What would you want to see at an arcade?

[helvetica]

I work at an arcade, I love my hobby. I have several spare cabs doing absolutely nothing. I've actually had someone come up to me while I was working and asked if we had any touhou games to play and that got me thinking... I can make whatever cabs I want.

So, I plan on making at least 3-4 cabs (that's what I have at this point). 2 fighting, 1 shmup 1 other was what I was thinking. I planned on putting PCs in at least two of them and a Type-X board in another, but I wasn't sure what to go in the last. I can get practically any arcade board I want. That being said I'm not even sure what games I want yet. I know I want the big ones like SF5/etc (we have PS3s and run P4U2/Skullgirls/Xrd/AH3 on those) and I planned on putting like IaMP/MBAACC, but I'm kind of out of the loop any other good fighters I could run.

Obviously the shmup cab will have touhous and other shooters (I have copies of all of the touhous) but tbh I'm very rusty when it comes to recommending shooters that aren't CAVE or Thoho. I'm not well versed in what is considered "arcade accurate" either as far as CS ports go. I do have access to practically any arcade board I want but cost is also a consideration. Besides fighters and shooters, I'm not sure what else to put. I'm even worse when it comes to puzzle and platformers and stuff like that. I've had my head stuck so long in the rhythm side of the house I'm not even sure what's remotely popular or fun anymore.

Here's what I'm looking for:
1) easily obtained: big pluses for stuff on steam/psn/etc. If only on PCBs preferrably easy to obtain/more modernish ones like Naomi/Type-X/etc. I only want to emulate as a last resort.
2) arcade accurate: like if the ports of a certain game are just as good as the original I would prefer to use those as it simplifies cab setup and allows me to more easily change games out
3) unique: I want lesser known, even doujin tier stuff because our arcade is predicate on being as Japanese as we can manage. That being said I'm still gonna want the staples so feel free to suggest obvious ones just in case I overlooked them.
4) standardish controls: I'm building these on candy cabs so nothing dumb like racers/lightgun/rhythm games obviously. If it would be on a candy cab in an arcade in Japan (or would feel at home on one), then it's OK.

While money isn't an object, it's still a concern. I would prefer not to emulate unless it's something that's literally impossible to get without paying a boatload like a real DDP board (someday... I got Bemani stuff to blow on first). I'm not concerned about coin mode, this is a free play arcade, you just pay an admission fee at the door and play your ass off, so CS ports are OK as long as they don't significantly differ from AC.

So please, list me what you'd think your dream games for each cab would be, and I will be taking notes because in the end I want something people will love playing on :3.

[Edible]

My apartment building, from the window.  So I can have an arcade across the street. ;_;

[helvetica]

My apartment building, from the window.  So I can have an arcade across the street. ;_;

I live in walking distance of mine, sucks to suck :b

[Monarda]

My apartment building, from the window.  So I can have an arcade across the street. ;_;

This, this speaks my desires perfectly.
And about cabs, i don`t have much in mind, since i don`t play Fighting games much, and the shmups i know about are stuff like Touhou (duh), R-Type, Raiden, DonDoPachi, and some others. I`d be great to see a kind of game like Crypt of the Necrodancer, but besides all those, the only one that comes to mind is Metal Slug.

[helvetica]

We have a Neo-Geo multicade already, emulated for now (we've been gutting old Golden Tees and turning them into cabs). We have an MVS board and cab but it's broken and that's another longterm project to restore it. I do have copies of Raiden III and IV and a Type-X board :3 tho.

Like eventually I would like to own all of the actual arcade versions of everything on their original hardware but I didn't win the Powerball :c.

[MatsuriSakuragi]

Move your arcade to Fort Wayne so I can play

This would be the best improvement


(get mushihimesama)

[helvetica]

Move your arcade to Fort Wayne so I can play

This would be the best improvement


(get mushihimesama)

You know Columbus isn't that far of a drive :b

Are the 360 ports of CAVE shooters ok? I only ever bought Deathsmiles so I don't have much of a frame of reference. I also haven't had much luck sourcing any CAVE boards that don't cost a thousand dollars :c

[Spotty Len]

Are the 360 ports of CAVE shooters ok? I only ever bought Deathsmiles so I don't have much of a frame of reference. I also haven't had much luck sourcing any CAVE boards that don't cost a thousand dollars :c

You're fine as long as your screen doesn't lag, all ports are good.

We had an arcade shop in my town, which sadly closed last year to focus on other activities. As far as cabs go, the owner's brother imported Astro City cabs and they had quite a lot of them. Two of them had Super Turbo on versus constantly because of thanks to us (our fighting games association was a partner), puzzles games were usually Puyo Puyo Tsuu, Magical Drop or Puzzle Bobble.
The owner was a big shmup fan so he had a lot of stuff rotating on his cabs, though he dedicated one of them to Mushihimesama Futari because he loved that game. Besides Touhou and CAVE, look around Psikyo shmups, like Dragon Blaze or Strikers 1945. I could suggest Toaplan but, uh... I'm not cruel.

For fighting games, either Super Turbo or 3.3 would be popular, though exotic choices like Samurai Showdown or Marvel vs Capcom can be nice.

Metal Slug is always a lot of fun on a cab, so I think it's safe to go for it.

If I could choose my lineup on 3-4 cabs, they would be Super Turbo, Mushihimesama, Ketsui and Puyo Puyo Tsuu.

[helvetica]

I plan on implementing some sort of system where either the player can pick a game or they can ask me to change it for them easily. At least with Type-X stuff it's just a harddrive and a dongle change (Naomi I'm setting up netboot), consoles/PC would be even easier.

They're gonna be on CRTs or at least very low lag LCDs (I am very particular about display lag, don't worry). I have a couple of Net Citys and some old pedestal style cabs I'm gonna hack up and use.

[Monarda]

Move your arcade to Fort Wayne so I can play

If they`re moving somewhere, they`d better be moving here. :v We need more True Arcades.

[helvetica]

B-but I like it here because I go to school here :c

[MatsuriSakuragi]

You know Columbus isn't that far of a drive :b

it's a 3 hour drive

you could move it here and make it a 15 min drive :O

Are the 360 ports of CAVE shooters ok? I only ever bought Deathsmiles so I don't have much of a frame of reference. I also haven't had much luck sourcing any CAVE boards that don't cost a thousand dollars :c

Kind of a tossup from what I recall, but do remember I haven't really played 360 shmups or been in on the shmup scene for the better part of 4 or 5 years. I know that the Mushihimesama Futari port was spot-on, and Deathsmiles was solid, though something about Black Label having poor slowdown emulation or something.



Alternative idea: multiplayer shmup! Get Twinkle Star Sprites

[helvetica]

it's a 3 hour drive

you could move it here and make it a 15 min drive :O

Or you could visit Cbus and me and the arcade :3c or at least go to a con we staff :b (ask me in PM and I can let you know where/when those are :3c)

Kind of a tossup from what I recall, but do remember I haven't really played 360 shmups or been in on the shmup scene for the better part of 4 or 5 years. I know that the Mushihimesama Futari port was spot-on, and Deathsmiles was solid, though something about Black Label having poor slowdown emulation or something.

Would emulation be a better bet then on CAVE stuff? I just have a strong aversion to emulating if I can avoid it, especially if I'm trying to get arcade accurate. But if emulating is better than any console/PC port available then I'll take that over no game at all.

In a lot of respects I consider this activism and outreach. I adore shmups and poverty fighters and I would love to get people into these things by putting them out to play and since we're free play this gives me the liberty to be a lot more esoteric with my choices. I don't have to worry about if this game will pay for itself with enough coins as much since we have anchor games that will always bring people in.

At the same time I'm worried about putting out a poor quality product and discouraging people, so if I'm gonna put out DDP or Puyo Puyo I want the best possible experience I can deliver.

Alternative idea: multiplayer shmup! Get Twinkle Star Sprites

I was thinking really hard about putting TSS on a cab too lol. I want to have one cab focused on single player stuff (shmups/puzzle/etc) and one more multiplayer oriented (mostly to simplify which cab runs what).

[aUsernameIsFineToo]

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned Time Crisis yet. Lightgun shooters can be pretty fun.


Addendum: arcades are awesome and I'd definitely visit yours with a heavy wallet if I could

[helvetica]

We have a (currently broken sadly, need to work on it) Time Crisis 3 2P set, and Crisis Zone (also broken atm, TV just went kaput) and Ghost Squad Evolution. We also have 1 of only 3 Silent Hill: The Arcade machines in the US (something I am suuuuper proud of).

If you're curious as to what we have here's our listing on ZiV: https://zenius-i-vanisher.com/v5.2/arcade.php?id=3320#games

[Leon゠Helsing]

I'd personally want to see Ougon Musou Kyoku CROSS on an arcade-esque setup. Shit's pretty damn good, yet compared to MBAACC it pretty much gets no love.

[orinrin]

get a iidx cab and throw lr2/touhou bms on it obv

[helvetica]

I'd personally want to see Ougon Musou Kyoku CROSS on an arcade-esque setup. Shit's pretty damn good, yet compared to MBAACC it pretty much gets no love.

Oh the Umineko fighter? I forgot all about that. I was gonna do the usual poverty fighters (MBAACC, EFZ, IaMP) as I have copies of those, but that wouldn't be too hard to add to the list. UNIL was another game (I'm debating whether to get it on PS3 or just wait for the Steam release). Any others?

get a iidx cab and throw lr2/touhou bms on it obv

I have one and I like pendrool too much :b. I'm pretty sure I'd end up dead if I ran LR2 on a BemaniPC.

[Leon゠Helsing]

If you want more doujin shmups on your lineup, get any of the following:

• Crimzon Clover: World Ignition
• Astebreed
• Eschatos

Also, while it's not exactly "doujin" per se, you might also want Ikaruga on your lineup.

[Drake]

Eschatos isn't doujin either, and Astebreed treads the line at this point :V

I'd second those recommendations. Especially CC and Eschatos.

CAVE ports vary in accuracy, but the Futari port is excellent in particular. If you want to get the first Mushi, it's available on Steam and would be much cheaper than the region-locked 360 port, and as far as I remember they fixed a lot of issues they had early on. Meanwhile, Daioujou and EspGaluda reportedly have good PS2 ports, but they're also both quite good emulated.

[Spotty Len]

If you're feeling sadistic, put up any Tetris : The Grand Master.

[helvetica]

If you're feeling sadistic, put up any Tetris : The Grand Master.

I have a TGM3 drive don't worry :3

Eschatos isn't doujin either, and Astebreed treads the line at this point :V

I'd second those recommendations. Especially CC and Eschatos.

Good to know, especially since someone gifted me CC for Christmas. I admit this project is a wee bit selfish on my part as well since I get to play while working :3c, hence why I'm excited about a shmup cab. It would be a nice change of pace to go from spending all day beating my head against 6s on IIDX and instead beating my head against bullet hell.

CAVE ports vary in accuracy, but the Futari port is excellent in particular. If you want to get the first Mushi, it's available on Steam and would be much cheaper than the region-locked 360 port, and as far as I remember they fixed a lot of issues they had early on. Meanwhile, Daioujou and EspGaluda reportedly have good PS2 ports, but they're also both quite good emulated.

Yeah I have Deathsmiles for 360, and I can get the others relatively easily. I saw Mushi was on Steam and wasn't sure the verdict on its quality, but I'd definitely prefer to keep things to as few systems as possible.

Just didn't know if I should chase those down or try to emulate them. I admit I'm definitely not a high enough player to be able to tell the difference in port qualities other than obvious bad things like slowdown/etc.

[Leon゠Helsing]

Eschatos isn't doujin either, and Astebreed treads the line at this point :V

Oops. :V

By the way, do you happen to know anyone who still has JoJo's Bizarre Adventure HD (the Capcom one) on their PS3/X360 and is willing to lend it? It's a pretty fun game, but sadly it's been delisted.