HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OUT OF YOUR ROUND 1

Article by Andy Castro

So you’re going to visit one of the “many” US Round 1 Entertainment locations, hooray! While you get yourself mentally prepared for the fun adventure you’ll have, here are some tips on how to get the most fun (and money) out of your time.

1) The Round 1 Club Membership Card

When you approach the arcade card counter (the first thing you’re sure to visit), you’ll see two different kinds of cards available: the basic red card and the club membership card. Here’s a flowchart to help you decide which card you should use:

Why Would I Want A Club Card?

A Round 1 Club Card offers you discounts towards arcade credits, bowling, billiards, darts, and karaoke. When you first buy your club card (that has a $5 activation fee) you’ll be at the most basic membership. This will take $1 off any of the above transactions! As you frequent Round 1, you’ll collect club card stamps with every purchase you make for bowling or arcade credits or whatever else you can purchase from a counter (other than food). Your card will upgrade after 10, 30, and 50 stamps, taking an extra $0.25 off with each upgrade! This means that once you hit Platinum Membership status, $10 worth of credits is only $8.25!

An employee tried to sell me on Time Play. Is that better?

If you found this guide as a BEMANI lover I can probably assure you the answer is NO. Most BEMANI games are not available for time play, and you can check to see if your favorite game is time-play-ready by looking at the color of its card reader. If it’s green - you’ve found a game that is time play accessible. If it isn’t? Your time play card isn’t gonna work on it.

Even if the music game you do love is available for time play, consider this: every moment you have to wait in line - every minute - is your time play money going down the drain. Do yourself and your wallet a favor by avoiding time play.

Does my club card last forever?

A club card is valid for a year after it is purchased. If you would like to maintain

your membership status, you’ll need to renew your membership once every year.

This is only a $5 renewal fee, and you’ll be given a new card automatically at the

upgrade level you were at before. Be sure to make the most out of the benefits

you have!

I lost my club card! What do I do?

If you’ve already lost your club card, you’re probably already out of luck, sorry to say! However, I have a big tip for all of you readers:

TAKE A PHOTO OF THE BACK OF YOUR CLUB CARD

If you have your club card on you right now go do that. Stop reading and do that immediately. If you ever lose your card you can show your photo to Round 1 staff, who are able to pull up using the card’s barcode all of your information (and hopefully respect all those stamps you’ve accumulated) and move them into a new card. Now it’s as if you never lost your card! There are other ways to keep your card information secure, but this is the fastest, simplest method.

2) Your Friendly Neighborhood Arcade Techs

You may be playing IIDX and find that a key suddenly stops working. If this happens, you might think it’s the best idea to either A) do nothing about it, or B) whine about it on social media. Those are terrible choices and you shouldn’t do either. If everyone were to do that, then nothing would ever get fixed. Simply pull aside any Round 1 staff member and inform them of the following:
1) What game is broken

1a) You’ll probably have to explain where that game is

1b) Do not get mad if staff members don’t know what game you mean

2) How it is broken

2a) BE SPECIFIC. The staff member, if not a tech, will probably relay the

information to a technician right in front of you. Speak clearly so

the tech knows exactly what to fix.

3) If possible, WAIT by the machine itself

3a) When the tech arrives you can explain exactly what is wrong

There may come times when the tech doesn’t know what you’re talking about, or

dismisses your issue as something not important (or not broken). While this may be

frustrating it is best to stay calm and re-explain the issue. Be patient with the techs - they have a lot on their plate but really do respect your desire for perfect arcade cabinets!

Blog Editor NOTE: Please do not get discouraged if the issue is NOT fixed immediately. Round 1 mechanics bounce between both bowling repairs and the arcade repairs, and when there are over 200+ games on the arcade floor, the workload for them gets overwhelming. Please be supportive and as patient as you can!

3) The Round 1 I’m Visiting Doesn’t Have _____! This Place Sucks!

Remember that Round 1 is a fairly new entertainment chain in America. While new

branches are slowly opening over this decade, no two locations will be exactly alike for many reasons! You may be disappointed that another location has a game you really want to play, but that doesn’t mean your location will never have that game! Support your local Round 1 and do your best to be happy with Round 1’s progress in giving you an accessible arcade full of games you won’t find anywhere else.

3/10 - First Impressions: GUNSLINGER STRATOS 2

By Ann Nakamura

Gunslinger Stratos 2 is a game published by Square Enix (alongside Taito) that was to be location tested at certain Round 1 locations. Eastridge Mall had the honor to be one of those locations! As a personal aside, I have been waiting to play this game ever since I had seen gameplay videos of it, so my expectations were pretty high. Were they satisfied after the 3 year wait? Read on!

To start off, the actual arcade cabinet itself is aesthetically pleasing. Side panels have glowing lights that change during gameplay, and it comes equipped with two, very intricately-made lightguns. Each lightgun has two joysticks: the one on the left gun controls your character's movement, and the one on the right controls where you are aiming. The gun on the right has a "jump" button which leaps/floats you into the air to be able to shoot foes from above. Of course, both guns come with triggers and you can alternate from shooting from each. However, you can only shoot from one gun for a certain amount of time before it is forced to reload and by reload, it's alternating to the next gun you have. Now before you, as the reader, go "well, that sucks, I'm not left handed", it adds a sense of bad-assery and, to my surprise, trying to aim with the left gun wasn't too bad! The crosshairs really help out with this as well.

I like this gun. Like, a lot. The middle of the gun has a slot for you to merge your other gun with it.

The long line of Gunslinger Stratos 2 cabinets

Now comes the cool part of Gunslinger Stratos. Why the hell does it have two guns? Well, with Gunslinger Stratos, you are able to "combine" your guns so you can use even better guns! There is the side-style and the tandem-style: one where you hook your guns to each other side-by-side and your gun becomes a semi-automatic machine gun that you can use for a short time on foes. This gun packs a PUNCH and will end an enemy's life before they can say, "Nani?". The tandem style, placing one gun on top of the other, unlocks a ranged weapon which can be a sniper, a laser gun, anything. These are great if you're trying to hit an enemy from really far, especially where a normal gun or machine gun could prove not as effective. What is great is that each character has a unique weapon for both modes, so you may or may not see different guns for the characters you use. This game gets intense very quickly in having to dispatch enemies before the timer runs out, so you are quickly switching between shooting from both guns, switching out your styles and running around so you do not get hit.

But besides gameplay, what else does this game offer? Besides having over 15+ playable characters, with a NESiCA card, players are able to upgrade their weapons and unlock more content. You are also able to play through a story mode which is unique to each character (although, once again, if you cannot read or understand a lick of Japanese, may not be the best thing). Also, the game comes equipped with audio jacks that allow players to use headsets to communicate with each other during gameplay. This proves to actually be in the interest of players since the whole entire game is team-based, and, if players are matched up with a rival team, it makes communication easier than yelling to the other machines. It is a very different functionality on an arcade cabinet, but one that is meant to be for the benefit of the users. 

I picked Olga Janetine as my character of choice. Her costume is pretty... um.... well, you can fill in the blanks.

My thoughts? The game. Is Freaking. Awesome. I am very sad that is just going to be a location test, but I would personally love to see this game in Round 1 SJ in the future. The one major drawback that may prove to be the game's downfall is that it is not localized for an American audience (as most Japanese games tend to be). It is definitely not American friendly, and a couple of Round 1 employees who tried the game were a little peeved when they had to endure a 15 minute tutorial mode by mistake followed by a very dry practice mode. However, for an individual who knows Japanese or for someone who is familiar with at least the basic language, this game will be very interesting and something to be genuinely hyped about, mostly because it is different and a different type of arcade shooter.

Since Gunslinger is looking to be staying for about one more week or so, I would DEFINITELY recommend giving it a try, especially with friends. 

Authors Note: If you decide to buy a NESiCA card for this game, please do yourselves a favor and keep the card on the NESiCA wavepass at all times. According to staff, if you take it off at any time, you lose access to your NESiCA card, meaning that if you try out story mode and take it off, you end after the second stage (out of eight). This is also true for doing team matchups.

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Ann Nakamura is the head correspondent for The (Unofficial) Round 1 Arcade Hub. A lover of arcade games of all genres, she likes to spend her time playing Gitadora and trying out new games that hit Round 1 SJ's arcade floor. Got questions for her? Contact Ann through Facebook!

3/3 - PASELI: Why You Want it and How to Use It

By Andy Castro

So you want to know more about PASELI (PAy Smart Enjoy LIfe), huh? I don’t blame you, I’m sure as you’ve enjoyed eAMUSEMENT you’ve at least heard about KONAMI’s alternative credit payment option. While in Japan you can utilize PASELI to pay for your arcade games, buy sodas from vending machines, and who knows what else, America’s use for PASELI is much more limited, and you’re really only be using it the webpage and KONAMI’s basic subscription, which is a little more than 300 PASELI a month.

“So I can’t use PASELI to pay for my games? What’s the point?”

There are many reasons why you’ll want PASELI as an American player, such as:

1. Proper Score Tracking

• You’ll especially need this to use web trackers like iidx.me and bluekingdragon

2. IIDX Customizations

• Anyone else hate the default settings of IIDX as much as I do?

Change your noteskins, judgment font, and more!

3. Rivals

• Friendly competition can be fun! But you can’t utilize rivals in IIDX or Sound Voltex without PASELI

4. PASELI-only Items

• For the use of Boosters and Exchangers in SDVX and Rainbow Train Tickets in IIDX Copula, you’ll need to pay for these using PASELI

Hopefully that’s enough to convince you how useful PASELI can be!

Getting PASELI

IF YOU SET YOUR LOCATION AS USA WHEN REGISTERING YOUR eAMUSEMENT ACCOUNT, YOU CANNOT PURCHASE PASELI

If you have already made your account, go make a new one and move your card over to your Japanese account.

1. Payment Options for PASELI

Before you go rushing in to buy PASELI, you’re going to want to make sure you have the means to pay for it. There are three payment options for PASELI:

1. Japanese Credit Cards

2. Bitcash Cards

3. Prepaid PASELI Cards

If all of those confused you, your best bet is gonna be option 2. Bitcash cards are actually pretty accessible, and a rather easy process if you know what you’re doing.

2. Buying a Bitcash Card

While I’m sure there are many ways to obtain a Bitcash card, I’ve found that the best place to go is OffGamers. They often have sales, too, so be on the lookout for those! I recommend buying either the 2000 or 5000 yen cards, as PASELI can be bought in 500, 1000, 2000, 5000 yen increments.

If you’re using OffGamers, you will be sent your Bitcash card through an image file attached to an e-mail. The image is the 16 character Bitcash card code, which you’ll need to use when purchasing your PASELI. If you cannot read and/or type in Japanese, turn to your nearest weeb friend to help you out!

3. Buying the PASELI

Click on the link here to access the PASELI payment page. You’ll notice a ton of Japanese here but the important thing is the button in Step 3, shown below.

From there, you’ll be asked to log into your MyKONAMI account (and if it won’t let you log on, you’ve probably set your location to not-Japan, ya dingus). Scroll down the page you’re redirected to until you see a list of PASELI amounts.

Click on however much money you’re giving to KONAMI

From there, you’ll be sent to a terms and conditions agreement. Y’all are grown enough to know you just hit the accept button.

You’ll then be asked what you’ll be using to pay for your PASELI. “Bitcash” is written in English, so it’ll be pretty easy to find.

Next, you’ll be asked to put in your Bitcash card code. Hope you know how to type in Japanese! (Or at least copy/paste the code that someone else typed for you). With that, you just keep on click and you’ll be all set!

Once you’ve added PASELI to your account, you can sign up for KONAMI’s basic subscription by going to any page that requires the service. Click here to go to Copula’s rival page, an example of a page that needs the subscription. From there you can select to pay using your PASELI, and the monthly cost of the subscription will be deducted at the 1st of each month until you run out!

Enjoy using the most of PASELI and your KONAMI Basic Subscription!

Other links:

HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OUT OF YOUR ROUND 1

HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OUT OF OFFICIAL e-AMUSEMENT

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Andy Castro is a field correspondent for The (Unofficial) Round 1 Arcade Hub. A huge music game enthusiast, Andy likes to wiggy wiggy wiggy on Sound Voltex Booth but in his spare time, likes to assist newcomers and veterans alike with new rhythm game information and insights. Got questions for him? Contact him through Facebook!

1/21 - What's Good: SJ Eastridge Monthly Update

Hello everyone and welcome back to the Arcade Hub! Right now, we're currently dusting off the cobwebs on the blog desk and trying to figure out where everything is. It's been a very BUSY couple of months, but we're here now to bring you some (hopefully) delightful news!

Round 1 is going BIG in 2016. This means a lot of things will be happening: new games, new changes and hopefully, new customers and staff! There have been a lot of talks, discussions and meetings with the Round 1 staff behind closed doors and, after speaking with a reputable "birdie", there are some new games to be entering SJ Round 1's doors this year! There are currently no set dates as to when these games will be arriving and installed, but are AT LEAST confirmed to be on order.

Disclaimer: At the current time, we are only allowed to reveal two games in the lineup for SJ Round 1. We will keep you guys updated if more games are allowed to be revealed (of course).

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Music game fans, rejoice! The highly anticipated game, Groove Coaster, is coming to SJ Round 1 in the coming months! Published by Taito, Groove Coaster was originally a touchscreen iOS game, but has now entered the arcade market with a tall, vertical screen and two giant "BOOSTER" controllers! 

Groove Coaster has a fair amount of songs in its tracklist, ranging from J-Pop to Touhou music to Taito published games and so much more! If you are familiar to music/rhythm games, the concept is fairly simple: during the song you play, your avatar will move through an intergalactic journey (a.k.a. a sequence from the beginning to end of a song) where the player has to use the two joysticks to input commands. These commands range from "taps" (press the button on top of the controller), "holds" (press and hold the button on top of the controller), "beats" (press the button repeatedly until it tells you to stop), "scratches" (move the controller itself up and down) and "flicks" (flick the controller itself to the arrow that will appear on screen). The player has a choice between three difficulties which are Easy (SIMPLE), Normal and Hard. Groove Coaster also supports multiplayer play where up to four players can play with each other to earn EXP and other bonuses.

Groove Coaster will require a NESiCA IC card to save any player data, such as level, avatar, titles and any unlockables. It is not necessary to buy a card to play the game itself.

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Shooting game fans, rejoice! Gunslinger Stratos is going to be making its R1 USA debut this year for 2016. A third person shooter published by Square Enix, this game takes arcade shooting games to a whole new level: you dual-wield light guns. 

If you are a fan of third person shooters (or maybe MMO's such as S4 League and GunZ: The Duel), then you may be very much compelled to give Gunslinger Stratos a try! Each lightgun is equipped with an analog stick and buttons to control your character's movement and arsenal as you attempt to shoot down your rival team and empty their team's overall health meter. But besides being able to hold and use two handguns at once, what makes this game cool? By changing how you hold and position your guns, a player can utilize their character's unique arsenal of weapons, ranging from tactical to straight up powerful. Put your guns together horizontally may change what weapon you use. Clip your guns with one on the top and one on the bottom can change your weapon to something deadly and destructive. With the use of a NESiCA card, players can earn points by winning team battles which allow the player to unlock Weapon Packs which, by name, unlocks new and devastating weapons for the player's use.

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While MUSECA has been announced already a month or so ago, we have gotten word that the machines are to be possibly set up at the store during this weekend (1/22 - 1/24). This is currently tentative and does not reflect possible issues such as host/server set-up, software updates, hardware configuration or (of course) shipping and cargo delays. We will keep you guys posted regarding this on our Twitter Page: @round1blogger

We'll keep you posted, but be on the lookout for more to come!

New Addition! School of Ragnarok

Hello everyone! I hope everyone is having a good Halloween! Some of our staff members had been giving out candy to all the good little boys and girls outside of Round 1's entrance and the kids have never been happier!

Today we bring you a special report! School of Ragnarok, a 1vs.1 fighting game created by Square Enix has entered Round 1!

Title screen for School of Ragnarok.

So what is the big deal about this game? Well, for one, it's an arcade game where you can make custom characters. If NESiCA is enabled, you can create a character, save it, be able to use it in-game against other characters. In School of Ragnarok, there are 8 different weapon disciplines that a player can choose from, and the weapon discipline they choose corresponds to a support character they can use in game. Weapon disciplines range from chainsaws to mechanical fists to traditional swords to staff-wielding. (I apologize for any mistranslations from here on out or any odd assumptions. Feel free to send us an email for any corrections!)

Emma, a robotic girl who weirds mechanical, floating fists.

Lucy, a renegade high schooler who dons a spiked bat and chainsaw.

Smile Heart, the Madoka-looking magic girl with a pink staff.

Valhalla, a sword wielding demon.

Once a discipline and support has been chosen, you have the option of learning the game through Tutorial Mode or fight against a CPU. Either way, you will be having to learn the game very quickly as there are many buttons to this game that a player must be able to strategically use.

Starting from the Bottom Left Button up: Guard, Attack, Skill, Shot, Jump and Lock-On (to target). The Gold button calls your support to use their skill and the silver button has your support move to certain locations on the map that will boost your strength, defense or other stats. 

There is truly much more to this game than the "attack" and "move" buttons. Every character has a unique set of skills that you can use during the game through certain button commands. Also, every character has a ranged "shot" attack that they can use on their opponents from afar. Your supports have skills you can call upon (so long as you have your "support" gauge filled to a degree) that can either obstruct your view on the screen, cause damage, and much more. What this game really comes down to at times is your support character's "special skill" that they will bestow onto your character for a very short period of time. This special skill is like the equivalent to using a "Super" in Street Fighter or Marvel vs. Capcom. These skills usually cause massive amount of damage to your opponent and can sometimes change your game for the better or for the worst. Every character has different "special skills" so its worth it for you as the player to try different characters to see what play style and skills will suit you the best.

You are able to choose a set of skills to use in your battle.

Now why is School of Ragnarok an important and big deal to Round 1? First off, School of Ragnarok is solely an arcade exclusive and this is Square Enix's will be one of two games to be entering into the arcade scene from Enix, the other being Final Fantasy Dissidia Arcade which is to be released late November. This game is Japanese and Round 1 gives any American players the opportunity to give the game a try. The second and larger deal of School of Ragnarok being on American soil is that School of Ragnarok uses NESiCA which is similar to Konami's e-amusement network and Sega's banapass network. Since Round 1 stores have some games that support this online server, it is very possible that Eastridge Round 1 will be getting NESiCA very soon! La Puente Hills Mall Round 1, the Flagship USA Round 1, has received NESiCA support already: in particular for Groove Coaster, a music game produced by Taito. 

What does this mean? NESiCA may soon be hitting other Round 1 USA stores very soon! With more and more games running on the NESiCA system, it would prove beneficial (and somewhat mandatory) for Round 1 to get its network running and its cards distributed to stores. Only time will tell. But for now, give the game a shot!

10/16 - Perspectives on the Typical Shift at R1

At 10am every morning, Round 1 opens their doors. Managers are preparing their staff for the day, associates are taking inventory, making sure they are logged on to their registers and double checking if everything has been stocked for the day. The customers come in, they pay, and the 12 hour day begins. From 10am to 2am, Round 1 associates and managers alike are doing their part to keep the store in top-notch condition for their customers and regulars. However, not much is really known about the responsibilities, tribulations, and hard work that goes on behind the counter. Are the employees happy? Stressed? Tired? Enthusiastic? The Arcade Hub has the scoop for you. We talked to a couple of staff members at Round 1 Eastridge to get a clear perspective of the general workplace.

The bowling counter at Round 1 Eastridge.

We asked Joe Flores, Round 1’s Bowling Manager, how he feels about being one of the department managers for Eastridge’s store. “At the moment, I feel somewhat comfortable as Bowling Manager at Round 1.” Joe Flores tells Arcade Hub. “The position comes more natural to me than managing Amusement did, and so far I find it to be more fun.” Joe is almost always seen helping his fellow staff on the floor with transactions, customer inquiries and complaints and assists in other departments if necessary. As a manager, his job goes far beyond just maintaining the bowling department at times. “As with any management position, the work is definitely not as easy as some may assume.” He states. “Especially when having to deal with unsatisfied guests, work days can be extremely stressful.”

A typical day for Joe is like this: he checks to see what staff members are working with him, takes a look around the whole store and checks for general problems with the bowling lanes and equipment. Flores attempts to keep the morale of his department (and others) high while staying on top of operations during his shift. “If I’m lucky, I’ll get to take a break or grab some food.” Flores says with a laugh.

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Amusement associates also have to constantly answer phone calls from customers about questions and concerns.

For associates, their shifts are a little bit different. “I start with the redemption room, making sure than everything is fully stocked” Shawntae Lee, an amusement associate, says. “If we are out of a certain item, I write it down.” For those in the Amusement Department, there are a lot of things that have to be accounted for: crane games, redemption counter, game card counter and the general arcade floor. Many customers go to the employees in Amusement for card and ticket help to which they coordinate closely with the Mechanics department. But for Shawntae, the chaos of Amusement does not seem to bother her. “I do not LIKE, I LOVE working for this company: it’s a great environment and everyone is awesome.” She tells Arcade Hub.

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What also gets a lot of attention from customer’s is Round 1’s Food and Beverage department. This department has to maintain beer sales, pizza and snack bar sales, dishes, inventory and so much more. Their beer bar gets extremely busy during the evenings (particularly during the weekend evenings) where the staff are working hard in getting the customers their drinks in a timely, efficient manner. Kevin Tran, one of the leads at Round 1’s Food and Beverage Department, tells me what a typical shift for him starts off as. 

"When I start my shift, I'll count the tills, I'll make sure to see that everything is prepped, everything is ready to go, everything is clean and sanitary, our sanitizer buckets are clean..." Kevin names off. "I just make sure everything is stocked so that the team that I work with doesn't have a hard time and don't get frustrated running out of things in the heat of the rush."

During Kevin's off-shift interview, we also got to meet Food and Bev. Managers Nico and Martha!

With Round 1's Food and Beverage department, it's very fast-paced and requires a lot of running around and diligence with the food and drink orders along with customer service. 

"It gets busy, but I like jobs that require you to multitask and always be on top of it." Kevin exclaims, "I always love having something to do and not stand around."

It's a lot of work to keep this big store going. Some of the associates even work 5 to 6 days a week at Round 1 while going to school! Most have kept a positive attitude despite being a brand new store and have been adjusting well. While we, the customers, are the ones who give Round 1 our money everyday, Round 1 not be where it is now if it were not for their amazing staff and individuals.