WTF?  I take it this can all be loaded through the USB port?  I only assume as we do not have a tech scheduled to swing by for a door unlock.

We have an ITG3 marquee at the shop.  I wonder if we should use it?

WHY AM I IN COLORADO RIGHT NOW?!?!?!?!?!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!


oh well.
You can expect me to be there the minute I get back to Seattle in July

This makes me uber happy kevin! I've been wondering when that machine was going to be converted to "ITG3"

So Bill, everything was done today and it worked out really well! I'd put the ITG3 marquee up now if you want to. I think it might drum up a little interest. Currently, we have just added the songs from ITG3 and a community made pack of songs called ITG Rebirth. The ITG3 theme and graphics haven't been added yet, but I plan to do so next weekend. As you said, everything can indeed be done with a USB drive and a keyboard without the operator key. The only thing that you might need to keep in mind is that if we add enough songs, the game will start to lag unless you add more RAM to the hardware. We're nowhere near this amount yet, but I'll let you know if that's in danger of happening. I won't add songs that will make the cabinet lag. Instead, I'll just state in the Acme Bowl Custom Song Request thread that requests are closed until the machine has RAM added.

Speaking of this new thread, I'd hereby like to announce the opening of the Acme Bowl Custom Song Request Thread. It works like this:

1. Post in the thread a link to the song that you want added to the machine. Make sure the audio is in the correct format, the SM file works with R21 syncing, and that you have a banner/background file if you don't want a generic one.
2. I'll play the song on my custom ITG build, and tell you if it's appropriate to add to the Acme machine.
3. Barring any weird stuff going on in my life, I'll add the song to the Acme ITG cabinet next time I do a hack-job. This should occur every two weeks, starting today.
4. If you have a song that you want added but don't have the file yourself (or it's a really common file), just post the song name and author and I'll look for it. I have all the DDR song packs converted for hacking, so that should be possible to add immediately.

Other planned hacks currently:
ITG3 Theme
ITG Gold Theme
Theme Switcher (enter a pad code on the main menu, and a menu will pop up letting you switch the theme before your game)
Long Version Hack (Bill, this is highly relevant to you. People can no longer abuse the custom song feature in the game to play 20 minute long songs. If they do so, they will count as 3 songs much like the long versions in GuitarFreaks and Drummania.)
Song Wheel Speed Hack (speed up the song wheel to make scrolling less painful)
Custom Speed Mods
Custom Rate Mods
Custom Marathons (some are theoretically on the machine, but I didn't check to see if they work or not).

Most of this stuff should happen NEXT WEEKEND if I'm lucky.

i heard the itg screen is all crispy again

The new packs are interesting, but I must say the double charts are worse than MJ's in a lot of cases.  If anyone actually has good double charts or knows how to write them, there's definitely a need at the moment.

Expert double charts to be more specific... the hard ones seemed to be ok; but most simfile makers can't write any doubles worth anything.

The machine should add interest for anyone who didn't like the previous song list, step charts, or just wants some new variety; but it definitely needs to have a new marquee/interface to signal to people that there was a change that happened and it's not just the old machine anymore.

Any yes, the screen is crispy again. Amber was very ecstatic about this.

PS: Some community fliers were also placed on the machines again since the old ones were gone.

I see smoke rising.................is it Kevin?  Nope, the smoke is coming from the DM cabinet in the shop.  Board being sent out again.  That is the sad update on DM.

ITG, we will toss a new marquee in there soon so people will know something is going on.

That is true, the hard charts didn't look so bad, but the Expert 9's were almost nothing but 1U/2D jumps and non-stop high-speed crossovers (get from 1L to 2R in 4 steps and go back in 3 before landing a centered jump and then jumping from corner to corner [for example 1DL -> 2UR] a few times).  I walked off near the end of the only 10 I played because my shoulder couldn't handle the strain of flinging my body from side to side.

It made us want to kiss it red. 

As far as the hack goes, I talked to Jon, and we think it'd be a nice thing to do to put a banner up next to the machine saying something like "If you like the music in this game, most of it is available on itunes!" Since artists don't get royalties from hacks, but almost all of the licenses are on itunes (I checked), I think this would be a nice way to make everything all "legit."

Otherwise, the new stuff is awesome!

I don't know why the screen is suddenly nice again; maybe changing resolutions by loading Linux did something...but again I doubt that.

Kevin, what version of ITG3 are you using? I've been waiting for the community to get the "final" release done, but so far I haven't found it. If you have a practically finished version, I'd like to get it from ya.

I'm not sure...let me check into that.

Bill, is it possible to run a Tetris the Grandmaster tournament at some point inbetween July 11th and July 19th? I am ready to do it, and there is some considerable interest...

Kevin,

I do not see why not.  Sadly, any day but Saturday is the new requirement.  Shoot me a date to run by the Acme staff. 

Friday the 17th, preferably in the early evening.  Thanks for the really prompt response! Sounds like a good thing...can you get Acme to advertise it? The preferred name would be Seattle Tetris: The Grandmaster. I should imagine it won't take more than 3 hours at most.

somethings wrong with the supernova screen and the 2p side select button is unresponsive sometimes

well i was there yesterday and the screen looked fucked up. haha and that bald kinda big guy is me. im travis. and the guy that comes with me is tuan aka rhaphsody on here. damnit im tired of being refered to as "big" i really need to go back to my weight from last year. im around 230 right now and early last year i was about 190

Kevin,
Friday July 17th looks like a go.  Consider it done unless I hear otherwise over the next couple days.

I guess Technika is now shipping.  Bill, any idea if Acme has plans to get it?

We have sniffed it out a bit.  Still unsure if it's a safe investment considering the niche nature of it.  I keep waking up in the middle of the night, screaming and sweating after a nightmare about how poorly we did with that big Beatmania cabinet awhile back. 

too bad that had to go.....it was fun while it lasted eh?

ya i know lol. but im 5'10. some people think im samoan. but thatll all change soon

Bill, whatever you do: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't buy one of the new DDR X dedicated cabinets. They are absolutely horrific. I got a call from a friend who just played on one and said that it was honestly the worst DDR experience he's ever had. If you're gonna upgrade to SN2 or X (good idea! but probably not because i doubt either would ever pay themselves off even), just get the upgrade kits. No problems have been reported with either of those.

Thx for the heads up.  It is no secret within our industry that this stuff is crap.  Not hearing reports of good earnings, but rather crappy earnings. 

Does it make anyone else chuckle to realize that the 8 year old 5th Mix machines in the US are probably more desirable and playable than the latest and greatest DDR Machine on the market?

Not chuckle so much as, I don't know, shed tears for the state of our arcade scene.

Part of me thinks we should all get together and R21 every single DDR song in history, one 50 song flash drive at a time, and just play "DDR every mix ever" on the ITG machine so we don't need to depress ourselves with crappy hardware.