iFix Machine works to keep fighting game arcade history alive and kicking.
Much of the North American fighting game community got to watch the decline of the arcade scene, as the games we played vanished from arcade cabinets to dwell only on consoles and PC, and the gaming centers that hosted them dwindled afterwards. But many community members still seek to keep the classic scene alive — and NYC’s iFix Machine has joined the fight.
On Rushdown Radio, Michael Mirrorcle interviewed Chris Sandoval, iFix Machine’s “hype man” that joined Christopher Velasquez and Jose Cruz to start up the arcade project. Sandoval describes what iFix Machine offers:
iFix Machine is both a game center and a repair shop. We focus on the repairing PCs, video game consoles, laptops, mobile devices, etc. We also offer RGB upgrades for retro gaming consoles. We also focus on retro fighting games pre-Street Fighter IV. We run our games on authentic hardware such as Capcom CPS2, Naomi, CS3 and Atomiswave with various PCBs such as Street Fighter EX 2 Plus and Fighting Layer. And if we don’t have it available, we utilize our RGB Modded CRTs with a supergun.
When asked about their plans for 2018, Sandoval replies “We hope to become the NYC version of Takadanobaba Mikado Arcade, which is located in Shinjuku, Japan, focusing on old fighting games.” He also describes the iFix Machine philosophy:
iFix Machine focuses on the games the current state of the FGC players forgot about. iFix Machine has brought Japanese quality arcade cabs to NYC. We want to bring back the sensation of players sharing tech with each other instead of everyone wanting to keep the tech to themselves. We want to focus on helping everyone evolve as a whole while providing a solid arcade experience with proper audio/visual quality to the players. Maybe even become a tourist attraction for people who want the Japanese arcade experience but can’t get to Japan.
For the full interview — and lots of pictures of the venue and their cabinets — head over to Rushdown Radio. You can also find more information about iFix Machine on Facebook and Twitter.
Thanks to Michael for the tip.
Source: Rushdown Radio