AtariHero

In case you missed news about this one last year and earlier this year, Sega has remastered/rebooted Daytona USA for arcades. They had the "definitive version" of the game at IAAPA 2017 last month in Orlando. This meant that the software had been fine tuned to what it should have been when released and it also now ships with a 4-speed shifter. I might be getting a pair of these cabinets for my arcade in 2018...been having many requests for something with a shifter since Cruis'n Blast has none.

Haha, yeah I don't have much of a personal use for one but it would still be cool to have. That said, I'm going to hold out to see what the commercial or bar version looks like and see if it's worth grabbing for the arcade

I've always thought that the Jag could have done more with Wolf 3D style raycasted games like this. Looking good! Just wonder if he could get the same frame rate full screen

This isn't a scientifically verified list so feel free to correct it if wrong. Just from observation or reading about it elsewhere. Official Games running in 320 resolution mode (or using it in some form such text/UI/status): Dark Chambers? Desert Falcon ? Food Fight (text) Meltdown One-On-One Planet Smashers Pole Position II (just text?) Sentinel Touchdown Football (just text?) Tower Toppler (text & water?) Homebrews: Berzerk / Frenzy Dungeon Explorer Frogger Moon Cresta Pac-Man 320 Anything else or errors?

These are awesome efforts, furthering my envy of anyone who can code as I never have been able to wrap my head around that Laser Blast is the first 2600 game I remember playing so that hits me in the nostalgia zone right there. Always had a soft sport for Venture as well. I really need to fix the power button on my 7800 so I can play these games again and be ready for new ones.

In case you hadn't heard already, TMNT is coming back to arcades thanks to Raw Thrills. I spoke with the producer of the game last week who talked about playing "every arcade brawler ever made" in preparation for making this. I'm seeing some people complain about the art style but that is due to the license. Wouldn't make sense for RT to pay Nickelodeon for the license from the recently finished TV show only to not use the assets from it (and they probably require that the design and sounds be used). Links & videos for details http://arcadeheroes.com/2017/11/14/iaapa-2017-raw-thrills-booth-with-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-injustice-arcade-x-games-snow-boarder/

I was down at IAAPA 2017 last week where I had the opportunity to experience the new Atari PONG EM coffee table. This was Kickstarted but a Chinese manufacturer by the name of UNIS has picked it up for worldwide manufacture and distribution. What's seen in the video is the home coffee table version; it was impressive to watch (albeit not perfect and surprisingly small). I hope to get a chance to see the commercial edition next year that they say is the size of a typical air hockey table as well as a "bar edition" that is apparently the same width & depth as the version seen here but is taller so you can sit at one on a barstool.

That's really awesome. Thanks for sharing the story. I came across a QWAK back in 2009 at an arcade that was in the process of opening. We went through each game one by one to see what it's status was - there was A LOT of Atari history in there: Space Race (non-fiberglass version; was missing the joysticks), Gran Trak 10, Sprint 2, SteepleChase (this was one of the few that worked), Indy 400, Tank cocktail, Airborne Avenger and a few others that I can't recall at the moment. The QWAK powered up but only just; you could hear the electronic duck call weakly trying to make a noise but that was it. Unfortunately I never saw the game working to see it in action. The gun was impressive and I had wondered since where those had come from as I had assumed Atari had re-purposed old BB guns or something. Good to hear the story set straight Also surprising was the size of the cabinet - very short, great for kids.

That is one 70s arcade machine I wouldn't mind getting my hands on. I came across it once but it wasn't for sale. Very cool to find something like an EE in a game from this time.

That shows the Sega Saturn symbol, not the Genesis nice comparison of the two. Although that said, no one really remembers Street Racer or any of these others as all these years later it's just Mario Kart. There are a lot of gameplay elements that Atari/Miracle could have done to make it a better game but part of playing on nostalgia is using the characters/IP you've got to keep them in mind:

As some of the later posts mentioned, there are a few more characters in the Atari world than usually come to mind but it's really hard to put any Atari character in the world recognition category anymore. But those areas where you didn't have a lot of character to pull from, the themed worlds certainly could have been done and made the game much more interesting, especially if hazards from the themes were used as you suggest. Now that you mention it, I wonder if the track length was a technical issue (not enough RAM), development time or something else.

http://arcadeheroes.com/2017/02/24/atari-pong-coffee-table-project-looks-to-manufacturing/ Very cool 'homebrew' development that is looking into mass production. I'm tempted to shell out the cash for one of these to put into my arcade, I just don't know if it has been thoroughly tested in an arcade environment yet (you want stuff like this to hold up)

In terms of features and theming, Mario Kart certainly is a more complete game although graphically I think that Atari Karts stands strong in that regard thanks to full screen, hills, color, animations and frame rate. I also don't mind the more arcade-like focus on racing although when I first grabbed the game I had an odd expectation of there being a battle mode. That said, I really haven't found battle mode on MK to be very fun any more, maybe it's just age. Power-ups apart from having more offensive items and Atari related items could have been more visible as you mention. I can't imagine having the symbol floating above the track as a sprite would have affected the engine that much although I'm a backseat driver when it comes to coding. One place that AK was odd too was the music. Too melancholy at times, particularly on the scores/ranking scene. It could have used something a little more upbeat (YaK's TxK has this problem - too many 'smooth' tracks that feel out of place with what the gameplay was trying to do). That said, it is quite distinctive whether you like it or hate it, easy to remember which cannot be said for so many other games.

I can't believe it's been almost three years since I blogged about this but it seems appropriate to share as I'd like to hear your thoughts. From a side blog that I haven't updated in a while: https://arcryphongames.wordpress.com/2014/05/16/redesigning-atari-karts-atari-jaguar/ (Yes, I am aware that many images in the post are broken, I'll have to fix that) I always liked Atari Karts but there were aspects of it that felt off - particularly that it only used Bentley Bear as an Atari character and didn't feature a roster based off Atari's rich history from the early 80s. Driving as Yar, Major Havoc, Charley Chuck, Berthilda The Witch, Robot 1984, Louie (Scrapyard Dog), Commander Champion and others. On top of that I think the game could have better fulfilled its name by featuring levels & items based on Atari universe scenes. I don't really have any issues with how the game plays (maybe except for an improvement on getting stuck on the sides in certain levels...I've seen kids get frustrated with that), it's more that the game doesn't really feel "Atari" when it barely references the company otherwise. Agree or disagree? Any changes you would make if you could?

I'd love to have one of these for my own arcade although it would have to be fully coin-op It is great to see this finally happen...Kaboom coming full circle since it really was an adaptation of Atari's Avalanche that most gamers aren't familiar with. Kind of weird that Atari never "responded" to Kaboom! with an Avalanche port. And that Yars Revenge cabinet above looks beautiful