Woo-hoo! The Simpsons: Arcade Game Hits PSN Tomorrow

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Woo-hoo! The Simpsons: Arcade Game Hits PSN Tomorrow

Don’t forget: The Simpsons Arcade is free for PlayStation Plus subscribers this month! Read the full details here.

The Simpsons Arcade Game for PS3 (PSN)

Speaking as a lifelong Simpsons fan, I’m just as excited for this game to come out as everyone else — the wait to finally see this game make its way to home consoles seemed endless! We worked closely with Gracie Films and Fox to time the release of the game with the 500th episode of The Simpsons so that fans of the show could experience the classic game during an important milestone for the series.

It’s been a great collaborative effort with Gracie Films to find a balance between preserving the authenticity of the original arcade game and making just enough tweaks to adapt it for PS3. The original game is already great, so we decided we would focus primarily on making it as faithful a port as possible while adding various gameplay modes and bonus content.

The Simpsons Arcade Game for PS3 (PSN)

We also listened to fans’ suggestions from our previous arcade conversions, particularly in respect to including more challenging ways to play these classic arcade games when you remove the quarter-crunching element. To that end, we’ve included several different gameplay modes in The Simpsons Arcade, so there’s a mode (and a leaderboard!) for everybody.

Freeplay is the usual “unlimited continues” mode found in most arcade-to-console ports. It’s best when you just want to sit back and do a full playthrough without having to worry about getting a game over screen. One of the best parts of Freeplay mode in Simpsons Arcade is being able to scour the levels at your leisure to find the many, many inside jokes placed there by the original programmers in 1991.

The Simpsons Arcade Game for PS3 (PSN)

To provide a more challenging experience closer to that of the original coin-op game, we included two different kinds of “Quarters” modes that give the player a set amount of credits up front. One Quarters mode sees players pulling credits from the same pool, while the other gives each player their own stash. Finally, Survival mode is the ultimate test because it gives you just one life to progress through the game. I look forward to seeing how far players can get on only one life!

We really wanted to add a lot of replay value to this title, hence all the different gameplay modes, leaderboards, Trophies, inclusion of both US and Japanese ROMs, and all the unlockable bonus content. There are some pretty cool unlockables in here, including my personal favorite, the sound test from the original game. There are a ton of hilarious sound effects in that lot that are just plain fun to listen to. We also dug up as much Simpsons Arcade memorabilia as we could find and put it all in a “Flashback” section. We’re hoping it really rounds out the overall experience and adds to the fan appreciation for this arcade gem.

I hope you’ll enjoy playing this game as much as I have, and I hope it brings back nostalgic memories of the glorious early ‘90s and all that Simpsons goodness.

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82 Comments

5 Author Replies

  • WHO-HOO!!!

  • SWEET!! Maybe now I can beat the game without wasting tons of quarters.

  • I’m a Plus member for life!

  • EPIC !!!

  • Don’t have a cow

  • “mmmm….donuts”-homer

  • @(#2) Besides the 50€/£/$ :P

  • So, evidently yesterday’s “The Drop” was dead wrong about “HD graphic remastering”. Nearest Neighbor scaling and a faux monitor bezel isn’t exactly “remastering”.

  • Will there be trophies?

  • 10$ for this game…and it will be worth it :3

  • To be honest, I wouldn’t have bought it if it wasn’t being offered for free to PS+ members.

  • Plus FTW

  • I can’t wait to play this.

    Honestly, I’ve been anticipating it for forever now and I’m am so glad that it’s finally coming out. Plus, it being free for Plus members is just icing on the cake. I would have bought it anyway.

    BTW, can there please be Simpsons avatars?

  • I spent a lot of money on this game as a kid back in the early 90s. Looking forward to reliving some of those memories again.

  • Woo-Hoo! Seriously, Where is KILLZONE?!?

  • Looking forward to this game as it’s a classic that as in dire need of getting a home port for the last 20 years. But, the presentation is really lacking here. A black/gray background with two gray lines to signify an arcade cabinet? Such a wasted opportunity to be creative.

  • YES YES YES YES YEEEEESSSSS!!!!

    I have all the seasons available (1-14 and 20), I have bought The Simpsons Hit and Run for Gamecube, PS2, and Xbox (I kept getting new systems at the time of each copy’s purchase), I have Road Rage for Xbox, I have bought a used copy of Virtual Bart for the Sega Genesis, I am a huge The Simpsons fan.

  • I cant really complain on a free game but…

    that has got to be one of the worst renderings of the graphics i have ever seen. Im pretty sure the arcade boxes looked better than that.

  • “Will there be trophies?”

    I think they mean trophies when they say achievements. Someone didn’t catch that one I guess.

  • I was never a very big Simpsons fan growing up, but I was a HUGE fan of playing this in the arcade. It was just so bright and fun to play, the fact I would lose half a roll of quarters and STILL not get to the end of the game didn’t matter.

    Can’t wait for tomorrow, I’ll be getting this day one . . . since it’s free. :D

    @ChaseHammerJ

    It “looked better”, but it was all a trick of how the graphics were laid out on the old screens, that . . . and nostalgia.

    A friend of mine restores arcade machines, and when you really look at the screens, they actually look shockingly bad. Some even have bigger, more obvious “pixels” (for lack of knowing the proper term) than most old-school TVs. But that’s also part of the charm of old games.

    So seeing the original game rendered without the benefit of those big pixels is indeed rather jarring. Nothing can really be done when showing stuff like this on monitors or in HD, beside taking the time and $ to completely remaster it (like they did for some of the Monkey Island games), but by then it’s no longer the original game.

  • Is this online?

    • It sure is SHINSPIKES…4 player co-op, both local and online with drop-in/drop-out support. You can also have a mix of both local and online players in a single session. :)

  • hope it works on vita

  • I have been waiting for this since I was 7 and me and my friend’s played the new Simpsons Arcade machine in our local arcade.

    Really cannot wait for tomorrow!!!!

  • it sucks that this game is free!! what if my ps+ experies/ps+ no longer exists? i cant play it anymore! i wanna buy this game so bad so i can play it forever.

  • D’OH!!!! I mean WOO-WHOO! I can’t wait.. Just another Simpsons classic to add to one of my collection of my favorite t.v. show The Simpsons! Major fan here.. Please! I want Simpsons avatars too! And I don’t care about the graphics..The arcade game is CLASSIC! Come on people! BTW I STILL play my Simpsons games on my Super Nintendo.. Krusty’s Super Fun House and Bart’s Nightmare! Oh so much fun! :D Thanks Playstation for adding this game!

  • Thank you PlayStation Plus =)

  • How much $5?

  • Previous comment was for NonPlayStation Plus Members?

  • So excited for this!! My mom used to take me to the arcade when I was 5 to play this. Super nostalgia powers activate! Form of me not being able to reach the cabinet controls all that well!

    Thanks Sony and PS+!

  • Cadillacs ‘n’ Dinosaurs please :)

  • To 24 (AguilarX)

    Uhh, seriously? Hahah. You can still buy it if you want to, having PS Plus doesn’t mean you can’t purchase the free stuff and never play it again once your PS+ subscription expires. It amazes me some of the complaints you hear on here…..”OMGZ This sucks! I want to pay for this game! I hate free stuff!” Hahah.

  • It looks like there’s no HD-overlays on top of the original sprites, which is okay I guess.. is there at least the ability to choose filters, like hq3x or advmame3x (or none)?

    was the quality of the assets updated? some of the arcade “ports” retain the original 11khz samples, but trigger new 16-bit/44khz samples from original assets with the original 11khz “cut out” at the same time as the original samples.

    if you guys are looking to replace MAME and previous ports, this is the kind of value-add I’m looking for as a fan: resampling/encoding from original assets.

    thanks!

    • Hi plaztiksyke,
      We really wanted to stay true to the original experience as much as possible, so all of the assets used in the game are in their original form. That being said, I know there are some weird things that happen when you try to run older tech on these newer HD devices. To that end, we’ve included two different graphic filters (one sharp looking, and another that smooths things out more) so that players could choose the filter that looks best on their screen.

      I hope you enjoy the game!

  • @Charles

    Was your team responsible for X-Men Arcade as well because I was very satisfied when I found out that it was finally released on Home Consoles. Now that The Simpsons is finally coming to consoles, my Konami Arcade Beat Em Up collection is almost complete. Now we just need Sunset Riders, TMNT: The Arcade Game (For PSN Specifically) and the original Turtles in Time (Sorry, the Ubisoft version, Reshelled doesn’t hold a candle to what the original was)

    • Indeed we are the same team, Lord_Rinja. I’m sure you will see a lot of similarities across the interfaces of the two titles, since they are running on the same engine. :) We’ve also made several improvements and additions to the engine since releasing X-Men, including the new game modes, which was highly requested by fans. A lot of time was spent fine-tuning the emulation code as well to get this thing to run as smooth as possible on the consoles. :)

  • I remember they had a Simpson Game here in my state. In a movie theater. This is the same one. if it is what I think it is. Like the first parts was the front. Then there was itchy scratchy land and you could use homer and Lisa. List climb on his shoulder.

    I pumped $13 worth quarters and beat the entire game. Came 3rd.

    The movie theater is closed now. Long time ago. I can’t believe it. This is the game same on the video game at the movie theater long time ago when I was a kid.

    This is awesome!

  • oh i love this game i remember it all to well! ive been waiting for this, ive been a fan of the simpsons since they came out. i spent so much money on this game when i was a kid.

  • how much will the game cost?

  • Shame it didn’t get the 3-D treatment like Turtles in Time Reshelled. Woulda been a definite pick up, then.

  • This game was good back in the day. But they should have put the extra effort to remaster the game in HD. And for those of you who don’t like that idea, they should of also included the original. Plus it wouldn’t have been that hard to change the aspect ratio and just showed more of the screen. Cabinet feel is dated when I have a 42 inch HD TV (or bigger).

    Turtles In time Reshelled was a good remaster. But I am pretty sure you can’t even buy that one on PSN anymore. I had to hunt for it in my download list.

  • + Hooligantuan on February 6th, 2012 at 3:50 pm said:

    “Shame it didn’t get the 3-D treatment like Turtles in Time Reshelled. Woulda been a definite pick up, then.”

    Wow, I hope this guy is kidding. Reshelled was unbelievably bad, and the new graphics were terrible. If you don’t want to play an old arcade game, then don’t.

  • yeah 4 player co-op
    fun and trophies

  • I agree with Tyfighter, games like this should never be ‘enhanced’ (aka crippled) with 3D makeovers. UBI’s TMNT was just one example.
    2D is 2D for a reason. Leave it be.

  • AHAHA! This game got 3/10 review from Gamespot.

  • Awesome i cant wait!!! Thanks Playstation + your great.

  • Dear Charles,

    Old school beat ’em up fans can’t thank you and your team enough for giving us X-men and Simpsons arcade games.

    The survival and quarters modes are great additions, and we hope you’ll implement them for every future games.

    Also, there are two other classic 4 players beat ‘em up games that I’ve been dying to see them released on PSN someday and they are

    “Spider-man: the Videogame” by SEGA and “Captain America and the Avengers” by Data East, both released in 91.

    We hope you guys will have the chance to work on them later in the future!

    • Really appreciate the kind words, Guyper! We’re super happy to be able to finally release this thing for you guys. I myself am also a huge fan of old school beat ’em ups…especially the classic coin-op’s. This is the stuff I grew up playing, and Simpsons Arcade definitely brings back very fond memories, especially since I’ve been a mega fan of the show for as long as I can remember!!

      Hope you have fun with the game. :)

  • @36

    $9.99

  • I hope Sunset Riders can get the HD treatment and be released on PSN someday.

  • This is classic Konami made arcade style game! I hope the online works well because this games tons of fun with all the characters!

  • i was playing this at my arcades yesterday. the joystick for marge wouldnt allow her to move up though! haha, anyways, ive been waitin to get this game since it was announced, finally this game comes out.

  • @33

    Sweet, Charles. I’ve been sharing this info on Facebook for a few days now and my friends are just as psyched as I am. Like many others, I spent countless hours plugging quarters into Simpsons Arcade back in the 90s. Once I get a PSN card, it will be a definite purchase for me. Keep up the good work and thanks for taking the time out to let us relive these classics.

    PS: You need to get together with Sega and do HD rereleases of the Dungeon and Dragons arcade games as well as Super GT. The D&D games only made it to the Japanese Saturn (And is super rare) and Super GT (A really fun arcade racer) never made it out of the arcades.

  • @39 + Tyfighter80

    Hey, man, thanks for the hot tip!

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