MonMotha wrote:So, this machine is in good shape (being new), and Infinity is much more faithful to classic/mainline PIU than the Pro line was.
The screen is honestly too big given that the game does not properly handle aspect ratio. When playing double, it's easy to miss quick transitions where a stray note can appear on the other side of the screen from where you're looking. The low res graphics are also annoying on such a big screen, and the Infinity theme seems to handle the low res more poorly than mainline on titlecards during song select (they are harder to read), but this may just be a result of the monitor attempting to upscale rather than the inherent small amount of blurring you get on a CRT.
The real issue is that the game is impossible to hear if there's a band on stage in the bar which there apparently is most evenings. The facility has fairly little noise damping, and the game is right behind the bar. Some bands even go so far as to set up a little shield in front of the drummer which makes things better in the bar area but just reflects it all right back onto the PIU machine. Enjoy playing sight-only. You might as well bring earplugs if there's a band since hearing nothing while playing this game is better than hearing different music. I'll have to see if I can rig up some sort of wireless audio system and get some in-ear monitors or similar to block out the ambient noise.
Indeed MonMotha nailed it. (Also was good to see you there.) Something that hasn't been mentioned is that the new platform design they used is a double edged sword. The reason why I say this is because the non-panel area on that thing is just barely higher when compared to the classic platform. If the new platform could be purchased for older machines I would be interested, but I don't see it happening sadly. The other thing I noticed based on playing on the cabinet and the footage I saw from WinDEU is that the scrolling speed somewhere in between Pro and modern Pump, but fortunately BPM handling and freezes are handled like true Pump. (Do note though that the freeze combo will count towards money score (which IS in this release), but not towards percentage score.)
Last, but not least, Mission Mode is pretty terrible. I know how messed up WorldMax can get, but this goes from zero to WTF on the fourth mission of Zone One. The worst part is that some of the unlocks are tied to it which is nothing short of annoying. (Thankfully song unlocks are tied to number of games played and so far there is nothing to suggest any weird unlock codes.) I would say F*ck Nexcade like Yeehaw McKickass, but they had nothing to do with this.
The best time to go in and play is Monday-Thursday and it would do them a favor since those days are extremely slow whereas the weekends they get a considerable amount of business. One last thing I should note is that I got a black membership today and the manager who signed me up for it mentioned that if they had a large enough list of people who would be interested, they would be up for holding a tournament. Honestly, after talking to a couple of people I think doing a special exhibition event would be better since none of us really play seriously.
