Things in the world of arcade and pinball have been pretty quiet since that avalanche of news and rumors that I unleashed on Friday. I can't let a whole week go by without writing anything, so I put together another one of my Random Stuff articles about things in the hobby that have caught my eye this week.
First up, while there has been no official announcement from Incredible Technologies (IT) yet, the distributor Game Room Guys has a new portable Arcade Collection machine listed on its website. For those of you who aren't familiar with IT, they are the makers of Golden Tee. A while ago, they combined three of their other games into one machine, Silver Strike Bowling, Power Putt and Bags, and called it the "Arcade Collection."
That collection has been around, but the portable Arcade Collection machine is new. I purchased one of the original Golden Tee Go portable machines during COVID. My family and I love it. As a first generation machine, mine has the internal monitor. I have since upgraded its software twice, once with the first Golden Tee Go update, which added online connectivity and additional courses and a second time to make it a full-fledged Golden Tee Home machine. I have it in a stand and you can barely tell the difference between it and a legit Golden Tee Home.
Anyhow, it looks like the new IT Arcade Collection portable will have an MSRP of $2,999. That's $1,000 less than an Arcade Collection pedestal without a stand or monitor. Very interesting.
"Incredible Technologies Arcade Collection - Silver Strike, Bags & Power Putt Go Edition Portable Game
The Arcade Collection takes three of Incredible Technologies best games and puts them in one portable cabinet!
Enjoy Target Toss Pro, Silver Strike Bowling and PowerPutt Golf no matter where you are!
Play Games Where You Want To!
The games you have come to love for over 20 years are now available in a portable, lightweight cabinet with HDMI output so you can play on your own TV.
New, Reimagined Cabinet
Perfect for tailgates, parties, and small living spaces.
Convenient handle on the back of the game.
Plug your game into any 4K TV with an HDMI output, and log in with groundbreaking NFC check-in.
Target Toss Pro
Bags & Lawn Darts all in one!
Bags: Get the unique scoring system that revolutionized this fresh twist on the tailgating classic! Call Your Shot when your bag is sailing in the air, enjoy the added extras and go for a personal best!
Lawn Darts: Classic Lawn Darts, Cricket, Poker Darts, and 501 – this game comes quipped with all these instant classics! Lawn darts might be illegal in real life, but in the virtual world everything goes!
“Raw Talk” Included! Uncensored, adult commentary that knows no boundaries. Hear the infamous Jack "Shooter" Thompson celebrate your best and worst lawn dart tosses with phrases you have to hear to believe!
Silver Strike Bowling
Compete in a single-game, a three-game series or test your luck in the Spare Challenge
Classic Bowling and Flash Bowling play options.
Customizable bowlers and bowling equipment with each game.
Vegas mode for additional side games.
PowerPutt Golf
Bring your putter and your favorite golf ball!
11 Unique & Challenging 18-Hole Mini Golf Courses in this putt-putt classic
Hundreds of Tee Areas & Pin Placements
Select a Variety of Clothing Options
New Poker Putt Side Game
Optional RawTalk Audio
4-16 Man Bracket Play
And Much More!"
Next up, we have Chicago Gaming Company. They announced earlier this week that they are halfway done building Pulp Fiction Limited Edition machines, 500 of the 1,000 units.
In the comments section of the post, CGC said that they won't be done with the full Pulp build for another couple of months, is still has more SEs to build after the LEs are all done, but that they hope they can announce another run of its Medieval Madness Remake "soon."
After a much deserved break at last weekend's Pinball at the Beach show, the Spooky Pinball folks are back at it building their newest game Evil Dead. They showed off several pictures of the game being built and tested this week, including the first two shipments to distributors - with some for my friend Joe Newhart with PinballStar Amusements.
I've toyed with the idea of streaming pinball for years, but figuring out how to start can be a little overwhelming. Never fear, Michael Mattsson, the awesome pinball streamer known as DRI374 on Twitch and YouTube has put together a streaming guide for everyone. He was kind enough to reach out to me with all of the info to share.
So if you've ever considered streaming pinball, or even arcade games, but didn't know where to start, check out the video and website below. Who knows, maybe even I will find the time to start one of these days.
Last up we have another reboot of a classic arcade game from Atari. This time, they announced an upcoming remake of the 1984 game iRobot.
The game was super innovative when it was released back in the day. It was the first commercial game to use real-time 3D polygon graphics. The game did not do well on location when it was released. Only 750 to 1,000 iRobots were produced, and very few still exist today. iRobot and Return of the Jedi were the last two arcade games released by Atari before the company was split up.
"When the overlords got you down, it’s time to rise up! I,Robot is an act of open rebellion from the original indie developer, Jeff Minter. Help an unhappy robot resist authority and avoid the all-seeing eye in this reimagined version of an eclectic, 80s arcade game. Featuring Minter’s signature assault of colors, shapes and sounds, I, Robot is built from the ground up with new challenges, new twists, and a whole lot of llamas.
The premise of I, Robot is simple: you take control of an ox-headed robot that’s had enough, and is on a mission to resist authority and outwit the all-seeing eye. In each level, navigate across tiles, flipping each one to proceed to the next. Don’t jump while the eye’s watching, or you’ll be zapped away. Race down a tube blasting enemy shapes in between levels, and challenge your skills in arena levels full of lethal enemies. All this inside the 3D space of Minter’s kaleidoscopic visualizer.
Need a break from the arcade action? Jump into the ungame, where you can channel your inner Jeff Minter and play around with all the sights and sounds from the game."
