Author: Trafficblast

CES 2021 kicks off this week, and one of the first announcements out of the gate is from cabinet maker Arcade1Up. The company is known to make several announcements during CES, and this year, it’s unveiled six new cabinets and a four-player pub table. No prices or release dates have been announced for the new machines, though the full games list for each cabinet has been revealed. Arcade1Up is set to bring classic beat-em-ups, fighting games, and more to its 3/4-scale cabinet line.

Arcade1Up has six new cabinets in the works, including ones for the classic 1992 X-Men beat-em-up, the beloved Killer Instinct fighting games, and iconic Don Bluth laserdisc game Dragon’s Lair. All three feature more games than just what the cabinet advertises with its panel art–X-Men and Killer Instinct also have online multiplayer functionality.

The cabinet maker also unveiled its new Legacy Edition cabinet line, in which each machine pays tribute to a specific company’s past. The first three honor Atari with a Tempest machine, Capcom with a Street Fighter II machine, and Namco with a Pac-Man machine. These cabinets contain 12 games each, providing a range of titles.

Lastly, Arcade1Up revealed a new Pong pub table that allows for up to four players to gather around and play classic Atari multiplayer games. The cabinet also offers some single-player games, so if you’re lonely like me during the pandemic, there are still some great classics to entertain yourself with.

X-Men four-player cabinet (with riser)

Arcade1Up’s new X-Men cabinet features art from the 1992 Konami beat-em-up, though it is missing something from the original cabinet: controls for Player 5 and Player 6. The new Arcade1Up cabinet features online multiplayer, allowing you to play with others who own the same cabinet, though the company has not announced whether you’ll be able to play with a full team of six. The X-Men cabinet boasts two other Marvel games as well, including beat-em-up Captain America and the Avengers and fighting game The Avengers in Galactic Storm.

Included games:

• X-Men
• Captain America and the Avengers
• The Avengers in Galactic Storm

Killer Instinct cabinet (with riser)

The new Killer Instinct cabinet brings the original Rare-developed fighting games to Arcade1Up’s 3/4-scale cabinet lineup. Like the X-Men cabinet, it features a matching riser and online multiplayer. In addition to Killer Instinct 1 and 2, it has the original Battletoads arcade game as well as Battletoads/Double Dragon–the latter only released on home consoles.

Included games:

• Battletoads (arcade)
• Battletoads/Double Dragon
• Killer Instinct
• Killer Instinct 2

Dragon’s Lair cabinet (with riser)

The Dragon’s Lair cabinet is the first from Arcade1Up to feature the same form factor and size as the original. Additionally, it features both Dragon’s Lair 1 and 2 as well as Space Ace. All three Don Bluth-designed games will be displayed in the original 4:3 aspect ratio.

Included games:

• Dragon’s Lair
• Dragon’s Lair II: Time Warp
• Space Ace

Atari Legacy Edition cabinet (with riser)

The first Legacy Edition cabinet pays tribute to Atari’s classic titles. While it boasts the unique Tempest cabinet design (complete with light-up marquee), it features faux coin slots, a 17-inch LCD display, and 12 different games.

Included games:

• Asteroids
• Asteroids Deluxe
• Centipede
• Major Havoc
• Missile Command
• Akka Arrh
• Crystal Castles
• Tempest
• Millipede
• Gravitar
• Liberator
• Space Duel

Capcom Legacy Edition cabinet (with riser)

The Capcom Legacy Edition cabinet features a design that evokes the original Street Fighter II cabinet. It comes with faux coin slots, a riser, and 12 games, six of which are different versions of Street Fighter II.

Included games:

• 1944
• Commando
• Darkstalkers
• Final Fight
• Ghosts n Goblins
• Street Fighter
• Street Fighter II: World Warrior
• Street Fighter II: Champion Edition
• Street Fighter II: Turbo
• Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers
• Super Street Fighter II: Turbo
• Strider

Bandai Namco Legacy Edition cabinet (with riser)

The Bandai Namco Legacy Edition cabinet pays tribute to Namco’s arcade past, with an assortment of the company’s classic games and Pac-Land. Like other Legacy Edition cabinets, it has 12 games in total.

Included games:

• Dig Dug
• Dig Dug II
• Galaga
• Galaxian
• Mappy
• Pac & Pal
• Pac-Land
• Pac-Man
• Pac-Man Plus
• Pac-Mania
• Rompers
• Super Pac-Man

Pong four-player pub table

Arcade1Up’s Pong four-player pub table is somewhat of a modern take on the classic cocktail table cabinets. It features controls for four different players and eight Atari games that put them to great use. Classic four-player games like Warlords and Quadrapong are included, as are games for one or two players like Tempest and classic Pong, respectively.

Included games:

• Circus Atari
• Pong
• Pong Doubles
• Pong Sports
• Quadrapong
• Warlords
• Super Breakout
• Tempest

CES 2021 officially kicks off today, and that means the biggest tech and accessory brands are showing off their new products hitting the market this year. Among them is HyperX, which today announced a brand-new compact keyboard, the Alloy Origins 60, as well as a new licensed charging station for Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One controllers.

The HyperX Alloy Origins 60 is the brand’s first 60% keyboard, meaning it has 60% of the keys that a standard keyboard does. The mechanical keyboard features a space-saving layout, letting you maximize desk space for mouse movement and more. Its compact form also makes it ideal for traveling. The Alloy Origins 60 uses HyperX’s red linear mechanical switches, which are known to be smooth and responsive, and they have exposed LED lighting that can be personalized. The keyboard also has a Game Mode and macro setting, with up to three profiles available with on-board memory.

The Alloy Origins 60 gaming keyboard will release on February 22 for $100 MSRP in the US. It’ll be available to buy directly from HyperX.

HyperX’s other new product is the ChargePlay Duo Controller Charging Station, a two-controller charging stand designed for Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One. It features a weighted base to prevent sliding and LED indicators that show the charging status for each controller, including an indication of when they are fully charged. The ChargePlay Duo charging stand has a “quick docking design” and comes with two 1400mAH rechargeable battery packs as well as two battery doors to fit onto Xbox Series X|S wireless controllers.

The ChargePlay Duo Controller Charging Station releases in February (no exact date has been given) for $40 MSRP in the US, with orders available directly from HyperX.

In addition to the new 60% keyboard and Xbox controller charging station, HyperX announced it’s taking a few of its most popular peripherals global. This includes the HyperX Cloud II Wireless headset, which is one of the best PC gaming headsets you can buy due to its excellent audio, battery life, and wireless range. The Pulsefire Haste, a lightweight mouse with a honeycomb design, and the HyperX Cloud Revolver + 7.1, a gaming headset with a steel frame and virtual surround sound, are also being released globally. All three peripherals were originally released only in the US and are currently available to buy at the HyperX store–they’re sold out elsewhere.

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For 2021, LG isn’t overhauling its popular line of OLED TVs. Instead, it’s addressing one of the most common complaints with the technology: peak brightness.

With its more expensive G-series of OLED TVs, announced during CES 2021, LG is promising better overall brightness levels with what it’s calling OLED Evo. This should, in theory, make picture quality better in brightly lit rooms, where the lower brightness levels of OLED vs. LCD struggled.

LG isn’t including this with its new C-series line, the follow-up to arguably one of the most popular TVs series around the launch of the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5. The new C1 comes in various sizes, including 48″, 55″, and 65″, and features a refreshed panel, LG’s new 6.0 webOS, and a more powerful a9 internal processor to help power this year’s iteration of AI picture enhancements.

One new software feature that is being included in both the G1 and C1 series is Game Optimizer. This bundles all the settings you need for gaming in one place, including auto low-latency mode, variable refresh rate, and more. LG says you will be able to create presets for specific games, too.

LG is also refreshing the previous B-series of OLED displays with the new A1 series. It features all the standards as above–VRR, HDMI 2.1, and Dolby Vision–but ships with last year’s a7 processor and fewer inputs. Still, the LG CX was one of the best TVs on the market with roughly the same specifications, so the A1 series might be the real bargain to hunt for.

LG hasn’t shared specifics regarding pricing and release dates, but you can expect these new sets to start hitting in spring later this year.

The ninth Fast & Furious movie was one of the first films to be delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, and it still won’t be with us until late May. We did however get to see the F9 trailer before the delay was announced, and it revealed that fan favorite character Han will be making his return to the series. Now star and producer Vin Diesel has spoken about Han’s return and what fans can expect from the next movie.

Han, played by Sung Kang, was seemingly killed off in 2006’s Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift and shown again in Fast & Furious 6–which takes place before Tokyo Drift–leading to a fan campaign termed “Justice for Han.” But as last year’s F9 trailer revealed, he’s very much alive. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Diesel explained that the character is a vital part of the series.

“Han is an integral character in this franchise,” he said. “If you remember, he’s kind of responsible for the away years of [Diesel’s character] Dom Toretto. He’s the one doing jobs with him in Mexico, he’s the only one who knows where Dom is, and in many ways is the bridge for Dom when Dom comes back in Tokyo Drift. So there’s something very special and magical about the Han character. When you see the movie you’ll feel it, but I believe at the core it’s another testament to, not only don’t turn your back on family, but don’t give up on family.”

Diesel was also asked about one of the big rumors about F9–namely whether or not the movie will end up in space. The joke is that outer space is one of the only places for the series to go; regular writer Chris Morgan has previously stated that he would not rule it out and co-star Michelle Rodriguez seemingly confirmed it last September. While Diesel does give anything away, he stated that director Justin Lin was the right man to send the Fast family into space. “I will say that Justin is one of those think outside of the box directors,” he said. “I’d put nothing past him and he will thoroughly play with whatever is plausible to incorporate into the story.” Fans might obviously question the “plausibility” of much of the series so far, but we get Vin’s point.

F9 hits theaters on May 28. It also stars Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, John Cena, Jordana Brewster, Nathalie Emmanuel, Helen Mirren, and Charlize Theron. The tenth movie has also got a release date–it’s currently scheduled to arrive in April 2022 . In February last year, Diesel suggested that it could be a two-part movie.

This is not exactly the busiest week ever for new shows and movies hitting Netflix, but what will be on offer is thankfully pretty solid. With just a handful of new content coming to the streaming service, there still is somehow something for pretty much everyone.

Easily one of the big standouts among the upcoming days is Season 3 of Disenchantment–landing on the streaming service January 15. Where creator Matt Groening’s The Simpsons is a satire of modern life, and Futurama was a send-up of sci-fi, Netflix’s Disenchantment is an animated sitcom both celebrating and skewering fantasy tropes. While the offbeat show has not exactly blown up since debuting in 2018, fans of Simpsons sensibilities and animation style have a lot to love in this show that follows the story of Bean, a rebellious and alcoholic princess. (It’s funnier than that sounds.) This season will be the show’s true test, as it will now be up for renewal after getting the greenlight for an impressive three seasons when first getting picked up.

Also that day, Steven Spielberg’s Hook surfaces on Netflix. It really says a lot about the 1991 film (and the actor, for that matter) that Robin Williams as Peter Pan is one of the actor’s more grounded performances, and his chemistry with Dustin Hoffman as the arch Captain Hook is likely more nuanced than most people remember. (Julia Roberts is also excellent as the digitally shrunken Tinkerbell.) The film is flat-out fun, which is just what these winter months call for.

For something a little different, Outside the Wire is a Netflix Original. A cyberpunk war movie about a drone pilot teaming up with an android, the unlikely pair are tasked with stopping a nuclear attack. It looks to be a throwback action movie with impressive stunts and plenty of well-timed wisecracks.

Below, you’ll find everything coming to Netflix this week, and if you’re interested in more streaming news, check out the biggest shows that are just over the horizon in 2021.

What’s new to Netflix this week?

January 10

• Spring Breakers

January 11

• CRACK: Cocaine, Corruption & Conspiracy
• The Intouchables

January 12

• Last Tango in Halifax: Season 4

January 13

• An Imperfect Murder
• Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer

January 15

• Bling Empire
• Carmen Sandiego: Season 4
• Disenchantment: Part 3
• Double Dad (Pai Em Dobro)
• Henry Danger: Seasons 1-3
• Hook
• Kuroko’s Basketball: Season 1
• The Magicians: Season 5
• Outside the Wire (Netflix Film)
• Penguins of Madagascar
• Pinkfong & Baby Shark’s Space Adventure

January 16

• A Monster Calls
• Radium Girls