Arcade shmups shown at 2006 California Extreme show...

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Updated: 7-10-2006 with new 2006 CAX arcade shmup info -- is towards the bottom of this post... ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~
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If you attended the 2005 California Extreme show in San Jose last year, one was able to play a few arcade shmup titles including:

Namco's 1998 rare USA Bios version of Tenkomori Variety Shooting housed in generic USA arcade cabinet with cool backlit custom produced marquee (this particular rare arcade shmup was shown at the earlier 2002 and 2003 CAX shows but not at the 2004 CAX show -- it finally showed up at last year's 2005 CAX event)...

A Neo Geo MVS 4-Slot arcade cabinet with Sonic Wings 2 MVS cart installed...

A USA Bios version of Raiden Fighters 2: Operation Hell Diver housed in generic USA arcade cabinet...

A William 1983 Blaster arcade cabinet with Duramold setup and even had the original prototype version of 'Robotron 2085: Blaster' PCB installed & was up and running -- played faster than 60 frames-per-second framerate that Mame can muster...awesome retro shmup madness indeed! ^_~

A Sega Galaxy Force II cabinet with with "White colored" spacecraft design and spun in 360 degrees...(I've played the rarer all metal spacecraft version that Bloodflowers has mentioned on his post regarding Sega's GF-II post in the Off-topic section) ^_~

Check out the California Extreme's site here: http://www.caextreme.org for the latest info on this upcoming July 8th-9th 2006 weekend event.

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-- Eugene Jarvis surprise appearance at 10th annual CAX show --

For those you wanting to see Eugene Jarvis in person to give his fascinating presentation of the origins of Robotron: 2084 arcade game at this upcoming 2006 CAX show, it will be at 12:00 PM PST sharp on Saturday afternoon in the adjacent conference room (across from the Parkside Hall). Should be some cool shit to hear about for us, old-school arcade gamers from the early 1980's. ^_~
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Shmups, how BAD have you got it?

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Dave_K.]

I'll be there on Saturday, wearing my new Cave t-shirt (thanks Rib! ).

[PC Engine Fan X!]

For Dave K.,

You bet I'll be there for this once-in-a-lifetime event to hear what Eugene Jarvis has to say on his Robotron: 2084 creation. ^_~

Robotron: 2084 still kicks my ass on the Atari 7800 Pro System console -- very solid port IMO. (Can even play with two 7800 Proline joystick controllers for that arcade perfect twin-joystick setup.) ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Dave_K.]

FYI, there are some great interview video clips with Eugene on the Wiliams "Arcade Classics" PC cdrom. Tells all on Robotron, as well as a few others. Also interviews with Larrry Demar and and another guy from Vid Kidz.

[LSU]

Yeah, I heard about Mr Jarvis' appearance and I'm gutted that I can't make it down on Saturday this year. Does anyone know if they tape the talks and make them available to buy to the public later on..? (Or am I just hoping here?)

And I also agree the 7800 port of Robotron is excellent, by the way - it has a lovely feel to it, the graphics are great, and the control feels different yet still spot-on somehow. It's almost like having a really nice, remixed version of the original.

[louisg]

Wow, CalEx rocked. Who here besides the people posting in this thread prior went? I really dug Hard Drivin' Airborne =)

[Dave_K.]

I really dug Hard Drivin' Airborne =)

I must have missed that one (was it there on Saturday?) I used to own a Hard Drivin standup. My favorite from the show was "Fear Park" (huge 2 player namco import cab)...I'm a sucker for unique/innovative controls, and this baby was wicked fun.

CAX was totally worth it for me, even if I did go for just one day. Not only did I get a pic of Eugine and I in front of a Robotron cab, but I also got to speak to him 1:1 on the show floor after the talk, and tried to spread some Cave love. He was suprised to hear there are still 2D shooting games being made for the arcades (in Japan).

Yeah, I heard about Mr Jarvis' appearance and I'm gutted that I can't make it down on Saturday this year. Does anyone know if they tape the talks and make them available to buy to the public later on..? (Or am I just hoping here?)

Eugine's talk was taped. Not sure if/how they will make it available.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

I personally made a mini DV tape recording of Eugene Jarvis' cool background history developement on Robotron: 2084 arcade upright. It runs just a little over an hour along with Q&A session from the audience. ^_~

--- Arcade shmups @ 2006 CAX show ---

Here are the arcade shmups shown at the 2006 California Extreme show:

*Namco's 1998 Tenkomori Variety shooting (rare USA Bios ver.)

*Raiden Fighters 2: Operation Hell Dive

*Psikyo's Strikers 1945 Plus MVS cart in Neo-Geo 6-Slot cabinet

*Namco's Cosmic Gang cute-em' up shmup

*William's 1983 Blaster with rare prototype of Robotron 2085: Blaster PCB...I scored over 1,300,000 points on it (reaching Wave 37) and placed my forum name in the 1st place high score slot: "PC Engine Fan X" -- ^_~

*Capcom/Romstar's 1986 USA Bios version of Sidearms on an 'Arcade Legends' cabinet (provided by Global VR based in San Jose, CA) -- scored over 1,000,000 points on just 1 credit. Would've been nice to have seen a dedicated original Sidearms cabinet though at this CAX 2006 show. ^_~

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Cave's arcade puzzler of Uo Poko in a Jaleco Japanese arcade cabinet made an appearance for the 3rd straight year in a row since it's first appearance at 2003 CAX show.
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William's 1981 Hyperball pinball game was up & running at this year's CAX show...very nice but rare-as-hell pinball game. ^_~

As for new pinball games shown at this year's 2006 CAX show, no new Stern pinball games shown at this year's CAX show -- World Poker Tour & Nascar pins that Stern produced, were a no show. Oh well...there's always next year's CAX show/sale. ^_~
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PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[louisg]

Ahh yeah I didn't try Fear Park, and they didn't have Blaster on Sunday unfortunately. I did however play that vs. shooter minigame game by Namco-- that was neat.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Ahh yeah I didn't try Fear Park, and they didn't have Blaster on Sunday unfortunately. I did however play that vs. shooter minigame game by Namco-- that was neat.

For louisg,

Yep, that cool "vs. shooter" minigame by Namco is the Tenkomori Variety Shooting game. I do have the original Japanese Bios version arcade PCB with different title: 'Tenkomori Shooting'. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Yeah, I heard about Mr Jarvis' appearance and I'm gutted that I can't make it down on Saturday this year. Does anyone know if they tape the talks and make them available to buy to the public later on..? (Or am I just hoping here?)

And I also agree the 7800 port of Robotron is excellent, by the way - it has a lovely feel to it, the graphics are great, and the control feels different yet still spot-on somehow. It's almost like having a really nice, remixed version of the original.

For LSU,

Did you want a DVD-R copy of Eugene Jarvis' talk about his developement of Robotron: 2084? Send me a PM and we can work out the details... ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~