Australia, where to ?....

[-S.L-]

Hello Australian friends, I'm in Sydney for a few days right now, I was wondering if there are some members here who can tell me if there are any nice video games shops worth going (shmups / import / japanese toys etc....) or any game center around (I'm pretty sure there won't be any but we never know)

Thanks guys

[BPzeBanshee]

Argh, Sydney. I wouldn't know what that place is like. If you do find anything shmup/arcade-related let me know!

My hometown, Darwin, has nothing Arcade-related but IMO it's the capital of Australian tourism other than exotic air-con zoos. Raiden II's at CMax in Palmerston, Darwin's sister city. Raiden Fighters JET should be at Tracy Village still albeit with various malfunctions to 2P controls and monitor, Raiden Fighters near one of the supermarkets here. Raiden Fighters 2 used to be around somewhere but is no more: and the old arcade, Einsteins, is no more. There used to be a Turbo Force at Zone3 at the city (laser game place), not sure if it's still there but he has a HORDE of arcade cabs there. Can't just casually go in though since he locks the whole place when it's booked.

My mate's place of residence, Adelaide, has more things, and a shop a forum member mentioned (that I've forgotten the name of again, it imports some stuff from Japan so you can get some Cave 360 titles there).

[stryc9]

That would be Shin Tokyo that you are thinking of, BPzeBanshee

I don't think you will have too much of a problem finding places in Sydney, heading to Chinatown would be a good start, Sydney is heavily populated by our Asian mates and if it's anything like Melbourne, then it will be well catered for.

It's places like Adelaide and Darwin that have really run dry when it comes to game centers (arcades attached to ciniplexes filled with dance dance /driving / boring shit don't count).

[BPzeBanshee]

That would be Shin Tokyo that you are thinking of, BPzeBanshee

>_< Cheers man, terrible memory I've got. Probably still have your PM somewhere mentioning it too for all I know...

I think, -S.L-, that you may be the one pioneering for us. I know in Brisbane there's Arcade places (TimeZone and other misc. stores) but most of them just have the mainstream crap, and a lot of Daytona USAs (I even found a 8-player Daytona USA with the suspension seats, gave me sores afterward from how crude it was though). Best I found was After Burner Climax, which we used to have but got broken for the final time recently and got moved out of the local cinema. I edited the post above with some more specific details about my town.

[Obiwanshinobi]

I read there's SCUD Race in Australia, somewhere. Might very well be in Sydney. Weren't Sega cabs the harbingers of civilisation?

[AntiFritz]

That would be Shin Tokyo that you are thinking of, BPzeBanshee

>_< Cheers man, terrible memory I've got. Probably still have your PM somewhere mentioning it too for all I know...

I think, -S.L-, that you may be the one pioneering for us. I know in Brisbane there's Arcade places (TimeZone and other misc. stores) but most of them just have the mainstream crap, and a lot of Daytona USAs (I even found a 8-player Daytona USA with the suspension seats, gave me sores afterward from how crude it was though). Best I found was After Burner Climax, which we used to have but got broken for the final time recently and got moved out of the local cinema. I edited the post above with some more specific details about my town.

Yeah, I've been to a large amount of the arcades in Brisbane and the only shmups I remember seeing were Raiden DX and I *think* some strikers game.

[TJB]

Last time I was in Sydney (this time last year) I didn't notice any as far as the two arcades I went to were concerned which were Timezone on...George st? It was right next to a cinema, they have a good condition DDR cab running ITG if you're into that kind of thing though.

There was also another one in Blacktown at the top of the shopping center which had a fair few light gun games, Raizing Storm, House of the Dead 2, bunch of other stuff I don't remember. Also a loud ITG cabinet maintained by a mate, god-tier pads.

Actually...I'm not even sure if it's still open, there was one right near the station in Cabramatta, real ghetto place called Time Gone, lots of old stand-up cabinets, I remember spotting a gigawing there, around stage 5 lots of stuff started disappearing so it was probably one of those all-in-one boards, they also had an old DDR 3rd mix beside an ear-splittingly-loud PIU cab (also running an old version). Wouldn't recommend the effort of checking it out unless you wanna see a very old coke vending machine.

Australiaaaargh

Oh and if you ever pop by Melbourne be sure to check out Timeout, it's now under new management whom do not speak a lick of English nor do they have any tools (or contacts). So if something gets broken during your visit expect it to stay that way a la Yellow/Bluehouse/GC.

[OBSCVRA]

been a while since I have come across any STGs in Sydney, besides the Raiden 2 cab i spotted in a pub in Tempe last weekend. Besides the George st arcade (used to be a Timezone? not sure if it still is?) there was one in Paddys Market, upstairs near the food court (i think?). There was also a smaller one in the cinema in George st too. As well as ones scattered out throughout the 'burbs, small one in Liverpool and another slightly bigger one in Macarthur Square (had a good selection of lightgun games last i was there, them and outrun 2 sapped my money good ), and probably many scattered around i dont know of. Every time we are walking past an arcade the wife knows we have to stop what we are doing and check JUST IN CASE there is an STG in there . Back in 2004-05 there was a cinema that had Strikers 1945 II, Dragon Blaze and Raiden Fighters(them were the days ). If anyone is near the Timezone in Surfers Paradise there was a Darius Burst cab when I was there last year. Love that game. Wish there was one around here :'(. Keep us informed if you discover anything worthwhile trekking into the city for

[OBSCVRA]

wait i think it is Broadway shopping centre and not Paddys Market where the upstairs arcade is.

[BPzeBanshee]

I read there's SCUD Race in Australia, somewhere. Might very well be in Sydney. Weren't Sega cabs the harbingers of civilisation?

We had it in Darwin...in the now dead Einsteins arcade, next to Daytona USA. I think I saw it while I was at Surfers Paradise a while back.

[spl]

Hey,

I live in Sydney and sorry to say but there are no STGs in the arcades that I know of

In the CBD area there are the following arcades:

George St Galaxy World (Right across the road from the main Event Cinemas at Town Hall)
Market City Galaxy World (Upstairs in the Market City shopping centre above Paddy's Markets)
George St Timezone (Inside the Event Cinema complex at Town Hall)
Broadway (In Broadway shopping centre)

There used to be a good two storey arcade right next to the cinemas there which is now the Albion Place Hotel. That used to have STGs and alot of older games but it's been gone for years now. There is a Jap import game shop in Market City but it's pretty small and very expensive.

If you happen to venture out of the city, there are arcades in Parramatta, Burwood, Hornsby, and not sure where else but probably a few more scattered around.

Your best bet at finding STGs is at pubs nowadays unfortunately. Good Luck.

[spl]

I read there's SCUD Race in Australia, somewhere. Might very well be in Sydney. Weren't Sega cabs the harbingers of civilisation?

There are quite a few Scud Racers in Sydney alone. They used to be quite common although not as common as Daytona USA.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Two virtues of a SCUD Racer cab:

1) it is not Daytona USA

2) the game's not fully emulated yet (I think).

I can sort of see why Sega didn't port it over to the DC in the end. Not enough content to justify a straight port, not enough resources to develop it any further.

[spl]

Two virtues of a SCUD Racer cab:

1) it is not Daytona USA

2) the game's not fully emulated yet (I think).

I can sort of see why Sega didn't port it over to the DC in the end. Not enough content to justify a straight port, not enough resources to develop it any further.

Ah I see. Personally I can never play racing game ports as the experience is so far removed from the arcade experience in a dedicated racing cab. Even with a wheel the feeling is never the same as the wheels are all generic - what they need to do is release a wheel that is the same as the one in the cabs in terms of feeling and how much the wheel turns. I can dream.

Is the cab for Scud Racer the same as Daytona? From memory it was pretty similar although I haven't played one for years.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Haven't seen one since 2004 or so. I think it was pretty small for what it was. Daytona I saw last year looked taller (if it makes any sense).

[Randorama]

The import shop in Haymarket is pointlessly expensive and he knows it, avoid. The -James Squire Hotel (now White Rabbit, I think) in Darling Harbour has MAME cabs.

Look for special events in Oxford street and Newtown (I can't recall which two clubs), in which 20-year-something useless white hipsters hipst around by having dedicated MAME cabs on Thursday nights, while bogans try to run trains on ugly asian chicks, and some dj plays shitty electroclash that can be appreciated by bogans and hipsters. I mention these events as buying one drink will allow you to play for free on decent candy cab. Last time I was in Sydney, I 1-CCed Thundercade and played some Ketsui while some 19 yo kids were trying to explain to me how cool those arcade days were. I think that one of them even cited Untold tales of the Arcade.

[BPzeBanshee]

2) the game's not fully emulated yet (I think).

Define "fully". I ran it in Supermodel last fortnight and it looked pretty good to me.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Does it have the sound? If it does, is it emulation or some workaround (samples)?

[BPzeBanshee]

Sound/music works. Pretty sure via emulation too, I only had scud.zip in the folders with no samples of any kind and it worked pretty flawlessly.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Then I guess the cab might be still of interest to those who were into cars/car games back in the nineteen-nineties (when consoles were still nowhere near arcades in this regard and Gran Turismo was the shit for motosport fans).