NC LXI: Sweet Home Carolina

Regional Matchmaking Atlantic South
21

hey guys,

didn’t see this posted in the last few pages of the last thread, so my apologies if this has already been posted somewhere else.

there’s a new arcade/game store that just opened up in greensboro. the guy who runs it is a collector, so all of his cabs/pins are in top condition.

Lost Ark Video Games
2823-E Spring Garden St.
Greensboro, NC 27403

currently the only fighting games in there are a sitdown super turbo on an astro cab with sanwa parts and a sam sho 2 on a big red.

however the owner told me he has all the sam sho’s (1-6), KOF '98 and XI, and an MK2 cab that he will be swapping in at some point.

he also said that if the interest is there, he will look into picking some more up. he is interested in 3S, but said it’s a nightmare for arcade operators due to the suicide battery. he said if he gets a CPS3 cab he’ll also pick up red earth/warzard as well as possibly jojo to get the most bang for his buck.

the possibility of him getting an AE cab is pretty low at this point due to their price, but he said if we wanted to start some kind of fundraiser, maybe through a tournament or some such, he would be interested.

the other games he has are:

ibara black label (astro cab with seimetsu sticks)
mach breakers - numan athletics 2 (amazingly fun jap only track & field clone)
dolphin blue (atomiswave metal slug clone)
golden axe: revenge of death adder (the TRUE sequel to golden axe that was only released in arcades)
x-men (4-player cab)
after-burner (stand-up version)
out run (stand-up version)
house of the dead 2 (widescreen version)
road blasters
centipede

he also has another neo-geo big red in the back that needs a new monitor, then he’ll put it out with four more geo games.

pinball machines:

indiana jones (original williams version, not the awful stern one that’s newer)
rocky & bullwinkle
the simpsons: pinball party
the adams family
tales of arabian nights
the twilight zone
banzai run
dr. who
star trek: the next generation
johnny mnemonic

(he has more he’ll swap out)

he says he’s already talked to a few of you who attend the lucky’s tournaments, so again, i’m sorry if this was posted before.

anyway, if you guys want to get some new fighters in there, maybe we could put something together. how amazing would it be to have an AE or BBCS2 (or christ, even a 3S) in NC?

he also has a very nice selection of gaming stuff for sale. all console generations are represented. if you’re an import collector he has a nice import selection of older stuff (no 360 imports yet, sadly).

let me know if you have any other questions. :slight_smile:

  • Sawyer
22

If you’re going for an expensive cab like SF4AE, it might be a better investment to get a fighting game that’s not already out on consoles for a while.

23

true, but i doubt that’s happening any time soon. AE 2012 is going to be a simultaneous release. perhaps TTT2 but i don’t think it’d have the draw an AE would.

it’s still a cool place with or without a newer game. it’s just an idea i threw out there to him to see if he’d even be receptive to it. i think next level in NYC is the only place with an AE on the east coast (though there might be one in philly?). having one in NC would be huge.

24

I’ve been a few times already.
I wish we could have tournaments there but sadly I don’t see anything working besides 1 game tournies for mostly g-boro players.

Or some tournies on arcade cabs for fun.

I would love it if he got waku waku 7 or wind jammers in there though.
XI would be nice too.

25

Considering TTT2 as a PCB (no cab) will cost around $9000 with exchange rates what they are, combined with the credit system where the arcade operator has to keep pumping money to Namco or else the game stops working, combined with the fact that it requires tekken.net connection that might not work in this country, there are better things to do with the money than buy that game.

EDIT: For those who think I might be overstating things, right now its roughly 75 Yen to 1 Dollar. You want to import a PS3 game from Japan? Gonna be looking at over $100 before shipping. Japanese companies are losing their damn minds right now because the home market still sucks and all the profit they used to bring in from abroad has been cut due to the strong Yen. Sad thing is that if you compare like products (cough Big Mac Index) then the Yen is about where it should be realistically.

26

he does have windjammers and it’ll be going in a second big red he’s fixing up. i didn’t ask if he had a waku.

weren’t most of the lucky’s tournies 1-game plus a few side pools? i wasn’t thinking hosting a major there or anything.

ST tourny on the cab would be a blast, imo. ST for me is really exciting because the damage is so high, comebacks happen more than any other fighter (sans MvC3).

yikes, sorry i’m not a big tekken fan so i wasn’t aware of all of that.

27

Harada mentioned like a week that a US release could be possible. But that’s lame if you gotta keep paying for Tekken.net. :V

But then again, there are other fighting games besides SF4 / Tekken…

28

i would take anything besides maybe soulcal. i just think for him the “draw” of making a return on his investment is an issue if the game was expensive, but he said if there’s support he’d consider anything.

i mainly posted just to alert the community about a cool, new place in NC (lord knows how rare THAT is), but if the local FGC wants to unify and push for something i wanted to let people know the option is there. i know we all have duel-modded TEs and every FG under the sun, but nothing beats the arcade experience. sadly, arcades are pretty much done for, so the fact that this place exists and in NC of all places is a small miracle. not to mention that it’s run by a passionate gamer who didn’t load the floor with gimmick games like frankie’s in raleigh and is open minded to imports and expensive cabs (he’s considering getting a virtual on!). it’s unfortuante that frankie’s has the capital to invest in an AE or maybe even a TTT2 but would rather get the latest fast and the furious motorcycle racer because that’s what brings in the $$$.

i know you guys love your weekly get togethers, and they are important (if a bit exclusive), but imagine if this grew into the next chinatown fair. imagine if NC was where the next justin wong was from? yes, it’s a pipe dream, but if we support this place it might just happen down the line. i’m sorry if i seem too sentimental for a place that may go under in a few months, but this place isn’t your typical arcade with broken HAPP sticks and dudes in JNCOs. it has a chance to go places.

29

Does anyone play 3S on PSN? I hop on every now and then, but the lag is pretty terrible and random.

30

Listen, I respect that you found a place you like and are actively trying to support it, but I do have an issue with the continuing (and completely groundless) insinuations that NC is full of exclusive and secret gatherings. It just isn’t the case. I’d actually argue that making an open decree, in bold letters, on a public forum, advertising an open house to any (showered ) individual with the means to attend, free of charge (and in some cases a free meal which none of your raggedy asses deserve) is on the contrary: incredibly inclusive.

People like Joss, Jon (RAYTON), Brent, Doom, Tom, Seasofcheese, Demo, Frank, Q, Sneak, Sal, Nikki, Coimbo, and anyone else I might have missed have made their homes open to us. That’s trust, that’s community, and frankly: It’s a privilege.That’s why I’m posting this. Because I think it’s kind of shameful that we can have about 15 people step up like this-- yet still have people thoughtlessly blurting out about secret gatherings. If someone decides to have four of five people over and they don’t post about it, who cares. That’s called having friends. Show up to any one of our many public gatherings and make a few.

31

Agreed. SoCal’s tried this with several games, and it was cool for a few months until a console release was announced. It’s worse nowadays since you can’t sell/rent it off to another arcade after console, and even if you could, patches and updates make it less desirable.

32

Ok, I’m heading to EZ in about 30min. See u guys there.

33

I’ll be at EZ around 5:30, see you there.

34

If I wasn’t waiting for this damn package…

35

Jon Laytoneda made my week. That’s funny shit

36

Not to specifically target Raistlin with my next comment (and even Lucerne didn’t really target him specifically either), but I would like to nominate this as post of the year for 2011 & 2012. Anyone who complains about secret gatherings (again, not directed at Raistlin) can fuck off. Real talk.

Unless you’re talking about Tekken. That’s some Illuminati-ass shit. Those definitely exist. Or rather, “don’t.” I remember one time when I didn’t go to a non-existant Tekken gathering with Demo, and I didn’t have to drink from a goblet that wasn’t passed around, nor did I have to sacrifice a goat in something that may or may not have been a pentagram.

37

[media=youtube]2w-_Vtttrfc[/media]

Official theme song of the North Carolina Thread.

38

i threw out TTT2 because it was the only arcade-exclusive i could think of coming out. obviously, it was a bad choice.

does anyone have anything they’d want to see, old or new? i’ll ask about waku waku tonight.

i didn’t say incredibly exclusive, i said a bit exclusive, and it is. my post about this arcade hasn’t exactly been met with much enthusiasm (whether or not you’d like to admit it, a new arcade ANYWHERE is exciting news in 2011). i wouldn’t say you guys are necessarily hostile, but i have never felt welcome posting here. i don’t particularly like the idea of going to a stranger’s house if i’m not even welcomed on the forum, especially if i’m going to be “the new scrub” or whatever derogatory term i get tacked with because i can’t hit confirm or roman cancel.

yes, it’s inclusive enough that i could show up randomly if i wanted to, but that doesn’t mean i’d feel like i was wanted.

39

No. Parry is an option, just like anything else, and you need to show people that they can’t just harass you with low forwards all day without them getting hurt. The problem is that players new to the system see it as something so good and so cool that they try to parry everything, and they forget about what happens if you’re wrong. Parries are game changing, for one player or the other, but you need to understand the risk/reward associated with them. They change the game so much that things that would normally be considered borderline retarded behavior (Lobo’s patented low fierce on HIS WAKEUP) become legit tactics at higher levels.

The advanced applications of parrying (the millions of option selects, including, but not limited to SGGK) are a whole different matter.

40

Isn’t Lost Ark a Tony Majors production? I thought Wedoca was all behind that.

Also, LOOOL at that video, Jon’s lucky he’s not just another “foreign gamer”. The Japanese knew Jon looked like an actual character.