Otakon 2004 Game-Room

Just an FYI, I'm going to mirror this post on fierceslash.com

This is not just for who's going to be at Otakon 2004, but since most of us who go donate stuff to be used (especially when it comes to Neo stuff), so I figure it'd be a good time to try and find out what games would be set up in the game room for us to compete at.

I'm just trying to gauge what games will be there so people know what to expect going in to enjoy. Also it may be nice for us to see what games people want that one of us may be able to donate. If we find there's a need we can fill we can head over to the Otakon boards and let them know what we'd like to bring.

i'll consider bringing 2k3 or sam5 or ms5 if it's needed. AES is usually a lot better for travel, though, so if anyone else wants to bring those it'd be fine with me as mine is all MVS.

I already made a post for Otakon, but since sombody else posted in here, I'll let mine die.

I've got a few new MVS games to pick from, so let me know what's going on. Hopefully the two guys who ran it last year and are on the boards will see this post and let us know what to do.

I'm planning on donating my Neo Geo and some games again for the convention this year but I'm not sure who's running the game room this year. I have a bunch of the more obscure games on MVS (Twinkle Star Sprites, Ninja Masters, Money Puzzle Exchanger, etc.) as well as all the KoFs, Matrimelee and SvC on homecart. I can also bring other systems if need be.

Hopefully whoever's running the game room this year will see this and let us know details on what to do.

Actually for the moment donations are up in the air for Otakon 2004. Otakon made a change to its policy which basically doesn't allow for re-imbursement for personal equipment. Rental items only.

This doesn't sit well with us video gaming staff since this mean that even our own personal equipment which we use would not be covered. So for the moment donations are on hold until we can work something out.

Unless of course people are willing to donate stuff at their own risk. Which most sane people will not be, even if kept under lock and key.

Otherwise we should have plenty of stuff at Otakon. We will have MS5, SS5, and KOF2K3 on MVS. Maybe SS5 Special.

We've got about 12-13 arcade cabinets for this year.

We should have at least a dedicated 4 and 6 slot Neo Geo. We should have all sorts of new titles and old favorites available.

We will have 4 NAOMI setups(including one running in a Midway Showtime cabinet with a 39" monitor). Currently we've got: MvC2, Power Stone, DOA2 Millenium Edition, and Project justice. Sorry, kind of a "whoopee" type deal since we've been playing those games on the Dreamcast for years already.

Possibly we will have an Atomiswave or two. Not too much really going on in that realm just yet so we've been a bit hesitant to throw down for the hardware.

We'll have some machines running CPS2 hardware. Likely DS, VS, VS2, AVP, MSH, and MSHvC. Possibly one will be running D&D Shadow of Mystara.

We'll also have a Taito F3 cabinet possibly running: Puchi Carat, Elevator Action Returns, Bubble Symphony, Puzzle Bobble 2(or 3), or Pop 'n' Pop.

We've got some other stuff but I'm not sure what will get brought or put out just yet. We should have some old favorites like a 4 player TMNT cab. We should also have some fruity stuff like a SailorMoon sidescrolling beat 'em up.

I'll post more info a later when I get the chance and as it becomes available.

We'll try and put on a good time for you guys despite the powers that be running interference on us.

- Jason G.
Head of Otakon Videogaming 2002-2004

What

no bemani cabinets?

Doesn't someone up there have a IIDX and a DDR Extreme?

Anyway, nice spread. Sucks about Otakon's reimbursement policy though.

looks like everything is already in good hands.

thanks jason!

Thanks for the update Jason, can't wait to see what you guys will have this year.

I'm sure that more than a few of us would be willing to donate some MVS carts to populate those cabinets, especially if you're putting multi-slot MVS boards in there.

Is there any way we can get confirmation on what games will be in there, that way we can know if you need a MOTW or KOF98 cart or two.

Also, if some people have AES machines w/ Phantom converters and some one else has a MVS cart to donate we might want to pony some stuff together to lend it out (assuming this insurance thing comes through OK).

I emailed Otakon at their video gaming email address and offered my concelized 2 slot Neo Geo MVS motherboard. Havent heard back from them yet.

Sorry guys no bemani machines. All the arcade games are personally owned by us staffers and none of us are really into the bemani type games enough to buy them.

We just don't seem them all that often at the auctions we frequent and the ones we do see go for more than we're willing to pay for that sort of game.

For DDR at least we will have 6 Cobalt Flux hard dance pads for use. Depending on how they look and time, we might even build platforms to put them in to make them seem a little more "arcade" like.

In the realm of CPS2 we presently have:
DarkStalkers
Vampire Savior(2)
Vampire Savior 2 (2)
Marvel Super Heroes
Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter
X-men vs Street Fighter
D&D Shadow Over Mystara
Alien vs Predator (2)
Gem Fighters

Please note this list details the actual number of b boards and not necessarily the number of cabinets available to run everything.


in the realm of Neo Geo MVS we presently have:
King of Fighters 97
King of Fighters 2000 (2)
King of Fighters 2002
King of Fighters 2003 (2)
Last Blade 1 (2)
Last Blade 2 (2)
Magical Drop 3
Mark of the Wolves (2)
Metal Slug X
Metal Slug 3
Metal Slug 5 (2)
Samurai Shodown 4 (2)
Samurai Shodown 5

This is not necessarily a comprehensive list. Many lower sequel number games omitted. Some not as popular games ommited. Some unconfirmed propsects not yet announced.

- Jason G.

Sound's really good Jason, hopefully I can help with some MVS games, I have Nightmare in the Dark and since it's a rare game I'd like to share it with everybody. I also want to get KOF 98' but I bet sombody else will donate that.

Cobalt Flux makes some awesome DDR pads, very close to the arcade, so hopefully that will please my DDR friends

When you guys get the whole insurance thing straightened out, let me know about the deal with loaning otakon neo games. I have a pretty decent collection and I don't live far from the convention center.

Just a bump to keep this post from dying. If anybody else is going to Otakon this year that hasn't posted already please do so.

I'm pretty sure I will be there, I just need to get a bus ticket and pre register, I still have a week or so...I'd like to play some Kof '01-'03, and I'm sure someone will bring a Kof '98, but I didn't see any mention of The Real Bout series

Quick question, do we have to put quarters in the machines or will they be on freeplay? Thanks

All arcade cabinets will be set to free play. The only thing that could stop you from playing a particular game will be the lines.

-James

sweet.

Too bad on the bemani thing. I hope that someone has iidx consolized. i want to see what the skill level is like out east.

taitai said:

sweet.

Too bad on the bemani thing. I hope that someone has iidx consolized. i want to see what the skill level is like out east.

Click to expand...

If you mean IIDX on PS2 they'll have it. This one guy even had the Arcade Style Controller as well as the Arcade Style Pop N' Music controller, which broke and I saw the guy off in a corner with it trying to fix it with a screwdriver.

We got a few good IIDX players, one arcade out by me has 9th Style and it's a got a cult following.

If your a Bemani fan you should check out the Desktop Arcade pannel. This guy runs a website and he makes Pop N' Music controllers, and I think he makes other type of arcade joysticks.

Hey Jason, if you have any more info on donations please let me know. I'd like to bring Nightmare in the Dark or KOF 98' on MVS with me.

Well.... we might actually not have it.

None of the staff actually owns any of the Bemani games. We have a group who comes every year and brings stuff to setup. They don't care about checking anything in and are pretty happy if we just let them setup in a lockbox and use one of the tvs.

I believe the desktop arcade guy's name is Steve Handelman
http://www.desktoparcade.com/

Tsuki the Otakon panels lady said I should drop him a line because he is interested in putting some of his controllers out on the floor. I haven't gotten a chance to do it just yet, but I hope to do so this evening. He might have some copies of the bemani game's we could put out as well.

No good news on the re-imbursement front. People can feel free to bring stuff at convention time and we'll be happy to lock it away in one of our boxes for use, but we can't make any replacement guarantees.

In general we always treat stuff like its our own.

If you want to bring some MVS games we could put them into one of the Neo cabs where they will be locked away. So they should be pretty safe there. And I can guarantee trying to break into one of the cabinets will be a good way to get your ass kicked and thrown out.

In general if people want to bring equipment and set it up at an empty television we will allow it. Again this would be totally at their own risk. The best we could offer is to lock the equipment up in one of our boxes.

We should have like 15 arcade cabinets total. For an update on some titles:

On Naomi we presently have:
Marvel vs Capcom 2 (2)
Dead or Alive 2 Millennium
Power Stone
Power Stone 2

I know Jeff got 2 new shmups from Chimpmeister but I don't recall their names. I've got the original Banpresto Macross shooter and Games Paradise for the Jaleco Mega System 32.

I picked up Street Fighter 3: 2nd Impact on CPS3 but I don't know if it will get put out. I've got an empty dynamo cab I would love to throw it in, but since it is sans monitor/power supply/general wiring, that would be even more dough I would need to throw down before Otakon. Not likely since I'll probably pony up for SSV(0) Special on AES so we'll have it to put out.

It doesn't look like we'll have any Atomiswave systems. Prices have come down but still the titles just aren't good enough to warrant spending our rapidly diminishing funding. Next year.

We will have trophies this year as prizes. We thought this would be a better choice since prizes are pretty much up to whatever our prize wrangler can get from dealers. Generally this is crap that they are giving away or can't sell.

The trophy bases will be a little generic but they will have a definite video gaming theme overall. Over time hopefully we will be able to build on the idea and develop our own sort of definitive Otakon video gaming trophies and people will look forward to competing and trying to win them.

Team and network play will see a BIG push at Otakon this year. We will have cubes linked for play with Super Mario Kart Double Dash in addition to the linked HALO play we featured last year. We will also be including a team HALO tournament in addition to the singles tournament.

We should have a little area setup for people to play Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow in versus mode.

In general we are doing our best to try and make things as cool as we can considering we are likely to be forced to work with fewer resources than we had last year.

- Jason

shmups...

The shooters that are guaranteed to be there are Raiden Fighters Jet and Viper Phase 1 NV. I was hoping to bring Radiant Silvergun but I might not be able to throw down the cash before the con for it. We will see....

Jeff

Anyone have advice on home much money to bring? I've never been to Otakon before or any anime convention for that matter. I will be staying at my sister's place so I don't have to worry about lodging, but will there be healthy food at the con?

How much money to bring really depends on what you plan on doing at convention. Also depends on how long you plan on attending and if you've already bought your membership.

If you haven't bought a membership and plan on going the whole weekend I believe that alone is $55 right there.

If you plan on buying heaps of stuff in the dealers room depending on your tastes you could need money for trinkets, books, DVDs, CDs, posters, video games (NOT a good place to buy import games), garage kits, assembled figures, etc...

Depending upon just how much you want that could be hundreds. Of course that should really be tempered by what you can afford to spend. My advice is to look for the harder to find anime/gaming related trinkets or perhaps art books. Though good deals can be had on DVDs and CDs as well.

No good food at the BCC. The BCC sells overpriced crap. Unless you are absolutely desperate do not buy the BCC food. My only vice is buying from the Starbucks they have. But that is overpriced Starbucks, not the overpriced generic carnival food crap they otherwise sell

Luckily enough the inner harbor has three malls within easy walking distance as well as other more expensive restuarants. The one mall is essentially just a large indoor food court. Far better prices to be had and a lot more choice.

So in short, bring enough cash to buy whatever level of membership and decent food. For spending bring enough to get some items you really want, but don't go into debt or anything crazy.

- Jason

Cool thanks, I already pre registered online, and I was afraid the food would be carnival junk so I guess I'll just eat before or after or I'll figure something out. I want to find good deals on anime, I can't stand having to pay out the ass prices at suncoast

Eating breakfast is a good idea before the convention. Then you can get a late lunch early dinner/whatever to carry you through the rest of the day.

The food in the inner harbor is REALLY close. So you shouldn't have to iron man it and run on just whatever you had for breakfast.

There are definitely good deals to be had on DVDs at convention time. Though you should also investigate buying them online from places like Amazon or Best Prices(where I buy like 90% of my anime). Good prices year round.

Only buy stuff from Suncoast if they are the only ones that carry it. Though they actually have a booth in the dealers room.

- Jason

Only get water at the convention center...IF you need it. The prices are insane. I remember they sold Pocky last year and they wanted near five bucks a box compaied to the normal 3 at many japanese supermarkets.

On Saturday night I'm going to the Hard Rock in the Inner Harbor. If you want to come, your all welcome to it. I had a shitty sandwitch at the mall across the street and now I'd like to do somthing I myself want insted of my group who wanted to eat Chinese food.