Return of the Space Invaders

pashdown writes "Get your two-liter bottles of Shasta and your all-Rush mixtapes ready! In honor of the 25th Anniversary of Space Invaders, Taito has commissioned Namco to remake the classic arcade game. The only thing not nostalgic is the price, increased from one quarter to two." We had a sneak peek of this cabinet as a Slashdot Games story a couple of weeks back.

Comments

realism

[Ass, Ltd. Ho!]

be realistic, people. This game is 25 years old. You can play it on one of those joysticks you plug directly into your TV that costs $20. Who the HELL is going to pay 50 cents to play this thing. I haven't been in an arcade in a couple years. Does EVERYTHING cost 50 cents? Are there just no quarter games left? Is nostalgia really that powerful? I wasn't old enough to have any quarters the first time around. This is space invaders 25th anniversary and i just had my 24th. Maybe I'm young and dumb. Come on. 50 cents? Anyone?

Re:realism

[wo1verin3]

a) I loved this game and grew up with it, I would easily part with some coins to play it

b) Most games cost more then this now, some being $1 or $2 depending on what location they're in

Re:realism

[gunfinger]

nostalgia is one of the stronger powers, actually. stronger than that, tho, is the dissapointment that comes from attempting to regain that same all-encompassing ball of senses (rush tapes and shasta included) that you had when you first played that classic game (ANY game you consider classic).

that said tho, the new galaga versions kick ass, faster play, faster shooting, tasty graphics while maintaining the flat-down perspective. of course there's hope and love for games, just don't go looking to be a 10 year old again.

Re:realism

[Dan667]

The movie industry was worried that no one would go to the movies when VCR's came out. People still go because they like the experience. There is something about a full sized arcade game that does the same thing for me.

Re:realism

[John_Booty]

be realistic, people. This game is 25 years old. You can play it on one of those joysticks you plug directly into your TV that costs $20

One of the reasons the arcade industry died out in America is because the games simply got too complicated. The games with whiz-bang-ultra-3D-photo-realistic-graphics and 27-button controllers that impress HARDCORE games are a big turn-off to a large majority of the audience. Most people don't want to have to figure out something complicated in the arcade. They want something they can have fun playing for 10 minutes while they're waiting at the laundromat or the movie theater or for their friend to finish taking a leak at the highway rest stop.

I think this is especially true now that home games match (or outshine) arcade games and offer much more depth and complexity. No longer do hardcore gamers spend hours in arcades- they have game consoles for that at home. The market for more complex arcade games simply does not exist any more.

In the year 2003, arcade games need to offer quick, short, simple bursts of fun. And nothing fits the bill better than the games of 20-25 years ago.

And of course a game that cost 25 cents in 1980 is gonna cost 50 cents now. Have you ever heard of inflation? Relatively-speaking, it's probably cheaper now.

Re:realism

[borg1238]

Who the HELL is going to pay 50 cents to play this thing.

Jesus, it's only 50 cents. You can't even buy coffee with that. I'd say $.50 for 3-5 minutes of playtime (and maybe a nostalgia kick on top of that) is a fair trade.

Re:realism

[stratjakt]

Build one then..

The monitor will run you 3-5 hundred, new. Go price out a 19" standard res arcade monitor at happ. Don't forget shipping, these things dont show up in the mail.

The cabinet will cost you about 100 bucks all told, even if you make it out of cheapo MDF.

Joysticks, buttons, switches, wood-mounted PSUs and iso transformers... Rugged arcade quality stuff ain't cheap, and the cheap stuff is worthless. You ever seen the beating the drunks at the bar put on the Golden Tee Golf machines? Those trackballs must be made out of kryptonite or something.

It's probably worth just under a grand in parts. And then labor costs. Those things are heavy mofos to move around, so you need some serious warehousing etc, etc.. The rest is licensing..

Remember, these things are sold to MAKE money, though.. 50 cents a pop, thats only 4000 plays until it's payed for itself. 15 plays a day, and it's payed for itself in a year.. Find a few good locations and these things could make you a decent profit on a route.

50 cents is just what arcade games cost these days. Talk to your arcade operator about that, it can be easily changed.

BTW, All the games at Chuck E Cheese are a quarter, if you have access to a little kid to get you in. They're also set on easy difficulty too.. I played Star Wars Pinball for an hour and a half on one credit..

Re:realism

[someguy42]

Find the closest Wunderland or Nickel City.

Yeah, since there's only 3 of them, and the nearest one to me is 11 hours away! Sounds like a wonderful plan! Spend $80+ on gas to get there to play games for a couple hours at $.05 or $.10 a pop! Heh!

Re:realism

[nolife]

But nostalga does not rub off onto those that were not there at the time. The only people that will be interested are those from that time frame and can relate directly to it. It limits your market.

I was testing a MAME setup at the house with a decent collection of games. My 12 year old son is into gaming. He has an XBox, PS2, Dreamcast, plays various games on the computer and gets a few monthly game magazines.

His only comments on MAME were, the graphics on the games "suck" and no better the N64 and the games are boring. I'm talking DigDig, PunchOut, Donkey Kong, Double Dribble here!!
Maybe he'd show some interest if I could dig up some cheats and add some Snoop as BGM.

From the article:

[IANAL(BIAILS)]

"Taito aims to sell 10,000 of the standalone game machines at $2,772 a unit." At first I thought 'there's no way people would be willing to pay so much for a game', but then I realized that the intended market for the game is nostalgic baby boomers with a lot of disposible income... I'd bet they do end up selling out. I only hope that a few make it to the local arcades - it would be so much better than that Dance Dance Crap.

No Screen Caps

[Torinaga-Sama]

Note that the provide no Screen caps, so it will probably the exact same game that gets boring after 2 minutes, just like every other ROM you loved as a kid.

Do yourself a favor, stay away, keep the memories of your youth pristine and unmolested. Do not be a George Lucas.

A remake of space invaders is like a remake of ...

[ArmorFiend]

A remake of space invaders is like a remake of Tolkein ... its been knocked off so many times unofficially, what in god's name would be the point of paying someone to knock it off?

They are going to have a hard time selling these

[C. Alan]

I think it is going to be hard to sell 10,000 units of a 25 year old video game. There may still be a bit of a market in Japan, but the coin-op market in the US is pretty much dead.

About the only place left in the US that video games still make a buck are family entertainment centers (FEC). In recient years, the trend in FECs has been toward simulators and games with LARGE screens. back in the 80's a 15" screen was the standard. Now-a-days, most cabinets have at least a 22" monitor.

The sad part of this is that pinball machines got nixed in the process. Midway shutdown there operation in 1999, and the only company realy pouring money into it these days is Sega.

If it weren't for MAME and Visual Pinball, a lot of the old games would be forever lost, or locked away in some companies code vault.

Margins on $2,772?

[Agar]

Sure, while everyone's complaining about the $0.50 price tag per game, only one other person (so far) has mentioned the actual sales cost of the console -- $2,772(!!)

Considering the game itself can be played on a cpu less powerful than that in today's cell phones or children's toys, a 20" TV can be had for $69.99, the rest of the cabinet is particle board and laminate, and there are no incremental R&D costs to amortize, why the hell are they charging so much?

Given the state of arcades in the US, I think they'd sell more if they charged $699 (still a robbery) and went after the niche of geeks wanting one in their living rooms.

This is ridiculous.

Re:Just not the same...

[AKnightCowboy]

Who cares if the graphics aren't amazing? The gameplay is what counts. It's fun and I'm willing to pay 50 cents for it.

Why don't you just get MAME and download the ROM for Space Invaders and play it on your computer? I have to agree with everyone else.. Space Invaders is definitely not worth $.50 In fact, None of those games from 20 years ago are even worth a quarter to play. Maybe if I was at some place that had free arcade machines I might play it, but why pay for something that you can play for free at home? What's next, people charging $5/round to play a game of Counter-Strike at an arcade?

Inflation? WTF?

[Cody Hatch]

I think something is seriusly wrong with there math. On the face of it, it seems fine. $0.25 in 1978 (year Space Invaders was released) dollars comes to $0.74 in 2003 dollars. In other words, $0.50 actually represents a price cut of about 1/3. Not bad...except for one thing.

While prices overall have roughly trippled since 1978, prices of computers, electronics - almost everything that uses transistors, in fact - have plummeted. The hardware to run Space Invaders wasn't far off cutting edge in 1978, and it was *EXPENSIVE* (hey, it ran at a whole 2 Mhz!). The price of $0.25 was as high as it was because the operators needed to pay off the purchase price. On the other hand, the hardware needed to play Space Invaders is cheap. Hell, a $8 embedded microtroller has enough grunt to do it. With hardware costs so low, I'd expect a MUCH lower cost to play, not just 1/3 lower.

Incidentally, I note it's now selling for $2,772. Anyone know what the cabinet cost when new? I'm wondering how big a price drop that represents...