I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

[Sturmvogel Prime]

My predictions for this month

1.- Super Xevious
2.- Konami
3.- This one is hard to predict sine many Namco titles never had a console port, could be Macross II or The Outfoxies.
4.- Taito or Seibu Kaihatsu
5.- Namco
BONUS: Ridge Racer in June 5th.

[hamfighterx]

I'd bet against Outfoxies. Really doubt they're gonna bust out the first game on newer Namco hardware (NB-2), especially right before Ridge Racer launching with Switch 2. There are still plenty of unreleased options from older Namco hardware that has already seen other games make it to AA.

I'd expect stuff like NebulasRay, OutFoxies, or games from hardware like System 11 or System 22, to show up for "Arcade Archives 2" on Switch 2 and PS5 (and very curious to see what happens with PS4, but ACA NeoGeo2 not being on PS4 is concerning).

For some context, they haven't really gone with the heavier hitters in "Namco month" in previous years. More filling out the catalog with stuff like:

April 2024: Exvania, Vs. Super Xevious, Emeraldia, Numan Athletics
April 2023: Dig Dug II, Cosmo Gang the Video, Galaga '88
April 2022: Pac-Land, Legend of Valkyrie, Gaplus, Youkai Dochuki

[Bassa-Bassa]

3.- This one is hard to predict sine many Namco titles never had a console port, could be Macross II

Macross II was not a Namco title (originally), and it'd be a dedicated announcement with at least one month of anticipation.

[BrianC]

3.- This one is hard to predict sine many Namco titles never had a console port, could be Macross II

Macross II was not a Namco title (originally), and it'd be a dedicated announcement with at least one month of anticipation.

I'm confused here. Isn't the second Namco game supposed to the Namco's first console port, not a game that never had a console port?

[Bassa-Bassa]

Hint is literally and just "first port", so the latter unless they're being silly.

[BrianC]

Hint is literally and just "first port", so the latter unless they're being silly.

So that can't mean Namco's very first port since it literally says, "first port"? Otherwise, every single unported Namco game is assumed to be a "first port".

[Sumez]

1. Super Xevious
2. S.O.S.
3. World Stadium

1. Uh... blanking on this one so I'm just going to copy velo's work and say Super Xevious
2. Blazer (one of the few System 1 games left)
3. Kyukai Dochuki? Maybe Final Lap if that counts as "sports"?

Velo in the lead! I'll take partial credit for knowing who to copy from for this test

3 surely has to be Mach Breakers!

[Bassa-Bassa]

Otherwise, every single unported Namco game is assumed to be a "first port".

That's the point. They aren't telling you which game will it be, just which ones you can discard.

[Marc]

https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2025/05 ... next-month

Phew. Ridge Racer confirmed for same day PS4/5 release. Bit surprised at the PS4 release if I'm honest.

[Lemnear]

https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2025/05 ... next-month

Phew. Ridge Racer confirmed for same day PS4/5 release. Bit surprised at the PS4 release if I'm honest.

Today is a beautiful day!

PS: I knew that PushSquare had asked Hamster directly about the release on PS4/PS5 and I was waiting for their response...which never arrived because it came directly from Sony.



Anyway...how many titles are actually missing for the ACA1? Excluding those impossible to bring because lost in the meanders of distribution rights etc. etc.
And what will the ACA2 contain? Will they come out on a regular basis or will they be much slower? For example, the NeoGeo2 line has been at a standstill for a while now.

[BIL]

https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2025/05 ... next-month

Phew. Ridge Racer confirmed for same day PS4/5 release. Bit surprised at the PS4 release if I'm honest.

[Daytime Waitress]

Jaysus.
Seeing as it's not on the original Swatch (only the Swoo)... I might yet end up connecting my PS4 to the intertnet just for Hamster!

It wasn't cajun so much as Aussie Fever. Blame Mad Max, and more importantly, Crocodile Dundee who Bayou Billy is clearly inspired by. The rise of Outback Steakhouse is also directly linked to this anomalous period.

Growing up in Oz just after Hoges' popularity started to wane probably gave my generation a skewed perspective on just how influential he was, so it's helpful to see what kind of an impact he had on folks outside our little island.
We knew him as that cunt that spruiked Fosters... that pisswater that you never, ever saw locally growing up in the 90's.
So we kind of just diminished everything about him from that?

BIL's TMNT observations were also something I hadn't considered...

Way I play now is to get at least a 2x or 10ADV on the main, open blue, warp to poker and play the cards right. Green strikes greed. On red I have no sense of control, so I go only for the RGB extra ball. Lands me on Top 30 Hi-Score for now.

You're nipping at my heels, because my previous best on that board has been shunted to 20something.
Even my previous top 3 on the main board got punted :c

I'd been hip to the importance of the ABC multiplier for a while, but I want to thank you for stressing how crucial that instant 10ADV is - I absolutely hadn't thought too hard on that one, but it is indeed a banger that can be readily milked by collecting.
I'm gonna have to downgrade blue to ominous, too: if you can trigger the central post AND avoid the left in-lane, blue really does allow you to be methodical in your approach to clearing it.

Speaking of which!
What in the hell triggers that up post?
And what is the significance of Pinball Action Lady's occasionally glowing diadem?
And her alluring wink?

I feel like these are mechanics that I ought to have sussed out after a couple of hours, but here we are.

[NYN]

Speaking of which!
What in the hell triggers that up post?
And what is the significance of Pinball Action Lady's occasionally glowing diadem?
And her alluring wink?

I feel like these are mechanics that I ought to have sussed out after a couple of hours, but here we are.

Dang, are these the right questions! Can't procure any satisfying answer myself. To anybody who can enlighten us I call a plea! Anybody? Anybody??

[Jucksalbe]

https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2025/05 ... next-month

Phew. Ridge Racer confirmed for same day PS4/5 release. Bit surprised at the PS4 release if I'm honest.

So, if this also counts as a regular Arcade Archives release, will the Switch (1) have its first ever week without an Arcade Archives release?

[mirkvid]

https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2025/05 ... next-month

Phew. Ridge Racer confirmed for same day PS4/5 release. Bit surprised at the PS4 release if I'm honest.

(Exploding tower, totally not phallic)

Great news, I'll pick this up for sure! Hopefully we get Rave Racer in the future as well.

[Marc]

https://theotakuauthority.com/nebulasra ... -archives/

And Nebulas Ray on 15th.....

[BEAMLORD]

Very exciting times. Ham-Chan is ready for the 3D age in earnest

[BrianC]

Otherwise, every single unported Namco game is assumed to be a "first port".

That's the point. They aren't telling you which game will it be, just which ones you can discard.

"first port" is still vague and ACA is emulation not ports. Some sites also listed it as "first port to home console", which made me think, "first game ported to home console", not "game ported to home console for the first time". The Japanese also translated to "first transplant" and I assume that may be more accurate because one poster made a joke about a brain transplant. Anyway, the JP posters took the meaning as "game being ported for the first time", which turned out to be correct, but I still found the way it was worded and (mis)translated to be confusing. The clue to Super Xevious was pretty much a dead giveaway.

The answer to the question of the first port of a Namco game isn't obvious either. I wouldn't be surprised if it was some obscure game on the commodore PET. There's actually a port of Cutie Q by HAL on the Vic 20 under the name Pinball Spectacular. Not sure if it's official, but their ports of Rally-X (re-released in edited form as Radar Rat Race) and Pac-Man (Jelly Monsters in the west, official in Japan) were.

[Lemnear]

https://theotakuauthority.com/nebulasra ... -archives/

And Nebulas Ray on 15th.....

So, does God exist? Did you hear me?
Sure...basically at the end of the ACA1 era, but better late than never.

[BIL]

Spoiler

I've said this before, with ACA Zero Team and ACA Metal Black, but I swear the harder IRL Bullshit fucks with me, the more awesome and intense my ACA backlog/new release schedule grows.

So, does God exist? Did you hear me?

I'm happy for us both Lem ;w;7

We Have To Struggle For Our Future Against Our Doubt (｀w´メ) (*'ω' *)

[hamfighterx]

And what will the ACA2 contain? Will they come out on a regular basis or will they be much slower? For example, the NeoGeo2 line has been at a standstill for a while now.

I wonder if the reason for the pause was due to just waiting for Switch 2, and we'll start to regularly see simultaneous PS5/Switch2/Xbox ACA Neo Geo 2 releases, and PS5/Switch AA2. I also recall that ACA Neo Geo was more sporadic until the Switch 1 launch, when Hamster started getting serious about weekly releases.

Maybe AA2/ACA2 just uses the better emulator features on their platforms? And sometimes we might still see some of the same games getting new releases with the older emulation frontend on PS4/Switch (like Ridge Racer coming to PS4 AA).

Heavy duty Namco news though! I'm glad to have been wrong about thinking NebulasRay wouldn't show up this month!

[Klatrymadon]

As someone who won't have regular access to a current-gen console for some years, I'm really glad to have this 'ACA1' version of RR on the way. One thing that article mentions is that the ACA1 version will be missing a Time Attack mode included in the ACA2 release, but are they referring to an external mode like the caravan ones or the Time Trial mode in the game itself?

[Lord British]

https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2025/05 ... next-month

Phew. Ridge Racer confirmed for same day PS4/5 release. Bit surprised at the PS4 release if I'm honest.

[Sumez]

"first port" is still vague and ACA is emulation not ports.

Separate non-exclusive concepts

[Bassa-Bassa]

So yet another 32bit title on AA. We might see even the F3 emulated there some day in the end. Curious to see what the people here think of Nebulas Ray these days as it was a bit divisive?

(mis)translated

"Port" pretty much includes emulated stuff (and "conversions") once you step out of very particular contexts which clearly this announcement could never belong in. There isn't even a noun for emulated stuff. But even if we get pedantic, the line dividing both approaches quite often just can't be drawn, so there's a need for a generic term and everybody has agreed which that is, I believe.

[Atariboy]

It was obvious they weren't going to be giving us a console port in a program called Arcade Archives. Don't overthink things, folks, lol.

[BrianC]

It was obvious they weren't going to be giving us a console port in a program called Arcade Archives. Don't overthink things, folks, lol.

I wasn't expecting a port, just a game that has been ported. I wish people wouldn't get on me about a simple misunderstanding. BTW, I was referring to sites adding the words "home console" as the mistranslation. I mentioned that "transplant" was how the word used was translated with auto translate and that was completely ignored.

[Sima Tuna]

I love Ridge Racer. I'm just sad because the best RR games were on consoles rather than arcades. We need Hamster's Console Archives.

[BrianC]

I'm also excited for AC ridge racer. I hope they get to rave racer. I can't wait to hear more about console archives. Looking forward to Nebulas Ray too. TBH, I was wondering if SOS had an obscure early computer port, but wasn't really excited by the game itself.

[Sturmvogel Prime]

https://theotakuauthority.com/nebulasra ... -archives/

And Nebulas Ray on 15th.....

So, does God exist? Did you hear me?
Sure...basically at the end of the ACA1 era, but better late than never.

So, it finally happened. BNEI really surprised us with that one.