Chicago Tribune article on Eugene Jarvis (Robotron-Defender-Raw Thrills...)

There are still a very small amount of places like that, which are still the local neighborhood arcade style rather than a bar/restaurant setting. If you ever get toward Chicago, check out Star Worlds Arcade in DeKalb. It is exactly what you'd think of an old arcade.

This is a recent vid taken from the arcade- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Aa9RHxr6GA&feature=youtu.be

Eugene told the guy who wrote the article that SWA is the "real deal"
 
Jarvis is the man. Without Raw Thrills the coin-op industry would be dead for sure. GlobalVR has also done its part to keep us alive.

By "us" I mean to say that I'm actually IN the Coin-Op industry.
 
It's great that he's still making games after all these years. I've played their most recent games and they were pretty cool.

However, they are pretty much just driving games and shooters. There is very little innovation. And, ironically, those kinds of games pre-date his time in the industry. When he was making a game like Defender he was trail-blazing. I'd like to see him take a chance or two and make something we haven't seen before. Maybe that isn't possible in this day and age.
 
Thanks for posting the article 1500. Great read. The man is really quite impressive. As they say on the street, the dude gots talent.
 
It's great that he's still making games after all these years. I've played their most recent games and they were pretty cool.

However, they are pretty much just driving games and shooters. There is very little innovation. And, ironically, those kinds of games pre-date his time in the industry. When he was making a game like Defender he was trail-blazing. I'd like to see him take a chance or two and make something we haven't seen before. Maybe that isn't possible in this day and age.

I'm sure he's got something up his sleeve we just have to wait until its ready.

The thing about driving games and gun games is that they are the only vids that are making any money right now and thats why he's sticking to them.

I too would like to see something different.
 
SWA got to hang out at the development site this summer but Eugene made them swear not to tell what they saw in process. They are keeping a secret, too.

Mark Ritchie mentioned this summer he had fun making the snowmobile game because he modeled it after his trips to Michigan.
 
Interesting article, thanks for posting. He shouldn't really consider himself to be in the "Amish horse and buggy business". What everyone forgets is people once thought home consoles were dead for good, too. Coin-ops are a hit-based business just like all video games. When you get something like Street Fighter 2, people start coming back to the arcades. Lightgun and racing games are safe bets for coin-op, but they'll never draw people in like arcades used to.

There was an interesting podcast interview with Eugene Jarvis and Mark Turmell about Smash TV a few years ago, the link is below. In that interview he said he wanted to do a lightgun game where the gun had a joystick on the end, like what ended up being done in Gunslinger Stratos in Japan.

http://www.racketboy.com/podcast/retrogaming-with-racketboy-podcast-episode-2
 
SWA got to hang out at the development site this summer but Eugene made them swear not to tell what they saw in process. They are keeping a secret, too.

I dont doubt for a second that EJ has something he's keeping from us. Like I said, I cant wait to see what ever it is.
 
In the article you see that Eugene is given all the credit and Larry supports the notion. But in truth Larry was just being humble. In the dynamic of the greatest classics those 2 worked on, it is Larry DeMar that goes quietly unnoticed but he is a powerhouse of figuring out how to engage the player in that twisted psychology that makes you want to keep playing a game. Eugene is the gregarious personality, but Larry has been highly overlooked since he is more reserved in public.

Right now it is Larry who is really doing inspired work but he is again going unnoticed. Spooky Cool Labs with pinball wizards like Joe K. and Brian Eddy (Medieval Madness) have built a monumental game called Wizard of Oz for facebook. And they've tucked in all kinds of nods to the old classics such as robotron and defender.
It has that casino theme where they tuck in a payment process.
but if you look at the overall concept, it is brilliant.
 
good article. but man, that terminator game stinks!

Tell that to the cashbox... :) I've got close to 150 of those games and I'm pretty sure they all paid for themselves in less then a year. Some of them in less then 2 months.

BTW, I think some of today's music sucks. Does that make it so? No. It does to me but not to my kids.
 
Tell that to the cashbox... :) I've got close to 150 of those games and I'm pretty sure they all paid for themselves in less then a year. Some of them in less then 2 months.

BTW, I think some of today's music sucks. Does that make it so? No. It does to me but not to my kids.

i'm sure they have. but shooter wise, i had more fun playing lethal enforcers or virtua cop when they came out.

something about that terminator game just doesn't feel right. terrible design.

most of today's music does suck =p
 
i'm sure they have. but shooter wise, i had more fun playing lethal enforcers or virtua cop when they came out.

something about that terminator game just doesn't feel right. terrible design.

most of today's music does suck =p

Opinions.... :)
 
In the article you see that Eugene is given all the credit and Larry supports the notion. But in truth Larry was just being humble. In the dynamic of the greatest classics those 2 worked on, it is Larry DeMar that goes quietly unnoticed but he is a powerhouse of figuring out how to engage the player in that twisted psychology that makes you want to keep playing a game. Eugene is the gregarious personality, but Larry has been highly overlooked since he is more reserved in public.

That would explain why NARC was so terrible... and why it took having Mark Turmell to make a fun game like Smash TV. Cruisn USA was fun for the mid 90's, but unfortunately their games like Fast and the Furious and Speedbikes or whatever still play like Cruisn USA. Dirty Driving is actually pretty good, though.
 
Tell that to the cashbox... :) I've got close to 150 of those games and I'm pretty sure they all paid for themselves in less then a year. Some of them in less then 2 months.

BTW, I think some of today's music sucks. Does that make it so? No. It does to me but not to my kids.

You have 150 Terminator Salvations? Do you have one in every movie theater in Texas or what?
 
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