Data East Arcade Classics on Wii

[Icarus Moonsight]

They're also on Time Soldiers cabs. Maybe Ikari, Guerrilla War too. Not sure. I played a lot of Time Soldiers in the arcade. I don't like them things.

Since there is only 8 directions to aim the gun the solution would be simple to convert to a twin stick control scheme. Don't need to change or recode the original ROM either. Just add some code that translates the control input into the proper amount of turns. Since machines are faster and more accurate than humans, this could even make the game control easier and more responsive if applied well.

EDIT: They went with this because there was gun and grenade each had their own fire buttton. Twin sticks + shoulders = solution.

[Leo_A]

If the rotation is for aiming, using a twin stick setup wouldn't require any reprogramming at all. Just map the rotary control to the right analog stick.

Seems like a pretty seamless solution that wouldn't be detrimental to the experience, unlike translating something track-ball control or rotary control in something like Tempest to a analog stick.

Your right about Ikari Warriors using this setup, I had forgotten about those. All three used the same model joystick, which is also a LS-30 according to KLOV. So I have experienced it before.

[Ed Oscuro]

Ah, now I get the idea. It's not that simple, however, but it might be forced to work. Hopefully it's as simple as reading the cardinal direction of your second stick (convert quadrant -> get a digital equivalent) and then sending the appropriate number of signals to the game after comparing your second stick's position to the known value of rotation within the game (i.e. if at 3 o'clock, send two signals clockwise rotation to point at 6 o'clock / south). Even if it is slightly laggy compared to the simple rotation of the original, it would still be convenient to just move the second stick from 3 o'clock to 9 without needing to worry about how many clicks to make - easier and inherently more accurate. However, there is the possibility of falling out of alignment, but maybe they can find some internal game pointer showing which way the players are pointed to help cheat and protect the rotation from becoming misaligned.

__________ Information and technical speculation follows _____________

If I'm reading correctly, the way the LS-30 (and other rotary sticks, in general) work is by signifying with an impulse which direction a turn is going in, which maps within MAME to a left or right turn: Only the usual eight-position joystick function has absolute values (i.e. stick pushed up) while the rotation just sends out a signal based on which way it's been turned. Back then, same as now, they wouldn't have mapped one turn position to 12 o'clock, as misalignment could easily occur if the board hiccuped or whatever, it would lock you into a set number of steps (the LS-30 is actually a twelve-position stick, i.e. each turn is triggered every 30 degrees, which means the Heavy Barrel characters will spin more quickly than you need to turn the knob), and finally it's simply too complex a system when a simple left or right will do. I did a bit of testing in MAME, and while it doesn't like to detect the mouse when stepping ahead frames (Shift+Pause) I was able to turn the player more than 90 degrees between frames (barely, on top of the regular input lag he usually simply didn't move). The game code itself can rotate the players insanely quickly, basically as fast as impulses can be sent, and if that test is correct it may be able to move them more than 45 degrees between frames (hopefully it can do at least 180 degrees between frames). That could cause the characters to become misaligned compared to what the second joystick is meant to map to.
_________________________

My suspicion is that this could be dodgy or simply too much work, and that they'll make you suffer with using shoulder triggers to rotate the player slowly. If they do come up with the right solution, it would be nice if they use it in subsequent releases of rotating games.

On the subject of other rotary games: Don't forget Midnight Resistance or Gondomania, more LS-30 stick games. Down Town, Ikari II / Victory Road (obviously) and Ikari Warriors III should use it too. Seta's Caliber .50 uses optical sticks, but these may be interchangeable without too much fuss.

[Icarus Moonsight]

The guy's gun direction will be in memory... Just check the variable before performing an alteration in direction. You need to to determine how to move anyways. If you can't access the data directly, then keep track of that data external to the actual game in the emulation code.

You have the game ROM > Emulator for the game > The LS-30 control emulation > physical control method

In other words, Up to Down = 4 clicks left or right. If they can put House of the Dead 2 & 3 on Wii then this is too simple not to do right.

[Xexyz]

Just 15 titles eh? Sounds like G-Mode and Majesco have plans on releasing DE classics through multiple compilations. Makes sense business wise, but I'll be pissed if it sells poorly (and it most likely will) and they scrap plans for future volumes. That's what happened to SNK's Arcade Classics.

I know someone said their 90's stuff sucks, but IMO most of their best games were from that era. Gate of Doom, Crude Busters, Tumblepop, Captain America & the Avengers, Robocop 2, Boogie Wings, Nitroball, SpinMaster, Fighter's History Dynamite, Locked 'N Loaded, and the Magical Drop trilogy were all great.

[Ed Oscuro]

If you can't access the data directly, then keep track of that data external to the actual game in the emulation code.

I doubt that would work. It'll have to be tracked internally. I don't think that watching a variable, just like many MAME cheats do, is going to be a huge problem, but trying to time it externally would be disastrous.

I know someone said their 90's stuff sucks, but IMO most of their best games were from that era. Gate of Doom, Crude Busters, Tumblepop, Captain America & the Avengers, Robocop 2, Boogie Wings, Nitroball, SpinMaster, Fighter's History Dynamite, Locked 'N Loaded, and the Magical Drop trilogy were all great.

There's a few titles in there I'd drop, and add Dragon Gun (if that can be made playable, again control issues), Night Slashers, and Ed Randy. It is a great list though.

[Leo_A]

It's not so much that their 90s stuff just sucks and there isn't anything of redeeming value in it. It's just a part of their history I usually ignore.

Data East entered the 1990s as one of the greatest B tier arcade developers of the 1980s, which was often fighting it out and succeeding against giants like Atari, Namco, Sega, Williams, and Midway in the coinop marketplace.

That quickly ended when the 90s rolled around. You can easily see the progression of Data East's fall from greatness as each release seemingly was more mediocre than the last, as it struggled along slowly dying until it's death in the late 1990s.

G Mode doesn't even own several of the titles being mentioned in this thread as wishes for this collection instead of what's slated to be on it. Karnov, Captain America & the Avengers, Robocop 2, Edward Randy, Dragon Gun, Night Slashers, etc. Sadly, they didn't get the entire Data East library, just a healthy slice of it. They only own 60 or so Data East classics, including a few handheld and console titles among the arcade titles. Most of what they own is concentrated on the 80s titles.

Does anyone know who got the rights to the pinball releases?

[Leo_A]

Thought I'd give this thread a bump since we're closing it on the release of this collection in a few weeks. I can't wait for this to be released, includes many of my favorite Data East classics.

First, here is a trailer for this upcoming collection:

http://nintendo.joystiq.com/2009/12/...20-new-traile/

Unsure if the date Joystiq provides is correct, I've been hearing a January date (Which the trailer also uses).

And here is the latest list of features for this title. Also, this collection is going to retail for $19.99.

Includes 15 classic arcade games: BurgerTime, Peter Pepper's Ice Cream Factory (the rare sequel to Burger Time), Bad Dudes vs. Dragon Ninja, Burnin' Rubber (Bump n' Jump), Caveman Ninja, Crude Buster, Express Raider, Heavy Barrel, Lock ‘n' Chase, Magical Drop III, Secret Agent, Side Pocket, Street Hoop, Super Real Darwin and Wizard Fire

Unlock multiple rewards by achieving 75 different goals. Earn Music Soundtracks, Gallery Items, Classic Arcade Marquees and Bezels, and much more

Link your high scores to your Mii characters

Save, load and pause the game at any point during play; no quarters required

Supports the Wii Remote, Wii Remote with Nunchuk, Classic Controller and GameCube controller

Team up with or play against your friends in any game-they're all two player in addition to single player

Also worth mentioning for anyone that hasn't been following this title and is bothered to see it not included, fan favorite Karnov isn't on here. Wasn't one of the titles G-Mode purchased when Data East went under. The following Data East titles are the ones G-Mode bought and have available for compilation use, so perhaps we'll get some new volumes in the future if this one succeeds.

List of G-Mode's Data East properties
Act-Fancer Cybernetick Hyper Weapon
Bad Dudes vs. Dragonninja
Battle Wings (B-Wings)
Bloody Wolf / Battle Rangers
Boogie Wings/The Great Ragtime Show
Break Thru
Burger Time
Burger Time Deluxe
Burnin' Rubber / Bump N' Jump
Caveman Games
China Town
Cobra Command
Cobra Command (Sega Mega Drive)
Congo's Caper
Darwin 4078
Desert Assault (aka Desert Storm Gulf War / Thunder Zone)
Dunk Dream / Street Hoop / Street Slam
Dunk Dream 96′
Express Raider / Western Express
Fighter's History
Fighter's History Dynamite
Fire Trap
Gate of Doom ( Dark Seal )
Gondomania
Ghostlop
Heavy Barrel
Joe and Mac 2 : Lost in the Tropics
Joe & Mac Caveman Ninja
Joe & Mac Returns
Kamikaze Cabbie
Karate Champ
Last Mission
Liberation
Lock N Chase
Locked 'n Loaded
Mad Alien (aka Mad Rider, Highway Chase)
Magical Drop / Chain Reaction
Magical Drop F
Magical Drop II
Magical Drop III
Magical Drop Pocket
Metal Clash
Midnight Resistence
Mutant Fighters: Death Brade
Mysterious Stones
Nitro Ball
Peter Peppers Ice Cream Factory
Psychonics Oscar
Road Blaster
Shackled
Shoot Out
Side Pocket
Side Pocket 2
Side Pocket 3
Sly Spy
Spinmaster / Miracle Adventure
Super Birdie Rush
Super Burger Time
Super Real Darwin
Tattoo Assassin
Trio The Punch - Never Forget Me…
Tumble Pop
Two Crude Dudes / Crude Busters
Wizard Fire ( Dark Seal II )
Wonder Planet

[Zap!]

Sounds great, I'm really looking forward to this!

[Flashback2012]

I did a Wiki search on Karnov and it yielded some interesting info I wasn't aware of. A group of ex-Data East people formed the company Paon and own the rights to Karnov, Atomic Runner, and Herakuresu no Eikō (which is getting a US release on the DS under the name Glory of Heracles). When this title got announced I had to wonder why Karnov wasn't listed. I assumed at first that it was being held for a V2 release.

One game I wish we could get is Captain America and the Avengers. I used to play the hell out of that game in the arcade. I figured the rights to that game are either with Marvel or in limbo from the bankruptcy. I was doing some cross-referencing with the list Leo posted along with the Wiki page on Data East's releases and noticed some games that don't show up on the G-Mode list like Captain Silver, High Seas Havoc/Captain Lang, and Outlaws of the Lost Dynasty/Dark Legend. I'm sure there's more but I have to wonder whatever happened to the IPs and who acquired them.

[ubersaurus]

I hope it works with Gamecube controllers so I can utilize my nifty arcade stick for this collection. Nothing like Burgertime with actual hardware!

[Leo_A]

I hope it works with Gamecube controllers so I can utilize my nifty arcade stick for this collection. Nothing like Burgertime with actual hardware!

As the product specifics I posted about on the past page state, it will have GameCube controller support. It's one of the rare Wii titles that gives you a full range of options utilizing any controller input the Wii has to offer.

So you should be all set unless they disable controller support for anything that doesn't have an analog stick (Has happened with a handful of GCN compilations in the past, despite the titles in question still allowing digital control, they just won't work with an all digital controller). But I highly doubt that will happen this time around.

"Supports the Wii Remote, Wii Remote with Nunchuk, Classic Controller and GameCube controller"

[Icarus Moonsight]

My issue is, Star Soldier R stated is worked with the Classic Control. So I bought it, dl'ed it and hooked up my Hori stick and a whole lotta nothing from the digital stick... If Hudson can fail it, so can DataEast.

[Press_Start]

[b]Includes 15 classic arcade games: BurgerTime, Peter Pepper's Ice Cream Factory (the rare sequel to Burger Time), Bad Dudes vs. Dragon Ninja, Burnin' Rubber (Bump n' Jump), Caveman Ninja, Crude Buster, Express Raider, Heavy Barrel, Lock ‘n' Chase, Magical Drop III, Secret Agent, Side Pocket, Street Hoop, Super Real Darwin and Wizard Fire

No Tumblepop?.....I'll pass for now.

[Leo_A]

I did a Wiki search on Karnov and it yielded some interesting info I wasn't aware of. A group of ex-Data East people formed the company Paon and own the rights to Karnov, Atomic Runner, and Herakuresu no Eikō (which is getting a US release on the DS under the name Glory of Heracles). When this title got announced I had to wonder why Karnov wasn't listed. I assumed at first that it was being held for a V2 release.

One game I wish we could get is Captain America and the Avengers. I used to play the hell out of that game in the arcade. I figured the rights to that game are either with Marvel or in limbo from the bankruptcy. I was doing some cross-referencing with the list Leo posted along with the Wiki page on Data East's releases and noticed some games that don't show up on the G-Mode list like Captain Silver, High Seas Havoc/Captain Lang, and Outlaws of the Lost Dynasty/Dark Legend. I'm sure there's more but I have to wonder whatever happened to the IPs and who acquired them.

As you know, Paon Corporation acquired several titles. Createch, Digisoft, and WorkJam are known to also have purchased some titles. But the fate of the titles that relied on IP, such as Captain America, and their pinball releases, seems to be unknown.

It's possible even G-Mode owns some of it and just has never revealed they acquired it, since the necessary licensing for something like Captain America would be prohibitively expensive. It wouldn't be a viable release to bother even advertising as available for outside licensing to companies that want to license one of G-Mode's properties (Such as Majesco). But I doubt it, why purchase something you can't utilize.

Also, some titles associated with Data East were titles they just licensed for distribution and never owned, such as Kung Fu Master.

My issue is, Star Soldier R stated is worked with the Classic Control. So I bought it, dl'ed it and hooked up my Hori stick and a whole lotta nothing from the digital stick... If Hudson can fail it, so can DataEast.

Sad to hear that still happens, there's no reason a title that can benefit so much from digital control should disable digital only controllers. I'd love to know the logic of that, it's happened on the PS2 and Xbox as well. If you have the option of digital d-pad control, there's no reason to lock out all digital controllers like the Hori pad or arcade sticks that can take full advantage of it.

[Icarus Moonsight]

I have yet to try my SC2 PS2/XB/GC stick on Star Soldier R. It's supposed to send it's input in analog to the system, or it has an analog stick itself. Not exactly sure, but failing that, I think I might have to actually get something I've been avoiding, The Shaft stick for Wii. Bonus there being, I'll get to try using an arcade stick with Brawl. I'm sure that application will be more interesting than play beneficial or comfortable though.

It's kind of loopy, I mean, I'm thinking about owning three sticks just to cover my bases that would be easy to handle on the dev side. Some groups are too small for some to care about. And that's the result. I'm definitely going to pick this up, but if I don't want to buy another stick or something after playing it, it will be fortunate for me.

[ubersaurus]

My issue is, Star Soldier R stated is worked with the Classic Control. So I bought it, dl'ed it and hooked up my Hori stick and a whole lotta nothing from the digital stick... If Hudson can fail it, so can DataEast.

Well, the stick I have uses a Cthulhu PCB, which has different gamecube modes. I'm gonna have to test it on Star Soldier R, but it seems to me like at least one of em should work.

EDIT: Oh right, SSR doesn't support the cube controller. Lame!

On the upshot, if the Tatsunoko vs Capcom stick Madcatz is putting out is anything like their SF4 ones, then you should be able to change the stick's setting from Pad to one of the analog sticks.

[Icarus Moonsight]

Yeah, that's why both my sticks won't work with SSR and I'd need a third... One is GC, the other is the Hori Fighter Stick Wii that plugs into the Wiimote. Astounding how they managed that.

You're right. That should solve it. I'm sure it'll be similar to the 360/PS3 layouts, why make a new production line right? I'm glad I can forget about 'The Shaft' at least.

[Zap!]

So when is this coming out? One date I had been hearing was the second week of January, but Amazon puts it at February 9, 2010. I so can't wait for this.

[Melf]

I was wondering about this the other day. I thought it had been released with a low print run, and I had missed it. Good to know I didn't!