Arcade expert and hot sauce mogul Billy Mitchell made a name for himself by earning record-breaking scores in games like Pac-Man and BurgerTime. Two years ago, de facto scorekeeper Twin Galaxies stripped Mitchell of his Donkey Kong records after concluding that his most recent score was not achieved on authentic arcade hardware. (Guinness also stripped him of his records.) Mitchell refuted this, and in September of 2019, the gamer and his lawyer announced they’d be taking Twin Galaxies to court, after claiming that the company had defamed his name. According to Ars Technica, Mitchell had, in fact, already filed suit in April of 2019, as to avoid California’s statute of limitations running its course. The case was served to Twin Galaxies this February, and a hearing will be held in July. While this all seems rather silly, the outcome could have lasting implications for the arcade gaming community.

Twin Galaxies was careful in its wording that explained why Mitchell’s records were being removed and why he was being banned from submitting further scores, but the “King of Kong” still takes the claim as a defamatory accusation of cheating. Twin Galaxies says that the court deciding in Mitchell’s favor “would have chilling effects on the freedom of speech.” In other words, things could get messy for Twin Galaxies and other record-keeping organizations if Mitchell’s case sets a precedent, as just about anyone with an axe to grind could take such a group to court.

Originally released in 1996, House of the Dead leans hard into its campy style. The stories, characters and dialog are absurd, but in the best way possible. Notably, many of the zombies in the games are fast-moving, which was unheard of in the mid ’90s, long before 28 Days Later, which brought agile undead to the big screen. Speaking of, House of the Dead also has the dubious honor of being adapted into a movie by infamous director Uwe Boll.

A few weeks ago, Polish website Graczpospolita reported on an unverified claim that Forever Entertainment would publish remakes of the first two games in the series. These new versions will feature improved graphics and some slight gameplay tweaks, according to the post. This didn’t sound far fetched; the same company is working on remakes of Sega’s cult rail-shooter games Panzer Dragoon and Panzer Dragoon: Zwei. Forever Entertainment confirmed the rumors on Twitter and elaborated that “No platforms or release dates have been confirmed,” so it sounds like the games won’t be released anytime soon.

When playing light gun games like House of the Dead, arcade goers aim plastic guns at the screen and shoot attacking enemies and hide behind cover. Light gun accessories were often available for older consoles, and the Nintendo Wii’s remote could function as a similar device. The peripherals eventually fell out of style. Plus, light guns — which were built around CRT technology — don’t work on modern TVs (though a recent Kickstarter campaign hopes to rectify that problem). The only current system that could create a similar experience is the PlayStation 4, thanks to its Move controllers. So it seems like a safe bet that the remakes will at least come to that console.

PC versions are additional possibilities. A version with mouse controls would work, but may be too easy. VR versions of the game would be a better option, since the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and Valve Index all have motion controls (not to mention better performance than the PS Move controllers).

That said, we have yet to see Microsoft’s or Sony’s next-gen consoles which will hit shelves late next year. If the PlayStation 5 and Project Scarlett are compatible with motion controllers, the games could also be published on those platforms.

The Graczpospolita report states that Forever Entertainment is aiming to release the first House of the Dead remake in late 2020. In the meantime, Sega fans can get their fix with the Genesis Mini, which features classic 16-bit games like Gunstar Heroes and Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master.

The first collection, Arcade Classics, comprises a bumper pack of Konami’s 1980s hits, including Haunted Castle, A-Jax, Gradius, Gradius 2, Life Force, Thunder Cross, Scramble and TwinBee. This one goes on digital sale on April 18 for the reasonable price of $20.

Next up, and arriving in “early summer,” is the Castlevania: Anniversary Collection. This will also include eight titles, four of which have been confirmed: Castlevania (NES), Castlevania 2: Belmont’s Revenge (Game Boy), Castlevania 3: Dracula’s Curse (NES) and Super Castlevania 4 (Super NES). Most of these have been accessible before in some shape or form, but having them on Switch and other contemporary platforms is a nice addition to the Konami catalogue.

The Contra: Anniversary Collection will also arrive in early summer, again an eight-title collection, with confirmed games including Contra (arcade), Super Contra (arcade), Super C (NES), and Contra 3: The Alien Wars (Super NES) — a great pickup for retro enthusiasts.

Konami says that each collection will come with a digital book that features behind-the-scenes notes, never-before seen design sketches and interviews with development staff. While it’s not yet clear which other titles will round out the Castlevania and Contra collections, Konami certainly has a decent catalogue to choose from. It would be great to see Vampire Killer for the MSX2 on a modern platform, for example.