In the amusement arcades this year... well, on the whole there wasn't a great selection. They're mostly packed out with jackpot machines and penny-pushers and things that aren't much about having fun, but mostly about gambling and collecting tickets to win prizes. There are some light-gun type games too, and a lot of driving games. I did see two multi-game retro games cabinets, though. One was in the Rio Bar and was called "Arcade Classics". It was playing Frogger when I first looked, then Space Invaders when I looked back. It was in a classic style cabinet that had obviously been sitting around since the early 1980s too. There was no way to find out what games were available to play, so I didn't investigate further.
The one I played on the most with, and the one that I'm going to talk about was in the "Palace Casino", however. That machine is called "Global Arcade Classics".
As you can see, it's an upright cabinet featuring two sets of joystick and 6 buttons, and has a trackball in the middle. They feel good, though my brother was complaining that the left joystick was sticking sometimes (I was generally being player 2). I don't know how much use the machine has had or anything. I didn't actually try any games using the trackball but I was impressed to see it there - it's the only was to be able to replicate some old machines they have listed on there, like 720 degrees or Rampart.
It features dozens of games - mostly Midway and Taito games, a few Atari games too. It has every Bubble Bobble and Puzzle Bobble game and Rainbow Islands (no Parasol Stars as it never came out as an arcade machine). It has Mortal Kombat, Paperboy, Robotron and Tapper. It has laserdisc games - Dragon's Lair 1 and 2, and Space Ace. It has loads of versions of Space Invaders, and Arkanoid, and some golf games, etc... there are 80 games in total - a full list of games here - it's a shop, selling the machine. I'd probably buy one if I had the space to put it.
BTW in case you're wondering - because I know I was - the version of "New Zealand Story" in this machine is the same as the "Japan" version, which just happens to be the one that I played all those years ago (even though I was in the UK). Each version had very different level design, so it's important to know which version.
Pros:
* Good selection of games - some of these games haven't been released on home consoles in this country.
* In some cases, better / more accurate than MAME emulation.
* Has nice controls and a trackball
* Professional looking menu, with nostalgic sound effects as you change from game to game.
Cons:
* If you put your money in while the wrong game is showing, you have to play that game or lose your credit. It won't let you change games and carry over credits.
* The stupid annoying "do you want to exit the game" screen keeps popping up if you haven't touched the controls (e.g. if you're watching the end credits roll after beating a game), and it doesn't pause the game when that comes up.
