What is this all about?


Huh?... QUAKE Arcade Tournament Edition !?!...What is this all about you ask?

Well, this blog is really just a work in progress at the moment.

As it grows, I am going to attempt to create a sort of historical record for this very short lived commerical ARCADE game from 1998.

Many are not even aware of the existence of such a thing and many don't even believe there ever was a special edition of QUAKE specifically made for commercial Arcade play.

The game was housed in a full sized upright arcade cabinet with a 27" 640x480 VGA display screen and a custom Trackball controller setup with 7 separate action buttons. It ran on a custom PC known as the Quantum3D Quicksilver Arcade PC. While that may sound impressive, this was 1998 and in reality it was only a 266 MHz Pentium II running under Windows 95!! However, with its custom graphics card setup it was pretty high end for the time... especially in an Arcade cabinet. The setup also contained a proprietary I/O card known as the Quantum3D Game Control Interface or GCI.

This game is noted (on KLOV and other lists) as being one of the RAREST Arcade games ever created. Hence, there is a large amount of people that believe this is some kind of hoax and that it NEVER existed, or that it never made it past the prototyping stage.

The rumour also claims that there were only 20 working cabinets ever manufactured. However, this appears to be completely false in that there are countless accounts of this game having been seen and played all over North America over the years. What this rumour does NOT take into account is that the game was actually marketed for the most part as a RETRO CONVERSION KIT for commercial arcade owners who already were in possession of useable cabinets and parts to complete a Quake Arcade Tournament Edition installation.

I believe the reason that the rumour began is that the Laser-Tron partnership (see posts on custom cabinet below) was in fact VERY SHORT LIVED. What many failed to realize though is that the Laser-Tron fully complete cabinet ($7,500 in 1998 dollars) was only 1 of 3 ways that the game was being marketed to arcade owners. Yes, the white Lazer-Tron cabinet is in fact very rare, but the game itself actually got out there, mainly as a retro conversion kit from LBE Systems & Opus Entertainment. However, given that we are now talking about 1998, it might as well have been a lifetime ago,.... and memories fade..... and cabinets and original parts end up crushed, in landfills, or gathering layers of dust in basements and storage units.

Taking an educated guess, I think that probably a couple hundred of these units (in CONVERSION KIT form) made it out across North America back in the day. So, YES it is STILL a very rare Arcade game... whether the real number is 20 or 200.

Anyway... More detail later.

Quantum3D & Acclaim Europe Press Release

Although the following is not specifically related to Quake:ATE, here is the text from another Quantum3D Press Release from around the same time period advising on another partnership where variations of the Quicksilver Arcade PC were planning on being used for other gaming platforms....

Quantum3D(TM) and Acclaim(R) Entertainment Join Forces to Deliver PC-Based Coin-Op Systems in Europe


ATEI, LONDON, Jan. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Acclaim(R) Coin-Operated
Entertainment, Inc. announced today that it has selected the Quantum3D(TM),
Inc. Quicksilver(TM), a PC-based realtime 3D visual computing platform, as the
foundation for their new arcade PC system, Acclaim Arcade PC(TM). Based on the
Open Arcade Architecture (OAA) platform specification, the Quicksilver system
is targeted for cost-sensitive visual computing applications such as coin-op,
location-based entertainment, visual simulation and training. The system
allows consumer level game developers access to coin-op venues as a means to
market their new titles, and coin-op developers can deploy their titles to the
PC-based home market with minimal porting issues and loss in game fidelity.
     Acclaim will be among the first companies worldwide to ship OAA-compliant
coin-operated games and systems using Quantum3D's Quicksilver. The system
utilizes the Obsidian(TM) 100SB graphics board and Game Control Interface
(GCI(TM)), both are reference level hardware peripherals in the OAA platform
specification.
     "Acclaim selected Quantum3D's PC-based Quicksilver systems with return on
investment in mind," said Leon Deith, sales director for Acclaim Coin-Operated
Entertainment, Inc. "Using the Quicksilver system, our Arcade PC will launch
an exciting new arcade game, Wipe Out Arcade, the first in a whole new
generation of graphically advanced and varied titles on a changeable CD
system. This method is easier and cheaper than PCBs and cartridges, with the
longevity and upgradability of a PC."
     The Acclaim Arcade PC is geared to deliver outstanding arcade quality
graphics while leveraging the flexibility of the PC. The Arcade PC's games can
be changed by the simple means of a new software upgrade. Operators using
Acclaim's unit can receive new games on a CD-ROM and are easily installed. By
utilizing the technology of the Quicksilver system, the Arcade PC arcade games
can now take full advantage of the networking capability and open architecture
of the PC.
     The Quicksilver system, which is now shipping, is available in either
commercial or industrial enclosures. For PC-based coin-op applications, the
Quicksilver QS233G, packaged in a commercial mid-tower chassis with additional
cooling for coin-op enclosures, is based on the Intel(R) 440LX chipset and
includes a 233MHz Intel Pentium(R) II processor, 32 Megabytes of SDRAM,
Microsoft Windows(R) 95, a 3.1GB EIDE hard drive, 24x CD-ROM drive, 1.44MB
floppy drive, Yamaha 3D audio subsystem, Intel Pro 10/100 PCI Ethernet network
interface card (NIC), Quantum3D Obsidian 100SB realtime 3D graphics
accelerator and the Quantum3D GCI, a unique, low-cost realtime I/O subsystem
designed to interface coin-op control devices to the PC. Other configurations
and options, including 266MHz and 300MHz Pentium II processors, multiprocessor
and rack-mount systems are also available.     "We are excited about the progress being made by manufacturers such as
Quantum3D, who are developing systems based on the Open Arcade Architecture
specification," said Albert Teng, director of arcade market development for
Intel Corporation. "With the new Quicksilver system, now there is a widely
available OAA compliant platform on the market giving coin-op game developers
new opportunities to develop for PC-based arcade systems."
     "The coin-op industry is rapidly moving toward PC-based systems for their
overall re-usability and cost-effectiveness, and Quantum3D has experience in
both PC-based realtime 3D graphics and coin-op platform development," said Bob
DeKett, director of business development for Quantum3D. "In addition to our
complete line of realtime 3D accelerators and our Game Control Interface
technology, we now can offer companies such as Acclaim, complete integrated
systems. Our focus on providing the cost-effective, high-performance systems
that are tailored for the needs of the coin-op market will enable us to become
the largest provider of integrated visual computing systems for the coin-op
and LBE industry."

     About the Products
     Based on the Open Arcade Architecture (OAA) platform specification, the
Quicksilver system is designed for cost-sensitive visual computing
applications including coin-op, location-based entertainment (LBE), visual
simulation and training. The OAA specifications were developed to bring the
benefits of the PC infrastructure to the coin-op and LBE industries. First,
game developers can develop and deploy their games on the same platform which
reduces the cost of creating a game by decreasing development time and by
virtually eliminating porting time. Secondly, the combination of the
Quicksilver platform using Quantum3D technology and the Pentium(R) II
processor, gives more developers the opportunity to launch their titles into
the "big-screen" video game venues that include coin-op/arcade and LBE
markets. Third, coin-op game developers may create content with the knowledge
that similar performance levels will be available on consumer-level PCs within
12 months. More information on the OAA specification may be found on the World
Wide Web at http://www.openarcade.com.
     At the heart of Quicksilver is Quantum3D's Obsidian 100SB-4440V realtime
3D graphics accelerator. Optimized for running exclusive-mode applications
under Microsoft Direct3D, 3Dfx Interactive Glide, and OpenGL  3D APIs, the
Obsidian 100SB-4440V employs a scan-line-interleaved, 6-chip implementation of
3Dfx Interactive's Voodoo Graphics technology that maximizes the use of the
chipset's patented "texture streaming" architecture to produce 2.4 Gigabytes
per second of dedicated graphics memory bandwidth. Such low-latency bandwidth
enables the 100SB-4440V to deliver filtered texture fill rate performance of
90 Megapixels per second, with trilinear filtering with per pixel LOD mip
mapping, z-buffering, alpha blending, perspective correction and per pixel fog
enabled -- significantly exceeding the performance delivered by all other PC
graphics accelerators, as well as most graphics workstations and image
generators, irrespective of cost. The 100SB-4440V also features simultaneous
TV-out and a unique on-board authentication feature designed to enhance the
protection of coin-op games, visualization applications and other proprietary
software from software pirates.
     Also key to the Quicksilver system is Quantum3D's GCI -- a unique,
low-cost subsystem designed to interface coin-op and industrial input/output
control devices to personal computers. GCI bridges the gap between traditional
arcade style controls such as joysticks, steering wheels, buttons, and
coin-mechanisms and the PC. With support for Microsoft's DirectInput along
with Quantum3D's own Game Control Library, GCI allows developers to design
video games for "out-of-home" venues without worrying about the specific
electrical and mechanical aspects of I/O devices increasing productivity and
speeding up time to market.
     Pricing for entry level Quicksilver systems for coin-op applications, the
QS233G, which includes an Intel 233MHz Pentium-II processor, an Obsidian
100SB-4400V realtime 3D accelerator, and GCI starts at $3,195. The Quicksilver
system is available now in volume quantities from Quantum3D for coin-op, LBE
and visual simulation developers, VARs and integrators.

     About the Companies
     Quantum3D, headquartered in Santa Clara, California, develops and markets
price/performance leading solutions for the advanced visual computing
marketplace. Quantum3D focuses on delivering "Affordable Reality(TM)"
solutions, which include the Quicksilver(TM) line of integrated PC-based
visual computing systems, the Obsidian  family of realtime 3D graphics
accelerators for PC-based coin-op/LBE, visual simulation and training, and
digital content visualization markets, and the Ventana(TM) and MGX(TM)
families of low-cost, high performance, true-color graphics accelerators for
RISC and Intel Architecture-based workstations. In addition, Quantum3D markets
realtime 3D scene management and visualization software including OpenGVS(TM)
realtime 3D scene management API from Gemini Technology, Inc. and the
RealiStorm(TM) realtime visualization plug-in software from RealiMation, Inc.
Quantum3D also markets the GCI(TM) and Gameframe(TM) family of realtime input
products, related tools and subsystems that enable its customers to exploit
the full capabilities of the company's systems and graphics hardware products.
Quantum3D is manufacturer member of AMOA and IAAPA, and is a charter member of
the Open Arcade Architecture forum.
     Acclaim Entertainment is based in Glen Cove, NY. Acclaim Entertainment,
Inc. is a leading worldwide publisher of software for Nintendo, Sony, Sega and
personal computer hardware systems. Acclaim also publishes comic books,
develops coin-operated arcade games, operates motion capture studios and
distributes a variety of entertainment software from other publishers
worldwide. Visit Acclaim's Web site, www.acclaimnation.com.
     NOTE:  Quantum3D, the Quantum3D logo, Obsidian, GCI, Quicksilver, Heavy
Metal and Affordable Reality are trademarks of Quantum3D, Inc. Acclaim Arcade
PC, Acclaim Entertainment and the Acclaim logo are trademarks of Acclaim
Entertainment, Inc. Voodoo Graphics is a trademark of 3Dfx Interactive. Intel
and Pentium are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation. Microsoft and
Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. All other
trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective
manufacturers.



SOURCE  Quantum3D Inc.