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No, your eyes do not deceive you; Half Life 2 is set to be released in arcades during the summer of 2005. Provided the source code isn’t stolen, of course.
Details are sketchy, but three game modes have been revealed: solo play is catered for by the story mode, or you can team up with players in other arcades to enjoy either cooperative play or versus mode, all handled via a network.
The hardware in question is Taito’s TypeX board. The TypeX board is, to all intents and purposes, based on PC architecture and runs embedded Windows XP software. The graphics processing is handled by an ATI 9200 board, although this can be upgraded to an X800XT chipset if required. What all this means in a wider sense is that PC-to-arcade conversions (and vice versa) could explode over the next few years, dependant upon take-up of Taito’s hardware.
So those who cannot afford a costly upgrade of their desktop to meet the requirements of the PC version need fear no longer of missing out; start saving your pound-coins now. The only question remaining is will the arcade supply the keyboard and mouse?
