Arcade Station (English Version) Episode 7

Episode 07: Going to Another City for Location Test!! -Night of Fire-

MOVEMENT RHYTHM COMMUNITY (93)

Amy Kavanagh

Guys!! (12:35 PM)

There’s someone who likely wants our stuffs! (12:35 PM)

Hans Taggart

What? (12:36 PM)

Amy Kavanagh

Seriously! (12:36 PM)

Toshi, Norcross, and I was sitting in front of Maimai cabinet (12:36 PM)

Then someone, an androgyny guy sitting on the bench looking at Maimai (12:36 PM)

It’s obvious he wants to steal our stuffs (12:37 PM)

Our stuffs that we all put in front of Maimai (12:37 PM)

***

In the TDot in the TDot-Oh!

Windows down let the whole block know!

Been around the globe ain't no place like home!

TDot-Oh! C'mon now let's go!

In the TDot in the TDot-Oh!

Windows down let the whole block know!

Been around the globe ain't no place like home!

TDot-Oh! C'mon now let's go!

At 10:15 AM, everyone in Ed’s car, except Don and Dave, rapped the verse from In the Tdot that was originally sung by Aspektz. In the Tdot was also playable on DJMAX Technika 3.

Hans looked at in front of them that they were stuck on a traffic jam just close to the location test’s location. He used Waze app on his iPad as the others were still rapping on the song heard from the stereo.

“We’re so close, man. If this traffic jam ain’t happened, we would have arrived in no time,” Hans commented.

Dave asked as they heard several car honks. “Is this why the traffic jam happened here?”

“It’s rarely to have traffic jam in here at all,” Hans replied.

“What took it so long?! We’ve been here for like an hour!” said Ian.

Don corrected, “We’re entered the traffic jam at 9:50.”

“How about we change the music,” Ian suggested.

“Okay, Ian, I need to take a look at your playlist on your phone. Maybe there’s something can calm us down,” said Ward.

Ian lend his phone to Ward. “Pick a song that you like.”

Ward looked at Ian’s playlist. “Bad Apple!!, nope, Zucchini wa Ambarukmo, heard it a lot.”

“It’s Tsuki ni,” Ian corrected.

“C’mon, Ian! We made the misheard lyrics together!” shouted Ed.

“Are Touhou songs most of your phone’s songs?” Ward asked again before finally looked at the song title that got him interested. “Night of Fire?”

“It’s totally, I never deleted that song ever from my phone,” Ian added again.

“Is this from Initial D?” asked Ward. “Also available on Maimai and Dance Evolution, right?”

“So?” asked Don.

Ward tapped his thumb on the play button on Ian’s phone to play the song. Quickly, the Eurobeat song started playing from the stereo’s speakers on the car.

“We better sing it again together to amuse ourselves while waiting for the traffic jam, just before we enter the parking lot,” Hans suggested.

“Hey! New comment on Wattpad!” shouted Dave looking on his phone screen. “Whoa! She voted for my story! Whoa, why are you playing Night of Fire?”

“NIGHT OF FIRE!! NIGHT OF FIRE!!” shouted everyone except Dave.

“Next time, after we’re leaving this city, let’s make a flashmob again, using this song!” suggested Ian.

Everyone finally sang the song out loud, except for Dave who was distracted by the notifications on his Wattpad account, while waiting to arrive for their destination.

Welcome to the broken low

Welcome to the famous disco live

Come on lady come and go

Come on lady get me once and right

Not a danger, not a blacky stranger

Rock it - rock it - knock to my door I'll open

Speak my name now, speak if it you know how

Fly to me, get ready for the

Night of fire, you've better better stay

You've better better begin the prayer to play

Night of fire, come over over me

Come over over the top you've never been here

Their singing got interrupted when they heard a crash out loud in front of them, yeah, not right in front of them, much to their surprise and shock.

The man who stood right on the outside also yelled, “Hey! Someone drifted!! It’s a car crash!”

“Oh man, what just happened?” asked Ward frightened.

“Don’t tell me…,” said Don.

“Someone just pulled a drift stunt in the middle of traffic jam,” Hans answered in shock.

“Yup… drift stunt in the middle of the traffic jam causing a car crash,” Ed added.

“Guys, why everybody got out from their cars?” Ward pointed on every single driver coming out from their car.

“Yet… they’re totally mad at the culprit,” Don added.

“Is that really necessary?”

“The driver caused a car crash for drifting in the middle of the traffic jam, remember?”

“Guys, whatever happened, we’re not getting out from the car, agree?” Hans said. After a few seconds, he immediately changed his mind by opening the car door and walked away. “Maybe not! We’re walking on foot instead!”

“To the location!” shouted Ian also opening the door before walking following Hans.

“Hey! Wait!” shouted Ward exiting the car along with Dave and Don.

Ed shouted before Don closing the door, “Hey, Ian, you forgot your phone!” He immediately looked at the phone screen that Night of Fire was still playing on the phone, so he sang instead.

Night of fire, you've better better stay

You've better better begin the prayer to play

Night of fire, come over over me

Come over over the top you've never been here

Night of fire, you've better better stay

You've better better begin the prayer to play

Night of fire, come over over me

Come over over the top you'll have a night of fire

***

I have a pen,

I have pineapple.

Ugh

Pineapple pen!

Apple pen!

Pineapple pen!

Ugh!

Pen Pineapple Apple Pen!

Pen Pineapple Apple Pen!

FULL COMBO!

“Yes!” shouted Toshi after dancing to Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen as he played Danz Base. “Full combo on master!”

“Toshi, you came early,” Norcross greeted.

Toshi turned around to reply Norcross’ greet. “Hey, Norcross, coming early?”

“It’s Spring Break, remember?”

“Okay,” said Toshi after finishing three stages on Danz Base. “You’re not going?”

“Bought too much credits here, just before the location test announcement. Wanna play Groove Coaster?”

“No way! I thought you’re only playing Maimai.”

“And Maximum Tune 5 and Time Crisis 5. At least, recently I played Time Crisis 5 a lot thanks to my lots of lots credits I bought. By the way, I’m still newbie on Groove Coaster.”

“I’m still newbie too.” Toshi took his bag in front of Danz Base cabinet.

“Maybe after spring break, I’m going to play Groove Coaster a lot. I played it again recently.”

“Hi, guys!” Amy greeted them as she arrived. “Not going to the city next door?”

“Not interested,” Toshi answered. “Sound Voltex… is too hard, truly hard. I’d seen the gameplay right after you’re all addicted to Brain Power.”

“No, no, I’m not!” Amy denied. “Can you please stop talking about that song? It’s already removed from the game!”

“Not on YouTube!” Norcross showed his phone screen. “The song is also available on Spotify! Wanna hear it?”

“No! I wanna just play Maimai instead.”

***

“What the hell? It’s seriously huge!” Ward reacted upon arriving at Arcade Station in the town next door.

“Whoa….” Hans pointed on the line ahead of both Sound Voltex and Museca cabinets. “We got a long line.”

“Not only one, but two, each Sound Voltex and Museca.” Don pointed.

“Alright, first, we need to buy some credits, then we buy eAmuse card (ID card for playing games by Konami),” Ian added.

“I already bought eAmuse in Japan actually,” Hans replied.

Dave added, “I bought it from a friend.”

“No way!” shouted Ward.

“Hello there!” a long haired female employee who wore green shirt uniform greeted them.

“Whoa!” Dave got surprised.

“You’re here to try Sound Voltex and Museca too?”

Hans replied, “Yes! That’s why we’re coming from the town next door just to try these games.”

Ian added, “After all, we’re going to help hyping these games.”

“Good. If you want to play, please sign your name on the paper near each cabinet,” the female employee guided. “Then, when it’s your turn, cross your name. After you finished playing, sign your name again and wait for your turn in case if you want to play it again. If you want to purchase a eAmuse card, you can talk to the cashier.”

“Alright! Let’s move!” Ward immediately signed his name on the paper near Sound Voltex cabinet.

“Ward, don’t we need to buy some…,” Dave said.

“Sign your name first so we can get a kickstart. Then we buy some credits and eAmuse.” Ward took look the names on the paper. “There are six players waiting before us. We can take a walk around while waiting.”

Don looked around the inside of Arcade Station. “Man, I think it’s larger than in our town.”

“And lots of games. Including Neon FM, and these ones, Sound Voltex and Museca,” Ian added as Hans and Dave wrote their names on the paper near Sound Voltex cabinet.

“There’s only one cabinet each.” Hans looked at Sound Voltex and Museca cabinets which was located near the entrance, as well as Dance Evolution Arcade, Danz Base, Groove Coaster, Neon FM, and Aikatsu!. “The line will be long as soon as more people coming here.”

The boys finally went to the cashier near several Aikatsu cabinets, where they bought the credits needed. Ward, Don, and Ian also bought eAmuse card from the cashier by paying an additional cost.

They took a walk around the game center to see what Arcade Station in that city had to offer. Ward was shocked when they entered the center side near Maimai Murasaki and Pump It Up Prime 2, lots of fighting, shooting, and racing games, most of them were not available in their town. Like near the entrance, that side was also crowded with the gamers who played seriously.

“Man, I can’t believe it!” shouted Dave.

“It’s twice, not, quadruple larger than Arcade Station in our town,” Hans added.

“No way! They have Guilty Gear?! Near the BlazBlue cabinets? And they have Gunslinger Stratos 3 too?!” shouted Ward.

“Lots of titles around here. Time Crisis 5, Tekken 7, Street Fighter IV, BlazBlue, Maximum Tune 5DX.” Hans looked around several fighting, shooting, and racing games.

“Guilty Gear, Gunslinger Stratos, Border Break, Initial D, and even Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax! This is heaven!” said Ian.

“I’m gonna try Guilty Gear!” Ward swiped his game card on Guilty Gear cabinet.

“Neon FM, here I come!” Ian walked away.

“I guess I’m gonna try Taiko no Tatsujin.” Don also pointed on Taiko no Tatsujin cabinet which was located next to Pump It Up cabinet before swiping the game card on it.

Dave asked Hans, “So, shall we wait for our turn on Sound Voltex?”

“Gonna try Museca too. The line on that game is not too long. Let’s go.”

Dave and Hans immediately walked back to the entrance, where Sound Voltex and Museca cabinets located. They wrote down their names on the paper near Museca cabinet and waited for their turn.

Once the names before them got crossed in less than an hour later, Dave was the first to play Museca. He immediately tapped his eAmuse card to start playing. He was shocked that the login notification was written in Japanese instead of English.

“Hans, what is this?” asked Dave.

Hans guided Dave how to register his eAmuse card on Museca cabinet. He then asked Dave to decide his PIN. Dave eventually typed his PIN twice to login. Once login got successful, he was asked to name his game ID. He was offered two modes, Light Start, which required one credit, and Standard Start, which required two credits. He decided to choose Light Start mode.

Welcome to Museca 1 +1/2!

First, Dave played the tutorial to know how to play Museca. The Museca cabinet had a foot pedal and five spinners, which can be pressed, held, or rotated, depending on the note type. Like Sound Voltex, notes appear from the background in the center of the screen and travel towards the judgement line. Notes were also color-coded depending on the input device they were associated with, blue for the top three spinners, yellow for the bottom two spinners, and white/red for the foot pedal.

There were six note types in Museca there were Hit Object (a normal, diamond-shaped note that can be hit by pressing the spinner), Charge Object (a long note that requires the spinner to be held down), Spin Object (a cone-like note that requires the spinner to be rotated. The spinner can be rotated in either direction), Storm Object (similar to Spin Objects, but they must be rotated with more force), Kick Object (a large, wide note that requires the foot pedal to be pressed and held), and Directional Spin Object (A Spin Object that requires the spinner to be rotated in a specific direction. The direction in which the spinner must be rotated is indicated by an arrow above the note).

After finishing the tutorial, Dave needed to choose the song for the first stage. The song list of the game was mostly comprised of original songs, BEMANI crossovers, Vocaloid songs from Exit Tunes and Dwango, and Touhou Project songs.

Dave asked, “So the song list is similar to Sound Voltex?”

“Yes, but Sound Voltex has more after all. Which song do you want to play?”

“I don’t know. I’ll see.”

Dave looked for the song that he knew, mostly from Vocaloid and Touhou songs. After spending too much time before the time countdown got up, he ended up playing Bad Apple!! with GREEN (the easiest difficulty on Museca) difficulty.

“Oh man, this is seriously like Neon FM!” Dave started pressing the corresponding spinners once the song began. “Oh damn, I missed one.”

Ward finally tapped his eAmuse card on Sound Voltex cabinet. He finally registered his eAmuse card by deciding his PIN for later login and his game ID name. Afterward, he was offered with four modes, Light Start (required 4 credits), Standard Start (required 5 credits), Generator Light Start (required 13 credits), and Generator Start (required 15 credits). He decided to choose Light Start since he was a beginner.

After deciding the game mode and inserting his credits to the game, first, he played the tutorial to know more how to play the game. Then he was asked to choose a song for the first stage. He got confused on which song he should play on Sound Voltex for the first time. The song list on Sound Voltex consists of original songs, BEMANI crossovers and remixes, Vocaloid songs, Touhou Project songs, and some songs from BMS.

After running out of time, he ended up playing Grip and Break Down!! -SDVX Edit- with NOVICE difficulty. Once he started playing, he immediately enjoyed the gameplay as if he was a real DJ.

“Woo!” shouted Ward.

“Whoa! Ward’s playing already!” shouted Ian to Don upon arriving.

“Guys! Finally! Tired from the traffic jam and… finding the parking.” Ed got exhausted upon arrival.

***

FULL COMBO! RANK SSS CLEAR!

“YEAAAAH!!” yelled Norcross upon finishing playing Maimai Murasaki with Starlight Vision MASTER difficulty for the third stage.

“What?” Toshi who was talking to Amy got distracted.

“Oh my… gosh!” shouted Amy looking at the screen.

For the third stage, Norcross only received 100.02% achievement for the third stage playing Starlight Vision MASTER difficulty, he didn’t get any GOOD or MISS, but only one GREAT, the rest of them were PERFECT.

“YEAAAH!! Look!! Look!!” shouted Norcross.

“Salt….” Toshi showed his pouring salt gesture.

“Almost ALL PERFECT!” shouted Amy approached Norcross who finally ended the game.

GAME OVER.

“Maybe next time…,” Norcross said.

Toshi also walked looking at Maimai cabinet screen which showed the gameplay demonstration. “You guys want to buy some lunch in the food court?”

Amy turned back and got shocked upon seeing someone who sat down on the bench facing Maimai cabinet. She realized that the person who sat down didn’t look at the game, but their stuffs their put next to the Maimai cabinet instead.

Amy quickly whispered to Toshi and Norcross, “Guys, I think that guy is not waiting for his turn!”

“He’s not playing after all. He’s just waiting…,” Toshi argued.

“Oh no!” Norcross realized what the guy stared on. “Guys, we need to get the hell away from that guy. You’re right, Amy!” He immediately took his bag.

Amy also took her stuffs next to Maimai cabinet before taking her phone from her bag to text everyone in the chat group. Toshi also picked his backpack in panic worrying the person would take it away from him.

Norcross stared at the guy who wore long sleeve shirt, sunglasses, long pants, and ponytail, everything he wore was black. He reminded Amy and Toshi, “Okay, once the guy got gone, we’re coming back here.”

Toshi agreed, “Let’s just try. We’re going to the food court.”

Amy, Norcross, and Toshi quickly and carefully walked away from Arcade Station, in an attempt to get away from the guy. Once they entered the food court, Amy quickly looked back. The same guy was following them from behind.

“Guys, I think we need a backup plan,” Amy concluded.

Toshi also looked at the guy behind them. “Oh no! He’s still following us for real!”

“Guys, I have a plan!” Norcross devised.

***

“It’s getting long!” said Hans. “The players demanding playing Sound Voltex are high. Arcade Station in here is awesome for heavily promoting the location test.”

Don looked at the paper consisting of the names that hadn’t been crossed, meaning they were waiting for their turn. “It’s about eleven players waiting after we have done playing Sound Voltex.”

“Speaking about the crowd, Museca is not too crowded,” Ian said.

“Just play Groove Coaster or Maimai instead, or play something else,” suggested Ed.

“Why the hell why’re here just to play Maimai and Groove Coaster if both games are available in our city?” Ian asked.

“At least we got Guilty Gear!” Ward exclaimed.

“And Taiko no Tatsujin,” added Don.

“Just right here,” Dave ended the sentence.

Hans looked at the clock on the phone screen. “Guys, I know some restaurants that you would like to visit, after all, it’s not opened in our city. Wanna have some lunch?”

Ward looked at his phone screen, “No way! My dad gave me some money! I mean, he gave way little much money than I got for my monthly allowance from my mom.”

“Your dad knew you’re in here?” asked Dave.

Ed suggested, “You can spend a lot of money for buying more credits.”

Ward replied as he continued to read the text, “My dad said, don’t buy anything but food and clothes.”

“Oh crap.” Hans read the community’s chat log on LINE. “Guys, there’s a thief who chase Amy, Toshi, and Norcross’ stuffs in Arcade Station.”

“For God’s sake! What in the hell?” asked Ian.

Dave also looked on the chat log on his phone. “What the? Thief?”

Ed asked, “Should they just call security or something?”

Don replied, “No. It’s no use. There’s no evidence at all. Arcade Station doesn’t have any security cameras.”

Dave asked again, “Whoa, whoa, whoa, are you really serious that every single Arcade Station doesn’t have security cameras installed?”

“I didn’t see any cameras in Arcade Station’s ceiling, so it’s vulnerable,” Ian replied.

“Damn, I hope they’re okay,” Ward hoped.