The Recharged games are gonna be ported to Arcades!

[JPF997]

Thanks to Alan-1 the Recharged games are going to be used to create new Arcade cabinets! 

 

Here's the article if you wanna read it.

 

https://www.timeextension.com/news/2024/03/after-25-years-away-atari-is-returning-to-arcades-with-its-recharged-series

[Shaggy the Atarian]

I have a little additional insight into this - not just to plug myself, but I also just got off the phone with the CEO of Alan-1  I will be seeing the first game here in a couple of days

 

 

https://arcadeheroes.com/2024/03/12/atari-is-returning-to-arcades-with-new-alan-1-partnership/

[zzip]

29 minutes ago, Shaggy the Atarian said:

I have a little additional insight into this - not just to plug myself, but I also just got off the phone with the CEO of Alan-1  I will be seeing the first game here in a couple of days

 

 

https://arcadeheroes.com/2024/03/12/atari-is-returning-to-arcades-with-new-alan-1-partnership/

Is this Atari allowed to release games in the arcade under the Atari brand?   Or is that agreement no longer in force?

[Shaggy the Atarian]

49 minutes ago, zzip said:

Is this Atari allowed to release games in the arcade under the Atari brand?   Or is that agreement no longer in force?

While I don't have that agreement in front of me, I believe it ended back when Midway bought Atari Games, or more likely when Midway ceased all arcade/coin-op operations.

 

The Atari name has been out there on the arcade scene over the past 10 years, but it's been kind of sporadic. All of them have been licenses from Atari SA though and not Warner Bros.

 

 

[PowerDubs]

Good article with details here-

 

https://www.gamespress.com/en-US/ATARI-PARTNERS-WITH-ALAN-1-TO-BRING-NEW-ATARI-RECHARGED-GAMES-TO-ARCAD

[jhd]

 

This looks like great fun, but I have no idea where the nearest arcade is anymore -- probably Boston. How big is the remaining market for arcade games? 

 

Of course if Atari is only licensing its IP then there is really no downside risk for them. 

[GraffitiTavern]

Very excited! Been hoping for this for a while. I hope they consider how to make it work in the modern arcade/barcade scene, and not just a collector's item.

@Shaggy the Atarian Have they considered working with DSM Arcade at all for the cabinet design?

50 minutes ago, jhd said:

How big is the remaining market for arcade games? 

Still sizable in the US, but it has largely shifted to barcades, FECs, and collectors

[Shaggy the Atarian]

5 hours ago, GraffitiTavern said:

Very excited! Been hoping for this for a while. I hope they consider how to make it work in the modern arcade/barcade scene, and not just a collector's item.

@Shaggy the Atarian Have they considered working with DSM Arcade at all for the cabinet design?

Still sizable in the US, but it has largely shifted to barcades, FECs, and collectors

There will be a collector's edition (at least for the first game - I imagine others will depend on how that sells), otherwise they are looking at making it work for the scene.

 

I will likely be testing both Avian Knights and the first Recharged game out here in the near future. We'll see how they earn and I'll be happy to provide them with feedback. But, I've seen this go different ways, depending on how receptive the developer is to constructive criticism. Just due to how I've seen things like indie and joystick games work out over a long period of time, I do have my reservations. Joystick games make little money these days and games that look retro often get ignored (I had Cosmotrons which was basically a new Gravitar - the $3500 game only managed to pull in $5/wk :/ ).  Unfortunately even a game like Minecraft gets trounced by any light-gun shooter or driving game. They'll have to do some really cool cabinet tricks to draw people in.

 

In regards to DSM, DSM is no longer building their own, I believe; They are working with a couple of others out there, including Fun Company. I'm not sure if Alan-1 approached Fun Company at all. FC is experienced, but their location make shipping costs a bit stupid at times.

Alan-1 was trying to work with a cabinet maker here in UT who flaked out on them, so now they're doing it all in house. That is where I'll be going here on Friday to see their setup in person. 

[ledzep]

By Thor's Hammer, I hope that the games get real controllers, like Missile Command, Centipede and Quantum getting trak-balls instead of just joysticks.  I mean, since these are supposed to be "arcade" versions of the games and I believe from what I've read elsewhere slightly different from the home console/PC versions.

[roots.genoa]

10 hours ago, PowerDubs said:

Good article with details here-

This isn't an article, it's a press release

[+CyranoJ]

I bet they'll still say "Press SPACE to start"

[GraffitiTavern]

5 hours ago, Shaggy the Atarian said:

In regards to DSM, DSM is no longer building their own, I believe

I was thinking more in terms of cabinet art, the Nidhogg 2 cab had great artwork, which could make it stand out in a larger location (my small city has 2 large arcades with a 100+ games each and 0 smaller ones)

[zzip]

15 hours ago, jhd said:

This looks like great fun, but I have no idea where the nearest arcade is anymore -- probably Boston. How big is the remaining market for arcade games? 

 

Not as uncommon as you'd think-  Dave & Busters, amusements parks, beach towns, bowling alleys, minigolf and other recreation centers tend to have redemption center arcades.   Some have classic arcade games as well.

[TampaBay]

Agreed.  Here where I live, we have at least six arcades I can think of, including three "retro" 80's arcades, and several "fun centers" with arcade games and redemption games.

 

I'll be really curious what they do to the Recharged games for the physical arcade market, so they get attention.  I'll be rooting for them! 

 

It seems most of the popular games in the fun centers are light gun games, driving games, simulators, etc.  Though I will say many of the fun centers have those *giant* wall-sized versions of Pac-Man / Galaga and Space Invadaders and while not the same as what Recharged will be doing, those games do very well!  I actually really like playing that huge Galaga one.  There's also a giant Pac-Man that's the size of a billiards table and at least four (maybe six?) people all play simultaneously with diffferent colored Pac-Mans (Pac-Men?), and that games does well too.  We like playing it!

[Mockduck]

Some pics I took of the Avian Knights four player cabinet at Flynn's Retrocade in Roy, Utah for the tournament by Alan-1. The lights, wind, pinball knockers, etc. worked really well and I thought it added a lot to the experience, I loved it myself. The knocker in particular was sweet for Avian Knights.

[Video]

Hmm. Arcades. I think Atari 50 came arcade flavored (there was a machine on Atari website) outside physical arcade style controls, I can't think of a practical reason to get one, outside cool factor.

[JPF997]

3 minutes ago, Video said:

Hmm. Arcades. I think Atari 50 came arcade flavored (there was a machine on Atari website) outside physical arcade style controls, I can't think of a practical reason to get one, outside cool factor.

That's the only reason why anyone would want to play on an arcade these days, it's just cooler to play a game on a physical arcade than on a PC or console even if it's less convenient.

[Shaggy the Atarian]

5 hours ago, Mockduck said:

Some pics I took of the Avian Knights four player cabinet at Flynn's Retrocade in Roy, Utah for the tournament by Alan-1. The lights, wind, pinball knockers, etc. worked really well and I thought it added a lot to the experience, I loved it myself. The knocker in particular was sweet for Avian Knights.

Ah you were in town for that. Unfortunately I wasn't able to make it.

 

The Recharged cabinets are using the same I/O system that powers all of the extra widgets on Avian Knights (knocker, fans, LEDs, rumble). So the experience you had with AK will be similar to the Recharged games.

 

4 hours ago, Video said:

Hmm. Arcades. I think Atari 50 came arcade flavored (there was a machine on Atari website) outside physical arcade style controls, I can't think of a practical reason to get one, outside cool factor.

While Alan-1 will be producing versions for collectors, the first and foremost market is to arcade operators, who then in turn would put them on location for the end user. The physical additions are certainly one way to stand out but so are things like social play next to each other on a multiplayer game, a unified audio/visual experience, and Alan-1 will be pushing their eSports thing. 

 

19 hours ago, ledzep said:

By Thor's Hammer, I hope that the games get real controllers, like Missile Command, Centipede and Quantum getting trak-balls instead of just joysticks.  I mean, since these are supposed to be "arcade" versions of the games and I believe from what I've read elsewhere slightly different from the home console/PC versions.

Don't worry about that. Both of the guys I know at Alan-1 are huge arcade collectors and know this. The CEO of the company is the guy who bought the Grinkers Arcade collection in Idaho. They even went as far as to faithfully reproduce the Atari Star Wars yoke controller that you can buy and drop right into an OG Star Wars cab. I've seen these and they feel exactly like the original.

 

Personally I wouldn't mind seeing them use a spinner on Asteroids for that one (reflecting the Blasteroids control scheme). I have a hunch that most regular arcade players will get confused by the buttons, so a spinner would be better for a casual audience.

 

14 hours ago, GraffitiTavern said:

I was thinking more in terms of cabinet art, the Nidhogg 2 cab had great artwork, which could make it stand out in a larger location (my small city has 2 large arcades with a 100+ games each and 0 smaller ones)

Ah gotcha. Avian Knights did have some very high quality artwork when I saw it a year ago, but I'll report back on that factor when I visit their manufacturing facility on Friday. 

[zzip]

If they have multiplayer cabinets,  might we see Neo Sprint or the new Food Fight game make the jump to the arcade?

[Mockduck]

14 hours ago, Shaggy the Atarian said:

Ah you were in town for that. Unfortunately I wasn't able to make it.

 

The Recharged cabinets are using the same I/O system that powers all of the extra widgets on Avian Knights (knocker, fans, LEDs, rumble). So the experience you had with AK will be similar to the Recharged games.

 

While Alan-1 will be producing versions for collectors, the first and foremost market is to arcade operators, who then in turn would put them on location for the end user. The physical additions are certainly one way to stand out but so are things like social play next to each other on a multiplayer game, a unified audio/visual experience, and Alan-1 will be pushing their eSports thing. 

 

Don't worry about that. Both of the guys I know at Alan-1 are huge arcade collectors and know this. The CEO of the company is the guy who bought the Grinkers Arcade collection in Idaho. They even went as far as to faithfully reproduce the Atari Star Wars yoke controller that you can buy and drop right into an OG Star Wars cab. I've seen these and they feel exactly like the original.

 

Personally I wouldn't mind seeing them use a spinner on Asteroids for that one (reflecting the Blasteroids control scheme). I have a hunch that most regular arcade players will get confused by the buttons, so a spinner would be better for a casual audience.

 

Ah gotcha. Avian Knights did have some very high quality artwork when I saw it a year ago, but I'll report back on that factor when I visit their manufacturing facility on Friday. 

Yeah, and that bodes well for the Recharged arcade games, because it was working and feeling GREAT on Avian Knights. They talked a bit on-site about what it takes to sell Avian Knights cabinets to arcades, one of the things being flexibility in terms of taking credits, quarters, and spitting out tickets either through a card or physical. These are definitely being made for arcades in addition to wealthier home collectors (the Avian Knights cabinets are about $6-10k depending).

 

Yes, Alan-1 knows their stuff for sure. Great match for these Recharged games IMO. 

[Shaggy the Atarian]

2 hours ago, zzip said:

If they have multiplayer cabinets,  might we see Neo Sprint or the new Food Fight game make the jump to the arcade?

A different company is working on a new 4-player Food Fight that is exclusive to arcades, but they are going to be announcing it at Midwest Gaming Classic. 

 

A Neo Sprint arcade could possibly work - possibly better than any of the joystick games. If it has a steering wheel, it usually does well.

 

1 hour ago, Mockduck said:

Yeah, and that bodes well for the Recharged arcade games, because it was working and feeling GREAT on Avian Knights. They talked a bit on-site about what it takes to sell Avian Knights cabinets to arcades, one of the things being flexibility in terms of taking credits, quarters, and spitting out tickets either through a card or physical. These are definitely being made for arcades in addition to wealthier home collectors (the Avian Knights cabinets are about $6-10k depending).

 

Yes, Alan-1 knows their stuff for sure. Great match for these Recharged games IMO. 

That was their focus first - real arcades and not homes. I do hope these games do well, but I have my reservations due to experience. My Atari games generally don't make much on-site, then as mentioned in another post up there, joystick games never perform better than or even on-par with your typical light-gun or racing game. 😕  

[TampaBay]

10 minutes ago, Shaggy the Atarian said:

then as mentioned in another post up there, joystick games never perform better than or even on-par with your typical light-gun or racing game. 😕  

 

I can understand that though.  I think people are drawn to the games that are not easy to replicate on their home gaming system.  Even if I go to an all 80's arcade, I graviate toward a game like Out Run for the steering wheel, pedals, and shifter, or Star Wars (1983 version) for the flight yoke and vector graphics. 

 

I go to the arcade frequently, and I'm looking forward to (hopefully) seeing some of these Recharged cabinets in the wild, and will be curious to see what they can do in terms of "extras" so that there's a reason to play them in the arcade.

[Shaggy the Atarian]

21 minutes ago, TampaBay said:

 

I can understand that though.  I think people are drawn to the games that are not easy to replicate on their home gaming system.  Even if I go to an all 80's arcade, I graviate toward a game like Out Run for the steering wheel, pedals, and shifter, or Star Wars (1983 version) for the flight yoke and vector graphics. 

 

I go to the arcade frequently, and I'm looking forward to (hopefully) seeing some of these Recharged cabinets in the wild, and will be curious to see what they can do in terms of "extras" so that there's a reason to play them in the arcade.

Yeah, I get the sense that your general consumer thinks that retro arcades still rake in tons of money, thanks to all the retro hype that's been driving both pop culture arcade awareness and the various retrocades that have opened their doors out there (with Galloping Ghost leading the pack). The unfortunate reality is that they don't, unless there's some kind of really unique hook to them. World's Largest Pac-Man is one example of the latter.

 

I've also discovered that indie arcade games that are brand new but intentionally look old/retro, also are duds. I've owned and operated Cosmotrons, Skycurser, ReRave, Deathstalker, The Act, then several indie console games ported to arcades on the exA-Arcadia. It seems that people see these games, think it's some obscure game they never heard of that I put into a new cabinet to hoodwink them, so they move on to other games that they either know or have a better hook. The result is that almost all of those mentioned games have been poor investments as the amount of money they make week-in, week-out, is dismal. A single Cruis'n Blast can make more in a week than any of those games manage to make over the course of a year. 

 

I'll be happy to test out the Alan-1 games and see how they do, but if they don't manage to earn their keep, I won't be buying them. 

 

I could go on, but I've made a few videos about the subject where I share numbers. While a couple of years old now, nothing has changed.

 

 

 

[Mockduck]

I think Asteroids and Centipede will at least do well, they are among the best-ever arcade machines, so a cool new looking version with fun lights and sounds seems like it'd sell at an arcade.

[TampaBay]

5 hours ago, Shaggy the Atarian said:

Yeah, I get the sense that your general consumer thinks that retro arcades still rake in tons of money, thanks to all the retro hype that's been driving both pop culture arcade awareness and the various retrocades that have opened their doors out there (with Galloping Ghost leading the pack). The unfortunate reality is that they don't, unless there's some kind of really unique hook to them. World's Largest Pac-Man is one example of the latter.

 

I've also discovered that indie arcade games that are brand new but intentionally look old/retro, also are duds. I've owned and operated Cosmotrons, Skycurser, ReRave, Deathstalker, The Act, then several indie console games ported to arcades on the exA-Arcadia. It seems that people see these games, think it's some obscure game they never heard of that I put into a new cabinet to hoodwink them, so they move on to other games that they either know or have a better hook. The result is that almost all of those mentioned games have been poor investments as the amount of money they make week-in, week-out, is dismal. A single Cruis'n Blast can make more in a week than any of those games manage to make over the course of a year. 

 

I'll be happy to test out the Alan-1 games and see how they do, but if they don't manage to earn their keep, I won't be buying them. 

 

I could go on, but I've made a few videos about the subject where I share numbers. While a couple of years old now, nothing has changed.

 

 

Thanks so much for sharing the videos.  Super insightful.

 

I wasn't familiar with Galloping Ghost until you mentioned it above, but yes, the Retro arcades by me use that business model.  My favorite arcade is Replay Museum in Tarpon Springs, FL, and all the games are on Free Play and it's a $14 entry fee for all day.

 

The difference in what's local to me and what's in your videos is that each arcade here is all in on *either* retro or modern games, but not both.  So that makes a comparison to your experiences a little apples to oranges.  For example, pretty much every single game in Replay is from the 1980s, except a few such at the Mortal Kombat series, and even that is the 90's.  So their clientele is strictly people who love and have great enthusiam for 1980s arcade cabinets.  Every person who walks in the door has specifically driven to that location to play Out Run, TRON, Galaga, Star Wars, Tempest, etc.  A more modern game would be completely out of place there.

 

On the other end of the spectrum is a place that we have called Elev8.  That's similar to a Dave & Buster's type place / family fun center.  They have all modern games like the ones you listed in the Top 5 in your videos.  I can't recall seeing a single game that isn't of the very recent modern era.  Their "throwback" games are like what I mentioned in my previous post, those giant wall-size Pac-Man games, but even with those, there's maybe three or four out of the countless modern games, racing games, and simulators.

 

Both of the types of places above seem to do well, though I obviously have no idea how well (or not) they do financially.  The retro arcade has been around for a while, so hopefully it's doing well and continues to stick around for a while.  I absolutely love going there.  The modern arcade is packed all the time, so I imagine they must be doing well, but without knowing their costs, it's impossibe to say.

 

If I come across the Recharged games, it will most certainly only be in the modern arcade.  I'll be curious to see if people are playing those games should the games ever make it to Elev8.  I will certainly give them a try!

 

You may have already seen my post on here with a mini-review of my local retro arcade, but if not, here it is:

https://forums.atariage.com/topic/361230-discovered-this-80s-arcade-near-me-and-i-love-hanging-out-there/

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 14 by TampaBay