Capcom Arcade Stadium hits PC in May and will charge you to cheat

Capcom Arcade Stadium released for Nintendo Switch earlier this year, and as of May 25 it’ll be available on Steam. Just like the Switch version, it’ll release as a free container app with one game—1943: The Battle of Midway—and if you want more you’ll need to purchase packs for $15 each, or $40 for all three. It’s not a bad deal, and more packs are promised in the future. 

It’s neat news for anyone with a lingering fondness for ye olde arcade games, and it comes with a bunch of quality of life improvements. You’ll be able to rewind your game if you screw up, adjust the speed of the game, and there’s save and reload functionality. Each game gets an online leaderboard and local multiplayer where supported, and there are emulation display options too, like adding scanlines. There is one snag though: Capcom wants you to cough up extra money if you want to cheat.

In a new ‘additional features’ trailer today Capcom has proudly announced that “with paid DLC” you can enjoy invincibility across all games in the pack. Also, you can purchase extra display frames, which are basically the art that appears behind the 4:3 aspect ratio gameplay windows.

It seems a bit stingy. The concept of paying for cheats seemed fanciful not long ago - now it’s the norm. Also: For some people these retro collections are less games to be played and more artefacts to be pored over. Cheats like this can be helpful if you want to sample history without coping with these games’ often punishing (and coin hungry) difficulty. At the time of writing, no word on how much this cheat will cost.

The three packs are sorted by period: 1984-1988, 1989-1992 and 1992-2001. Here’s what’s in them:

 

Dawn of the Arcade (1984-1988)
Vulgus
Pirate Ship Higemaru
1942
Tatakai no Banka
Legendary Wings
Bionic Commando
Forgotten Worlds
Ghouls ‘n Ghosts

Arcade Revolution (1989 to 1992)
Strider
Dynasty Wars
Final Fight
1941: Counter Attack
Senjo no Okami II
Mega Twins
Carrier Air Wing
Street Fighter II: The World Warrior
Captain Commando
Varth: Operation Thunderstorm

Arcade Evolution (1992 to 2001)
Warriors of Fate
Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting
Super Street Fighter II Turbo
Powered Gera: Strategic Variant Armor Equipment
Cyberbots: Fullmetal Madness
19XX: The War Against Destiny
Battle Circuit
Giga Wing
1944: The Loop Master
Progea