had a really great time playing tonight, twas fun to meet some good players. The player one side is still in bad shape. The up arrow sticks, and the left and down arrows were having trouble as well but if you stomp you can get some good scores. Right side was pretty good.

You should organize players in the area to purchase it and place it in someone's garage.

I went there over the weekend. The expansion didn't make the place nearly as big as I thought it would, but it does have a cool Tron-like look to it now.

Sadly the DDR machine is now in the corner and the pads are flush against the wall...meaning the right pad isn't even fully-in-front of the machine.  The pads themselves were in atrocious condition, both the up and left arrows on the left pad were sticking and dropping as well.  The machine still takes around 20-25 seconds to load a single song. =(


It's really a *horrible* layout, here's a craptacular picture that illustrates the basic layout there, the yellow boxes are all other random arcade games that are right next to the DDR machine. (which means people playing said games are standing inches (not feet) away from the pad when you're trying to play.



I like Ground Kontrol, but I hope they get rid of the Extreme machine and sell it to someone who will take care of it and put it in a decent location.

Last time I was there, which is was unfortunately over a year, I really appreciated their DoubleDragon & MortalKombat2 cabs--two of my favorite classic arcade games.

I was in Oregon over the weekend and popped in here for the first time.

MAN, the place is small! I was expecting something 2x as spacious, but the machines were packed really close to each other that you almost couldn't play if the person next to you was playing too.

Restrooms were really dark, which was kinda weird. I didn't end of playing DDR, but played a lot of older games and sucked at some pinball.

So I was here recently, and I just want to update that the pads are in utterly abysmal condition. Like, unplayable. That is all.

That said the renovations are great, the bathrooms are super usable and have doors on the shitter now. Plus there's tons of fighting games which I now love, and I swear up my butt I'll go and play 3rd Strike again at some point.

Upcoming Tron & Discs of Tron tournament at GK? UH OH BBH

Yeah, looks like that's true. Ran into code issues while remodeling.
http://groundkontrol.com/wordpress/?p=2260

I believe they have moved out of their old location, and are remodeling.  However, I hear they are still operating in a different spot until the remodel is done?  This is unconfirmed, just something I heard last week.

Does anyone from Oregon still visit this arcade?

Pfft bad eyesight.  You're not the one who has to wear corrective lens all the time.

I ended up going again two weekends ago and I was having problems with the left arrow on 2P if any.  I'm going to GK for Rock Band tonight but wasn't gonna bother at all with DDR this time.

Played on the new cabinet at free play night. I didn't test all the arrows on 1P side but yeah it doesn't seem good at all. I should have tried to test to figure out which parts of which arrows were problematic but I didn't. 

As for 2P side, the Up arrow definitely has a weak sensor on the south part of the arrow (closest to the pad center). Had quite a few misses and even a dropped freeze or two because of it.

And yes, I would love for the machine to be back where it originally was. Even with my relatively bad eyesight, I don't like having the monitor right in my face at all.

An update on the new Extreme cab.  I played some sets last night at GK, gave my feedback to Anthony, and even had him watch me on a song or two.

-1P is pretty bad.  The down arrow usually misses unless you stomp on it, and the up arrow was also iffy.  I had it drop a few freeze arrows on me from me barely shifting my weight on my foot.  Anthony has been made aware and is going to look into it. He said that all the sensors were responding in test mode.
-2P is good.  One arrow gave me concern but I didn't note which one it is and am so out of practice that I was unsure if it was the arrow or me.  I played a majority of my games on 2P and it worked well for me.
-I didn't see any credit lag issues all night. I think that was an isolated incident.
-I did see the delay in loading the songs.  It was pretty random and would take 10-20s for the song to load up. All the songs performed fine, it just took a little longer for them to start up.
-Volume is just slightly higher than the old machine, and that might be due to all the working speakers.  I could barely hear the songs over Rock Band, but on the old machine I would've heard nothing at all.  The volume will be fine if you play when there isn't Rock Band or a DJ, but Anthony still seemed interested in turning up the sound some.
-Also pointed out to Anthony was how the pads are right up against the screen.  He seemed willing to move the machine back to its old location and put Area 51 & HotD where DDR is now.  I hope it does get moved because I definitely played it more when the pads were at least a foot from the screen than I do now.
-Lastly the casters on the pad are still removed and the pads are sitting directly on the floor.  I used to think this'd be an issue with shock absorption, but after last nights games I don't really think there's a difference at all anymore.


I'm keeping my rating for GK's DDR the same until the pads are moved away from the screen and 1P's Up & Down arrows are fixed.  Things are looking promising though

That's actually a really good analysis.  My only disagreement is that if the DDR's still as it was last time I was there, it's only 2/5 if you're there specifically for it.  Not even Avalon or Tilt let their pads get that bad, and it's not a super exciting mix either (although I'd rate Extreme 4/5 for mix quality despite its age).

I'd say if yer going to Ground Kontrol for DDR exclusively, yer gonna be disappointed.  The machine has always been a bit odd (background animations don't work right) and if you go on a Rock Band Tuesday or when they have a DJ, their sound system tends to drown out DDR.

The pad quality is always hit or miss.  DDR is playable, but you're gonna get pad misses.  They've removed all the casters on the pads so it's sitting right on the ground.  Also ever since they moved the cab, they've put the pads right up against the screen.. ugh


I give it a 3/5 based on going there for DDR.  I'd rate it 4/5 if you're going their to play some serious games (due to their maintenance problem where they keep stuff in working order, but neglect less popular machines so that it only effect hardcore/knowledgable players), or 5/5 if you're casual and just looking for a place that's a nice classic arcade with a bar and don't care how well you do on the games you play.

I don't know if people go here for DDR, but I come here just because there's beer and burgertime... and it's just such a convenient location. I hear the DDR machine's not so good anymore as far as sensors go. But aside from that, it's an awesome place! Especially if you're 21+... which it becomes exclusive to after 5.

Wow, does nobody visit here anymore? I recently checked out their website and this place looks really awesome. Live music and lots of cool games.

Any updates?  This place could use some ratings too.

I was gonna just keep lurking until I got my car situated, but that is an announcement worth posting about.

 :shock: TROOPERS

moar lyk y dont u ply DDR on a dualshock 2 amirite?

Emulators can only emulate.  Being able to get high scores on an actual Joust Cabinet that stay there until someone comes along and beats them is a thousand times more gratifying than getting high scores one Mame using a keyboard.

retard
WHY DONT U PLAY DDR AT HOME INSTEAD OF AT DA ARCADEZ?
nice logic

Congratulations, you've missed the point of Ground Kontrol in general!

Yes, I have played it on MAME. A lot. But I also like to play the games where they were meant to be played, in an arcade. Where I can leave behind high scores that nobody will ever beat. The better question is if I like it so much, why should I only be satisfied with playing on emulators?

Shock Troopers is one of my favorite games of all time, and GK just randomly getting it out of nowhere earns them mucho cool points in my book.

If you like shock troopers so much why not just play it in Mame?

***** FOX NEWS ALERT *****


Ground Kontrol now has a Neo-Geo 4-slot with King of Fighters '98, Neo Bomberman, Blazing Star, and.... Shock Troopers.

SHOCK TROOPERS.


MOTHERFUCKING SHOCK TROOPERS.



Ground Kontrol is officially the best arcade in the PNW now.

(too bad the sound's not working right now on the cabinet, but eh)

Got 97,9xxxxx on Pop4 Normal, double digit perfects.

Retried it lated but got a worse score and PA.

Oh, and 147750 on Joust.

Not posting in the accomplishments threads 'cause I don't wanna.

1-4 today at GK. AWH will be in attendance which means anyone who reads this post is obligated to attend.