Data East Arcade Classics on Wii

[Leo_A]

The publisher list a February date on their website, so I suspect the game has been delayed from the January date we had initially (Which was also shown in the trailer) to February.

[Only16bits]

I love these compilations but I want more games in the same disc...

[Zap!]

This game officially comes out today in the US. I'm gonna stop by a local GS later and pick it up if it's in. Anyone else?

[Leo_A]

I've got it preordered from Amazon.com using the cheapest shipping method. I imagine I'll have it in a week or so.

Game Informer

"Unless you're a hardcore fan of BurgerTime, Peter Pepper's Ice Cream Factory or Bad Dudes, you're better off saving your quarters." [Issue#203, p.97]

50/100

Not that in matters much because of where the review is originating from. I think the quality of games like Bump 'n' Jump is a given to most of those making this purchase. I just hope a few mainstream reviewers that don't dislike classic gaming will be examining this and informing others of the quality of the emulation and the bonuses.

Those are the areas most people want to hear the most about when considering buying a compilation of material they're already familiar with and love.

Edit - I'm pretty sure this game has been pushed back at least 1 week. Even if it hadn't, I doubt you'd of located a copy today. I was thinking it was Wednesday when I read your post. The game's release date before the delay was today and this isn't a major release that is already sitting in stock rooms waiting for the release date, so the earliest you could expect it that far East is tomorrow.

[heybtbm]

This game officially comes out today in the US. I'm gonna stop by a local GS later and pick it up if it's in. Anyone else?

Delayed to February 17th.

[Leo_A]

Heavy Barrel without an LS-30? Madness.

How'd it work? I've never came across a Heavy Barrel cabinet, but I always assumed it was a traditional joystick for movement, but which could be rotated for aiming your shots? Seems like a Robotron style control setup using dual analog sticks would do it justice.

These games can't be reprogrammed willy-nilly. Emulation is what many of these companies have to depend upon; the original design teams are long gone.

With any luck they'll make an option for you to rotate the Wii controller as you use the controller otherwise as normal.

Talking with a member of the team, he confirmed that this game will map your aiming to the right joystick, just as I speculated they would (Which you somehow thought was impossible). I never understood your rotating the Wii controller suggestion, but when using the Wiimote on it's side, you can only shoot in the direction you're moving.

How it works with the Wiimote/Nunchuk combination didn't come up, but I imagine that combination will support independent aiming.

I suspect SNK's upcoming collection of pre Neo Geo games being developed by this company, including several titles using the LS-30, will work similarly with aiming being mapped to the right analog on the PS2 version.

[Xexyz]

Wait, you know who developed this compilation? Can you disclose this information? I'll sigh a huge breath of relief if it's not Digital Eclipse or Ignition Entertainment.

[Leo_A]

It's no secret, it's being developed by G1M2. They're also at work with SNK Arcade Classics 0 for the PSP and PS2.

[Zap!]

Delayed to February 17th.

That sucks, hopefully it's the last delay.

[Xexyz]

So G1M2 are the guys that worked on all the Japanese SNK fighting compilations? That's definitely good news for this game and the upcoming SNK Arcade Classics 0.

[Leo_A]

As far as I know, they've done the SNK compilations for the Japanese marketplace and have a pretty good track record (Unlike the junk done by Terminal Reality for SNK like the King of Fighters Collection: The Orochi Saga).

It's just not widely known who they are since these games are all labeled everywhere as having been developed by SNK Playmore since G1M2 was just a contract developer.

Not to derail the topic at hand, but SNK Arcade Classics Volume 0 appears to be shaping up to be something special. SNK's glory years, especially if you weren't a fighting game fan, were the pre Neo Geo days with greats like the Vanguard series and the Ikari Warriors trilogy.

It appears to have a nice lineup of games, although Vanguard 1 sadly appears to be missing (I suppose due to copyrighted music that they "borrowed" back in the day, although the rare sequel is slated to be on this at least). I've been wanting an arcade accurate port of Vanguard for years. The 5200 version had a lot of promose, but ultimately the controller ruins it. The game is crying out for release on a modern console with a controller that will allow independent movement and targeting. Hopefully it will find it's way on to a compilation one of these days.

With or without Vanguard, it's nice to know we have another nice compilation on it's way after this Data East release and that both games are coming from a skilled developer that puts a lot of care into their efforts.

[swlovinist]

This is great to hear. I will be getting the Data East Collection, as well as SNK classics 0.

[Melf]

A pre-Neo Geo collection for PS2? Hell yes!

This DE set delay actually works for me, as I get paid the 18th.

[PapaStu]

The Pre-order for this game has been pretty screwed up (at least for a shipping date from Amazon). I'm currently getting a 'you'll see it between Feb 18-March 5' from them. Seriously? This implies to me that they arn't done pushing back the release of this yet.

[Flashback2012]

I love these compilations but I want more games in the same disc...

I'd rather pay for one disc @ $50 that has 40-50 games on it than pay for three discs @ $20 a piece that have 15-20 games on them. I guess I just don't have enough faith in companies to put out subsequent releases of a game that gets the "Volume" tag added to it's name. Do you know how long I've been waiting for RapJam Vol. 2?!

I've got it preordered from Amazon.com using the cheapest shipping method. I imagine I'll have it in a week or so.

Game Informer

"Unless you're a hardcore fan of BurgerTime, Peter Pepper's Ice Cream Factory or Bad Dudes, you're better off saving your quarters." [Issue#203, p.97]

50/100

Not that in matters much because of where the review is originating from. I think the quality of games like Bump 'n' Jump is a given to most of those making this purchase. I just hope a few mainstream reviewers that don't dislike classic gaming will be examining this and informing others of the quality of the emulation and the bonuses.

Good to know that I am a hardcore fan of those games then. I have NEVER relied on Game Informer's "influential and highly thought out" ratings for games they've reviewed. I get the mag every month, and it goes straight from my mailbox to a drawer in my bathroom so I have something to read while I'm on the crapper. I looked at their year in review issue a couple of months ago and all of the editors listed their top 10's for the year. All I saw on every list was mainstream hype and tripe, with almost no real niche gems making anyone's list.

At any rate, I'm almost pleased the game got delayed. I have a check coming up with a ton of overtime on it and I'll get it then.

[Zap!]

I always got the feeling that Game Informer was anti-classic anyway, and mostly guys under 35.

[Melf]

But GI's classic section is A WHOLE PAGE LONG! How can you call them anti-classic?

[Zap!]

But GI's classic section is A WHOLE PAGE LONG! How can you call them anti-classic?

They ended that section around three issues ago, didn't they?

[Zap!]

Not sure how accurate this is, but IGN now lists it as a Feburary 23 release date.

http://wii.ign.com/objects/030/030802.html

[Leo_A]

I always got the feeling that Game Informer was anti-classic anyway, and mostly guys under 35.

It's also widely felt that they're not exactly fans of the Nintendo Wii. So it's no real surprise we saw them write a poor and inaccurate review.

I have NEVER relied on Game Informer's "influential and highly thought out" ratings for games they've reviewed. I get the mag every month, and it goes straight from my mailbox to a drawer in my bathroom so I have something to read while I'm on the crapper.

I only even mentioned it for a laugh at how poor it was and because they're the first mainstream media outlet to release a review for the title. It wasn't meant to be taken seriously.

I'd rather pay for one disc @ $50 that has 40-50 games on it than pay for three discs @ $20 a piece that have 15-20 games on them. I guess I just don't have enough faith in companies to put out subsequent releases of a game that gets the "Volume" tag added to it's name. Do you know how long I've been waiting for RapJam Vol. 2?!

I'm the same way, I'd rather pay a much higher price for a substantial amount of content. Just like tv shows on DVD where I'd much rather see something like how Get Smart was released every single time (All 5 seasons in a complete collection day 1) rather than buying a smaller release and having to hope it sold well enough for additional releases.

But they're testing the waters and if this fails, it was less risky than if they had done twice the amount of work and basically included every arcade classic they had available. If this sells well enough, maybe we will see additional volumes and perhaps see Majesco go after other ignored coin-op companies like Stern and Exidy. If we got all the Data East content from G-Mode's library on day 1 and it sold horribly (Almost a guarantee at that price point for content from a somewhat forgotten publisher), they would never try this again. You can bet even mainstream reviewers that have given positive review scores to compilations in the past (Such as IGN does occasionally) would blast this title at $50 regardless of the significant amount of content that was packaged in it.

Here is their review for those that are curious:

In Data East Arcade Classics, Majesco and G1M2 have compiled several classic coin-op titles from the 80s and 90s originally created by now defunct Data East Corporation for quick hits of nostalgia. This arcade collection offers just over a dozen titles spanning a variety of genres from puzzle to action, and though fun at first, the excitement of playing these dated arcade games quickly wears thin.

While there are a handful of games worth playing, the collection is weak at best. Some of the more notable games involve addicting burger assembly in BurgerTime, saving the president from ninjas in Bad Dudes, and no-holds-barred basketball in Street Hoop. Some of the other games, particularly action titles such as Heavy Barrel and Crude Buster expose the quarter guzzling nature of coin-op machines by throwing an unfair amount of enemies on screen at once. In this case you can ask a friend to join in on the action and fight through the hordes of baddies to get through the end. Data East’s action titles take about 15 minutes to complete. Even though they can be fun the first time around, there’s no real desire to go back for seconds, not even to unlock mediocre music soundtracks and other worthless gallery items. As far as the classic puzzle titles in the collection, with the exception of BurgerTime, the selection is pretty bland.

Data East Arcade Classics runs for about $20, which is within range of other arcade collections. However, unless you’re a hardcore fan of BurgerTime, Peter Pepper’s Ice Cream Factory or Bad Dudes, you’re better off saving your quarters.

http://gameinformer.com/games/data_e...09/review.aspx

First of all, he basically ignores every game in the collection from the early 80s, with just a mention of Burgertime. Doesn't ever discuss things like Lock n' Chase or Bump 'n' Jump. Someone with an interest in early 80s arcade games is going to get nothing out of this review despite that area of interest being one of the prime groups Majesco is targeting with this release.

I also doubt he beat any of the action games. Most all of them take significantly longer than 15 minutes to beat. There is no way be was beating games like Heavy Barrel in around 15 minutes.

There's also no mention of the quality of the emulation, the prime concern for anyone interested in this title. People buying this are buying it because they're attracted to the content. Something like Burgertime is a known quantity to a potential buyer of the collection. People want to hear how well of a job they did with the overall package and the emulation rather than be blasted with a full review showing the reviewer's poor taste and age in regards to the included titles.

Also, many people are taking the review to task for not mentioning Magical Drop 3, which is widely considered an excellent puzzle game. The reviewer just mentions Burgertime and states the other puzzle games are bland.