Arcade Spirits fans, rejoice! Our next visual novel is on the way...
It's a world of heroes and villains, masks and capes, and Penny Larceny -- grifter, con artist, catburglar -- is barely scraping by. Life's hard for a young mask trying to make it big, but now she's gained access to Crimr, the gig-economy service for henchpersons looking to help supervillains with their evil, evil schemes! Guide Penny through her new career, pull off daring heists, and unravel the conspiracies which allow the rich and powerful to maintain their profitable status quo.

Wishlist on Steam today!

By doing this one-click task, you help us defeat THE ALGORITHM(tm). Who doesn't enjoy defeating THE ALGORITHM(tm)?

[ 2023-03-17 14:17:27 CET ] [ Original post ]

Welcome back retro romancers!

In case you missed our last post, Fiction Factory Games has teamed up again with PQube to release an all-new Arcade Spirits adventure, Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers. Check out our launch trailer below: [previewyoutube=u4WBnU7XXBQ;full][/previewyoutube] Continue your story and head on down to Good Clean Fun, your home for everything pizza, laundry, and arcade related! Created by couple Ben and Matt, this trio-stablishment is a one-of-a-kind hang out spot for you and your future team. Meet the arcade whiz kids that frequent GCF, Domino, Grace, Jynx, Locksley, Rhapsody, and Zapper.
All of these candidates have the potential to become inseparable friends, or even romantic partners. In Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers you have the option to choose exactly how your friendships develop. Your handy AI companion, Iris, will ask you about your preferences. Are you actively looking for love, open to the idea of a potential relationship, or just here for the thrill of the arcade? Personality is everything in Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers. As you progress through the story you'll be faced with several decisions that influence your growing personality, reflected in the traits Quirky, Steady, Kindly, Gutsy, and Flexible. Your decisions will not only determine how well you get on with other characters, but will also influence your skills in battle.
Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers also has a wonderfully diverse character creator complete with an extensive list of body types, pronouns, clothing, and accessories. Changed your mind about your arcade avatar? No worries! Make adjustments at the end of every story chapter. And remember, for those of you that have completed the original Arcade Spirits, you can import your save and see unique interactions, cameos, easter eggs and more based on your previous actions! Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers is out NOW! - Fiction Factory Games & PQube Join Arcade Spirits on:

And PQube Indies on: https://pqube.co.uk Follow PQube Indies on:

[ 2022-05-27 12:00:03 CET ] [ Original post ]

Welcome back challengers!

As some of you will know, we've been hard at work on our standalone sequel, Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers, and we're excited to announce that we are now just 1 week away from launch! For those that are interested to know more about the new entry, we've put together an overview of what you can expect! Remember that save files from your original Arcade Spirits experience will carry over and affect your time in Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers, you may see some familiar faces and discover some fun Easter eggs as well!

The Dream Team

Embark on your quest for esports glory by teaming up with new challengers on the arcade scene. Get to know your teammates in our character trailer: [previewyoutube=bMSRZPI2HoQ;full][/previewyoutube] Each of these arcade pros can be befriended and even romanced! They make for great company as you climb the ranks on the pro tour. You'll also have a handy helper, Iris, who will be there to help with decision making, as well as guide you towards victory. As an AI she is totally unbiased... unless, of course, you're talking about the best way to enjoy pizza...

The New YOU

Who doesn't love a character creator? We've improved and expanded customization options so that you can create some truly individual player characters. There are tonnes of options to choose from including body types, features, pronouns, and accessories. Don't worry, if you ever feel like changing things up, you can alter your character at the end of each chapter!

Your Arcade Spirits Personality

The decisions you make, including how you interact with those around you are a huge part of the Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers experience. Not only will your choices determine how your relationships develop with other characters, but also how your story unfolds. Your personality is woven into every outcome in the game, so choose carefully! Iris will give you an update on how your personality is shaping up after every chapter so that you can easily track your progress.

Introducing Good Clean Fun

Ah the smell of pizza, the thrill of the arcade and the... laundromat? Good Clean Fun is the main location you'll be visiting on your travels and home to the wonderful Ben and Matt, a married couple offering a slice of life (and 'za). This is where you'll meet your future teammates and train to become esports champions.

Mastering Fist of Discomfort 2

Fist of Discomfort 2 is the latest arcade machine to take the world by storm. Learn everything there is to know about the game on everyone's lips with this handy guide detailing how to play, and offering up some sneaky tactics to ensure you rise to the top! There's more than meets the eye to this narratively driven mini-game as the outcome will influence your ultimate destiny...

Building a Retro Romance

As previously mentioned, you'll encounter several other players during your time at Good Clean Fun. These characters will become your closest friends and teammates, and can even be your next romantic partner. Your trusty AI companion, Iris, will be there every step of the way to let you know how well you're getting on with each of them, and who might be crushing on who!
And that's everything! You're all caught up and ready to begin the next chapter in the Arcade Spirits saga. Lead a new generation of challengers to esports glory in Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers, launching on May 27th 2022! - Fiction Factory Games & PQube Join Arcade Spirits on:

And PQube Indies on: https://pqube.co.uk Follow PQube Indies on:

[ 2022-05-20 12:00:16 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello gamers and retro romantics! We're super excited to be announcing that Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers will release on May 27, 2022! To celebrate we've got a brand new character trailer to share featuring the key players that you'll be encountering on your road to victory! [previewyoutube=bMSRZPI2HoQ;full][/previewyoutube] Remember, you can import your save file from Arcade Spirits to unlock unique sub stories, character interactions, and Easter eggs! Are you ready to continue your Arcade Spirits journey? Join Arcade Spirits on:

And PQube Indies on: https://pqube.co.uk


Thank you so much for your support. Good times are ahead! - PQube & Fiction Factory Games

[ 2022-03-16 17:00:25 CET ] [ Original post ]

Ah anniversaries, one of the greatest (and most romantic ) occasions to celebrate, especially this close to Valentine's Day! We'd just like to say how much we appreciate all those Arcade Spirits fans out there that played the game and supported us. Without you it would not be possible for the sequel, Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers, to become a reality. Thank you all so much and remember: you can transfer your save to continue your journey with the New Challengers, coming soon! Join Arcade Spirits on:

And PQube Indies on: https://pqube.co.uk


Thank you so much for your support. Good times are ahead! - PQube & Fiction Factory

[ 2022-02-12 12:00:49 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello fellow Arcade Spirits Enthusiasts, look out for some fun content coming to the Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers Steam page these upcoming weeks! As we near its release, we thought it was time to get you introduced to some of the new team members starting TODAY! Thats right, head over to the Steam page of Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers now and meet the first of your future team mates with a new character intro coming every Friday - same time, same place. We hope youll love this wild bunch of people as much as we do! https://store.steampowered.com/app/1484620/Arcade_Spirits_The_New_Challengers/

[ 2022-01-28 14:00:23 CET ] [ Original post ]

Ah, summer. Sundresses, ice creamand, of course, some crazy discounts on games! With everything from pixel platformers to furr-tastic RPGs, there is something for everyone in the PQube catalogue. Check out some of our top picks below! Gal*Gun Returns PANTIES! Got your attention? Its ok, your secrets safe with us. Escape hordes of amorous schoolgirls in infamous ecchi rail-shooter Gal*Gun Returns now 20% off. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1425730/ Inertial Drift Let off some steam (!) with this innovative twin-stick racing game, now at 33% off! https://store.steampowered.com/app/1184480/ Cat Quest II Cats or dogs? Single player or co-op? No need to pick- weve got both in this wildly popular action-RPG! Now at 45% off. https://store.steampowered.com/app/914710/ Songbird Symphony Guide orphaned chick Birb through a beautifully crafted pixel world in this rhythm-action platformer: now 55% off. https://store.steampowered.com/app/909820/ Die After Sunset OK, this one isnt in the sale, but we think youll love it all the same. Battle for Earth and travel through time this newly announced 3rd person action roguelite. But be careful! You never know whats lurking in the shadows Wishlist now to be the first to get updates on Die After Sunset, coming soon to Steam Early Access. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1440010/

[ 2021-06-25 16:20:34 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello, hello! We're thrilled to be bringing Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers demo to Steam.
Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers is a follow-up to 2019's Arcade Spirits, a visual novel of love and pixels, in which you seek friendship and romance while working in an arcade. Now the tables are turned, as you seek friendship and romance while PLAYING in an arcade! This romantic comedy visual novel demo is live from today, 30th March 2021, giving you plenty of time to get hands-on with the game.
With its gorgeous visuals, the neon lights and buzzing atmosphere of the Good Clean Fun, we think you'll be as hooked on the story of an aspiring gamer searching for esports glory on the Fist of Discomfort 2 Pro Tour. Defeat rivals, conquer tournaments, build relationships, and uncover a strange conspiracy at the Good Clean Fun arcade. In Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers it's up to you to rally together a team and achieve your dreams!
We will be sharing exciting footages from Fiction Factory and PQube here on the Store Page, so be sure to check it out! Hope you enjoy them! Follow, wishlist, like, share, subscribe, smash that bell, all the usual stuff so you can stay on top of all things Arcade Spirits-y. In the meantime please do follow Fiction Factory Games on: https://www.arcadespirits.com/newchallengers/ https://twitter.com/ArcadeSpiritsVN Join Arcade Spirits Discord https://discord.gg/ gaCcH2N And PQube Indies on: https://pqube.co.uk https://twitter.com/PQubeIndies Thank you so much for your support. Good times are ahead! - PQube & Fiction Factory

[ 2021-03-30 13:41:18 CET ] [ Original post ]

Arcade Spirits 2.0 contains a bucketful of polish to shine things up real nice. Nothing major, but you'll get a better experience overall.

• Fixed all reported typos. (If you spot any left, let us know.)
• Clarified a few unclear or misleading decisions. (A little rewording goes a long way.)
• Improved visual impairment mode support. (Tap V key to turn on self-voicing. The character creator's been expanded for this mode.)
• Adjusted language in a few places. (Some lines were unintentionally dodgy and problematic.)
• Swapped placeholder sequel teases with full references to Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers. (Didja know we're making a sequel? Hit arcadespirits.com for more deets.)

[ 2021-03-25 14:23:58 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey, folks -- MidBoss let us into the cool kids club and now we're happily a part of the Summer of Pride steam sale! That means you get the same amount of arcade goodness at a low, low price. Save your quarters! But there's lots more inclusive games available in this particular event. Check out the summer of Pride 2020 games!

[ 2020-06-12 17:36:28 CET ] [ Original post ]

A minor patch was issued today for Arcade Spirits, as we tune and tweak the game for its upcoming May 1st release on Switch, XBox, and PS4. This patch fixes several typos and small bugs. Thanks!

[ 2020-03-10 20:12:19 CET ] [ Original post ]

This update provides general housekeeping for bugs and typos, and introduces an extensive new system to make the game more accessible to visually impaired players.

• Many, many typos fixed. Long time coming!
• A few obscure bugs fixed.
• Some sound effects are quieter, to be less blaring.
• Game engine updated to a more modern version of RenPy.
• Completionist ending updated.

For visually impaired players, we have improvements to our audio-only mode! To activate, press the V key on your keyboard while on the main menu. This is a beta test of this feature, so your feedback is welcome. With this turned on before you start the game, you'll get access to these features:

• Rollback is automatically unlocked and activated if you start a game using self-voicing.
• Additional accessibility-related tutorials are added to the start of the game.
• On-screen images or animations not already described in the text are now described properly.
• Images in text such as icons or symbols are now voiced correctly.
• The character creator is streamlined, to make entering name and pronoun easier.
• If you're streaming the game, sighted players can still see the visuals as you play.

(Note that the DEMO of the game does not yet have these features, just the full game.) All of this is to bring the game up to speed with the upcoming game console release, coming to Nintendo Switch, Sony PlayStation 4, and XBox One. And stick around in 2020, when we'll be announcing our next game project, currently code named "Next Fiasco." Great stuff is on the horizon! Watch our Twitter, @ArcadeSpiritsVN, for more news.

[ 2019-12-26 00:32:06 CET ] [ Original post ]

We're pleased to announce that Arcade Spirits, a tale of love and quarters and pixels from the year 20XX, is coming to PlayStation 4, XBox One, and Nintendo Switch in early 2020! In response to fan demand, we've been working on this for months, and are thrilled to announce it to you all. We'll be demoing the Nintendo Switch version (subject to change) at PAX West, in the Indie MegaBooth -- so stop on by and say hello! Thank you all so much. Your support made this happen.

[ 2019-08-14 13:14:07 CET ] [ Original post ]

Patch notes time! Share and enjoy.

• Updated to Renpy 7.3.2, with numerous bugfixes.
• Soft dissolves between changes in facial expressions now fixed.
• Fixed edge case where climactic finale was an auto-win before you did anything.
• There MIGHT still be a big with score popups staying on screen too long, particularly in New Game Plus, scrolling back in time. If you still encounter this after patching, let us know.
• Typos fixed.

[ 2019-07-12 13:01:00 CET ] [ Original post ]

Patch Notes:

• Voices should be a bit louder now. (This was due to a bug in the engine which made mono audio files quieter than they should be.)
• Updated Gavin's first lunch break scene to add character background detail.
• Fixed missing voice line for Percy in Level 04.
• Fixed instances of QueenBee in the wrong outfit.
• Fixed color leakage on the character's eyes while lying in bed.
• Fixed Naomi being in the wrong costume in Level 07.
• Fixed a missing voice line in Level 08.
• Numerous typos fixed.
• Updated to RenPy 7.3.0.

[ 2019-06-18 04:25:33 CET ] [ Original post ]

This version brings some fixes, UI improvements, and as always... less typos.

• Missing Level 03 achievement restored, if you missed it. The game should automatically grant Level 03 to you on bootup if you've cleared Level 04 already. If it doesn't, let us know!
• Brackets no longer allowed in text input.
• Character maximum in text input now enforced up-front.
• Teo appears properly in 08 when going along with the Gavin and Teo plan.
• Changed Ashley's romance and friendship endings slightly.
• Typo fixes.

[ 2019-04-15 17:30:50 CET ] [ Original post ]

The game's in good shape, 99.97% of bugs and typos are gone, and any significant story edits we wanted to make are now made. This patch is mostly polishing things up, with one feature addition to make loading save games easier.

• Upgrades engine to Ren'Py 7.2.1.
• Saving your game between levels caused some UI confusion before, where you had to manually click 'Return to Game' after loading. We've fixed this issue; now when loading you'll be dropped back into the game immediately.
• Fixed a minor transparency issue in Ashley's icon.
• Fixed typos.

[ 2019-03-22 03:44:34 CET ] [ Original post ]

Welcome to version 1.05! This includes a few minor edits to the story for flow and pacing, a number of bugfixes, and some adjustments to the Iris tutorial. We're aiming to have one more patch coming up in a week or two which makes saving games between chapters a bit easier (right now when you reload the save you have to then click 'return') but wanted to get these fixes out the door sooner. Almost all typos are gone by this point -- if you still spot any, let us know!

• Upgraded to Ren'Py 7.2.0.
• Minor pacing changes made to Levels 01, 03 and 05. We noticed in streams a few points where people stumble or the story drags, so we made some light edits. Nothing major or character-revealing was removed.
• Naomi no longer wears her work apron to the beach or to the finale.
• Clarified how 'flirting' works in the tutorial.
• Adjusted the tutorial to choose showing/hiding indicators AFTER you've seen an example.
• Typo fixes.

[ 2019-03-13 17:35:37 CET ] [ Original post ]

This version of Arcade spirits introduces a few fixes and enhancements...

• Clarified that the final character export after you finish the game overwrites any previous export.
• Improved audio switchover when first entering the Funplex in Level 01.
• Player can no longer have a blank first or last name, and whitespace is trimmed.
• Fixed a crash when picking Quirky during Teo and Gavin's scene in Level 08.
• Fixed a crash when picking an invalid option during an Intense Identity moment in Level 06.
• Fixed some audio glitches in Teo's dialogue.
• Fixed various typos.

[ 2019-03-02 04:35:40 CET ] [ Original post ]

Welcome to Arcade Spirits v1.03! It's a minor patch, as we seem to be quite stable now; just doing some little tweaks and tunes to keep things smooth. I've been watching streams to figure out where our trouble spots are, and anywhere I can improve the text without changing story elements, I'm happy to do so. PATCH NOTES

• Adjusted narration at the start of Level 02 to flow better with your characterization in Level 01.
• Adjusted the Gavin / QueenBee scene in Level 05 a little if you're on the Power of Friendship path.
• Various typos fixed. Let us know if you spot any others!

[ 2019-02-23 01:28:43 CET ] [ Original post ]

Welcome to Arcade Spirits v1.02! We've added a big feature, changed a few things, and fixed up a bunch of minor issues along the way...

• The Home Arcade Documentary is now available from the Prizes menu! This interactive documentary hosted by Naomi explains how you (yes, you!) can build or buy your own multi-purpose arcade machine and really get your game on!
• Modified one of Percy's endings to add some ambiguity. (Mouseover to reveal this spoiler if you've already finished the game...) [spoiler]It felt too punishing to have him simply die if you didn't befriend him. Our game promotes positivity and this stuck out weirdly. Now, it's simply left ambiguous. Enjoy your retcon![/spoiler]
• By popular demand, added Pizza Facts to the end of each episode! Thank you for subscribing to Pizza Facts!
• Adjusted the 'Basic' style user interface for improved readability and accessibility.

Minor fixes:

• Fixed a crash when using "They" pronouns and dating Naomi.
• Fixed more instances of QueenBee's costume being incorrect.
• Fixed unlockable Juniper image to the main menu extras.
• Fixed Mateo's full name being misspelled in Level 03.
• Adjusted some language for sensitivity.
• Improved comedic timing on some lines.
• Simplified Iris's initial explanation of Fist of Discomfort.

[ 2019-02-16 15:52:41 CET ] [ Original post ]

Patch notes, y'all! We fixed a few things tonight.

• Fixed a Gutsy response to Teo in Level 07 crashing the game.
• Fixed an incorrect side image in Level 07.
• Removed an unintended slur from Level 04. Apologies for that!
• Fixed Hamza appearing in the wrong place during Level 02.
• Re-organized a few lines for better comedic timing.
• Various typo fixes. (If you spot any more, let us know!)

[ 2019-02-14 01:07:24 CET ] [ Original post ]

Arcade Spirits is RELEASED! Thank you so much to everybody who's supported us along the way. This game is a pure labor of love from a small team and it's meant the world to us to have you on us during the journey. Now, let's get it on like Donkey Kong!

[ 2019-02-12 18:13:13 CET ] [ Original post ]

Database system online. Iris personality matrix engaged. Access protocol: 35:34:31:54:12:24:45:43 File access: AS1_FAQ.TXT Begin_Transmission Testing, one, two, three ahh, hello! My name is Iris, and Im your personal digital assistant through the world of Arcade Spirits! Today, Id like to discuss a few tips n tricks to help you get the most out of your gameplay. Dont worry, I wont spoil anything! Taking Photos! What better way to capture a moment than with a selfie, as you flesh-based entities like to call them? In Arcade Spirits, taking a photo is easy! Just tap the S key on your keyboard to Snap! a photo, which will drop right into your games file folders. That way, your cherished memories are saved forever! And if that pesky text box is in the way, just Right Click first to hide the user interface, then Snap your picture! Perfect, pristine images of your friends, your favorite places, and other delightful moments in time. Basic Isnt Bad! Throughout Arcade Spirits, Ill be offering assistance identifying your responses based on various personality archetypes: Quirky, Kindly, Steady, Gutsy, and Basically. Youll almost always have a Basically option, so if you dont like the other two, go ahead and be Basic! Theres nothing wrong with that, and sometimes, its the best possible thing to say! Dont be afraid of exploring your choices. Speaking of which Save Your Game! So you have to make a biiiig decision, but arent sure what to pick? Thats okay! Hit your ESCAPE key to pop open the menu, and save your game! You can do this at any time during the game. Become a time traveler! Break the laws of physics! Burn a hole in the fabric of space-time that consumes all mankind has wrought in a sweeping wave of destruction! Its all good. Quick-Reference Your Personality! Did you know you can check up on your personality traits and your relationships at any time? Its easy just tap the Q key on your keyboard, or left click your score in the upper right corner of the screen! Use this to keep tabs on things and make sure youre becoming the person you want to be. New Game Plus! Arcade Spirits has replayability, thanks to all the different choices and romance options at your fingertips. Want to play the game again, but skip past any text youve already seen? Weve got you covered! Click the SKIP button or the TAB key to start skipping past that stuff. Dont worry, the game will automatically stop when it hits something you havent seen yet, or when you reach a decision point! Also, on your second playthrough, your mouse wheel will act as a time travel device step backwards and forwards to see what different choices do! Why do we even have general relativity? Take that, Einstein! The Home Arcade Documentary! As a little bonus feature, you can also view a documentary prepared by Naomi that explains how YOU can make an arcade game for your very own home, using software and joysticks and carpentry and more or less! Shes got tips for you to make a project of any scale, be it a little HDMI set-top box, or a full blown cabinet. Enjoy the classics of yesteryear the way they were meant to be played! To view the documentary, before starting or loading your game, go to the PRIZES menu and click on the Documentary option. Music Too Loud? Weve mixed the music to quiet itself whenever someones talking, but sometimes you just want it quieter still especially if youre streaming the game live on the Internet. In the Preferences menu, you can adjust individual sliders for Music, Sound Effects, and Voice. Click the Test button next to each to hear what they sound like working together! While youre in here, if you dont like our pink neon interface, you can change it to cool blue pixels or a simple grey box. Its up to you! And thats all for now! I hope you enjoy Arcade Spirits when it releases on the 12th, and I hope Ive made your game experience just a little bit better. Have fun!

[ 2019-02-07 18:12:47 CET ] [ Original post ]

Dee da dee doo, dee da dee da dee... One week remains before the launch of Arcade Spirits and hype levels (along with rising anxiety levels) are soaring. Once the 12th hits and the game drops things are going to get very interesting 'round these parts... but even in the week prior, we've got interestingness in dangerous amounts. I'm keeping our homepage up to date with links to new press, streamers, and videos as they're made available. For instance, do you speak German or have Google Translate handy? If so you may like this glowing review of our game. Want to hear interviews with the devs? Sure thing -- Stefan was on the GameGrin podcast recently, and Aenne, Molly, and Steph spoke to Gaming Access Weekly about inclusivity and our design philosophy. Want to watch someone play the game? Okay -- StumptGamers will be streaming our game TODAY, Monday Feb 4th, at 3pm Eastern. Later this week, LoadingReadyRun streams it Friday Feb 8, 12:30pm Eastern. We're also arranging for a charity stream to play it, with details to come. Many, many, many other streamers and youtubers will be diving in starting Feb 12th and we'll be linking to as many as we can when that starts. (One note, though. Generally speaking we're going to collect links to all content we can, but we draw the line at anyone who mocks the game or its entirely optional pronoun feature. Negative reviews are just dandy, criticism is great... but when it's a thin excuse to make fun of us or disrespect anyone's gender, nothankyou.jpg. We won't issue DMCA or takedowns or anything, that'd be silly and evil, but we also don't have to promote their content.) Lastly, if you want to preorder, we've got options on the table from itchio, greenmangaming, and humblebundle. ALL of these will get you Steam keys, so pick your favorite. Me, I like itchio, because it offers a great developer split -- but it's entirely up to you. Or don't pre-order! That's fine too, we'll have a matching discount for launch week on Steam itself. You won't miss out. Not long now. Not long at all...

[ 2019-02-04 16:12:25 CET ] [ Original post ]

Been some time since our last developer blog post. Honestly? Not much to report, since we wrapped up the game and are just waiting for the release. But we're not TOTALLY resting on our hopefully-arriving-in-the-future laurels. Let's recap and discuss the doings and goings on. Pre-orders are up, as indicated in this handy chart. My recommendation is itch.io, which has both the normal game and soundtrack+artbook bundle at a discount, and gets you both a direct download and a Steam key. If you don't wanna pre-order, that's cool, we'll be having an identical launch week discount on Steam itself. Aenne (co-author), Steph (Iris's voice actor), Molly (character artist) and special guest Jacob (voice director) are all going to be at PAX South 2019 this coming weekend! We're going to have our most elaborate booth to date, with comfy seating and a fun environment. We'll have shirts and actual pre-order game codes on sale there, so drop on by to play the demo, chat with the devs, and have a grand 'ol time. We'll also be participating in the Houston Gaymers pre-show party Friday at 8pm. Press will be getting their hands on review codes and working to get you advance notice of how amazingly awesome our game is (hopefully) towards the end of this month. If you're press and want to get in on the fun contact pr@pqube.com for more information. And finally... Feb 12, we release. And then we wait and see. Because if we're a success, if we can break even and then some... I've got biiiig plans for an Arcade Spirits II. Since I've got an unexpected and unwelcome surplus of time on my hands I've been doing preproduction work on it, in hopes that we take off like a rocket and the project is greenlit. So tell your friends, tell your enemies, and thank you for your support!

[ 2019-01-16 17:23:38 CET ] [ Original post ]

It's been some time since I did a rambly developer blog update about our actual progress on the game. Today I'd like to do one of those, effectively wrapping up our game in a neat little bow, as we're going to be sending it off to be certified and prepped for the February 12th launch. (And we'll be launching at $20 for the game and $25 for game plus soundtrack and artbook. Details here.) But first, let's recap the Developer Spotlight series, shall we? All these lovely people contributed to Arcade Spirits:

• Aenne Schumann / Narrative Designer
• Stefan Gagne / Director / Writer
• Molly Nemecek / Character Art
• Taylor Rose / Background Art
• Greg Mirles / Music Composer
• Marc Straight / Audio Engineer
• Katriel Paige / Editing and UX

Hats off to you all for two and a half years of hard work. I've chronicled the ideas leading up to those two and a half years on the blog -- that's not what I want to talk about today. I want to talk in hindsight, as we're into the last days of this project. We're moving into 2019 and moving away from post-production, and it's a good time to take stock. As my first true indie game project -- I don't think MS-DOS shareware from the 90s counts -- I wanted to make this as professional as I possibly could. We funded art, music, coding, and all the support needed to really make this game soar. It's a passion project, riding no particular trend, digging into subject matter rarely explored in visual novels and using interactive storytelling in ways we haven't seen very often in the genre. Everything we wanted to do, specifically to make the sort of game we wanted to play... we did it. And soon, we release it to you. Since it's our first project, well, there are some shortcomings. I can be honest about that. A more in-depth character creator would be great, having stricter narrative consistency would be great, and we didn't plan on voice acting from day one meaning our scenes weren't always structured in a way that accommodated it. The fifth identity trait ("Basically") was never quite what I wanted it to be. Behind the scenes, files and code could be structured better, making it easier to write and less prone to errors. These are all great lessons to learn moving forward, all things we're taking into account for future games, should we get to make them. But a lot of other things went spectacularly well. I wanted this to feel like an 80s workplace sitcom -- and it does. I wanted romance to be at the heart of the game, but not drive every single decision you make -- and there's variety here. I wanted to support and include as wide an audience as possible, every person no matter who they are -- and we've done that without sacrificing anything. I craved a game that spoke to wistful nostalgia without being entirely trapped within it, which was respectful of arcade culture but understanding of the modern era -- got it. And lastly, I wanted to tell a tale of hope and optimism in a dark time, where one could achieve their dreams if they were pragmatic about it and didn't give up. I believe we did that. So. Some things we could've done differently. Some things we got *chef kiss* spot on. And overall, I'm damn proud of the work we're about to release into the world. Will it soar? Will it sink? That's not for me to say -- that's for you to say. If it soars, then we are ready to take these lessons and make something bigger and brighter, a game which explores player choice and narrative in new ways. If it sinks, I can still say with pride that I did what I set out to do. Few people can say they truly chased their dreams. We still have a month and a half to go, so things are pretty intense for you right now, in anticipation. I get that. For me, we're winding down, we're packaging up and shipping things out... and I feel a kind of melancholy, letting this finally go. A bit of anxiety for how it will be received. But above all, happiness. We did this. And soon, we'll be able to show you. Thank you. As I always say, if you're reading these words, you're farther down the rabbit hole than you expect -- most people don't chew through developer blog posts, don't engage this deeply. You, however, are here with us. And for that you have my gratitude. So, who's ready to quarter up on February 12th? You got next.

[ 2018-12-30 18:31:22 CET ] [ Original post ]

Good news -- the updated version of the Arcade Spirits demo is now available! Here's a list of what's new.

• Voice acting is now available! In the full game several key scenes will be fully acted, and emotional reaction lines are used elsewhere; for the demo we're only using the emotional reaction lines.
• Music and sound effect volume has been rebalanced.
• Teo is slightly smaller (he was too zoomed in before).
• Teo and QueenBee's Kindly paths have additional character details.

The full game releases February 12, 2019! So enjoy the demo, and we hope to see you then!

[ 2018-12-16 23:37:57 CET ] [ Original post ]

Weve got a release date February 12th, 2019! Woo your arcade partner just in time for Valentines Day. And along with that announcement weve got a new trailer which features some of the great voice acting youll be hearing! The demo itself doesnt have voice yet, but Ill be updating it soon to include voice acting (and a few minor tweaks and changes). Everything should be tip top shortly. See you in February for love in a time of quarters!

[ 2018-12-12 15:23:39 CET ] [ Original post ]

Here's a conveniently desktop wallpaper sized poster of all the voice talent behind Arcade Spirits! Click to embiggen, share and enjoy.
You can learn more about each individual voice actor via these links:

• Stephanie Sheh as Naomi
• Ogie Banks as Gavin
• Price Johnson as Percy
• Amber Leigh as Ashley
• Nazia Chaudhry as QueenBee
• Christopher Escalante as Teo
• Mark Meer as Deco
• Danielle McRae as Sue
• LilyPichu as Juniper
• Tricia Brioux as Francine
• Stephanie Bruneau as Iris
• Akash Thakkar as Hamza
• Graham Stark as Ben
• Jacob Burgess as Matt (and the Voice Director)

So, what do you think? Any voices you're excited for in particular? Anyone new to you that you're interested in hearing? Let us know!

[ 2018-11-26 23:14:47 CET ] [ Original post ]

I want to thank everyone who sent in an audition for Ashley, from last weeks open casting call. And judging from the number of entries, by everyone I mean a double digit percentage of the total population of the world because WOW did we get a lot of auditions! Were combing through them now its going to take some time before we can find the absolutely best Ashley we can in all this amazing talent. But hey, thats the kind of problem you want to have, right? Its a great problem. Thank you for giving us this problem. We love you. In other news, Arcade Spirits is headed to Dreamhack Atlanta! We love Dreamhack I remember its roots in the 90s as a demoscene gathering, and seeing it blossom into not only an esports venue but also a thriving indie game showcase is really spectacular. Oddly appropriate, considering we made a game thats all about chasing your dreams In the weeks ahead were going to have announcements for you about our voice cast, so you can get to know the faces behind the voices youll be hearing. Ill also have some development notes as we head into the final stretch of dev work to get the game fully assembled and this is the big part tested extensively. We dont want some obscure combination of choices you make along the way to ram you headfirst into a showstopping bug, do we? Its going to take hard work, but were ready. For folks in the $25 club from our old Patreon (now defunct) well have a November build for you in November. For everyone else well be working to get you the full game as soon as we can. Good things are ahead keep an eye on this space. And thank you for your support!

[ 2018-10-30 19:31:03 CET ] [ Original post ]

For those waiting to hear about open casting calls for Arcade Spirits, the time has come! Ashley Wolf, dedicated cosplayer and floor attendant for Francine's Arcade Funplex, needs your help!Are you a voice talent who thinks they have what it takes to help Ashley express her love of cosplay, arcade games, and weekend bingo night fiestas? Let's find out.
THE RULES ARE AS FOLLOWS! Any audition not following these rules exactly will be ignored and left behind, dwindling towards the horizon while sad piano music plays.

• AUDITIONS ARE DUE BY: Friday, October 26th 12:00pm PST
• THIS IS A NON-UNION GIG
• AUDITIONS SHOULD BE SENT TO: arcadespiritscasting@gmail.com
• You must have a home studio, a quiet space to record, and the ability to capture and send your audio. Don't worry about cleaning it up. We'll take care of that.
• The audition dialogue you need to record can be found in this document: Ashley's Dialogue! (It has minor spoilers, so only read if you want to read for the part.) It includes two small scenes, and a number of short emotional reaction lines.
• Files should be recorded in 48k / 16 bit and delivered as .mp3s. You can create one file for the whole audition, no need to split it up.
• If doing multiple takes (MAX 2), record the script fully then the script fully again after.
• STATE YOUR NAME (Just say your name at the beginning of your audition in your normal tone of voice)
• Please label your file like this: Ashley_YourFirstnameLastname.mp3
• Some of the dialogue will be fully spoken, some will be quick emotional reactions (similar to games such as Octopath Traveler, Dream Daddy, and Fire Emblem) that go along with the text on the screen.
• The gig will pay $200 an hour with a 2 hour minimum. This means that if you land this and then rock the session and it only takes you an hour, we will still be paying for 2 hours of your time. We may cast you for a background role as well.

If you have any questions, please dont hesitate to ask. Break a leg! Looking forward to hearing it!As for all the other characters of Arcade Spirits, the ones we've already cast... we'll have news for you of who's who and what's what in the weeks ahead. Keep an eye on Twitter and get ready for some fun!

[ 2018-10-22 17:09:31 CET ] [ Original post ]

First up, I want to say Woohoo! and Thank you! to everybody who responded so positively to our announcement of voice acting. I also know a lot of you want to audition but we aren't doing open casting calls at this time. We may open up one or more roles in the future, and if we do, you'll hear it here first. We promise. Until then, thanks for your patience. Now, then! I had a long blog post written up about emotional sincerity, about how our game was meant to wear its heart on its sleeve and reject lol cringe attitudes... but it seems I already wrote that post like a year ago, so I had to scrap it. You can read it here if you like, though. So instead of a pathos appeal, let's talk ethos. Let's talk about my past experience in game development, and how it lead to Arcade Spirits. This is Stefan speaking; Aenne has her own tale to tell and I'll see about getting her on the blog to chat about it later. Most folks know me from two different paths I took -- writing (cough) anime fanfic and then original novels, and writing Neverwinter Nights modules. But truthfully Arcade Spirits first started out as an absurd little project from 1999 called Culture Shock, which was my attempt to write a visual novel engine in JAVASCRIPT to be playable in a browser. ...look, it was 1999, JavaScript was almost respectable at the time, okay?
It was a different time. A far weebier time. Eventually I canned the project as I just didn't have access to the art resources I needed to actually do it, and JavaScript was clunky at best. Although there was this new thing I'd learned about at Otakon, attending a panel about... what was it called... Ren-py or something? Which seemed viable... ...but before I could dip too deep in those waters, Neverwinter Nights was released. And that changed everything. With a strong toolkit-based approach and an excellent dialogue editor, I was able to create storytelling adventures using a popular platform. I was in on it from day one, releasing Penultima, followed by Penultima ReRolled and the more horror-based elegia eternum series. Finally, I very nearly created an official Bioware campaign named the HeX coda, but corporate miscommunication resulted in the project being dropped from their roster and instead released for free. (Interestingly, Fist of Discomfort -- the game-within-a-game of Arcade Spirits -- almost was a Neverwinter Nights module. I'd experimented with making a simplified brawler game out of the D&D based fightin' engine, complete with those flashy GO! arrows you'd see in Final Fight.)
All my NWN games were very character-driven, as you can see here. But D&D wasn't really ideal for storytelling, because no matter how hard I tried I could never quite get the combat balance right. I could make stories featuring memorable characters, including some of the dating mechanics seen in Arcade Spirits, but it wasn't quite enough to really explore narrative potential. Exploring relationships -- both romance and friendship -- through game systems has always fascinated me. To make that dream a reality, I needed a different tool. For about ten years I opted to go back to writing novels. I didn't need artists or musicians or coders to write a novel, just my own brain and a keyboard. It felt like a style I could actually work in without hitting the limitations I'd hit trying to be an entire game studio by myself. Meanwhile, the indie scene for games kept growing and growing, and visual novels started becoming more and more prominent... Then in 2016, Aenne Schumann suggested working on a project together. She had friends who could help, resources we could tap. I had money to bankroll the venture and an idea that had been forming since 1999. Both of us combined had a diverse array of perspectives about arcades and arcade culture, which could be used to write a stronger story than either of us could have created alone. And we had the tool I'd learned about so long ago, RenPy. The time was finally right to make this work. No more limitations. No more compromises. If I was only ever going to get one shot at making a professional video game I wanted to go all out -- hire amazing artists, collaborate with them, work with a publisher, get this in front of as many people as possible. If it tanked, I'd soak the loss and at least say I did it, I crossed that off my bucket list. But if it succeeds. If this grand fiasco actually succeeds... Well. We'll see, won't we?

[ 2018-10-08 22:04:06 CET ] [ Original post ]

Good news, everyone! We’re adding voice acting to Arcade Spirits! It’s our number one requested feature by far, something people kept coming up to us at conventions asking about. And now that we’ve got it in the works, I feel confident talking about this new feature with you all!
How about some Q&A about this new feature? Yeah. Let’s pull up a chair and straddle it from behind while turning our ball cap to a jaunty angle so we can rap, kids. How will acting in the game work, given all the customization options? We’re using a couple stellar games as our model for this — Octopath Traveler, Danganronpa, Dream Daddy, Fire Emblem. Instead of voicing every single line (which let’s be honest, would cost us a fortune) we’re voicing key emotional moments in every “level” or chapter of the game. Outside those moments, you’ll hear brief emotional reactions (“Yes!” “Woohoo!” “Hrmmm…” “I don’t know.”) to ensure you’re still getting some of that juicy voice flavor in every bite. How many characters will have voices? Fifteen of ’em. The core cast, of course, as well as any secondary character that keeps coming back in the story. And a few fun surprises. Who has been cast so far? Can I be in the game? Please? Alas, can’t tell you. The casting process is ongoing. We may also have an open casting future in the weeks ahead, so keep an eye out for details — no need to contact us ahead of time, we’ll be sure to let you know when it starts. Gotta be vague here because this is a work in progress and I don’t want to promise anything just yet. I don’t like voices in my visual novels! That’s fine! If you’re a streamer who wants to do the voice-over on your own, there’ll be a volume slider for voices, just like everything else in the game. You can turn it down or turn it off at any time. And if you leave it on it should automatically “duck” the volume of our amazing music a bit, so you can clearly hear the voices. In addition, you can leave the emotional quips and reactions in, while turning off the fully-acted lines if that’s what you prefer. Will the demo be updated with voices? We might update it with the short emotional reaction lines, but the demo’s dialogue script doesn’t have any fully voiced scene content since it’s using a time compressed / specialized chunk of the main game. When is Arcade Spirits releasing?! We’ve got a target in mind, but again, we don’t like to promise anything until we’re totally sure. It’s not fair to you if we make mistakes. We’ll have an announcement for this in future, though, we promise! You won’t miss it. Oh, hey, while I’m here, what’s going on with the Patreon? October is the last month of our Patreon. Thanks to everyone who’s been supporting us along the way! Anyone who contributes $25 or more over the lifetime of the project (including October) will get a few final beta versions, and a final release copy of the game. If you want to get in on that as a new player, you can! Just join with a “monthly” donation of $25, then cancel it a day later. We charge up front, so it’ll count! Or you can wait for the full release, that’s cool too. It’s up to you. Regardless… thanks for being a part of Arcade Spirits. All of you. If you’re reading these words, you’re down the rabbit hole with us, and we welcome you. Let your friends know about Arcade Spirits, get the word out. The more successful we are, the more likely we can keep this ball rolling well into the future!

[ 2018-10-04 14:48:00 CET ] [ Original post ]

As production winds down on Arcade Spirits — we’re aiming to be content complete by December, to allow some time for testing and implementation before our Q1 2019 release window — I’m finding I have less stuff to talk about in the dev blog. Fortunately, we’ve got a strong community, and they had a good idea for this week’s entry: What are some of the key differences between our alternate timeline and the real world? Now, keep in mind Arcade Spirits is a lighthearted game and not a history textbook. I know the Internet worships at the altar of CinemaSins and loves to pick apart every single logic gap as a “plot hole” but we’re going for a loose and fun interpretation of history. It definitely wouldn’t totally work out this way… but it’s fun to make believe, right? Right. So, what if… The Atari 2600 Never Failed Atari took their time to make a proper port of Pac-Man, and a really good E.T. game, and didn’t overproduce either of them. As a result there is no mass grave in New Mexico of unsold 2600 carts and the system continued to thrive. Without the power vacuum left by Atari’s death, Nintendo didn’t muscle in in 1985 to utterly dominate the home arcade scene — and Atari’s strength kept their arcade division going strong, maintaining the arcade scene in tandem with rising home consoles. The three major players in the console scene in 20XX are now Atari, Sega, and Nintendo. In this timeline, the proposed Nintendo-Sony co-developed PlayStation never fell through, because the Philips CD-I didn’t get in the way of the project. Nintendo were the first to optical media, but Atari’s long-standing emphasis on backwards compatibility (you could play 2600 games on an Atari XL, for instance) means that they remain a force to be reckoned with. The Mainstream Accepts Video Games Since the crash never happened and Nintendo wasn’t forced to push the NES as a children’s toy complete with a toy robot, the momentum of adults and young adults playing games back in the 70s and 80s kept going. eSports rise sooner than expected, with organized tournaments like EVO launching early and staying strong. While arcades never surpass more long-standing pursuits like going out to the movies or grabbing a pizza, they aren’t quite as looked down on as being only for nerds or children. It’s still a trivial pursuit, since they are games and games are silly, but generally they stabilize in the cultural consciousness. The Inevitable Rise of Kiddie Casinos Still Happens, But Slower Have you been in a Dave & Busters or Chuck E. Cheese lately? Basically they’re just gambling palaces with no traditional video games whatsoever. But this was a survival tactic, a way to keep their businesses afloat while traditional joystick gaming was migrating to home consoles for enthusiasts only. If arcades never died, these chain franchises wouldn’t have to rely quite as hard on prize games… but prize games would still be a major factor. Everybody likes the rush of winning, and early ticket games like Skeeball(tm) (or ‘Alley Rollers’ to use the non-trademarked name) would prove the model can work. So while there wouldn’t be a mid-90s rampaging push towards abandoning ship on the arcade model, those who cared more about raw profit than tradition would definitely still migrate in that directions. Oh, Also We Have Holograms And Sentient A.I. For Reasons And here’s where I take a left turn into fantasyland, because Iris — your adorable virtual assistant — not only is amazingly sophisticated beyond any 2018 level smartphone tech, but I have a few cute pics in game of her literally sitting on the edge of your phone and extending away from the screen. It’s similar to the scanlines you see on the spotlights over Teo’s dance stage, or how Gavin’s tablet was originally going to have some hovering holograms. This was something I debated removing to keep things realistic, but… instead, I just don’t comment on it. I let Iris stay adorable even if she’s implausible, because it’s cute and makes a nice visual and again, we are not a history textbook. …although there IS a bit more going on behind why she’s so very, very intelligent. And I’d say more, but… spoilers. I think that’ll do for missives from the year 20XX. I don’t want to spoil all the surprises. Hope you enjoy our alternate timeline when the game releases early next year!

[ 2018-09-24 23:08:32 CET ] [ Original post ]

We’ve been asked this quite often — “Will Arcade Spirits be coming out on Switch or PS4 PS VITA or XBox One or Ouya or Intellivision or the Fairchild Channel F?” Console gamers like their story-driven games too, and it’s perfectly understandable to want a port. Let me say up front we are NOT ruling a console port out. But I figured this week, I’d let you peek behind the curtains and see why isn’t not as easy as checking the ‘Compile Switch Version’ box and hitting OK. Arcade Spirits uses the open source Ren’Py engine, which is a wonderful Python-powered system that gets you up and running quickly when making a visual novel. It’s powerful and customizable and has many of the features we needed right out of the box. We didn’t have to code our own save game system, or our own history buffer, or any of the standard visual novel systems — it just does it for you without much fanfare. Alas, one thing we hadn’t realized when deciding to use Ren’Py is that there are no console ports of the engine. It’s open source, yeah, but requires Python, OpenGL, and a host of other tidbits to be ported before it can even consider the possibility of starting to maybe work on another system. It’s not impossible — anybody with enough know-how and skill could probably port it. But so far nobody has, so we’d be starting from square one on a task we are woefully unprepared for. There’s a reason I picked a scripting system for this game instead of coding it down to the metal in assembly, folks. I ain’t that amazing at coding. (UPDATE: A new wrinkle in the works. For a Switch port, it’s not enough to port the engine — since it’s not based on Unity, essentially every individual visual novel would need to be one whole and cohesive project with a complete dev kit and development contract, and likely still need to involve Renpy’s development team. So it’s a much taller ask than I had anticipated in the first place. Not sure if this is the case for PS4 but it’s likely the same issue. Fortunately there is a UWP version of Renpy in the works, so XBox One is possible, but still a long ways off and may have other hurdles.) So, what’s the alternative? Basically, moving the whole kit ‘n kaboodle over to another visual novel engine, one which already has console support. Notably any system designed for Unity would do the job. But porting a game, even one as “simple” as a visual novel, is difficult. How do I do the customized visual effects and UI, when I don’t know enough to customize Unity to my needs? What about future localization efforts? It’s a tough sell, especially when we’re releasing in Q1 2019. That leaves us with three options. Figure out how to port Ren’Py (or hire someone to do it), figure out how to port the game to another engine (or hire someone to do it), or let it slide for now and maybe switch engines before starting a sequel. I won’t say what option we’re taking because, well, we don’t know! Right now we’re focused on getting the Win/Mac/Linux version out the door in good shape, so you have a quality game from day one. But… if that game sells well enough, if it’s clear there’s a burning hunger for Arcade Spirits… who knows what may happen?

[ 2018-09-18 16:55:46 CET ] [ Original post ]

Apologies, forgot to upload last week's dev blog -- and it was a doozy, so let's make sure we don't pass it completely! I'll roll last week and this week into one post. Today we're talking about the new animated backgrounds we're adding, one of which you can see in our updated demo. Nearly every single background in the game is animated, adding lighting effects and other subtle animation cues. Little things that bring the otherwise static images to life. Today, let’s go over three scenes, and how they’ll be different under the new animation. First, we’ll look at the Funplex.
The Funplex has three main effects going on. The first, and most commonly used across all the revamped backgrounds, are glowing elements glowing brighter than before, with the extra glow fading in and out softly. It’s almost impossible to see unless you’re looking for it, but adds some life to the scene. next, the prize game at the bottom left has a shifting color scheme, to reflect the lights inside the game changing colors. Finally, there’s a simple animation of the UFO Catcher crane lowering and raising. Next let’s go to Flotsam Beach, home of the Obligatory Beach Episode Where Everybody Wears Sexy Swimsuits.
The streetlights (in the niiiiiiiight) pulse, in a bit more obvious a fashion as this is an old Mid-Atlantic beach town under disrepair. Similarly, some of the tube lights in the arcade will flicker, showing the double tube bulbs before turning back on full strength. I considered a cloud animation, since the clouds animate during the daytime scene, but figured the lighting was more important. Finally, let’s look at a scene from later in the game, which I won’t spoil beyond showing you this vague imae of a run-down arcade...
Lots of stuff going on here — glitched out game screens, pulsating neon lights, error codes, and more. It’s a flashier scene, to be sure. “But wait!” you might say, as I’m pouring the gasoline and getting the match ready. “What if I don’t want to be distracted by fancy background effects? Also, put down the matches, please.” Not a problem! We've revamped the Preferences menu. Not only did we improve the ‘Style’ option to show you what each of our three UI styles looks like, but we added an option for the background animations. It defaults to Slow, which should provide ambiance without being distracting — but you can turn them Off completely, or even make them Faster if you want something flashy and fun! It’s up to you. As we finish up the story and start polishing up the game, we’ll have more new features to show you — including a pretty big one which we’re not ready to talk about yet. Let’s just say there’s a reason I had to crop down the Preferences screen… Okay, with the technical stuff aside, let's do some goofy shenanigans next. I like world building. Hey, who doesn't? And frankly I've been wanting to do more world building for 20XX, the timeline in which Arcade Spirits takes place, where the video game crash of 1983 never happened. How are things different? How are things the same? Let's find out. Not sure if these are canon or not -- we'll know if we end up selling so well that a sequel becomes a good idea. So hey, if you want more... y'all know what to do. Spread the word! Introducing THE (entirely fictional) 20XX TIMES, an (entirely fictional) Newspaper From The Year 20XX. --- President Mitchell Embroiled In New Emulation Controversy – Tweets Focus on "No Hot Sauce Collusion" New allegations have risen regarding President Billy Mitchell's most recent high score submission to Twin Galaxies for Donkey Kong. Independent investigators have verified that his video evidence was created using MAME emulation, thus negating his score. When pressed for a comment, President Mitchell instead focused on another scandal facing the White House, concerning illegal campaign contributions made by a hot sauce manufacturer from Georgia. Sources say that he was encouraged to divest his own hot sauce company prior to election as President in exchange for a sizable campaign contribution, filtered through numerous individuals. Twin Galaxies has struck President Mitchell's score from the record books pending a complete investigation. The White House has issued no comment, although press secretary Roy Shildt stated that President Mitchell remains adamant that any reports of falsified scores are “fake news” from “dishonest scoreboards.” --- Nintendo to Announce the Nintendo PlayStation-U Pro, With Features Similar to Atari XLX Sources close to Sony of Japan say that an announcement is just around the corner regarding a new release of the Nintendo PlayStation-U, dubbed the “PlayStation-U Pro,” which will have both advanced 3-D capabilities and better support for consumer-grade CRT televisions for full backwards compatibility with classic titles. Critics have long lambasted Nintendo for having a distinct lack of backwards compatibility with still-hot retro titles and eSports standards, forcing players to re-purchase barely upgraded remasters of classic titles if they wanted to move forward to the next iteration of Nintendo hardware. Meanwhile, their primary competitors in Atari and Sega have maintained twenty-plus years of backwards compatibility, able to read and play any discs from earlier consoles through embedded hardware or emulation. “Nintendo thinks they deserve the attention of gamers, just because they beat everyone to optical media back in the 90s,” an alleged source within Atari posted on Facewall today. “And don't get me wrong, the Nintendo-Sony partnership really moved the whole industry forward. But they did so at the expense of supporting home ports of arcade classics. Atari believes in game preservation, and will always maintain full backwards compatibility.” While many game developers have pushed for adoption of HDTV for higher resolutions and crisper images, a counterpush by gamers for CRT support in order to properly display older titles was embraced two generations ago by Atari and Sega, resulting in the multi-monitor setups common today. --- Exidy Partners with Gottleib For New “Indiecading” Push With the rising trend of bespoke arcade games crafted by independent video game developers, it was only a matter of time before one of the big names sat up and took notice. In this case, two mid-tier players in the arcade scene are teaming up to scoop up the rights to mass-distribute several indie titles, under the “Indiecading” name.” “Exidy has always pushed forward with innovative new gaming experiences,” explained CEO Paula Westenbach. “Together with Gottleib, we believe we can get a wider exposure for these great titles. No longer will you have to go to a smaller arcade to enjoy these amazing games – we'll be in Deco's Palace, DisneyQuest, and several other major chain arcades.” Exidy-Gottleib are currently in negotiations for the rights to Magical Moon Cuties, the hottest independent title on the scene. If all goes well, we can expect to see this game in an arcade near you within the next fiscal quarter. --- OpEd: MicroPlay To Unveil Revolutionary New Ultra-Responsive Arcade Joystick; Snake Oil or The Next Big Thing? Here we go again, folks – another company claiming to have the next big thing in arcade hardware. MicroPlay, a recently formed mash-up of the decaying corpses of FunWare and Sinneslöschen, have announced their first commercial product, a new “psi-responsive” joystick. According to Cooper Technologies, the parent company which bought out what was left of those two once-slightly-better-than-mediocre companies, this new joystick will “use bio-electric feedback to read the user's intentions, providing unparalleled responsiveness in arcade gaming.” So basically it reads your mind. Through your hand. Meaning... why tap the joystick at all, if it's just going to predict what you want to do based on your thoughts? Yyyeah, I'm thinking this is yet another flop from Cooper Technologies. From my research, only ONE tech initiative of theirs has gotten past the investment stage – remember the Phantom Console, which ended up basically being a phantom? That was them. They also had a large market share in the technology behind the Nintendo 32x, that abysmal add-on. About the only thing they've ever done which went anywhere was “Iris,” a dime-a-dozen virtual assistant with extremely limited capabilities and a heavy-handed sponsorship by PizzaYums. But hey, she's cute, and people like cute apps, so... I've said it before, and I'll say it again – arcades are driven by highly short-lived gimmicks, but ultimately are ruled by classic titles that bring people back time and again. All sorts of gimmicks have come and gone, including force feedback, and virtual reality. (Although recent moves by the Oculus-Ouya partnership suggest they may be taking a run at that cheeseball 90s helmet-and-gloves idea again.) So I wouldn't expect much of anything from these supposed telepathic joysticks. Besides, with Fist of Discomfort expected to move on to optional USB controllers with its forthcoming iteration, who really needs built-in control innovation? Just bring your favorite input device to your local arcade, and have fun. Don't trust in the snake oil salesmen.

[ 2018-09-10 19:42:52 CET ] [ Original post ]

This small update adds two new features: 1. Animated backgrounds! The arcade lights pulse and glow, the crane machine moves up and down, city lights blink on and off. You can adjust the speed of these animations from the Preferences menu, keeping them slow and subtle, or making them fast and lively -- or turning them off completely. 2. Added visual examples of our three UI styles to the Preferences menu (Neon, Pixel, Basic). This option was always here, we just didn't have a good quick reference for what each of them meant.

[ 2018-08-30 17:43:31 CET ] [ Original post ]

As I was preparing last week’s blog post, which refers to The Pillars of Arcade Spirits, it brought to mind a topic I’ve been pondering lately — signposting success and failure. One of the pillars of our game is clear signposting. We want you to make an informed choice. Maybe we won’t tell you EVERYTHING that lurks behind an option, but you should have a good sense about what will happen if you pick it. You’ll increase your Gutsey, Naomi will like you, you’ll pick one thing over another, etc. It’s never a vague mystery which then punishes you for not knowing you fell into a trap. I liken it to LucasArts adventure games, versus Sierra On-Line. (90s kids will know this.) In Sierra games, you’d die constantly just for trying different things. The default method the game had of teaching you “No, that’s not the right way” is to kill you and force you to reload a save. But LucasArts did away with that — if you mess up, things simply don’t work, and you can keep trying until they do. It doesn’t punish you for experimenting. I want Arcade Spirits to do the same thing — to have very, very few legitimately punishing choices, to allow you to experiment or run wild, and have the leeway to make a few mistakes without ruining everything. But how do I signpost that…? How do I tell the player, “Hey, don’t fret so much about what you pick, you literally can’t fail this.” For example, in our demo, there’s a point where QueenBee says “I hate seeing people get yelled at” and then looks sad. I have literally never seen anyone pick the option of telling her “Don’t you yell at people all the time?” which is a shame, because it’s got a funny response. They’re too scared of saying the wrong thing and ruining their chances with QueenBee, or think that you have to default to the nicest response because other games punish you for being even slightly jerky. As a result they get a fairly toss-off answer from QueenBee instead of a more interesting one. Even if you do miss a “point” with QueenBee, the game is scored in such a way that when it comes time to choose your romance path, it’s VERY tolerant of failure. As long as you chose to spend time with a person and generally said things they agreed with, a few fumbles won’t wreck everything. But again… how do I signpost that? How do I reassure the player that they can explore the game and not feel they have to take the safest, most cautious choices they possibly can out of fear of everything exploding as punishment? How do I do it without breaking fourth wall and telling them to just have fun with it and not worry? Not sure. Not sure at all. If you’ve got any ideas, let me know. I’d love to hear your opinions on this. Thanks!

[ 2018-08-27 22:32:38 CET ] [ Original post ]

Ever since the PQube announcement, we've had new folks tuning in to see what Arcade Spirits is all about. Hello, new folks! We've got a blog (which we mirror to Tumblr and Steam), we've got a Twitter for announcements and arcade culture tidbits, a Discord to connect with other arcade fans, a Patreon if you want to support us on a deeper level, and finally a website. That's a lot of stuff! Just pick your favorite way to follow us, and enjoy. But also, I'd like to direct you to an old blog post you probably missed, which describes the pillars of our game, and why we made the choices we did when designing the game. To summarize so you don't HAVE to go digging through the blog if you don't wanna, we've got four guiding principles in telling our lighthearted tale of love and quarters...

• We’re inclusive by not restricting player choice of romance. Be who you want to be, romance who you want to romance (or nobody at all). We're LGBTQ+ friendly without specifically being a game about LGBQT+. Notably: coding in restrictions based on your preferred pronoun takes effort and we're too lazy for that. But it's laziness in favor of player choice, so hey!
• We want you to be able to choose how to react to things around you. Player agency is sometimes missing in visual novels, so we want as much as we can pour in. We focus heavily on roleplaying and self-expression, letting you react as you like.
• There should be clear signposts for easy decision-making. We don't like blind choices, or needing to play with a FAQ open on your second monitor. We're going to be relatively clear what each choice is going to mean for you -- who you'll spend time with and how they'll react. You have some leeway, too, so you don't have to scoop up EVERY point to get the ending you want.
• One tale, with your own personal path chosen from beginning to end. We'll say up front this isn't about massively branching paths and multiple distinct endings. It's about a personal experience that's never exactly the same as any other player's, thanks to the choices you make along the way and who you decide to be.

We're aiming to deliver one heck of a tale for you, a story that you participate in rather than passively read, a story you can insert yourself into or play whatever other personality type you like. Play things straight, romance or don't, get wild, be snarky, do as you want. And we hope you enjoy that story. ... Okay! That's our introduction out of the way. Let's talk this week's actual (slightly depressing) topic, based on Recent Topical News -- specifically Nintendo squishing several ROM and emulation sites with legal papers. Pirated retro games are no longer quite so easy to find, thanks to their actions. In Arcade Spirits we've added a mini-documentary hosted by Naomi which is all about building your own emulation cabinet. It's pretty detailed on the hardware and software you'll need, but one thing we skim over is obtaining ROMs -- because let's be totally honest here, Nintendo and their ilk have every legal right to say "Hey, uh, please stop giving away our games for free, okay?" You just can't condone that sort of thing, not if you work in the game industry like I do. There's no ethical leg to stand on. But unfortunately, this also poses a serious problem for video game preservation efforts. Many of these games are a tangled mess of copyright holders, many of which are out of business or were sold again and again, to the point where it's unclear WHO owns the copyright on a game anymore. Therefore, there is no legal way to play some of these games short of tracking down original arcade hardware and spending hundreds to thousands of dollars on it -- and if that hardware is just flat out gone, cabinets junked and sitting in landfills, a game can be lost forever. Look at the movie industry, where the majority of films from the dawn of cinema in the 30s are simply gone, because nobody thought to preserve them. Emulation and abandonware archives were one way to keep those dimly lit and flickering candles alive. Legal? No, but given the copyright holders cannot -- or in many cases, will not -- provide a legal means of obtaining the game, not many options remain. Even games which aren't exactly in danger of vanishing can be withheld... Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is a good recent example. It never had a physical release, only digital downloads, and as licenses expired it was pulled from digital storefronts. You literally cannot legally obtain this game anymore and likely never will be able to again, and because it was loaded on DRM-locked modern game consoles, any act of preservation runs afoul of the DMCA. So... what to do? There's really not a good solution in the hands of gamers. And again, I can't and won't condone piracy. It's up to the companies involved to be willing to loosen their grip on these games, and many refuse to budge. As noted, they're even actively fighting websites that preserve games. And thus, an impasse. Hopefully we as an industry will find a way past this issue, to make these classic games available conveniently and without legal problems. Either that, or as fans of arcade classics, we'll have to mourn the passing of more and more great games.

[ 2018-08-20 22:27:56 CET ] [ Original post ]

Welcome to the Arcade Spirits developer blog. Each week I post an in-depth look at some aspect of the game, or of arcade culture in general. Today, let's talk about one of the slightly more obscure influences behind Arcade Spirits -- the classic 1980s workplace sitcom. As a kid, I grew up enmeshed in the world of the 80s / early 90s sitcom. Night Court, Cheers, Wings, things like that. "Must See TV." I wasn't really that interested in the standard family-based ones, though -- no Steve Urkel for me. I like workplace sitcoms. There's two key aspects to these, a sense of place, and a sense of belonging. The place is obvious: wherever everybody works. An office, a bar, a courtroom, an airport, a diner, something like that. The locale is the same every week, and you get a feel for the flow of rooms and hallways, the background details baked in which make it feel unique and lived-in. Sometimes they're populated by extras moving around in the background, going about their lives... customers, usually. It feels like a living, breathing location and not just a sterile living room or something. This is where you come back to when you want to be somewhere familiar. But it's not a home, some generic suburban house; it's got a flow and a purpose directed towards whatever the business is. When you're there, you belong there. You're family, without actually being family. The television family consists of the friends who you're close to, the ones you're emotionally tied to, working arm in arm towards a common goal or just choosing to spend time together. There's no typical drama from being stuck alongside a parent or sibling you hate because these are the people you've selected to be your family, rather than a coincidence of birth. (Shows where the family hates each other 90% of the time and all the drama arises from that are pretty much the opposite of what I want.) I wanted those two things for Arcade Spirits -- a sense of place, and a sense of belonging. The Funplex becomes familiar to you, and your character grows to consider it something of a home. The staff and the regulars are more than just co-workers and customers, they're your friends, your family. Even the ones you aren't actively trying to romance are close companions, willing to help you and you them. There are conflicts along the way, bumps in the road, but you work through them because keeping the family together and keeping the home intact is important. The story is even divided up like television episodes, with each contained story being its own "Level" of the game. Unlike an 80s sitcom, though, they feed into each other serially, gradually developing character arcs and plots rather than being standalone piles of gags. Overall, I want the world of Arcade Spirits to be something you want to come back to not just to laser-focus in on your romantic target and woo them, but to be because it's a place you want to live in for a time. Familiar, friendly, warm, and inviting. And when the credits finally do roll, I want that time looked back on fondly. I hope I can provide the same feeling I had watching these sitcoms to you as a gamer.

[ 2018-08-13 23:04:27 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello, hello! Stefan here, co-author and project manager (oooh, official sounding) for Arcade Spirits. Thanks for dropping by. And thanks to our publisher PQube for helping us get to this point! Everybody reading these words just earned a few free tokens. We'll be using the announcement space here for weekly development updates, typically every Monday -- inside looks into the game's development, all leading up to our 2019 release. Hope you enjoy them! Follow, wishlist, like, share, subscribe, smash that bell, all the usual stuff so you can stay on top of all things Arcade Spirits-y. Thank you so much for your support. Good times are ahead!

[ 2018-08-09 17:23:57 CET ] [ Original post ]