Nolan Baker says he was inspired to build an arcade cabinet by noticing that in 1982’s “Tron,” Jeff Bridges’ character Kevin Flynn made all of the games in Flynn’s Arcade. Being a veteran of Moonbot Studios and Twin Engine Labs, Baker has plenty of experience in the worlds of startups and of interactive game development. “I found myself working on Steven Universe fan games and dinky platformers whenever I had a few hours to spare,” says Baker.
After building his first MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) cabinet, a modified computer system replicating arcade and console gaming systems, he realized that he was onto something. “I knew how to build the cabinets. I knew how to build the games. I was raised in the furniture business, so it didn’t seem like much of a stretch to think I could build a business building and selling cabinets the same way,” said Nolan. He recruited Cole Loggins, high school Quiz Bowl partner and Shreveport Yacht Club manager, to help formulate a business plan and create Shreveport Arcade, which launched its online campaign just after the New Year.
From the technical side, the cabinets are being outfitted to run the Ubuntu Linux build and are given enough power to run games developed on Unity or Unreal platforms. Controls are adapted based on the needs of the game developer, from standard joysticks and buttons to more complicated controls such as light guns or vehicle simulation controls. This seems to give developers plenty of flexibility by having a custom-made cabinet to test out their game designs, flash game patches, or load in new levels.
Though it’s far too preliminary to announce what game titles and developers are involved, what Nolan can say is what genres there will be.
“We have a first-person shooter, a few racing games, a snake-style game, two platformers, a music game, a Space Invaders style game, a Joust style game, a top-down shooter, a robotic combat game, a falling blocks game, and a basketball game. Half of these games are being built in-house.”
On the business side, Shreveport Arcade is an opportunity to foster the creative talent of Louisiana by limiting the developers that they work with, and destinations for the machines that they install, to within the state. It’s a conscious decision to keep dollars in the state and to become an outlet for the Louisiana game developer community. Developers in Baton Rouge and New Orleans are already on board, and in the future it might not be uncommon to see Shreveport Arcade cabinets among the machines at barcades and pizza parlors throughout the state.
Another way that Shreveport Arcade is helping indie game developers is by keeping things simple on how to split profits. “Our standard publishing agreement is a 50/50 split. Developers will get half of the coins in the door, half of the profit from cabinet sales, half of the profit from conversion kits, half of the profit from merchandising, etc.,” says Baker. While the Shreveport Arcade’s main purpose is for custom cabinet building and game development, a bar will be on hand to quench the thirst of patrons dropping quarters in the latest game release. The downtown headquarters hopes to debut in the fall of this year, and will also be a site for overnight game jams, game design competitions that last 24 or even 72 hours.
Be sure to keep up with their progress by following them on Facebook, Twitter (@318Arcade), and their website, shreveportarcade.com.