RealArcade News

2008-05-16T13:53:00.000-07:00

Ladies and Gentlemen!

It is my pleasure to announce the official launch of the New RealArcade!

You can start your upgrade process by clicking on this link.

If you have any questions about the upgrade feel free to contact Customer Service. Some answers may also be found in the Frequently Asked Questions list.

In celebration of our new release, we're giving away a free game to people that choose to upgrade to the New RealArcade! During your upgrade, you'll have the option to choose a free game from a list of several of our most popular titles. Enjoy!

Frequently Asked Questions About The New RealArcade

2008-05-01T11:48:00.000-07:00

The New RealArcade - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Contents

Q1: What will happen to the games I have purchased and installed when I update RealArcade?

Q2: Will I be able to download all of my older games when I switch over to the New RealArcade?

Q3: Will there be a download queue in the New RealArcade? Right now, games must be downloaded one at a time. Is this going to stay this way?

Q4: Where is the "Coming Soon" section in the New RealArcade?

Q5: What becomes of RealArcade if I do not want to upgrade?

Q6: I'm concerned that the next game I download will upgrade me and I don't want to be upgraded yet.

Q7: Will the new service work better with Vista?

Q8: What are the minimum requirements of the New RealArcade? Will I have to update my computer?

Q9: Will I be able to play my games off line?

Please check for updates as we continue to add to this list. For additional information, or to comment on these FAQs, visit our message boards.

Q1: What will happen to the games I have purchased and installed when I update RealArcade?

A: All of the games you have purchased and installed will be available from the MyGames section of the New RealArcade. If for some reason you need to find and redownload a game you have previously purchased, visit RealArcade's MyAccount.

Q2: Will I be able to download all of my older games when I switch over to the New RealArcade?

A: Every game you have purchased will be available for download just as before. If you would like to redownload a game you have already purchased, visit RealArcade's MyAccount. You will need your account email address and password.

Q3: Will there be a download queue in the New RealArcade? Right now, games must be downloaded one at a time. Is this going to stay this way?

A: We are actively working on getting this feature into the new software.

Q4: Where is the "Coming Soon" section in the New RealArcade?

A: It's still there! You'll see it at the bottom left of the new homepage for RealArcade.com.

Q5: What becomes of RealArcade if I do not want to upgrade?

A: We certainly hope you'll like the New RealArcade enough to upgrade. If you don't want to upgrade, you'll always be able to play the games you have already purchased and downloaded through your old RealArcade software. However, once most users are on the New RealArcade, you will no longer be able to download new games or purchase demo games through the old RealArcade.

The primary reason for this is that the old software cannot support many of the "behind the scenes" changes we have planned for soon after the New RealArcade is officially released. These changes include features that simply are not compatible with the old software.

Q6: I'm concerned that the next game I download will upgrade me and I don't want to be upgraded yet.

A: While we sincerely hope that you will want to upgrade as soon as possible, the decision on when to upgrade will always be your choice. If you start to upgrade and then decide you're not quite ready, we have built the upgrade experience to give you an opportunity to cancel and return later.

Keep in mind that once most users are on the New RealArcade, you will need to upgrade in order to download the latest games, or to buy full versions of the demo games you previously downloaded.

Q7: Will the new service work better with Vista?

A: The New RealArcade is fully Vista compatible. Some games, however, are not. Many of our games are produced by other companies, and sometimes there are games we like so much that we want to get them on RealArcade.com even if they will not work for every customer. Generally, this is true of older games only. If you are concerned about a particular game, we list the system requirements on the game's product page.

Q8: What are the minimum requirements of the New RealArcade? Will I have to update my computer?

A: Since the new RealArcade is web browser-based it should run perfectly fine on any Windows-based computer that can run a browser. (We're working on Mac support.)

Your best bet is to make sure your browser and operating system are fully updated before you upgrade to the New RealArcade. It should still run below the minimum requirements for the majority of our games. So if you can play our games, you can most likely run the New RealArcade as well.

Q9: Will I be able to play my games off line?

A: YES! When you upgrade there will be a new icon on your desktop for RealArcade and this can be opened when you're off line to access your "My Games" section. You won't be able to make purchases, browse the catalog or redownload games (obviously!) but you can play any of your games from there. Also, you can access your games from the start menu regardless of your online status.

A needle in a stack of needles...

2008-04-18T16:27:00.000-07:00

I've seen the RealArcade catalog grow over the years. I can imagine that it can be pretty intimidating for new users to search through all those game to find what they're looking for. When we set to the task of rebuilding RealArcade, one of our primary goals was to make our catalog easier to search through.

I've already introduced you to the recommendation module. Another tool to help you out is the Search box illustrated below:

If you know the name of the game you're looking for just type it in here and click "Search Games" or hit enter. What you get, is a new page with games listed that match your search. Here's what it might look like:

It's clean and easy to read but there is plenty of information there for you. This should make searching for specific games much much easier. Combined with the recommendation search this should be a big improvement (especially for new users) to our current lack of any sort of catalog search feature.

There you have it. Search in a nutshell. I have a long list of feature improvements to write about so keep checking here. Also I try to spend some time each day on the message boards (located here) listening to what our customers have to say about the upcoming update. I'm putting together a list of common questions from there and I'll be posting that in this blog soon and yes...I'll be including answers! So if you have any questions make your voice heard on the boards so we can get your input.

Just to let you know....

2008-04-08T13:32:00.000-07:00

We can see that traffic to this blog has jumped up a bit lately so I just wanted to pop in and remind people what's going on here.

If you're looking at the screenshots below and wondering, "Wow, what is that! My RealArcade doesn't look like that!" then you're still on a previous version of RealArcade. Have no fear, the new stuff you're seeing here will be available to you soon and my goal with this blog is to give you a preview of what's coming. Keep checking here as I update this blog with new info about the update leading all the way up to the official release day (we have no official date set yet, but will let you know when we do).

If you're looking at this stuff and thinking, "I already see this every day!" then you're already using the latest version of RealArcade and will probably recognize much of the stuff I'm showing off here.

Either way, if you want to get better acquainted with the new RealArcade then this will be the place to get the latest news on that.

Preview: What the new RealArcade will look like

2008-04-01T12:02:00.000-07:00

So today I'm just going to jump right to the good stuff. The eye candy.
I mentioned before that we've made major cosmetic upgrades to RealArcade but I think the best way to explain what I mean by that is to show you. So, here are some screenshots that will give you an idea of what to expect when this update starts rolling out.

We've already given you a preview of the home page but if you don't feel like scrolling down here it is again.

Most of the new features are visible there for you. Also you'll see many familiar faces. I'll be explaining them in detail over the next few weeks. For now though just have a look at the new layout: uncluttered, simple and useful. We've trimmed off some of the less important info and added lots of useful bits while making the whole page seem less wordy.

Here is a look at what your game collection will look like in the new RealArcade

Again here the focus was to keep the page free of useless clutter and to make it easy to navigate. Games are still clearly labeled as demos or purchased games. Your remaining trial time is displayed prominently and you can start your purchase right from this page. With our new streamlined pages you can do everything here without having to open a second panel or clicking through multiple menus. I'm sure you've noticed that you can now uninstall games right from the MyGames page as well, instead of having to navigate to it.

Even with the new facelift and improved interface, RealArcade is still a completely self-contained service. You can browse, download, install, purchase, play, uninstall and redownload all of your games from inside RealArcade.

In our effort to make information more accessible we've added a few gizmos to our service that will make browsing our selection easier overall. A great example of that is our new mouse-over bubbles.

This feature allows you to get a quick glance of a game description without having to click anything at all! Just hold your mouse pointer over a game icon for a couple of seconds, then a short and sweet game description pops up to give you an idea of what the game is about. This should make scanning through our massive game selection a little easier on your clicker finger as well as making the whole process of shopping for games a little faster.

Well there you have it. A little preview of what the new RealArcade will look like. Over the next few weeks I'll be getting down and dirty with the details of these changes. As always I'm open to feed back from our customers. Buuuuuuut....As of right this moment I'm waiting to get an employee account for our Real Arcade Message Boards and as soon as that's available I'll start up some topics and start fielding questions about the new service.

UPDATE: I now have my account set up on the RealArcade forums. I'll be posting as NHernandez so feel free to ask me questions about the new service there.

Let's get this party started!

2008-03-27T16:18:00.000-07:00

Greetings to you all. My name is Nick Hernandez and I’m a Community Rep here at RealArcade and I’m here to talk about our coming update to the RealArcade service. There’s going to be a load of changes with this new version and I’ll be introducing you to each bell and whistle over the next few weeks. I’ll also be available to answer any questions or field any comments you might have regarding our new service. Seriously, go crazy.

I’ll start with just a summary of what we’re up to along with a little history.

First a little background, the short version. A few years ago some people here at Real decided that our RealArcade software was getting a little old. So we figured it was time to give our service a face-lift. We got together some programmers and designers and basically rebuilt the entire program from the ground up. The end result is so different and so much better than our original RealArcade we set up this blog to help present these changes to our customers.

The greatest of these changes is the transition from a downloaded piece of software to a completely web based service. The individual games will still be downloaded and played right from your computer but the service will be accessed through your web browser. The advantage is that our whole catalog will reside on our website instead of having to be downloaded each time you access the service. I know you’re excited to hear that! Also, we will be able to release updates with new games and features without needing to release a downloaded update. This will make future changes easier to implement and we can more readily adapt RealArcade to meet your needs. Wins all around!

The new web based service is just the framework though. We’ve also updated RealArcade to make it easier to use. We’ve made GamePass credits easier to manage. Also, we’ve made substantial cosmetic improvements. In addition, I’m sure you’ll be relieved to hear that GamePass itself is not changing at all. The service remains the same and you’ll still be able to access the games you’ve already purchased from the new site. You’ll just be accessing them in a much more attractive way with pretty floating widgets and gadgets and such.

That’s just a taste of the improvements we’ve made to RealArcade. There will be more tasty improvements to come in future installments. I might even be motivated enough to include some screenshots. Until then feel free to post any questions you have in our forums. I'll be cruising through there each day to help people get to know the new RealArcade.

Farewell fellow gamers!

(More) Changes Coming

2008-03-25T14:51:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

Wanted to give you a quick update on the status of the new site and service. We're continuing to move forward, and we hope you'll like it as much as we do. Still have a few things to work out, but more and more users will be able to get to the new site/service soon.

On that note, we're also going to introduce a few process changes to this blog, as well. First, and more important, I've recruited some help from among our staff. Not quite final yet, but I'm very hopeful that there will be someone posting more frequent updates, etc., here soon.

Next, in an effort to streamline certain aspects of our communications with you, we're going to be directing comments about our posts to the Real message boards. We'll turn off comments here, but provide you with links back to message board threads. The main reason for that is that it gives us a better log of all your comments, and should help us be more responsive to your concerns.

Finally, I just wanted to say a quick thanks to those of you who've written and posted here. We as a company and myself personally really appreciate your loyalty and commitment to us, and want you to know that we're doing our best to incorporate all of your thoughts and feedback into our products and services.

On that note ... please post comments below with any questions/concerns.

Thanks,

Matt

Sneak Peek - New Home Page

2008-02-05T19:00:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

To whet your appetite, here's a peek at the new RealArcade.com home page. Keep in mind that only some users will see this right away. If you're reading this, there's a good chance you're one of them!

Hope to update with more info soon,
Matt

New Website is Coming!

2008-01-24T15:09:00.000-08:00

Hello again from the RealArcade Team,

As some of you know, we've been running a limited test of a new version of our service and website for the past several months.

Some of you are already using this new site and service. If you're reading this, there's a good chance that you're one of those people (HINT: if you go to realarcade.com and see navigation along the left side of the page, you're using the new version).

Based on your feedback, we've made some exciting (well, we think they're exciting ... hope you agree with us) changes to the new website. So, in just a few weeks, we'll have a "new, new website" up and running.

What's new? Well, funny you should ask that! We'll be posting some highlights, screen shots, and previews of our new site to this blog. Please check back for updates.

So, what do you think? Please post any questions/comments below and we'll do our best to answer.

We look forward to building you the best games service on the web in 2008!

Matt

2008-01-24T13:20:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the RealArcade blog!

On behalf of all of us here at RealArcade, I'd like to welcome you to our blog.

We have some exciting changes coming in the few months, including a redesigned website and other improvements to the RealArcade service.

Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns by commenting below our posts, or by contacting us via the information found here.

We look forward to an exciting 2008!

Sincerely,
Matt