Hey Kids, Build Your Own MAME Cabinet

Midwest Gaming Classic Starts Tomorrow

If you are or will be in the Milwaukee area over the weekend, be sure to drop by the Olympia Resort for the 2008 Midwest Gaming Classic, the Midwest's largest electronic gaming convention. Visitors will be able to buy and play classic to current arcade and pinball machines, buy, sell, and trade your video game systems, games, and accessories, or listen to talks given by guest speakers like modder Ben Heckendorn, Twin Galaxies founder Walter Day, former EGM editors "Trickman" Terry and Sushi X, and Marty Goldberg, who will be talking about the plans to revitalize the classic Microprose brand. It sounds like a damn fine way to spend some time and money over the weekend. Tickets are $10 a day for adults, or completely free for children 12 and under. Hit up the website for directions and more information.

The 2008 Midwest Gaming Classic [Official Site - Thanks ZRDollarz]

Abletonator, The Only Way To Compose The Classics

Lovers of 8-bit NES soundtracks already know about YCMK Magical 8-bit Plug-In, freeware that brings retro instrumentation to various sound editing programs. But during the process of making game music, wouldn't it be great if it felt like you were actually playing a video game? That's the philosophy behind the Abletonator, a Windows XP PC running Ableton Live 6 in arcade cabinet form. Featuring a 19-inch LCD, 2-octave MIDI keyboard, 8 tracks of joystick navigation and plenty of arcade-style buttons, feel free to inquire about scoring a unit of your own. But whatever they're asking is a small price to become a button-mashing Beethoven.

Abletonator [Abletonator via Create Digital Music]

If you're going to go to the trouble of getting an old-school arcade controller for your Xbox 360 it might as well have neon in it right? Right? ShaolinDrunkard, built just such a beast. His hand-built arcade controller uses parts from Sanwa and Seimitsu and then knocks things straight back to 1977 with LED backlighting behind each button and the knob. The whole thing is housed in a chunky oak box that screams arcade culture.

the ultimate xbox 360 arcade controller [Technabob, via Gizmodo]

French mixed martial artist Abel is one of three new characters joining the Street Fighter universe in Street Fighter IV. The beefy blond haired brawler is big on grabs and throws, kind of like Zangief with a preference for fine wine and cheese over vodka and borscht. He isn't armed with gadgets like Crimson Viper, but he comes with an impressive gallery of 47 new screen shots, some of which feature stages you might not have seen before. Details on his move set are after the gallery.

Capcom has released new media and in-depth details on Street Fighter IV's new characters. First up, Crimson Viper, whose moves are revealed to be the Thunder Knuckle, Burning Kick and Seismic Hammer. She's also the only character to have a special high jump (courtesy of jump jets in her boots...) and comes with two combos, Emergency Combination and Burst Time. Details on all of Viper's moves are after the gallery, which features 24 new screens of the American fighter.

Pre-Order Street Fighter IV, Now Just $2590

If you don't need the bells and whistles of a fully networked arcade set up for Street Fighter IV and you're willing to settle for a bit of local one-on-one, importer NCSX has you covered. They're soliciting SFIV hardware for pre-order starting today, due to ship at the end of August. It'll only set you back about $2590 (with an $880 deposit required), which is reasonable enough. More reasonable that $23,000 for the whole kit and the kaboodle. Oh, it's completely beyond my personal means, but if you've already got the arcade cabinet up and know how to install a Taito Type X2 PCB, this might be for you.

The full package comes with panel artwork, Street Fighter IV network ID cards and a Versus Communication Kit—you could technically take your fights online—and, of course, the game itself. Let us know if you plan on picking one up.

Street Fighter IV PCB Kit [NCSX] [Image Credit]

Someone call Scooby!

Yesterday we wrote about the haunted Ms. Pac-Man that a Bostonian was giving away because it made his little girl cry and his wife run screaming from the house.

We, and many of you, made jokes and laughed, saying how much we wish we could have gotten a free "haunted" Ms. Pac-Man cabinet. Well, apparently, the person who did land it isn't so happy today. Was it a scam? No, says the new owner, but it was freakin' haunted!!!

Everyone knows that Ms. Pac Man is filled with ghosts, four of them to be specific. But a fifth ghost?

That's what a Boston-area Craigslister claimed when he was contacted to ask why he was giving away a Ms. Pac Man cabinet for free.

Someone on ArcadeControls.com contacted the cabinet owner for the explanation, which involves poltergeist, a crying 3-year-old and a "dark figure."

Euro 360 Price Cut Coming?

Come this Easter, buying an Xbox 360 in Europe could be cheaper than picking up a Nintendo Wii. News from various industry sources over various web sites suggests that the Xbox 360 is getting a €50 (around £40) price cut across the board come March 14th. Such a move would put the Xbox 360 Arcade system at a price of £150 - less than the price of the £180 Nintendo Wii in the UK. TechRadar attributes the rumor to several well-placed industry insiders, and has also claimed to have gotten confirmation from several retailers in the UK, while several other sites contacting UK retailers have failed to elicit any comment whatsoever. Still, Microsoft recently dropped the price of the 360 in Canada, so I'd say this is one rumor that will more than likely come true. Happy Easter Europe!

Rumours suggest Xbox 360 price cut this month [GamesIndustry.biz]

Street Fighter IV Impressions From The Street Fighter III Perspective

Two days prior to my hands-on experience with Street Fighter IV, we held an impromptu Street Fighter III: Third Strike tournament at the offices of Massive Black. My Elena versus Crecente's Ryu wasn't so much a contest as it was a total bloodletting. (Ultimately, though, the Massive Black guys made the three Kotaku editors look like scrubs.) In Crecente's defense, he was more transfixed with Street Fighter II Champion Edition and largely ended his love affair there. I, on the other hand, latched on to every arcade release, through Super Street Fighter II, Street Fighter Alphas I-III and all three iterations of Street Fighter III. Hell, I was even pretty competitive in Super Gem Fighter: Mini Mix for a while there.

But the entry in the series that Street Fighter IV is largely modeled after, Super Street Fighter II Turbo, was the one that I actually spent the least amount of time with.

Capcom has a brand spanking new version of Street Fighter IV's arcade cabinet on test in Tokyo, one that confirms the return of Street Fighter's Sagat and Street Fighter II's Balrog. Shaky-cam videos of both new characters are up on YouTube, with Capcom's official blog confirming that three new stages have also been added to the latest SF IV build.

Balrog and Sagat [YouTube]

The Street Fighter IV AOU Trailer

Capcom released the above Street Fighter IV trailer today, the one recently looped at the AOU arcade tradeshow in Tokyo, Japan. It may be your first look at characters like E. Honda, Blanka, Abel and Zangief in motion. The in-game action is interspersed with a remixed version of the Ken versus Ryu battle, with new footage of Chun-Li and Crimson Viper that spins the watercolor aesthetic seen in previous cinematics. The HD version at GameTrailers may give you a better appreciation for the game's animation. Thoughts?

Street Fighter IV AOU 2008 Amusement Expo English Trailer HD [GameTrailers]

Like we said, Street Fighter IV's been playable for a few days in Tokyo. Which means pictures. More pictures of the super-sexy cabinets, yeah, but since this is a newer build than the version on show at AOU and GDC, also glimpses of some of the game's other stages. Which is nice, since so far we've only seen the one.

[Capcom]

Street Fighter IV Coming to US Arcades

No word yet on exactly how widely distributed Capcom's latest Street Fighter will be to U.S. arcades, but a Capcom source told us yesterday it's definitely coming to the U.S.

A number of specialty arcades and stores, we were told, have already ordered the arcade machine from importers directly. Unfortunately, Capcom is still trying to find a distributor with the reach to get it into arcade. The big hang-up, it seems, is that nowadays most U.S. arcade distributors deal almost only with redemption ticket games.

Video Tour of the 'Luna City Arcade'

A couple of weeks ago, we mentioned the pretty awesome personal arcade of Peter Hirschberg, located in Linden, VA. Ryan R sent us the heads up that someone put together a video tour. It's an even better look at what a lot of us agree is an amazing collection of vintage arcade games.

World's Coolest Private Arcade

A few months back I mentioned that The Arcade Flyer Archive, an amazing collection of vintage and new arcade flyers, would be liquidating their collection. They've already been through one portion of the sale which we unfortunately missed out on. But never fear, there's still plenty more to be had. The flyers cover Arcade Video Games, Pinball machines and other types of arcade amusement machines. Everything you need to know about the sale including the list of available flyers, prices and shipping can be found at coinopvideogames.com. These guys have put a ton of hard work into cataloging this amazing collection so help support them by buying a few flyers. They're going cheap!