Author: Trafficblast

By the late ’90s, with Street Fighter II‘s saturation reaching an exhaustion point and Mortal Kombat‘s hoary violence no longer a unique draw, the arcade–that place of social gathering, low light, and the booming sounds of attract screens–began to wither. But like most nostalgic things, arcades have made a slow return as the millennium reached its teens. 1980’s nostalgia took off. Gen X and millennials grew up, as did their disposable income. It took a decade–two even–but arcade games made their comeback. Looking at the rising collector’s market for vintage machines and the likes of Wal-Mart embracing machines with their shelf space, it’s almost like they never left.

There are now a range of home arcade games to choose from, from My Arcade’s roughly six-inch plastic replicas, foot-tall Replicade collectibles, and Arcade 1Up’s four-foot in-between scale machines. Both My Arcade and Arcade 1Up reached the shelves of Wal-Mart, penetrating the vaunted mainstream consumer market. We’ve even seen SNK release a mini-arcade machine, and Capcom has licensed its games to Koch Media, who will issue a $250, two-player arcade stick with 16 Capcom arcade games included. No more hauling machines with 300- to 400-pound frames. The arcade of 2019 can fit anywhere.

But why now? Shiloh Prychak founded Replicade based on the idea of selling foot-tall, accurate replicas of the most beloved arcade machines. He saw the market, ran a successful Kickstarter, and now sells a $99 replica of Tempest (and others) at a fraction of the real scale. “When I had the concept to shrink down the cabinets to sixth scale, there was basically only a company called Basic Fun,” says Prychack. “Basic Fun made a Centipede and Q*Bert running NES ROMs. That was the only thing on the competitive landscape, plus a host of unlicensed products. The idea was, let’s make the best collectible [for] these uber classic games… the idea was to build your own miniaturized arcade in your office… now you’ve got all sorts of people doing the same thing,” said Prychack.

Replicade’s 1/6 scale replica of Atari’s Centipede.

Blane Humphries works in PR for My Arcade, a company who also saw the potential in revisiting arcade games, and at a smaller scale still–around eight inches. “I feel that the interest in retro-era games is different between groups of people. There are those of us who lived through the time and are going back because of nostalgia, but there is also a whole new generation of young gamers discovering these games for the first time. With the rise of gamer as an identity, and esports, kids want to be knowledgeable about the history of the culture,” he writes in an email response.

It’s crowded out there, though. Replicade found a niche targeting hardcore collectors with their online-only, $99 mini-machines designed as an accessory of sorts to the real thing. My Arcade produces plastic replicas that nestle comfortably in Wal-Mart’s toy department for the more casual consumer. These enter a competitive market alongside cheap consoles stuffed with arcade ROMs. Why buy a machine with one or two games when another exists with 30 or more?

“My Arcade’s signature Micro Players are meant to be collectibles, comparable to small-scale figurines, and are more about the entire visual and packaging. The 8-bit games on them are great and make for a fun playable collectible while maintaining a price point that encourages our customers to collect them,” writes Humphries.

For Prychak, it’s an entirely different market. “We’re not for everybody. If what you’re looking for is the Data East collection and you’re okay with the games being less than perfect, you’re not for us. If you want the real artwork and the real profile of the cabinet and all this attention to detail and high-quality finish, we make our cabinets out of wood, our coin doors are die-cast metal, the stickers we use the proper type of vinyl, the LED temperature is correct, not to mention you’re playing Centipede with a trackball. You’re playing Tempest with rotary controls. All these things add on to our value. We’re just trying to give you the ultimate experience,” says Prychak.

SNK also entered the mini-arcade market in 2018 with its NEOGEO Mini multi-game machine. Despite having a large library of beloved games, the technical execution left the dedicated fanbase with divided opinions.

Customer reviews for MyArcade, Replicade, and Arcade 1Up vary wildly across Amazon and Wal-Mart. It’s clear these machines do not replicate the durability of the real thing, from broken trackballs on Replicade offerings to MyArcade’s that fail to power on at all and Arcade 1Up’s decals that fade with mild use. Others find them to be a “little masterpiece” according to one Amazon user speaking of Replicade. From the 2018 Christmas rush, it appears Arcade 1Up made for fine gift-giving. Conversely, Capcom’s upcoming arcade stick has come under fire for using an open source emulator.

Arcades breaking into the mainstream doesn’t mean this is all contained in the home; that just makes things accessible to a mainstream shopper who’s happy enough with a facsimile of the real deal. Longtime arcade game collectors, on the other hand, started using their full-size vintage cabinets to recreate the unmistakable atmosphere of true arcades.

Take California’s Megan and Shawn Livernoche. Via auction, they purchased their first arcade cabinet in 2007. In time, their one-bedroom New Jersey apartment became so crowded with actual hardware, their multi-piece sectional became a single piece. A dining room table? That went too. “Once we got to like 15 or 16 games in our one bedroom apartment, it started to not make a lot of sense,” says Megan, laughing as she recalls the memory of that packed living room.

Then they moved all of this cross-country to California and opened High Scores Arcade in Alameda. Shawn saw the market explode even before the advent of things like Arcade 1Up, and a time when the collector’s market for actual games was weak. “Before the prices ballooned out of control, people just wanted to get rid of [arcade games]. They were sitting in warehouses. They were no longer of contemporary value to the video game market. That kind of changed around 2010 or so,” says Shawn.

“Here we are trying to re-interest people in arcade culture, bending over backwards to keep these old dinosaur machines running,” says Shawn. Megan quickly replied, “And if people can just buy them at Wal-Mart, what does that say about the real thing?”

What caused that jump in collectibility? “King of Kong drew a ton of people in back into it,” says Shawn, referencing a 2007 documentary that chronicled a battle for the world record score in Donkey Kong. “There was still a kind of community that existed, even though it wasn’t prevalent like it is today with the barcades. The community existed,” said Shawn. Also, Disney’s 2012 animated film Wreck-It Ralph brought arcade characters to the forefront and used an arcade as its central story piece.

Both in their 30s, Megan and Shawn represent the expected audience for arcades–those who grew up alongside Missile Command and Defender. But then comes Steven Van Splinter, a 20-year-old who represents the demographic noted by My Arcade. Van Splinter started tinkering with older pinball machines, fascinated by their mechanics. He was only 16 when he acquired his first cabinet in 2014. Now, he’s opening a museum/arcade called Gameseum in his home state of Pennsylvania. He first discovered a small collection of older machines at a campground, an example of the arcade’s far-reaching impact.

“I experienced this arcade phenomenon in my own little way. Probably 10 to 20 years after the heyday, but in a way, it was the same kind of experience. It’s interesting how that reflected on me, that similar, same experience,” says Van Splinter.

Those who run arcades and collect original hardware see the purpose of these mainstream home machines, even if they ultimately don’t see them as replacements. “Most of the purists have really negative opinions of them because they’re cheap and junky compared to the real thing. But I recognize they serve a certain purpose for the regular consumer. Even those people recognize they’re not the real thing and they’re more of a toy but it runs the real software for the game,” says Van Splinter.

No matter what lengths new companies go to in order to recreate the true arcade experience from the ’80s and ’90s, there’s no way to authentically duplicate the distinct look of a CRT, as seen here, despite how close some HD filters can get with simulated scanlines and bloom effects.

“The reason why we’re in our business, there’s something about the environment of the actual cabinet. You want to be able to play with those original controls. They were designed to be enveloped with their art,” says Megan.

Shawn doesn’t agree. “I feel like they’re a lame, cheap attempt at capturing something in the past that some people settle for if they’re not experienced or exposed enough to know what a real cabinet looks like. If you look at the [replica] cabinets, they’re constructed poorly, the screens look bad, they put a bunch of games into one machine where the game and control optimization doesn’t exist.” Shawn also noted the price of an Arcade 1Up Machine, questioning the production cost to turn a profit. Arcade 1Up machines retail between $199 and $299.

Shawn then found a way to correlate the whole thing to the gum stuck to the underside of an arcade game’s control panel. “I want you to imagine any good arcade, imagine that as a bowl of fruit that has fresh kiwi, bananas, strawberries, peaches, plums. One of these [replicas] is like a piece of gum that’s strawberry, kiwi fruit, watermelon flavored. You can chew it and taste the flavor of these different things, but it’s not the same thing,” Shawn says.

It’s a trip back to a simpler time when the limits of technology forced developers to be clever and really focus on making gameplay fun and challenging. Just like a piece of music that was written 30 to 40 years ago, these games still have the power to move us,

However, they do serve a purpose. Inaccurate to their source, yes. Impure in the eyes of collectors? Certainly. “Where they serve the market well is that any old mom or dad that wander into [a store] and say how much does it cost to put one of these in my basement? And they don’t care at all about how these buttons feel or even how long it’s going to last. They want a novelty sitting in their basement. For their interest level, they only need it to last a year or so. They’re not going to nitpick. It’s as disposable as their interest,” responds Megan.

Owning an actual arcade machine, with a bit of work and additional luck, can be done for around $300, assuming this turns into a small fix-it-up hobby. Of course, issues of size and weight come into play. Grandma and Grandpa likely won’t strap a real machine to their backs and drag it to their basement to get rekindle the Pac-Man affair of their youth, no matter how cheap the real thing is. Megan recounted a story of a machine falling on her leg, resulting in a broken bone.

And with Replicade, even at only a foot in height, accuracy still matters. The company sources their ROMs carefully. “We go through about 40 versions before a product is done and complete. We make sure everything is proper,” says Prychack. Replicade also uses accurate controls, including trackballs, just shrunk down into a manageable scale so you can keep your couch.

All of this combined, no matter personal feelings toward Arcade 1Up or toy-like devices, it all leads to the same place: reigniting interest in a once-lost culture. The business of arcades in the home and arcades as a separate place of business survive on a co-existence. They feed one another. Wal-Mart instills the idea, the separate arcade sells the authentic nostalgia.

“These toys, the Arcade 1Ups or whatever, they’re not going to affect the business. I think if anything, they’re going to draw more people in. They’re on that part where they’re genuine enough to give the interest to people and for them to play them, but they’re clearly not the real thing to nearly everyone who plays them. I would definitely say it’s going to draw more people in to play the real thing. I can’t see any negative effects,” says Van Splinter.

“It’s a trip back to a simpler time when the limits of technology forced developers to be clever and really focus on making gameplay fun and challenging. Just like a piece of music that was written 30 to -40 years ago, these games still have the power to move us,” writes Humphries.

For Prychak, he sees the long- terms possibilities. This isn’t just a sudden burst of those looking to recapture their youth. “The community is growing and it will continue to grow… we’re just scratching the surface at this point.”

The Steam Summer Sale is in full swing, and while you can currently find thousands of PC games discounted at Steam and Steam key providers like Fanatical, there’s also a new free game available from the Epic Games Store. Starting June 27 and running through July 4, Last Day of June is free for Epic Store users, and once you claim the game, it’s yours to keep forever. All you need is an Epic account, which is also free to create.

Last Day of June is a story-driven experience that follows Carl and June, two lovers who are relaxing at their favorite spot by the lake when a series of events leads to a tragic accident. The story takes a Groundhog Day-esque turn, and you must figure out the exact order of events and key decisions that will prevent the tragedy and save June’s life.

In GameSpot’s Last Day of June review, the game earned a 6 for its dreamy, watercolor-like visuals, compelling characters, and thematic approach to free will and fatalism, although critic Alex Newhouse took issue with its long loading times, unskippable cutscenes, and overall repetitiveness of the gameplay loop. “This repetitiveness is mitigated in part because of touching, relatable side characters and because Last Day of June explores the philosophical struggle between determinism and free will in a way that’s fairly rare in video games,” he wrote.

Get Last Day of June for free »

Create a free Epic Store account »

The main story is only a few hours long, so you might as well grab Last Day of June while it’s free now–you can always come back to it later. Next week’s free game is Overcooked, a fantastic co-op game with up to four players who work together in a kitchen to churn out various recipes in time, all while navigating shifting stages, kitchen fires, and other obstacles.

The ensemble in the new Ghostbusters movie, a direct sequel to Ivan Reitman’s Ghostbusters (1984) and Ghostbusters 2 (1989), has gotten a little bit bigger. Ant-Man actor Paul Rudd is set to star alongside Stranger Things’ Finn Wolfhard in the upcoming fantasy comedy.

Rudd (Avengers: Endgame, Captain America: Civil War) made the announcement via Twitter, where he posted a video of people taking photos in front of the “magnificent” Ghostbusters Firehouse building in New York. “I can’t wait to join the cast this fall for Ghostbusters,” Rudd said toward the end of the video. Ghostbusters is scheduled for 2020.

Along with Rudd, Ghostbusters stars Carrie Coon (Avengers: Infinity War, Gone Girl), Finn Wolfhard (Dog Days, It), and Mckenna Grace (Captain Marvel, Fuller House).

Jason Reitman is sitting in the director role, while his father Ivan will serve as the producer. According to Jason, this new Ghostbusters movie is “the next chapter in the original franchise, not a reboot.” Details are scarce, but we did get a teaser trailer back in January 2019, which you can check out above.

Ghostbusters is set to debut on July 10, 2020

Crunchyroll has announced Mob Psycho 100 II: The First Spirits and Such Company Trip – A Journey that Mends the Heart and Heals the Soul’s international premiere will occur at Crunchyroll Expo 2019. The original video animation (OVA) is the follow-up to the second season of Mob Psycho 100, which was one of the best anime to watch during the Winter 2019 season.

The screening will premiere on Sunday, September 1. Following the viewing, Mob Psycho 100 director Yuzuru Tachikawa, character designer Yoshimichi Kameda, and voice actor Setsuo Ito will hold a panel to discuss the creation of the anime. Ito voices the titular Mob, the main protagonist of the anime. For those who can’t make Crunchyroll Expo, the OVA will publicly release on September 25.

Crunchyroll describes the plot of the OVA as follows: “Mob, Reigen, Dimple, and the newest member of the Spirits and Such Consultation Office staff, Serizawa, take a trip up to a secluded hot spring called Ibogami Hot Springs in Zebra Prefecture. Reigen happened to get a request from the matron there to discover the truth behind the strange rumors going around there and save the inn. Ritsu and Teru also join in on this trip and the six of them head out on this super relaxing trip to the hot spring. But on their way there, Reigen and Serizawa start nodding off on the train and somehow get sucked into an eerie parallel world.”

Made by the same folks behind the original season of One Punch Man, Mob Psycho 100 follows the hilarious yet action-packed misadventures of Mob, a middle-school boy who also happens to be one of the world’s most powerful espers. Because of the uncontrollable nature of his powers, Mob needs to keep his emotions in check at all times, which can be difficult when you’re juggling a part-time job as an exorcist and the everyday struggles of being a teenager. Where Season 1 was good, Mob Psycho 100 II raises the bar to tell one of the most beautifully wholesome anime stories of 2019.

Mob Psycho 100 II is available on Crunchyroll and VRV. This year, Crunchyroll Expo–the company’s annual celebration of anime, gaming, and cosplay–will be held August 30 through September 1.

Fortnite‘s Season 9, Week 8 challenges are now live across PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, and mobile. Given that it’s an even-numbered week, this would normally mean that a new Fortbyte is available to collect in the game, but if you’re hoping to find it, you likely aren’t having much success. Here’s what’s going on.

Fortbyte #97 should have arrived in the game alongside Week 8’s challenges. Unlike the secret Battle Stars you can collect when you complete this season’s Utopia challenges, you don’t need to clear any challenges in order to find the Fortbyte; you simply need to have a Season 9 Battle Pass and know where to look. However, while many have already pinpointed the Fortbyte’s location, it appears the collectible isn’t actually live in the game yet, so it won’t show up when you go looking for it.

This isn’t the first time something like this has happened; Week 4’s Fortbyte similarly didn’t go live alongside that week’s challenges, instead arriving a few days later. That will presumably be the case with Fortbyte #97 as well, so we’ll continue to monitor the game and have a Fortbyte guide up once the item goes live. In the meantime, you can still complete Week 8’s challenges if you haven’t already. The trickiest of the bunch is to visit three different clocks. If you don’t know where those are, be sure to check out our clock location guide.

Fortnite’s 14 Days of Summer event is also underway. For two weeks, Epic will be unvaulting a different weapon in the game and offering a new LTM to play each day. There are also 14 Days of Summer challenges to complete, which will unlock exclusive rewards. The first involves dancing at beach parties, while the second asks you to bounce a giant beach ball in five different matches.

Apple’s chief design officer Jony Ive is set to leave to form his own independent design company. Apple states that Ive is expected to depart later this year but it will continue to work closely with Ive on a range of projects. Additionally, Apple will remain a primary client of his new company.

Ive has been at Apple for around 30 years and defined the look and feel of many of its most popular products, including the iPhone, iPad, and Macbooks. Given the impact that the iPhone has had on the technology of the modern day, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say technology wouldn’t be what it is today without him.

“Jony is a singular figure in the design world and his role in Apple’s revival cannot be overstated, from 1998’s groundbreaking iMac to the iPhone and the unprecedented ambition of Apple Park, where recently he has been putting so much of his energy and care,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook.

“Apple will continue to benefit from Jony’s talents by working directly with him on exclusive projects, and through the ongoing work of the brilliant and passionate design team he has built. After so many years working closely together, I’m happy that our relationship continues to evolve and I look forward to working with Jony long into the future.”

Ive has appeared on stage over the years at various keynotes to reveal new devices in the iPhone, iPad, iWatch, Macbook, and iMac lines, and his design sense has been key to revitalizing Apple as a company and brand, which as led to it having the ubiquitous presence it enjoys today.

“After nearly 30 years and countless projects, I am most proud of the lasting work we have done to create a design team, process and culture at Apple that is without peer. Today it is stronger, more vibrant and more talented than at any point in Apple’s history,” Ive said.

“The team will certainly thrive under the excellent leadership of Evans, Alan, and Jeff, who have been among my closest collaborators. I have the utmost confidence in my designer colleagues at Apple, who remain my closest friends, and I look forward to working with them for many years to come.”

Apple is expected to reveal the 12th iPhone this year and early whispers indicate that it may opt for a larger screen and a smaller screen option. You can read the latest iPhone 12 rumors on our sister site CNET.

Kyogre has officially left Raid Battles in Pokemon Go, but another Legendary Pokemon has taken its place. For a limited time, the Legendary Ground-type Groudon will appear again in five-star Raid Battles–and on top of that, you will have a chance of encountering its Shiny form.

Groudon will be available again until July 10, giving you nearly two weeks to capture it. As usual, you’ll first need to team up with other players in-person at a Gym where a Groudon Raid is taking place and battle the Legendary before you can earn a chance to catch it. Groudon is a pure Ground-type, so your best bet is to bring along Grass and Water Pokemon such as Breloom, Milotic, and the aforementioned Kyogre.

Even if you miss your chance to battle Groudon, you’ll still be able catch it through other means. Groudon and Kyogre are among the Legendary Pokemon you can encounter when you achieve a Research Breakthrough in July’s Field Research tasks. You’ll also have a chance to find a Spinda with a new spot pattern. You can read more details on the official Pokemon Go website.

Groudon isn’t the only Legendary Pokemon returning this week. On Saturday, June 29, Niantic is holding a special Raikou Raid Day. The Legendary dog will return to Raid Battles from 4-7 PM local time, and you’ll have a chance of encountering its Shiny form. On top of that, you’ll be able to receive up to five free Raid Passes during the event hours, which you’ll need to participate in Raids. Meanwhile, Speed Forme Deoxys is available in EX Raids.

Pokemon Go’s next Community Day is set for Sunday, July 21. This time, the event will run from 4-7 PM local time, and the featured Pokemon will be Mudkip, the Water starter from Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire. You’ll also be able to earn three times the normal amount of XP for each Pokemon you catch during the event.

The Pokemon Company has a brand-new mobile game called Pokemon Masters on the way this year. The game is launching for iOS and Android devices this summer and is set in Pasio, an island region where the most famous trainers from throughout the series have gathered to take part in the Pokemon Masters League Tournament. You’ll be able to recruit these trainers to your teams and battle alongside them in three-on-three matches. You can read more Pokemon Masters gameplay details here.