We’ve had some picture-y updates lately. Let’s try a word-y update today.
I have a tendency to think in trilogies. Anyone who’s been following my novel-writing career (normal-type novels, not visual novels) knows that. What starts as a one-off project soon escalates into a trilogy, or a quadrilogy, or… whatever the hell Anachronauts ended up being. I think the only books I’ve written which were proper one-and-ones were my earliest ones, Unreal Estate and Sailor Nothing.
(Those links go to free online versions of these books, sooo, if you’re waiting for Arcade Spirits to be released and need something to do… go for it. I also trilogy’d it up with City of Angles and Floating Point more recently. Plug plug plug.)
So obviously, I’ve pondered — what would a trilogy of Arcade Spirits look like, if this game is successful enough to merit another dip in the pool…?
Most of my trilogies center on escalating threats — they start small, with local problems to deal with, then scale up to national, then international or pandimensional. But I think AS is less about threats and more about communities, cultures, and aspects of arcade life. And I’ve already given serious thought to what games two and three might be like.
Each game would have a new protagonist and mostly a new cast of characters, but Iris would be thread that links them all together. You’d have an Iris in each one, since she’s tied to our game mechanics (the identity identifier system). Characters may guest star in future games, of course, and I can remember your decisions between games.
The first game, the one you’re all waiting for, is centered on running an arcade. Customer service, making management decisions, trying to ensure everybody has fun. You’re getting a behind the scenes peek few gamers get a look at.
“Super Arcade Spirits II Turbo” would likely be centered on the gamers themselves, notably in the professional bracket, people who make gameplay their living through streaming or team sponsorships. Pick your playstyle, build a rapport with teammates and fellow gamers, etc.
“Arcade Spirits III: The Final Quickening: Revengeance” or whatever it’d end up being called would be centered on game developers, trying to make the next big indie arcade hit. You’d be on a team of artists, coders, writers, business folks, etc. aiming to take the arcade world by storm.
Because it’s me we’re talking about, throughout all the games, we’d have a running plot arc in the background which builds and builds, until it reaches a climax in the final game… buuuut… to say more would be a spoiler.
All of this is pure and wild speculation. The future could end up completely different. If the game doesn’t pay for itself and then some there might not BE a future. So, if you want to see more Arcade Spirits beyond this first experience… well, you know what to do. Like, share, subscribe, smash that bell, hit the streets, shout from the rooftops, carve it into the flesh of your enemies, etc. Let’s make this future happen!