pickens writes "In 2005, there were 44 licensed video game arcades in New York, according to the Department of Consumer Affairs; today, 23 survive. With the expansion of interactive online gaming, video game action has largely shifted to the home. 'Arcades are an anachronism now,' says Danny Frank, a spokesman for the Amusement and Music Owners Association of New York. 'They exist only in shopping malls.' But Chinatown Fair has become a center for all the outcasts in the city to bond over their shared love for a good 20-punch combo and "old school" games that more popular arcades don't stock anymore — the classic Street Fighter II from 1991 and King of Fighters 1996, for example, as well as Ms Pac-Man and Time Crisis. 'Now, you can play a million people from all around the world,' says one player. 'For me, it's not the same as playing face-to-face. The young'uns may not care, but I do.'"
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An anonymous reader writes "If you've owned any of Sony's PlayStation consoles then there's a good chance you've also played one of the Wipeout games. It's a high-speed racing game that helped make the PSOne popular, and it's now been recreated using a remote control car. The project is the idea of Malte Jehmlich. He decided to create a track out of cardboard reminiscent of the Wipeout tracks. He then hooked up a wireless camera to a remote control car, and modified the controller to be an arcade cabinet with a wheel and forward/reverse selector."
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Ben Patterson - I just got my own, slimmed-down Xbox 360 console from the UPS guy the other day, and I must say, I couldn't be happier. It's slim, trim, glossy as can be, and oh so quiet. If you'd rather not spend $300 on a new Xbox, though, a cheaper Arcade version — probably without a hard drive, like the original Arcade — is on course for the fall.
cjcela writes "Lately I've seen some HTML 5/JavaScript games popping up on the web. Most of them lack sound, and are not polished, but little by little this is changing. As an example, check Galactic Plunder. While it is only a single-level proof of concept, it is one of the first arcade non-Flash games that I've found playable. Do you know of other comparable or better pure JavaScript games?"
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PC World - Apple's App Store may well be a haven of new, always-updated touch-based gaming experiences, but what if you have an urge for some retro gaming? A recent how-to will show you how to get Super Nintendo gaming on your iPad.
Doctor O writes "With all those nice emulators for classic gaming around (such as MAME, VICE or Stella) I want to establish monthly retro gaming evenings with some friends. The problem is I can't find any good joysticks for that purpose. There's a new version of the legendary Competition Pro, but judging from the many one-star reviews on Amazon, it's terrible. I found the USB version of the classic Atari Joystick, but it doesn't seem to be available and would have prohibitive shipping costs to Germany anyway. So, Slashdot to the rescue — where are the suitable USB joysticks for retro gaming?"
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PC Magazine - Classic gaming fans rejoice: Everyone's favorite whip-cracking vampire slayer is back in town. Konami on Tuesday announced the release of "Castlevania: Harmony of Despair," the first "Castlevania" title exclusively for the Xbox 360's Xbox Live Arcade.
Sony took the stage for the last major keynote of E3 this afternoon, splitting their attention evenly between hardware improvements and new games. First, they talked about 3D technology — Sony plans to try driving 3D adoption in a similar way to what they did with Blu-ray, with 20 titles planned for March 2011 or earlier. Headlining those will be Killzone 3 (coming February 2011), Gran Turismo 5 (coming November 2nd), Tron Evolution, Mortal Kombat, and Crysis 2. Sony also released launch details for their PS Move motion control system. It will be released on September 19th in the US, the motion controller will cost $50, and the navigation controller will cost $30. Several games will get retroactive Move support, such as Resident Evil 5, Heavy Rain, and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11. An RPG called Sorcery was demonstrated; your character has a wand that's very similar to the controller, and you throw arcane bolts or draw walls of fire just as you'd expect. Read on for more about Sony's E3 announcements.
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AP - When THQ releases its "Red Faction: Armageddon" video game next year, the Martian shoot-'em-up won't arrive alone. The fourth installment of the destructive sci-fi series will be accompanied by a comic book, downloadable arcade-style game and a SyFy television movie that could possibly serve as the pilot for a "Red Faction" TV series.
AP - When THQ releases its "Red Faction: Armageddon" video game next year, the Martian shoot-'em-up won't arrive alone. The fourth installment of the destructive open-world sci-fi series will be accompanied by a comic book, downloadable arcade-style game and a SyFy television movie that could possibly serve as the pilot for a "Red Faction" TV series.
