For Ashley, everything is a game. Tossing trash bags in the dumpster is a game. Ripping gross gum off the seats is a game. So is “defeating” the clogged toilet. Also there are the actual arcade games. Oh, and her PDA has an infinite runner called Llama on it. Say what you will about arcade machines but it’s the PDA that really takes me back. Catch a bit of it all down here in the new Arcade Paradise trailer. The whole thing starts off with Ashley’s dad Gerald who’s off in the Riviera (and yea, voiced by your guy Doug Cockle), leaving a voiemail lecture about the virtues of hard work. Naturally he’s expecting her to make money by doing laundry, plunging toilets, and taking out the trash. She gets an IM tip on the staff computer though that the arcade cabinets also make cash. More than a little cash. That’s when Ashley starts thinking it’s time to flip the biz. Keeping the reputation of the laundry up to scratch by doing chores is part of what you’ll need to do with your limited time each day. In between wash cycles though, you can sneak back to play a few rounds on the machines yourself. They’re some good old reskinned classics, like the one that’s Pac Man except you’re on a high speed vehicle chase around the city avoiding cop cars. There are a total of 35 to buy and try, developers Nosebleed Interactive say, “inspired by 3 decades of gaming, from early vector games right up to the 32-bit era.” You can also play some of those games, like a Streets Of Rage-alike, in split screen co-op or through Steam’s Remote Play Together. I may be absolute trash at most arcade games, but I sure do feel the appeal of renovating the laundro with snazzy lights and new carpet and all tha machines I like. I didn’t get that far in the demo, but you can see some of the eventual arcade glory in the new trailer up there. I just spotted a machine that looks like DDR in there too. That also really takes me back. Arcade Paradise is now planning to launch in spring 2022 over on Steam. You can hop into the demo from now until next Friday, October 15.
