Halflife 2 Coming to an Arcade Nowhere Near You

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Halflife 2 Coming to an Arcade Nowhere Near You

Posted by Zonk on Tuesday November 2, 2004 @07:23AM from the use-the-dance-pad-mr.-freeman dept.

Phill Proud writes "Arcade board manufacturer Taito is set to begin sales of an arcade version of Halflife 2, including a multiplayer mode, in the Summer of 2005 (Japan) "Taito will develop an arcade version for their original "Type X" circuit board. The Type X is an arcade game circuit board running Windows XP Embedded that can use the Windows game development environment. The arcade game will be a customised version of the Windows software and will allow 3 game modes - a "Story mode" for single-player play, a "Battle mode" for players country-wide to compete in real-time and a "Mission mode" for players to collaborate tactically.""

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that's ok... by evilmousse · 2004-11-02 07:29 · Score: 2, Interesting

there aren't any arcades near me anymore anyway. ..and this isn't helping. bring back the quarter!
1. Re:that's ok... by dykofone · 2004-11-02 07:37 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  A quarter would be awesome. Arcades lost their luster for me when I started having to pay $1 for Area 51 because I couldn't afford Time Crisis 2 at $2. Pretty much the only arcades left any more are at places like Dave and Busters, where you get a point card that really starts to screw up the budgeting. "Let's see, $10 got me 4378 points, and Tokyo Wars costs 653 points, so that makes it cost how much?"
  On a slightly related note, I was wating in the airport recently and realized how well an arcade would do there. I might even be willing to spend $1 for a round at some shooter, since that'd be cheap compared to the $8 Big Mac I just ate, and beats the hell out of watching the Weather Channel while sitting on those akward benches.
2. Re:that's ok... by evilmousse · 2004-11-02 07:47 · Score: 1
  
  Several airports I've been to have passable arcades. What about gameboys tho, surely they cut into the market for arcades as well?
  
  going offtopic: I've played outrun 2 for xbox recently, and it's been a pleasant reminder of the simple addictiveness and zen-while-playing that modern go-for-complexity videogames have been lacking.
3. Re:that's ok... by Robmonster · 2004-11-02 22:42 · Score: 1
  
  I recently flew out of Sanford Inl in Florida.
  
  While waiting through a horrendous delay ( the plane I was supposed to be catching hadnt yet left the UK...) I spotted a decent looking Arcade.
  
  However, you had to pay a flat fee of $20 (might have been a little less, cant remember) but then all the games were free. Trouble was, they wouldnt let you in to look at what games were available before buying. I wasnt about to shell out, only to find they had 7 Street Fighter 2 boxes in there.....
  
  RM
  
  --
  I have no sig yet I must scream.
Here's hoping by BortQ · 2004-11-02 07:33 · Score: 3, Insightful

I hope for their sake that Half-life 2 doesn't suck.

--

A Multiplayer Strategy Game for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux
No Where Near You (Not!) by Gogo+Dodo · 2004-11-02 07:36 · Score: 2, Insightful

Not if I'm in Japan you insensitive clod!
1. Re:No Where Near You (Not!) by Hedonist123 · 2004-11-02 10:33 · Score: 1
  
  So you're sensitive about your location? Get over it, you're rare for an English based game website.
  hed.
  
  --
  http://goldysmom.blogspot.com
2. Re:No Where Near You (Not!) by Gogo+Dodo · 2004-11-02 11:01 · Score: 1
  
  "You insensitive clod" was a common answer to the /. Polls. I was also trying to point out that the story was very U.S.-centric and trying to be a little funny. I'm not even in Japan. Never mind...
Yeeks! by itwerx · 2004-11-02 07:42 · Score: 1, Funny

The Type X is an arcade game circuit board running Windows XP Embedded

So, um, do you get bonus points for causing a BSOD?
1. Re:Yeeks! by Gothic_Walrus · 2004-11-02 08:03 · Score: 1
  
  The Blue Screen of Death doesn't exist in Windows XP.
  There is a blue and white screen that you see if your computer is farked up beyond saving, but the chances of you wrecking the arcade game to that point would be slim to none.
  
  --
  Goo goo g'joob.
2. Re:Yeeks! by vhold · 2004-11-02 08:04 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  It's probably going to have some extremely simple watchdog piece of hardware that will reboot the machine if it ever stops receiving it's ticks from the OS, or perhaps even the game itself (since the game itself is a kind of crashable operating system)
  
  If you wanna see something cool, in Counterstrike: Source, which uses the HL2 engine, open up the console and execute:
  "+showbudget"
  
  It brings up this dynamically updating chart showing each of the game's subsystems and how much time, in milliseconds, is being spent in each one, with a kind of color coded historical running graph at the top showing each component's share and the total time spent per frame. Kinda pointless for an end user, but in a way it's rather englightening to see what the most expensive operations are. There is an even crazier realtime full on function level profiler available through the console as well, but I havn't really messed with it.
3. Re:Yeeks! by KDR_11k · 2004-11-02 08:05 · Score: 1
  
  No, but a reboot costs a quarter.
  
  --
  Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
4. Re:Yeeks! by justforaday · 2004-11-02 08:09 · Score: 1
  
  The Blue Screen of Death doesn't exist in Windows XP.
  
  It sure does! You have to uncheck the "disable BSOD" checkbox (aka the "automatically restart" system failure property dealie). But sure enough, it can BSOD. Of course, it's almost always due to faulty hardware when it does, but it still can do it.
  
  --
  I'll turn into a supernova and burn up everything. Well I'll turn into a black little hole and you'll turn into string.
5. Re:Yeeks! by bhtooefr · 2004-11-02 08:10 · Score: 1
  
  I thought that the BSOD got that name from Windows NT, where it was always a fatal error, and they happened fairly often back in those days. On Win9x, it's sometimes possible to recover from a BSOD (in fact, a VxD could throw a BSOD telling you to go fuck yourself, and to press enter to continue, and Windows wouldn't have any problems). In Windows 3.1, throwing a BSOD was normal behavior when the three-finger salute was used.
6. Re:Yeeks! by potHead42 · 2004-11-02 09:11 · Score: 1
  
  In Windows 95 through ME, you could just take out the floppy while Windows tries to access it and you got a BSOD (but you could just hit esc to cancel).
7. Re:Yeeks! by Leroy_Brown242 · 2004-11-02 09:52 · Score: 1
  
  ooo, spiffy.
  
  --
  Pretty Pictures!
8. Re:Yeeks! by Gothic_Walrus · 2004-11-02 09:52 · Score: 1
  
  Well...in that case, paint me purple and call me Mabel.
  Yet another case where I've been proven wrong on Slashdot. Thanks for correcting me. :)
  
  --
  Goo goo g'joob.
9. Re:Yeeks! by tsm_sf · 2004-11-02 13:21 · Score: 1
  
  That's just the BSOMI.
  
  --
  Literalism isn't a form of humor, it's you being irritating.
Re:Yes yes yes! by hollismb · 2004-11-02 07:55 · Score: 1

Now that you mention it, though, releasing Halo 2 in arcades would be a pretty cool move, as long as they had a whole system link thing going on. Not that you can't just do it at home, but still...
I expect some graphics changes... by Zangief · 2004-11-02 08:23 · Score: 2, Interesting

To match the japanese tastes
Smart Decision by TheFev · 2004-11-02 09:53 · Score: 1

America's arcade sales are horrendous these days. It would have been stupid and suicidal to create them here, especially with the amount of mods that are in planning stages. I would even go as far to say that the sale in Japan is suprising- arcades are a slowly dying industry all over the world, with the advent of home computing and home consoles.
1. Re:Smart Decision by Ethon · 2004-11-02 10:44 · Score: 1
  
  Home computing AND home consoles? No way?!
  
  When will I get one of these 'home computers' in my house?
  
  [fastforward back to the year 2004]
2. Re:Smart Decision by Taulin · 2004-11-02 18:06 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  American arcades need a new direction. Charging more for less gameplay time is not the solution, and is the main cause of the decline we see today (starting with Dragon's Lair). Most arcade games today to no reward better players with extended time. As mentioned, cafes are on the right track, and should be extended to 'Console Arcades', and be similar to water slide parks. $x for x minutes. $x+1 for the whole day. Have setups for teams, competitions, high scores, etc. Have them based on home games, who cares. Rental movies are the same as those bought except stores pay more for licenses, etc. Same thing should be available for console arcades.
3. Re:Smart Decision by pragma_x · 2004-11-03 05:49 · Score: 1
  
  Game cafes are still in their infancy though, and are yet to be a viable buisness model; remember internet cafes? Not many stuck around after the investment capitol ran out. :(
  
  The common misconception in running a game cafe is that you will cut a profit on charing time for gameplay, as traditional arcades do. If you try to keep current with your venue's game library, you'll find it difficult to keep spending $50/ea. for the games that will bring people in.
  
  In fact, they actually make ends meet by charing for play *and* selling all sorts of slightly overpriced snacks and drinks. Plus, running regularly scheduled events (competitions, product tours, etc) helps too.
  
  A better solution: avoid all the overhead and run a gaming-based club instead. Most gamers interested in this stuff already have the gear at home... so the only experience they'll get that is different from the living room is a social one.
  
  For your efforts, people will get a place to hang out one night a week, a chance at a ladder match, throw down at smash bros, or whatever you conjure up. In addition they may get food (depends on venue) drinks at the bar, and a social experience unlike any house party they've thrown on their own.
Oblig. by Fortran6502 · 2004-11-02 13:41 · Score: 1

OMFG! Think of the Beowulf cluster you could make out of these!

--
I am the Lizard king
Quakeand Redneck by Taulin · 2004-11-02 14:44 · Score: 1

I remember when Quake and Redneck Rampage machines were in the arcade. They BOMBED! Nobody ever played them despite the huge screen. Basically they were seats with a track ball on on arm, and a stick on the other.
1. Re:Quakeand Redneck by hal2814 · 2004-11-03 04:09 · Score: 1
  
  I played Redneck Rampage in an arcade once in Texas. It was quite dull, espeially without the cuss pack. It's just too long and involved for an arcade game and its multiplayer is not its strong suit. The controls weren't all that great either. I spent most of my time there playing Marvel vs. Capcom, which was new at the time.
Re:Yes yes yes! by fatboyslack · 2004-11-02 17:32 · Score: 1

Thing is, they're releasing Half-Life 2, not Halo 2. But I digress.

--
Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself. -- Leo Tolstoy
MAME here we come by cyrax777 · 2004-11-02 19:45 · Score: 3, Funny

I wonder how long before Mame emulates it.