do the same, since there are no enjoyable game centers in London, apart (maybe) from the Namco FunScape, but it’s more a family style arcade, with bumper car, bowling and all.

But don’t despair, things are going to change! In fact, from mid-April you are able to enjoy The Heart Of Gaming!

In a world where arcades have been replaced by casinos and slot machines, a portion of that great period in history arises, blending the gaming scene of yesteryear, with the games of the past, present and future.

The HOG is basically the closest thing to a real Japanese Game Center. They got plenty of SEGA VS City cabinets with lots of different fighting games, but also regular NAOMIs, NAOMI DXs and other super cool machines covering many other genres (like vertical shmups). And that’s not all, because there are countless Xbox 360 and PS3 available to host your own console fighting!

Sounds too good to be true? This is how it works.

You just step in, pay an entry fee, and start play whatever you want for how long you want until, at some point, they kick you out (everybody needs to sleep).

The HOG opens at 4pm every day, and closes at midnight. Overnight sessions will depend on numbers of people prepared to stay. Here’s the price guide:

Mon- Thurs: £7 (£5 after 6pm)
Overnight price –
If arriving and paying for any day session first- £6. After 2330- £8

Friday: £10 (£7 after 6pm)
Overnight price
If arriving and paying for any day session first- £7. After 2330- £10

Saturday: £10 all day.
Overnight price
If arriving and paying for any day session first- £7. After 2330- £10

Sunday: £8 all day (£6 after 6pm)
Overnight price
If arriving and paying for any day session first-£6. After 2330- £8

To provide the customers with even better value for money, they will be announcing the prices of weekly, fornightly and monthly passes shortly. Overnight sessions are cheaper if you have already paid for any of the day sessions.

Need more pics? Here we go!

What do you think? For us is just the heaven! And we’re really looking forward to go there as soon as possible! Still not convinced? Check out this interview with one of the co-founder!

Yes, but where is it? Easy, The Heart Of Gaming is located at 10 Cullen Way, NW10 6JZ, North Acton, London