Monday, November 24th @ 10PM

Mark your calendars.

In keeping the Halloween spirit, we could think of no better way to get you guys to come dressed up (although costume-less is totally OK!) than cheap, delicious games.

We’ve extended these TODAY-ONLY specials throughout nearly the entire arcade!

ALL 50 Cent games –> 25 Cents/1 Quarter!!
Melty Blood: Actress Again –> 1 Quarter!
Su~goi! Arcana Heart 2 –> 1 Quarter!
Street Fighter 4 –> 1 Credit = Best of 5 rounds!
Tekken 6 –> 2 Plays per credit!
Initial DV4 –> 1 Credit per play!
Death Smiles –> 2 Plays per credit!

Oh yeah, don’t forget FREE CANDY for you trick-or-treaters tonight! See everyone there

Here at Arcade UFO just one day after its Japanese arcade-only release is the hotly anticipated update to Arcana Heart 2, titled “Su~goi! Arcana Heart 2″.

Sugoi (which translates to “Wonderful” or “Great”) adds two new characters and two new arcana to the all-female cast. The regular cast of characters has also been re-balanced for competitive play.

On the character side we’ve got Akane and Nazuna, both hailing from Konoha’s clan. On the arcana side, we’ve got the Sound arcana and the Flower arcana.

What kind of craziness are we going to see this time around? Stop by and see what the excitement is all about!

Holy moly.  We just finished installing this yesterday, and this is hands-down the creepiest, most fun SHMUP I’ve put my hands on to-date.  Massive amounts of bullets?  Check.  Beautiful 2D sprites?  Check.  Gothic lolita girls with unique magical powers?  Check.

Death Smiles: Mega Black Label is a fresh title straight from Japan that can be appreciated by both hardcore and casual gamers alike, featuring selectable difficulty levels and a “choose-your-stage” formula that allows you to take a different path each time you play.  If zombies, ogres, witches, gothic lolita girls, and/or bullets are of any interest to you whatsoever, you’d best do yourself a favor and get to Arcade UFO post-haste!

1 credit will net you 4 bars of health, which is enough even for a novice to enjoy a lengthy game and become immersed in the world of Death Smiles.

Here’s a preview of the first stage:

It took us a while to get here, and you can’t stay at the top of the mountain forever, but hey . . .

We’re very proud to announce (fingers crossed) 100% game functionality! There’s a lot of maintenance involved in every single machine, but everyone’s help and hard work has made it possible for us to get here.

So yes, you can finally come play Donkey Kong . . . but can you beat our high scores?

The first copy of Melty Blood: Actress Again to hit U.S. shores is at Arcade UFO and is now operational for your enjoyment! We’ll have move lists posted on the machine soon along with an English translation of the new “grooves”. Select Crescent Moon, Half Moon, or Full Moon to give your character different abilities!

Melty Blood: Actress Again homepage (Japanese):

http://www.e56.info/mbaa/index.html

And, of course, a few videos to show you how this game is being played in the Land of the Rising Sun courtesy of Youtube user “geesendou”:

We’ve got a fun weekend lined up for you arcade-lovers at the end of the month:

aUFO Halloween Party!
Date: Friday, Oct. 31
Time: 8pm-Close
To kick off Halloween this year, which amazingly falls on a Friday, we thought there would be no better way to spend a little time and a few quarters than to play some games. Bring your costumes, let us give you some candy, and play special “Halloween” themed arcade titles for the classically low price of 25 cents.

Street Fighter@UFO
Date: Saturday, Nov. 1st
Time: 1:00PM-10:00PM
After recovering from all of that Halloween FUN, we’re going to be back at opening to start prepping for our first tournament. This is what you’ve been waiting for, fellas. Come make history with us at Arcade UFO’s very first tournament.

Location:
Arcade UFO
3101 Speedway
Austin, TX 78701

http://www.arcadeufo.com/map.html

PRINT OUT the above map and directions! Otherwise, you WILL get lost and miss the sign-up deadline if this is your first time to visit.

Games + Schedule:
Sign-up deadline will be 15 minutes before the beginning of each game.
1:00PM: Sign-ups begin for all three games
2:00PM: Super Street Fighter II Turbo (2v2)
3:00PM: Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike (1v1)
6:00PM: Street Fighter IV (1v1)

Format: 3rd Strike and SF4 will be 2 out of 3 matches, double elimination. Rounds will be set to 2/3.

Super Street Fighter II Turbo will be Waseda Style, meaning both players will fight each other only once. A 2-0 victory will mean the team wins the match. A 1-1 performance will be settled by the two team winners facing off. Rounds will be set to 2/3. Format will be double elimination.

Hardware: All games will run on Japanese head-to-head style arcade cabinets. Joysticks will be Sanwa JLF-TP-8Y, buttons will be Sanwa OSBF-30. All equipment will be in 100% working order and tested before the tournament begins.

Entry:
$2 flat venue fee, $10 per game (ST is $5 per player or $10 per team)
Games will be on free play during tournament play.

Prizes: 70/20/10 of combined entry, not including venue fee

Special Street Fighter 4 Prizes: First place will receive a brand new Japanese SF4 MASTER GUIDE as well as one extremely rare SF4 PROMO POSTER only included with the arcade version of the game!

Fans of other fighters and games, don’t fret! We’ve got stuff planned for you too, but we need to space everything out so that we can keep everything running smoothly (and still give you room to walk around the arcade).

Who’s going to take the brand new title of best Street Fighter 4 player in Texas?

After much anticipation and countless hours of work,

Both Arcana Heart 2 and Time Crisis 4 are in operation and ready for your enjoyment!

We thought the default 3 lives on Time Crisis 4 was a little harsh, so we turned it up to 4 lives per credit. With one credit on each side, a couple of us were able to get through the prologue and about 1/4th of the first stage . . . definitely going to need some practice before we can go for a 1-credit clear.

Arcana Heart 2 is set to best of 3 rounds and is in head-to-head mode. We had to borrow a wiring harness from the head-to-head 3rd Strike cabinet to get it going, so we’ll have to rewire that 3rd Strike later in the week but I should be able to knock it out this Thursday or Friday.

We don’t have the move lists pasted on the machine yet, so if it’s your first time, be sure to check out a move list online. Examu has it on their page in PDF format here:

Arcana Heart 2 Special Move list

To help you get in the groove, here are some recent videos from Japan’s best at the famous JOYBOX arcade in Tokyo!

Phew! It’s been a busy first two weeks, and we’ve still got a lot to do . . . but it’s all coming along nicely. We’ve completed installation of the pad ports on Tekken 6, which allow you to use any PS1 or PS2 controller rather than the arcade controls. We understand that a lot of Tekken players learned the game at home, so now’s your chance to play your best: no more excuses!

Another thing on a lot of people’s minds are tournaments. Well, we’ve got some planned, and we’re going to make announcements soon with the full details. Are you wondering who the strongest Street Fighter 4 player in Austin is now? Do you want to see how you’ll fare against ATX’s best in tournament play? Maybe you just want some experience to shake off those tournament jitters . . . either way, we think you’ll have the answers to these questions soon.

P.S. Arcana Heart 2 is now on the way back to us from the land of the rising sun, and we’ll update as soon as it’s back in service!

Due to some transportation difficulties, we’re opening a little late today at 3:00PM.  We apologize to anyone who tried to or was planning on going earlier.  We’re all still adjusting to the new work shifts and Capital Metro changing everything up on us didn’t help!

Thanks for understanding.