Arcade Sidekick Mobile App Now Available for £1.99

[ArcadeSidekick]

Hi everyone,

My name is Rich and some of you might have met me at the last UKVAC meetup at Arcade Club Bury. I chatted to you about a mobile app I was working on for recording arcade high-scores. Well that app is now live and has been available in the app stores (both Android and iOS) for just over a month. We currently have approximately 150 users registered and I would love to get some of you guys on-board and get your feedback on where the app might go in the future.

The app is called the Arcade Sidekick, and allows you to record and share your top scores for the 450ish games that are currently on the system. I am adding new ones and new features all the time. Below is a quick run down of the features on the app

Manage friends - you can assign friends so you can see there scores on friends leader board

Manage enemies - the app currently does not do photo submissions so if you think someone is playing unfairly in their scores you can mark them as an enemy and remove their scores from the app.

Global leader boards for each game

Head to Head feature so you can compare how you and your friends match up

Top 50 games as rated for my users

Last 100 recently logged events in the system to see what people are playing

Add custom games which are not yet in the system and request games to be added

Share your achievements via social media

I'm just about to release a new version for android (iOS is a few versions behind) that includes the ability to see what your friends have done since you last logged in (version 1 of the feature, i will be extending it soon).

For the future i will be looking at

Photo Submissions

Adding multiple scores per game, and further information on each score, i.e data, location etc

Competitions and private leagues

Arcade News

Recording fighting game results i.e won lost drawn etc

and of course more games, art etc

Thanks for reading this and I hope that some of you download it and use it and can give me the feedback that makes it the app that i think the community needs. Please follow me on twitter if you haven't already @arcadesidekick, the more people that download and know about the app the more fun we will have competing for high-scores!

If you have an questions please feel free to email me or drop me a message

Rich

Here are a few screenshots of the app

DanP2019-06-25 09:09:23

 

[tronads]

I've been using this app since it's 1st Public release and can highly recommend it.

 

[phillv85]

Nice, I'll take a look.

 

[SullDaBull]

Great little app for keeping track of your scores (and those of your rivals

)

Beats having pictures of your scores scattered all over your phones folders!

 

[K1ngarth3r]

Is there a list of games that the app currently supports anywhere?

 

[tronads]

I don't think there is, but it's a lot, and if you want something adding , you just let Rick know and he adds it to the next release.

 

[ArcadeSidekick]

When the next update goes live for Android, this will be the game list. iOS release is a few games behind but will catch up soon. (sorry for the long list, wasnt sure how else to present it...)

1942

1943

10-Yard Fight

18 Wheeler american Pro Trucker

1944 The Loop Master

19XX

720 Degrees

A. B. Cop

Act Fancer

Adventures of Robby Roto

Aero Fighters

Aero Fighters 2

Aero Fighters 3

Aero Fighters Special

After Burner

After Burner II

Air Buster

Air Gallet

Ajax

Alcon

Ali Baba And The 40 Thieves

Alien 3 The Gun

Alien Storm

Alien Syndrome

Alien vs Predator

Aliens

All Points Bulletin

Alpine Ski

Altered Beast

Amidar

AntEater

Apache 3

Aqua Jack

Arabian

Arabian Fight

Arch Rivals

Area 51

Argus

Arkanoid

Arkanoid Revenge of Doh

Arm Wrestling

Armed Police Batrider

Armor Attack

Armored Car

Art Of Fighting

Art Of Fighting 2

Art Of Fighting 3

Assault

Asteroids

Asteroids Deluxe

Astro Blaster

Astro Fighter

Astro Invader

Atomic Punk 2 Global Quest

Aurail

Baby Pac-Man

Bad Dudes Vs Dragon Ninja

Badlands

Bagman

Balloon Fight

Baluba Louk No Densetsu

Bank Panic

Batsugan

Battle Bakraid

Battlezone

Bermuda Triangle

Berzerk

Berzerk - Slow Bullets

Big Karnak

Black Tiger

Black Widow

Blasteroids

Blazing Star

Bogey Manor

Bomb Jack

Bubble Bobble

Bubbles

Buggy Boy

Bump n Jump

Burger Time

Carnival

Centipede

Championship Sprint

Chase H Q

Chelnov - Atomic Runner

Circus Charlie

Cloak And Dagger

Colony 7

Commando

Congo Bongo

Continental Circus

Cosmic Avenger

Cosmic Guerilla

Cosmo Gang the Video

Crack Down

Crazy Kong

Crazy Taxi

Crime City

Crisis Zone

Crossbow

Cruisn World

Crystal Castles

Cyvern

Dance Stage Euromix

Darius

Darius Gaiden

Daytona USA

Defender

Dig Dug

Dig Dug II

Discs Of Tron

DoDonpachi

Dodonpachi Dai-Ou-Jou White Label

Dodonpachi SaiDaiOuJou

Donkey Kong

Donkey Kong 3

Donkey Kong Jr

DonPachi

Double Dragon

Dragon Blaze

Drum Master

Elevator Action

Enduro Racer

Escape From The Planet Of The Robot Monsters

ESP RA.DE.

Eswat Cyber Police

Eyes

Faster Harder More Challenging Q-Bert

Final Fight

Fixeight

Flicky

Flying Shark

Food Fight

Frenzy

Frogger

Future Tomtom

Galaga

Galaga - Fast shoot hack

Galaga 88

Galaxian

Galaxy Rescue

Gauntlet

Gauntlet II

Gauntlet Legends

Ghosts n Goblins

Ghouls n Ghosts

Giga Wing

Go Go Mile Smile

Golden Axe

Gorf

Groove coaster

Groove Coaster 3

Gryzor

Guitar Hero

Gun Frontier

Gun Smoke

Gunbird

Gunbird 2

Gyruss

Halleys Comet

Hard Drivin

Heavy Barrel

Hot Rod

House of the dead 2

House of the dead 4

Hunchback

Hypersports

I Robot

Ice Cold Beer

Ikari Warriors

Ikaruga

Im Sorry

Image Fight

In The Groove 2

Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom

Indy 500

Initial D8

Journey

Joust

Joust 2

Jr Pac-Man

Jr Pac-Man - Speed up hack

Jubeat Qubell

Jungle Hunt

Juno First

Kangaroo

Kaos

Karate Champ

Karnov

Ketsui

Kicker

Kid Niki

Killer Instinct

KLAX

Knights Of The Round

Kung-Fu Master

Ladybug

Lethal Enforcers

Lizard Wizard

Lode Runner

Lunar Rescue

Macho Mouse

Make Trax

Mappy

Marble Madness

Mario-bros

Mat Mania

Mechanized Attack

Mega Zone

Mercs

Metal Slug

Metal Slug 2

Metal Slug 3

Metal Slug 4

Metal Slug 5

Metal Slug 6

Metal Slug X

Michael Jacksons Moonwalker

Midnight Resistance

Mighty Pang

Millipede

Minky Monkey

Missile Command

Monkey Ball

Monkey Mole Panic

Moon Alien Part 2

Moon Cresta

Moon Patrol

Mortal Kombat 4

Mortal Kombat II

Motocross Go

Motos

Mr Do!

Mr Dos Castle

Mr. F. Lea

Ms Pac-Man

Ms Pac-Man - Speed up hack

Muchi Muchi Pork

Museca

NBA Jam Tournament Edition

Nemesis

Neo Drift Out New Technology

New Rally X

New Zealand Story

Ninja Spirit

Ninja Warriors

Operation Thunderbolt

Operation Wolf

Osman

Out Run

Out Run 2

Outrunners

Outzone

Pac And Paint

Pac And Pal

Pac-Land

Pac-Man

Pac-Man - Speed up hack

Pac-man Battle Royale

Pac-Man Plus

Pac-Man Plus - Speed up hack

Pac-mania

Pandoras Palace

Pang

Paperboy

Parodius

Pengo

Pepper II

Phoenix

Pit Fighter

Pleiades

Plus Alpha

Point Blank

Point Blank 2

Pole Position

Police Trainer

Pooyan

Pop n Music Eclale

Pop n Music Party

Popeye

Power Drift

Progear

Pump It Up Fiesta 2

Puzzle Bobble

Q-Bert

Qix

Quartet

Quick and Crash

Rabbit Punch

Raiden

Raiden Fighters

Raiden III

Rainbow Islands

Rally X

Rampage

Rastan Saga

Rave Racer

RBI Baseball

Reflec Beat Volzza

Renegade

Rescue

Return of the Invaders

Return of The Jedi

Rhythm Tengoku

Road Blasters

Robocop

Robotron 2084

Rolling Thunder

Round Up 5 Super Delta Force

R-Type

R-Type 2

R-Type Leo

Rush N Attack

Rygar

S.T.U.N. Runner

Salamander

Salamander 2

Satans Hollow

Scramble

Sea Fighter Poseidon

Sega Rally

Sexy Parodius

Shadow Warriors

Sheriff

Shinobi

Silent Scope

Silk Worm

Simpsons

Sindbad Mystery

Sinistar

Sky Kid

Sky Skipper

Sly Spy

Smash TV

Snow Bros

Solomons Key

Sonson

Soul Calibur

Space Duel

Space Encounters

Space Firebird

Space Harrier

Space Invaders

Space invaders part II

Space Launcher

Space Zap

Spatter

Special criminal Investigation

Speed Buggy

Splat

Splatterhouse

Spy Hunter

Star Castle

Star Force

Star Wars

Star Wars Trilogy

Stargate

Street fighter EX 2

Street fighter II Turbo (Hyperfighting)

Street fighter III 3rd Strike

Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition

Street fighter Zero 2

Strider

Strike Force

Strikers 1945 III

Sunset Riders

Super Bishi Bashi Champ

Super bug

Super chase Criminal Termination

Super Cobra

Super Contra

Super Glob

Super Hang On

Super Off Road

Super Pac-Man

Super Pang

Super Punch Out

Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo

Super Spacefortress Macross

Super Street Fighter II X Grand Master Challenge

Super Table Flip 2

Swimmer

Tank Battalion

Tapper

Teddy Boy Blues

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Tehkan World Cup

Tekken 3

Tekken Tag Tournament

Tempest

Terminator 2 Judgement Day

Terra Cresta

Tetris

The End

The Fast And The Furious

The Goonies

The Last Day

The Pit

The Real Ghostbusters

The Wiz

Thunder and Lightning

Thunder Blade

Thunder Cross

Thundercade

Tiger Heli

Timber

Time Crisis

Time Crisis II

Time Pilot

Tinkle Pit

Tournament Arkanoid

Toy Pop

Track and field

Trog

Tron

Truxton

Truxton II

Turbo Out Run

Turtles

Tutankham

U.N Defense Force Earth Joker

Uncle Poo

Uniwar S

Uo Poko

Up N Down

Van Van Car

Vanguard

Vendetta

Venture

Viewpoint

Virtua Fighter

Virtua Striker

Virtua Tennis

Volfied

Vs Dr Mario

Vs Super Mario Bros

Vulcan Venture

Vulgus

Waku Waku 7

War of the Bugs

Wardner

Warlords

Warp and Warp

WEC Le Mans

Wild Riders

Windjammers

Wonderboy

Wonderboy in Monsterland

World Rally

WWF Wrestlefest

Xaind Sleena

Xenophobe

Xevious

X-Men

Yie Ar Kung Fu

Zaxxon

Zoo Keeper

 

[K1ngarth3r]

Thanks very much

 

[cosine]

Had this for a wee while now, it's a great app

 

[big10p]

OK, I'm obviously being a bit thick here, but how exactly does this work?

For example, I'm playing Bomb Jack on my cab and get a score of several million <cough> bullsh!t <cough>. I reach for my phone, and... then what?

Again, sorry for being thick, but my brain seems to be on a go-slow, today.

 

[Flinnster]

It's based on honesty / honour-system / not-being-a-tw@t for the moment.

It's an app for you to track your own scores, rather than needing to scribble on bits of paper or have a Shaun Holley style spreadsheet addiction, and to encourage some friendly competition.

Now, if you want to be the 12 year old that puts 999999999999 down on Daimakaimura, then you're going to look a bit of a plonker when you get invited to Arcade Club or wherever later on in the future for a tournament amongst the top 3 and can only get 12530

Eventually though, the very top entries will probably require proof via photo / video uplinks.

Flinnster2019-06-24 17:55:17

 

[Flinnster]

(Besides CharlieFar holds the #1 spot on all the games anywaaayyyyy....)

 

[onepunchrob]

I've had this for a while now after hearing about it on the tenpencearcade podcast. It's a nice little app for keeping all your scores to hand and seeing what everyone else is doing. It's good for things like the hi score comps on the podcast so you know what you have to beat

One thing I did wonder about though. There are a few games that differ in name, depending on the region, such as Nemesis/Gradius, Contra/Gryzor, etc. Should these both be added or grouped somehow if it's the exact same game. Obviously some may differ between regions, so can you have the same score there or should they be separate?

 

[big10p]

It's based on honesty / honour-system / not-being-a-tw@t for the moment.

It's an app for you to track your own scores, rather than needing to scribble on bits of paper or have a Shaun Holley style spreadsheet addiction, and to encourage some friendly competition.

Now, if you want to be the 12 year old that puts 999999999999 down on Daimakaimura, then you're going to look a bit of a plonker when you get invited to Arcade Club or wherever later on in the future for a tournament amongst the top 3 and can only get 12530

Eventually though, the very top entries will probably require proof via photo / video uplinks.

Ah, I see - cheers. But if CharlieFar's on it, I'm out.

Just kidding. I'll install it and have a look, but I haven't played any of my cabs for a while. Maybe this'll give me some incentive to fire one up.

 

[Steveylou]

I've had this app since the iOS version released. Fantastic work Rich

 

[Flinnster]

Just kidding. I'll install it and have a look, but I haven't played any of my cabs for a while. Maybe this'll give me some incentive to fire one up.

You will find the usuals on there on the friends list

Be good to get back to the old monthly social games we used to have over the road. Not that I've had much time recently either.

 

[big10p]

Just kidding. I'll install it and have a look, but I haven't played any of my cabs for a while. Maybe this'll give me some incentive to fire one up.

You will find the usuals on there on the friends list

Be good to get back to the old monthly social games we used to have over the road. Not that I've had much time recently either.

Yeah, the old J+ compo was a great incentive to get playing. Got the app installed now, so will try and see what you've been up to, Flinnster.

 

[ArcadeSidekick]

It's based on honesty / honour-system / not-being-a-tw@t for the moment.

It's an app for you to track your own scores, rather than needing to scribble on bits of paper or have a Shaun Holley style spreadsheet addiction, and to encourage some friendly competition.

Now, if you want to be the 12 year old that puts 999999999999 down on Daimakaimura, then you're going to look a bit of a plonker when you get invited to Arcade Club or wherever later on in the future for a tournament amongst the top 3 and can only get 12530

Eventually though, the very top entries will probably require proof via photo / video uplinks.

Yes let me clear things up a bit.

The app started as a personal way to track your scores. I then decided that among your friend groups your more likely to be able to trust everybody (i think), so i made it possible to add friends so you could see a friends leaderboards.

I then had overwhelming feedback that the users wanted global leaderboards, so i added them in with the caveat that there is no way to verify them.

What i have done is add the ability to assign 'Enemies' which are people who you think dont play fair, and they are not shown on leaderboards for you. Thats been my first attempt at making it more fair.

I do want to add photo submission along with the scores but verifying scores wont really be possible! But yes i will be adding photos at some point and so you'll be able to see who has photos and who doesnt, and maybe report people whos photos are clearly bad

Hope that helps! Thanks to everyone who has downloaded already!

 

[big10p]

Had a bit of a poke around in the app and it's really good.

A few questions:

If I add someone as a friend, is that person informed? Do they have the option to deny the request, to keep their score table private? Will I automatically be added to their friends list?

I ask as it would be good to be able to look at random peoples score tables without adding them as friends - just being nosey, like.

If not, it might be a good idea to have an option to make our own score tables public or keep them private for only friends to view.

As for scores, I assume it's OK to add ones that have been achieved on MAME and multiboards?

Cheers

 

[ArcadeSidekick]

There is no friend request, allow, deny public private etc, so yes you can be as sneaky as you like!

Yes i wanted people to be able to challenge themselves to beat other peoples scores who they don't know.

In terms of what scores you want to add, you can add whatever! there's no restriction, but just please be honest and keep it fair and fun! I am thinking about game settings etc as additional information against each score, but i haven't done that yet.