New Arcade Games in 2023!?

RetroRalph·video·8m 44s·analyzed·Mar 17, 2023

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.021

TL;DR

Jon showcases VR Agent and modern retro arcade cabinets at Castles & Coasters arcade.

Summary

Jon from Tee'd Off Pinball Pursuit visits Castles and Coasters arcade in Phoenix to showcase newly installed VR Agent (a self-contained Sega VR shooting game) and modern retro arcade cabinets. The arcade replaced aging equipment with brand-new CNC-manufactured Midway-style cabinets featuring LCD displays and original or multi-game PCBs, sourced through Game Room Goodies. The video emphasizes how modern manufacturing allows theme parks and family entertainment centers to maintain arcade operations with minimal staff.

Key Claims

VR Agent is one of the first VR games designed to operate in an attendant-less manner with security features to prevent unpaid play
high confidence · Jon directly describes the security alarm and self-contained nature of VR Agent during gameplay demonstration
Game Room Goodies manufactures brand-new CNC cabinets in Midway-style design with LCD displays, not retrofitted original cabinets
high confidence · Jon explicitly explains the difference multiple times: 'these are brand new, remanufactured cabinets' with 'CNC'd cabinets' and modern displays
Castles and Coasters replaced aging retro machines with modern retro cabinets to reduce maintenance burden on theme park staff
high confidence · Jon states: 'they don't really have the staff to maintain old aging CRTs' and modern cabinets are 'more maintenance-free'
VR Agent has started shipping to locations and should be available at major entertainment venues like Dave and Buster's
medium confidence · Jon states 'they definitely started shipping these sometime last year, so they should be in an area near you'
The modern retro Donkey Kong cabinet has original PCBs while some other cabinets use multi-game boards like 60-in-1 and 19-in-1
medium confidence · Jon mentions 'most of the ones you saw there in the row with the X-Men actually all have original hardware' but acknowledges some use multi-game boards

Notable Quotes

“It's probably one of the first VR games I've seen where it really is self-contained because a lot of these they need attendance, but this one you don't.”
Jon@ 0:14 — Key differentiator for VR Agent: first truly unattended VR arcade experience, addressing major barrier to VR arcade adoption
“These aren't old cabinets that were retrofitted. They were manufactured for a modern arcade, so they have modern displays in them. But they're all in Midway style cabinets.”
Jon@ 0:48 — Core premise of the video—explaining what 'modern retro' means and distinguishing from DIY retrofit culture
“They do take some liberties on the artwork, but they try to keep it as true to the original. And they have modern LCD displays on them.”
Jon@ 5:43 — Acknowledges trade-offs in Game Room Goodies manufacturing approach (artwork fidelity vs. modern reliability)
“I think VR didn't take off as much in an arcade is you always have to have an attendant helping you. And the whole idea here is this gun just comes down and anybody can play it.”
Jon@ 7:53 — Analysis of why VR Agent's unattended design is a game-changer for arcade VR adoption

Entities

JonpersonColepersonCastles and CoastersorganizationGame Room GoodiescompanyVR AgentproductSegacompanyAmusement Arcade ExpoeventIncredible TechnologiescompanyNBA JamgameOpen IcegameGolden Tee PGA Tour

Signals

?
business_signal: VR Agent has begun shipping to commercial venues and should be available at major family entertainment centers within a reasonable timeframe
medium · Jon states 'they definitely started shipping these sometime last year, so they should be in an area near you' and references availability at Dave and Buster's
$
market_signal: Game Room Goodies' modern retro cabinet business is expanding arcade locations' ability to maintain vintage game libraries with modern reliability, representing a market shift away from original CRT-based cabinets
high · Jon describes Castles and Coasters strategically replacing aging equipment for 'brand new, remanufactured cabinets' to reduce maintenance burden on theme park staff
?
technology_signal: VR Agent represents a significant advancement in arcade VR technology by achieving true attendant-less operation with built-in security features, addressing a major barrier to VR arcade adoption
high · Jon explicitly identifies this as a breakthrough: 'probably one of the first VR games I've seen where it really is self-contained' and 'I think VR didn't take off as much in an arcade is you always have to have an attendant'

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.026

0:00

Hey guys, welcome back to the channel. So today is an awesome day here at Castles and Coasters because they finally got the VR Agent. So if you remember, this was the Sega VR game that was featured at the Amusement Expo that Cole and I went to. We had so much fun at that show, but we kept coming back to VR Agent. It's probably one of the first VR games I've seen where it really is self-contained because a lot of these they need attendance, but this one you don't. And there's So even some security features here. So if I try to go up to this and play without putting credits in it, it gives an alarm. So kind of cool. So they've thought of everything to try to deploy VR in an agentless way. So not only are we going to check out VR Agent, but we're going to go upstairs because they got a bunch of modern retro games. Now, what do I mean by that? These are games that were brand new, CNC'd cabinets. These aren't old cabinets that were retrofitted. They were manufactured for a modern arcade, so they have modern displays in them. But they're all in midway style cabinets, so we'll go upstairs and check that out after but for right now We're gonna check out VR agent. All right, so Cole just swiped us. Start button right?

1:06

Cole you ready buddy? This is awesome, man. Hold start to reset VR aiming controller. Okay, reload is the button right?

1:24

Okay, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Oh my gosh, I love this. Cole and I played this at the Amusement Expo, but it was like a demo unit. It wasn't the official release, so this is slightly different. Like, it looks a little bit better. It runs a little bit smoother. Can I see Cole? Oh, no, I can't. All right.

2:18

Oh no! That guy blasted me! Oh my gosh, that guy totally took me out. Did you? Alright guys, we're upstairs at Castles & Coasters. Now last time we were here, we showed you all the new Starn Pinball machines. Actually, right now, they're setting up the Stern leaderboard that's going to be posted here, so that's really cool. So, if you're in this area and you're really a big fan of pinball, you can come in here and you can actually try to make your way onto the local leaderboard. But that's not really what we're talking about in this episode. We're talking about a bunch of these modern retro games that are now here at Castles and Coasters. Now, what do I mean by modern retro? They got rid of a lot of their older aging, you know, retro machines for modern versions. They went through Game Room Goodies to do this. If you go there, you can buy these for yourself, but these are coin-operated, modern, like modern, basically new CNC cabinets based on Midway's design, and they have modern displays on them, and we've all seen people take retro games and hack them up, but this isn't that. These are brand new, remanufactured cabinets with LCD displays so that it's easier for a place like this that has a lot of traffic, because this is an amusement park and an arcade, to maintain the machines. So we'll go check out the lineup of games, but I'm really excited because they came out really good. So we're going to start over here. This is actually the sports corner. So they're going to actually put some turf down and really make a play on the sports stuff. But they've got a Golden Tee PGA Tour. So this has Golden Tee, and I think there's like two or three other games on it. This is brand new by Incredible Technologies. And they've got a Blitz. And like I said, these are all brand new manufactured cabinets. So they look really good, all of its brand new parts. And they put the card readers on there, so it integrates right into Castle's in-bed card reader system. The attention to detail is pretty cool. So there's an LCD in there, but there's an actual plastic bezel. So it really, even though the image is stretched, it actually presents itself really well you know when you look at the overall cabinet Over in the sports corner too you have an NBA jam Looks really good as well They all came out really really good And then if I swing around this corner you see Open Ice That it for this little corner And like I said, they're going to put turf down on the carpet. So this is the original carpet from 1970-something. They're going to replace all that, and this is going to be like a cool themed sports corner as soon as they get a chance to do that. So now we're going to go to the main row, which is right around this corner. Those are all the pinballs, and that's the Game Room Goodies guy setting it up. This is another modern retro, so they have a reimagined Donkey Kong multi. So you can see it's got Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., and Donkey Kong 3 all in a Nintendo-style cabinet. It is running in 19-in-1, but it's dedicated to just those three games. So you'll see the screen is recessed and everything, and you almost kind of lose the illusion that it's an LCD just because of the fact that it's recessed like that around the bezel. Okay, so we're going to do just a quick playthrough on this. So obviously, you know, what's going to be different on this than a authentic, you know, original arcade cabinet? Like, it's not a Konami cabinet. It's a Midway cabinet. Actually, all the cabinets are the same because they're uniform the way Game Room Goodies makes them. I'm interrupting the video because you're not paying attention. I can tell. I can see it. Face. You're not listening. I said these are remanufactured cabinets. They're brand new. So they have a CNC machine and they make these brand new. They do take some liberties on the artwork, but they try to keep it as true to the original. And they have modern LCD displays on them. They're actually the arcade branded or arcade brand LCDs. They have decent response times and stuff like that. Good viewing angles. So they actually look pretty well. Now, I don't really like the stretched image, but this is for castles. It is a amusement park that has an arcade in it. and they don't really have the staff to maintain old aging CRTs or even the original PCBs. Now some of these cabinets do have original PCBs in them and some have things like 60-in-1s and 19-in-1s, but most of the ones you saw there in the row with the X-Men actually all have original hardware. So anyways I just wanted to make sure I reiterated that point because I know someone gonna be like this guy This guy he always talking about those CRTs and now uh Now he like oh I guess the LCD is good No no it not what I saying You not paying attention Now back to the video Perfect for a location like this and it feels like I'm playing a brand new, you know Brand new game just because the cabinets are in such amazing shape because they're all you know remanufactured cabinets. The one thing you also notice is with it not being a Konami cabinet, it's a little bit more condensed, like there's a little, you know, the game players are a little more condensed but totally comfortable for four people to play. I can totally see why this location, why it makes sense and they've got like everything here now, you know, they have a lot of the same games they had except now their games are more maintenance-free so you know it's a lot easier for it to maintain when you're, you know, a theme park the size of castles and coasters trying to operate on a much smaller staff. All right guys, hopefully you're as hyped as I am for VR Agent. You should definitely check it out. If you're in the Phoenix area, then go ahead, come down to Castles and Coasters and check it out. But if you're not in this area, they definitely started shipping these sometime last year, so they should be in an area near you. So go check your local Dave and Buster's or whatever your local family entertainment center would be. Any place with a larger arcade probably has something like this. This is VR, like, next level when it comes to putting something that's attendant-less in place. Because that's a key. It's like, one of the reasons why I think VR didn't take off as much in an arcade is you always have to have an attendant helping you. And the whole idea here is this gun just comes down and anybody can play it. You don't have to have an attendant there to help you. So anyways, I love this game. I'm super hyped. I've got to figure out how I'm not going to spend all my days here because I'm only like 15 minutes away from this arcade. But I'm going to be good. I'm just going to come down on the weekend and stuff like that. Alright guys, thanks so much for watching. Let me know what you think about VR Agent, some of these new modern retros, and we will see you on the next one.