iiRcade Q&A with Founder, CEO Jong Shin

DEVELOPER AND PLAYER SIGNIFICANCE

We’ve been learning more and more about the iiRcade and how it brings something unique to the gaming space, especially with indie games. For those that missed our previous articles, the iiRcade is an arcade cabinet with its own digital storefront that’s used for downloading additional, officially licensed games. There are retro classics like Double Dragon and Dragon’s Lair but one can also play new titles like Skellboy or Dandara. It’s a really cool approach to bringing the arcade experience home

We were able to gain some deeper insight into the iiRcade through an email Q&A with Founder and CEO, Jong Shin. Our questions prodded at not only the player-side of things but also in regards to the development side. Answers have been lightly edited for grammar.

WHAT SPARKED THE INTEREST IN MAKING A MODERN APPROACH TO THE ARCADE CABINET?

Just like how Henry Ford reinvented an archaic transportation industry with cars and how Steve Jobs reinvented the mobile phone industry with iPhone, we wanted to invent a brand new premium gaming experience that is so awesome and brings everyone together, that modernizes the arcade gaming experience that we all remember. We made this possible by not only bringing today's amazing modern games to the arcades but also enabling modern gaming experiences to yesterday's arcade games by making them super immersive via 100W stereo sound, 19" crisp HD display, and premium arcade controls, adding online global leaderboards, enabling having the entire arcade of the world in one single premium device by creating the ability to add more officially licensed games to your device and more.

Growing up, I spent a lot of time and allowance money at my local arcade and promised to myself that one day when I grow up, I would have an arcade in my home. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make the dream happens as the arcade machines were very expensive, take up too much space for homes and you have to buy a new machine every time you want to play a new game.

 I learned that there is no solution available that is going to help make my childhood dream come true, so I had to take this into my own hands and create my own solution. This was when iiRcade was born.

THERE’S A MIX OF RETRO AND INDIE GAMES ON THE IIRCADE. WHAT’S IT LIKE WORKING WITH VARIOUS GAME COMPANIES? 

It’s been a lot of fun working with game companies from all around the world. Game companies are very excited about iiRcade and the experience that we deliver. Especially since we’re the first platform ever that enables anyone to make an arcade game and developers are excited about how this is a game-changer for the gaming industry. Indie development communities are also excited about iiRcade as they can finally develop their own arcade games or turn their existing games into real arcade games with ease. Seeing the developer’s eyes light up when they see their games become amazing arcade games is a great feeling. It’s really exciting to make these awesome gaming experiences happen together.

DO YOU OFFER TOOLS TO DEVELOPERS LOOKING TO PORT THEIR GAME TO THE SYSTEM? WHAT DOES THAT PROCESS LOOK LIKE? 

Bringing games to iiRcade is very easy, in fact, it's so easy that there is no need for any tools outside of what the developers are already familiar with. From the IDE of game developer's favorite game engines, a simple export of their game already gets us there 90% of the way most of the time. From there, it's all about having fun with it, and many developers go above and beyond to implement awesome new arcade features to their games, which they have a lot of fun with.

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH BUILDING THE IIRCADE COMMUNITY?

The iiRcade community is amazing.  We’ve met so many great people who have been extremely supportive since our launch.  They provide great feedback that we listen to and we hold Live streams on Facebook and YouTube twice a week to interact with the community. What is so amazing is that we did not build the iiRcade community. Our community, whom we call our family, built the community. And seeing this happen and grow so quickly organically has been really awesome, a phenomenon that I have never seen happen anywhere else.

ARE YOUR CABINETS MODDER FRIENDLY, BOTH IN PHYSICAL COMPONENTS AND THE SYSTEM’S SOFTWARE?

Depending on what you mean by modding. If you want to add flashing lights to iiRcade, absolutely it's very easy to do so. iiRcade is built to be a premium device and even our favorite modders have told us that iiRcade is so well made that modding is not necessary.

 As for modding system software, if you mean hacking the device to enable piracy, absolutely not. iiRcade is a platform that was built to connect the amazing games together with gamers and unless we support the developers who create these amazing games, the amazing games part would never happen.

We have seen so many developers who built our favorite games go down due to piracy and we will never allow piracy to happen on iiRcade. iiRcade has many layers of piracy protection built into the system and we will continue to enhance our security to make sure that iiRcade is not hackable. If anyone even attempts to hack iiRcade, they are voiding their warranty and risking breaking their system, which we will not support. We believe in rewarding the people who are giving us our favorite games and our iiRcade community family does as well.  This allow the developers to make more amazing games for our community. 

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE GAME THAT’S BEEN ADDED TO THE IIRCADE SYSTEM SO FAR?

All of them, of course! We have over 200 games released on iiRcade and our iiRcade community family has been enjoying them. Everyone has different favorite games and iiRcade is able to accommodate everyone with iiRcade's extensive and continuously growing library of games. For me, my favorite game continuously changes depending on my mood, where sometimes my favorite gams may be Kung Fu Master or R-Type, sometimes my favorite games may be Retromania Wrestling or Toejam and Earl, other times my favorite games may be Beach Buggy, Riptide GP Renegade or Bomb Squad.

What's so awesome about iiRcade is that no matter what games I feel like playing, I can do it all on iiRcade and the game library continues to grow rapidly. And if there is a new game that I want to get, I can get them without needing to spend a lot of money to get a new cabinet. Simply go to iiRcade online store and click a button to purchase a new game for only a price of a cup of coffee or two.

ARE THERE ANY PLANS TO OFFER THE IIRCADE ECOSYSTEM OUTSIDE OF THE VARIOUS ARCADE CABINETS? MAYBE ON MOBILE DEVICES OR A SMALLER HANDHELD?

Anything is possible in the future but we’re currently focusing on the best premium home arcade experience.

IF YOU COULD PICK ANY GAME TO GET ON YOUR CABINETS, WHAT WOULD IT BE AND WHY?

We’re listening to our community and looking into all possibilities on iiRcade, both with modern and retro games. Everyone has different favorite games. For me, if I had a genie who can fulfill my wish, I would ask for King's Quest. We are finding that RPGs and adventure games work incredibly well as arcade games on iiRcade. Especially as we don't have to worry about people needing to put in more quarters to earn money, we can introduce amazing new genres such as RPGs, Adventures, FPSs and other genres that do not need to be quarter munchers and iiRcade brings extremely immersive experiences of these games that are never-before-seen. You really have to try and see it for yourself - try playing Ys series, Evoland series, Dead Effect 2 on iiRcade and you will see what I mean. I would love to play King's Quest on iiRcade for these reasons, it would be so awesome!

WHERE IS THE BEST PLACE FOR PEOPLE TO INTERACT WITH IIRCADE?

For more information please visit iiRcade.com and for any questions, you can always send them to our email at contact@iircade.com. You can also see our game demos and other videos on our YouTube channel, and videos that our community has created on this YouTube channel. We also have two live stream shows every week on our Facebook page and YouTube channel, Tuesdays and Fridays at 4 pm ET / 3 pm CT, where you can talk to us directly during the show.

WHAT SORT OF GAMES OR MEDIA HAVE YOU BEEN ENJOYING? DO YOU HAVE ANY RECOMMENDATIONS?

I always enjoy playing the latest releases in the iiRcade Game Store, where new games are added every week. We have also released a new amazing feature called Jukebox Mode, that turns your iiRcade into an awesome 100W stereo jukebox. The music sounds incredible on iiRcade. I would recommend trying it out; iiRcade will become your favorite entertainment device in your home.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES, THOUGHTS

More information about the iiRcade can be found on our discovery post, as well as our recent news post. We’ll likely have more content regarding this ecosystem as it really is an additional gaming platform to consider, as well as another way to support independent game developers. Be sure to find iiRcade on their official website and social media channels. Their Twitch streams are especially transparent and interesting.