Atomiswave. Opinions?

I've got an empty cabinet sitting on my back porch, and I'd been debating over what exactly to put in it recently. It used to have Marvel vs. Capcom in it, but they took out all the innards and transfered them away to another arcade. They were going to just throw the empty cabinet out, but to save the trouble of hauling it off the manager said I could take it for free, if I wanted it. It has 2 sticks, and 6 buttons on each side; traditional Street Fighter setup.

For awhile I thought I'd track down a Naomi with Capcom vs SNK 2, but lately I've thought about instead getting something that I can't just play on a console. The Atomiswave looks like the best bet, especially since SNK has made it their platform of choice. *visions of Metal Slug 6* I'm a huge; no, make that gigantic fan of old-school beat 'em ups, namely Capcom titles such as Final Fight, Battle Circuit, Captain Commando, AvP, The Punisher, ect. There's a game for Atomiswave called 'Demolish Fist' which utilizes full 3D charcters and backrounds yet, from what I gather, plays exactly like a tradtional old school 2D side-scrolling beat 'em up. This for me, friends, is heaven. Add to that some other games I'm interested in such as Dolphin Blue, The Rumble Fish, Guilty Gear, and the upcoming KoF games, and this is what I believe I'm looking for.

The key word though, is "interested". I haven't played any of these titles or even touched an Atomiswave game. I had a couple friends who went to Tokyo last month, one of which who played The Rumble Fish and said it was excellent. So what I'm really looking for are some first-hand experiences. That is, granted some of you guys have actually gotten to play some of these games. Atmomiswave: good choice or bad? It's not gonna be cheap after all....

Btw, here are a couple links to some flyer images of the Demolish Fist game I mentioned, for those interested:
www.system16.com/other/flyers/demolishfist_front.jpg
www.system16.com/other/flyers/demolishfist_back.jpg

A lot can be said over at the N-G.com boards about it...a few members there have them. From what I've read, it sounds like a good system so far...

The library so far is okay. Not that much of a "wow" factor yet, but it'll get there. GG Isuka is its saving grace for the time being. The Rumble Fish? Mixed feelings.

Atomiswave is practically the new neogeo. SNK is already onboard, and Sega will probably start releasing their lower end arcade games on it soonl. Plus, it outputs VGA as well as 15.7KHz RGB. I would say it's a pretty good investment. It's a shame it only has one cartridge port, though. An Atomiswave MVS would be perfect.

It's shit. If you want Isuka get the PS2 version, all the other games are a joke. Don't waste your money until there's something worthwhile and exclusive.

If you just got a cab then buy a few of your arcade childhood favourites and SF2 Hyper Fighting. They will cost you less and give you a lot more enjoyment.

So far I've played Force Five, Demolish Fist and Knights of Valor: 7 Spirits. All of them seemed pretty average at best, and I doubt I'll be rushing to play them again..

I wouldn't mind trying out Dolphin Blue though.

I want a better hardware if this is gonna become some sort of standard.

I'm mainly interested in playing Dolphin Blue, but I wouldn't spend several hundred dollars in the process.

Man, Adrian, you don't like anything, do you?

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Originally Posted by J2d

I want a better hardware if this is gonna become some sort of standard.

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I don't know, people played crap on the MVS hardware for something like a decade and a half now, maybe they figure the already 5 years outdated DC-based Atomiswave can be recycled just as long as well. :p

That's my biggest fear, Sega or Taito's new hardware would be nice though.

I was actually going to get one of these a few months ago. I decided not to because the system really doesn't have anything.
But it's this simple: Buy it now while it's cheap, or wait for new SNK titles to make the system more expensive. Yes. It will happen.
I'm just waiting to see how much they actually use this thing before I chunk down some cash, because it doesn't have anything I'd like to play right now.
Remember the crystal system? Yeah. I didn't think so. :lol:

Yeah, Giga Power, I'm kind of on the fence because it could go both ways. Prices could come down (and they should, because it seems every cart you find online comes with a motherboard.. I don't like that.), or they could skyrocket. I have a lot of more important stuff to save for, but if I ever, say, sell off everything I own on eBay and have a huge chunk of cash to waste anytime soon, I think it'd be nice to have as a future investment, anyway.

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Originally Posted by Grave

Yeah, Giga Power, I'm kind of on the fence because it could go both ways. Prices could come down (and they should, because it seems every cart you find online comes with a motherboard.. I don't like that.), or they could skyrocket. I have a lot of more important stuff to save for, but if I ever, say, sell off everything I own on eBay and have a huge chunk of cash to waste anytime soon, I think it'd be nice to have as a future investment, anyway.

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I know exactly how you feel. I spent a few weeks looking into and I came up with the same feeling that you have. To be honest the only thing out for it now that I'd like to play is Isuka, RumbleFish, and Dolphin Blue. And to be really honest I just threw RF and Dolphin Blue in there to be nice. It really all comes down to Isuka, and like someone else already mentioned you can get that on the Ps2.
The thing might turn out to be a gold mine, just...not yet.

I'd really like to try Dolphin Blue, I'm very curious to see how it plays... just... not $600 curious.

And shit, DC's emulated now, and Naomi games run in the DC emu. How long until Atomiswave is too? Of course, emulation hasn't stopped me from wanting a 4 slot MVS board, but NG is a tried and true thing, and I know there's stuff for me to play on it. I guess it's just too early to tell with AW.

Atomiswave has similar specs to Naomi and DC, but does that mean it is programmed the same? Also, I can't see the cart prices going anything but down unless a game becomes rare and saught after.

Holy shit. I just know noticed who you were, James. Welcome to TNL.

Really? I thought the avatar would give it away. I figured after lurking for a good 2-3 months I might as well make an account. And yeah, I actually do remember the Crystal System. But only because I remember you talking about it, lol.

So far the responses seem about 50/50... I'd hate to say I'm wanting the system primarily for one game (and its not even Isuka), but damn I really want to play Demolish Fist. That said, I don't really think anyone here besides Giga and G0zen really understand my intense love for old-school beat 'em ups. I heard you can throw cars in Demolish Fist. Cars. You know, the average gamer would look at a game in which a normal human can effortlessly toss cars at their opponents and scoff because its horridly unrealistic, whereas I crap my pants when I see a company repsect a genre like that. By all means, when I am cleaning the streets of all the unneccessary scum and evil, I should be able to throw cars. And thanks to Sammy and the Atomiswave, I can now do that in full 3D.

All joking aside, I do believe I'm going to hold off for a bit...mainly to see what SNK has up their sleeves. I greatly appriciate the repsonses though.

I saw an Atomiswave system in the Aruba airport. It had Demolish Fist or whatever it's called. I was not that impressed with it.

If you can find it cheap, check out GGX 1.5. That and Sushi Bar are what's actually good at the moment.

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Originally Posted by J2d

I want a better hardware if this is gonna become some sort of standard.

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Well, there's pretty much no limits on DC based hardware for 2D sprites. As for 3D, there's still some decent things it can do. If Naomi did SNS2, Ikaruga, and Border Down graphics then there's still life left in it.

However, I do find the Taito Type-X a rather interesting concept. If G.Rev goes with this one, then some of us are probably going to be jawfloored. Since the hardware is PC based- PC ports of games from it will be a relative snap, and we may well see a good number of the games come westward (hopefully sans territorial lockouts on those that don't). Takumi should consider this system if they do Giga Wing 3.

I could stand watching Ikaruga quality graphics for a long time (not a fan of either BD or shiki) but one notch higher in the graphics department would be nice. I'm not an expert, could naomi or atomiswawe put out GG with SF3 animations?