Capcom Arcade Cabinet: Next Stop, 1986!

 

Capcom continues crawling through the classics in their rather large arcade games library and yes, a few of the more snarky elements in the emulator crowd who’ve never paid a dime for anything they play are still wondering why. Too bad for them, I say. Anyway, for those folks not trolling for ROMs who want to get Capcom a little extra money for these updated HD conversions, three more gems from the past are all ready to play over PSN and XBLA on Capcom Arcade Cabinet. This week’s lineup includes Legendary Wings, Trojan and Side Arms Hyper Dyne, all extremely cool and vastly replayable.

Is Dollar Dash a Modern Day Bomberman? Hmmmmaybe…

 

dollar dash tinyYes, yes… just the mention of the late, lamented Hudson Soft’s classic character and game brings a tear to my eye (and nope, that new-ish online game isn’t my thing despite the massive social aspect – or rather because of it. I like to see who’s beating me and vice versa). That said, Kalypso Media and developer Candygun want you to dive into their fast-paced cops & robbers & assorted traps game, Dollar Dash like it’s the new next best thing. Already out on PC via Steam and through Xbox Live Arcade for the 360, the game is finally headed to PSN on March 19. I’ve played the PC version and found it to be fun and funny with tons of hazards to avoid in each stage and while not quite as kawaii as Bomberman, the game is a blast to play. Anyway, go check it out if you have Steam installed and if there’s also a PS3 in your home, boogie on over to PSN next week and snap this up. Hopefully, this will be Vita compatible, but we’ll see, I suppose…

Review: Capcom Arcade Cabinet (PSN)

CAC_artDeveloper: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
# of Players: 1 – 2+
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) to T (Teen)
Official Site
Score: A

 

Capcom’s little experiment in reworking some of its many arcade games back into the minds and hands of gamers around the globe is definitely working, folks. Capcom Arcade Cabinet (so far in its second wave of three games) is not only a must-buy collection whether you do it now or in May when the entire set of 15 titles becomes available as a single purchase, it’s probably going to be the way to go should other companies decide to get HD versions of their classics out onto consoles (*cough* Konami! Sega! Tecmo! *ahem* for starters). Sure, there’s no Wii U, Vita or 3DS version on the way as far as I know (a bit of a sticking point for those Nintendo-only gamers or Sony fans who’d LOVE to take some or all of these on the road), but for sheer nostalgia value, this trip down memory lane will have your fingers and brain merrily tapping and plotting away as you take on some oldies that still pack a mean punch. Continue reading

Capcom Arcade Trivia: “Did You Know…” You Don’t Need A Coin Drop On Your TV To Play These?

 

No big prizes for knowing this stuff already, folks… BUT if you hadn’t a clue before, now you know AND there’s the whole side benefit of looking and sounding REALLY cool to your geek buddies who think you need to play more games. Or something like that. Video game history is pretty awesome at the end of the day no matter how you look at it, I say. Capcom Arcade Cabinet is out NOW for the PS3 (via PSN) and Xbox 360 (via XBLA). It’s possibly coming to other platforms, but you didn’t hear it here. Yet.

Snoop Has Me Confused (Again): Way of the Dogg (No, I’m Not Lion)…

 

snoopSo, Snoop.. er, Dogg is back in the game (business) with this upcoming 505 Games release, Way of the Dogg, currently in development at EchoPeak. Hey, I’m a fan of plenty of ancient great to bad Kung Fu flicks from the 1970’s and 1980’s and I don’t find his tunes at all ear-burning (but I don’t actively listen to hip-hop or whatever it’s classified as these days), so the blend of styles certainly seems potentially smokin’ (as the kids say). That said, this whole Dogg/Lion thing is baffling to my brain, but I guess it’s kind of a professional/personal thing that I shouldn’t be concerned about much.

Granted, I did overhear a conversation a week or two back between a few people arguing about Snoop’s recent conversion and if it was “right” under whatever rules or whatever is in place that make one a “true” Rastafarian and so forth and so on. But I didn’t stick around for the entire mostly mellow debate as I walked in on the middle of it, was eavesdropping anyway (who’s bad?!), had nothing to offer that wouldn’t have been a bad joke that would have gotten me beaten senseless (or ignored, a far worse fate for an aspiring “comedian” like myself) and at the end of the day, I probably wouldn’t give a hoot about what was said the moment I went home and cooked something tasty to eat (which would have been a steak, had my dirty laundry not eaten it – oh, never mind…that’s a long story told elsewhere).

Except for now that this game is underway, it might me nice to know what to call the man should I ever run into him again. “(If) You (Don’t) Know My Name, (Don’t) Look Up My Number” and all that stuff… Eh, no worries. It’ll get sorted out eventually. Back with more on this one in a bit…

TMNT: Out of the Shadows Teaser: Back Again (and Still Shelling Out, Some Would Say)…

 

I always flip a coin and wait when I see a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game roll around. Sure, that original arcade game was a classic, but it’s been kind of hit or miss since then with a few good games and a few stinkers. Granted, I’ve definitely outgrown the appeal of those pizza-chomping, slang-slinging crime fighters who perhaps should have been chased down and turned into soup and luggage by evil poachers long ago. But there’s a new movie in the works and the fans all say  “The fans… think of the fans!”  (or at least that’s what the fans would like to believe they all say), so here you go: a new downloadable beat ’em up game on the way this summer on PSN and XBLA coming from Red Fly Studios and published by Activision.

Personally, I’d much rather see Rare get off whatever slow unicorn they’re on and get us a proper Battletoads revival (an HD reboot of the classic 1994 arcade version and/or a new 3D game in the Conker vein), but those chances are slimmer than a photo of Kate Moss, circa 1994 placed under a stack of C++ programming books.

Capcom Arcade Cabinet 1985 Game Pack #1: Three More Classics To Keep You Twitching The Night Away…

 

Let’s see now… Ghosts ‘n Goblins, GunSmoke, and Section Z, all true classics and all now popping up on PSN and Xbox Live Arcade for you Capcom Arcade Cabinet users in North America (European PlayStation Store users get theirs tomorrow) for a very reasonable $9.99€/9.99/£7.99/800MSP. For those of you PSN users who missed last week’s intro 1987 pack or just want the two classics Avenger and/or 1943: The Battle of Midway by themselves, they’re both for sale individually on PSN for $3.99/€3.99/£3.19 each. Capcom hasn’t said a thing about 360 users in regards to these two titles getting single purchase deals, but I’m guessing 360 owners will need to take that up with Microsoft and not Capcom if it’s an issue about individual games being sold or whatever. Anyway, enough reading – go drop some virtual quarters already!

Capcom Arcade Cabinet Livestream: It’s Like Friday Night Again (With Much Cooler Friends)…

 

Hey, now – don’t get (too) offended there. Some people had cool friends back in the day, some didn’t. I had both cool and uncool buddies, so I can speak for each side of that particularly pesky coin. That said, Capcom Arcade Cabinet is out now and if those first three titles are any indication, this series will indeed be quite a winner. 1943, Avengers and Black Tiger are the first trio in a nice collection of games headed to PSN and Xbox Live Arcade (and sooner than you think). I’m hoping this lot gets onto the Vita and Wii U, as those remastered visuals are screaming for some portable and GamePad love. Or even better for those who don’t use download services, if this eventually makes it out on a disc at some point. More served means millions served, I always say…

Capcom Arcade Cabinet 1987 Trailer: Three of a Perfect Pair For Your PS3 or 360…

 

Sneaky, Capcom… so sneaky! Give away one game for FREE (the awesome side-scrolling action/platformer Black Tiger) to hook us in before making us pay up for the two others in this first trio of arcade classics. Well, five bucks for Avenger and 1943: Battle of Midway along with that freebie isn’t a bad deal at the end of the day considering it’s the first of a few cool oldies hitting PSN and XBLA this year. You can get in on your gratis Black Tiger plus set NOW on PSN for $4.99 and Xbox Live Arcade for 400 Microsoft Points, and get much more info on what else Capcom has up their sleeves in the future Bwith this super cool Arcade Cabinet collection HERE. Now, about getting these onto the Vita and Wii U… hopefully, that’s part of the plan at some point, as a little nostalgia is good for all gamers.

Star Wars Pinball: The Empire Strikes Back Rolls Onto PSN, XBLA

  

Star_Wars_Pinball_logoZen Studios does it again, dropping a new, cool pinball table onto PSN and XBLA for Zen Pinball fans. This one will have special appeal to Star Wars fans, as it’s Episode V themed and as you can see above, packs in plenty of detail and familiar characters from the film and fun cinematic stuff to make you lose a few balls over as you’re ogling them instead of paying attention to the rest of the amazing play field when these sequences end. Of course, pinball is easy to pick up for anyone who can hold a controller, so this one has wide appeal to all ages (E10+ rating aside). Zen also has a Boba Fett table coming and will reveal more next week, so pop back in to see what’s up (and yes, you can expect a certain line from Return of the Jedi used as a joke title for that post or somewhere in that post…).