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1. Rennie Bottali asks where are the home console ports
of modern arcade titles
Rennie Bottali asks where are the home console ports of modern arcade titles? Just about
every manufacturer social media page gets this question asked of them in some form
although they tend to not answer since explaining it in details isn’t something that fits on a
bumper sticker.
The quick answer is that there are various factors to consider due to how the arcade market
works that makes it more involved than simply changing the control input and printing
money from there.
Creative Flexibility: Rennie Bottali says when you create a game with a particular
platform in mind, aspects of that platform can limit how the game operates in practice.
There are limitations of the console hardware itself then the limitations of the controller.
Manufacturers have expanded what controllers can do, especially with the WiiU but you still
generally have that framework to operate in. Exceptions are games with accessory
controllers but those tend to be more niche than wide audience sellers.
Rennie Bottali Said the same limitation aspect is true for arcades but the limitation tends to
be the budget and practicality more than the controls. Arcade games can use every aspect
of the hardware to their advantage. They don’t have to try and please different kinds of
monitors or sound systems and you can provide a consistent control experience without
asking the customer to buy an accessory they wouldn’t use for any other game. Those
aspects including the cabinet itself can all be tailored to provide a specific experience that
the content creator wishes to convey. Rennie Bottali Said top that off with arcades being
more social in nature and they provide a different culture and mentality towards gaming
than home games often do. With every play, your money is on the line but you don’t have
to spend all the cash on the hardware to enjoy what the game offers. When arcade titles
come home, they can lose that unique haptic factor that they otherwise stand out on.
There is also the aspect of showing off your skills in public, which can be an art form under
the guise of the right player. Losing that wouldn’t be a victory for gaming in general but a
loss.

2. Doing this alone from the comfort of home just isn’t the same.
Some games still do come home: When you read some comments on social media, it
is easy to come away with the impression that no one has done an arcade port since the
Dreamcast. It is true that a vast majority of cash investment into the video game industry
goes to the home market which pumps out thousands of titles a year across
consoles/mobile/PC combined. A lot of those games are ports and clones across multiple
platforms. It isn’t recognized very often but there have been some games ported to home
consoles in recent times. Here’s a list that covers the past several years, let’s start with Sega
since that is from the question:
Rennie Bottali Sega Games…Afterburner Climax (Sega); House of the Dead 4 (Sega); Sega
Rally 3 (released as Sega Rally Online); Tank! Tank! Tank! (Namco); Tekken Tag Tournament
2 (Namco); Time Crisis 4; Razing Storm (Namco); Pac-Man Battle Royale (Namco);
Dariusburst Another Chronicle (Taito); ReRave Plus (Step Revolution); NEON FM (Unit-E);
Big Buck Hunter (Play Mechanix/Raw Thrills); Raiden III & IV (MOSS); the Blazblue series
(Arcsys); Guilty Gear Xrd (Arcsys); Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition (Capcom; every version of
SF4 came home); Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom; titles like Gunlord, Razion & NEO XYX
(NGDevteam; granted the home releases were to the Sega Dreamcast and NEO GEO AES). I
might be missing a few shmups here but that should give an idea.
Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Rennie Bottali said more on the way: Tekken 7, Mario & Sonic At
The Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Taiko No Tatsujin and Pokken Tournament are coming home
later this year. This all isn’t what I would call a dearth of content or ports when you consider
that we only see about 20-30 new video arcade releases a year (not counting Japan which
would boost that up to the 50s-60s) as opposed to the 200+ releases like back in ’82. And
speaking of the classics, if they aren’t available on emulation then just about every company
has released compilations or digital downloads of titles from the 80s and 90s, making those
games available on just about every platform with a screen.
Rennie Bottali Said there are also franchises that the arcade has ‘lost’, which used to be
known for being arcade games first. Now they are exclusive on consoles such as Street
Fighter V, Mortal Kombat X and the upcoming King of Fighters. Metal Slug has had ports to
various platforms including that compilation of every MS game on one disc and it looks like
SNK is shunning future arcade developments. Even the Raiden series is coming along with a

3. console only release in Raiden V. From an arcade gaming perspective, I think that is
unfortunate since it was the crucible of the arcade mentality that made these games special
in the first place.
With that in mind I’ll post more info about this.