Namco is making a new Star Wars Machine

[Vigo]

I didn't see it mentioned here yet, but new star wars cab in the works. I guess the unveiling is tomorrow.


http://www.polygon.com/2014/10/2/6888543/bandai-namco-unveiling-a-new-star-wars-arcade-machine-next-week


Bets on whether it will be awesome or blow chunks?

[lilshawn]

Initially it will be awesome, but then when the wedding night is over...people will realize it blows chunks.

it will start to be a rehash of the classic vector game, but will be done so poorly that you wonder why they'd tried at all. after the completion of the "classic" level you will be presented with a game of a different type. (side scroller or top down first person, what have you) where you will feel such a disconnect from the action that keeps changing you cease trying to play. (or you continue to play to see what other crap they came up with)

overall it will be a 4  out of 10 mainly due to hardcore star wars fans going ape ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- for it, but everyone else seeing it for what it is...a lackluster follow up to an otherwise okay game.

timestamp for the future.

[pbj]

I'll never see one in person, much less ever play it, so I guess it doesn't matter either way.

[Vigo]

I personally think if they do anything but a strict dog fighting game, it will be mediocre at best. There are numerous linkable racing cabs, I would love to see a linkable x-wing vs tie fighter machine. Allow co-op missions where you are on the same squadron, or do head to head combat with the other player.

[Cobolisdead]

I really liked the 90's Arcade game, but I have to admit to never seeing nevertheless playing an 1983 Star Wars Arcade machine. I am quite curious to what this will be.

[BadMouth]

It will be more like a kiddie ride that stops every couple minutes until you insert a dollar to continue.
The skill of the person on the kiddie ride will not be relevant.

[Sjaak]

Rumors are that it is based on Mach Storm, so probably an x wing simulation on a big dome screen

[eds1275]

It will be more like a kiddie ride that stops every couple minutes until you insert a dollar to continue.

This is a branded machine... it'll take BILLS!

[SavannahLion]

It will be more like a kiddie ride that stops every couple minutes until you insert a dollar to continue.

This is a branded machine... it'll take BILLS!

None of my children are named BILL. If I want to play this game will I have to change the name of all my kids or will they accept other children?

[eds1275]

If they fit in the slot I think it's all good.

[PL1]

It will be more like a kiddie ride that stops every couple minutes until you insert a dollar to continue.

This is a branded machine... it'll take BILLS!

None of my children are named BILL. If I want to play this game will I have to change the name of all my kids or will they accept other children?

The mechs are adjustable and swappable (to accept different species) as shown n these pics by BEGINSTUDIO and Generic Eric.   

 


Scott

[Cynicaster]

It will be more like a kiddie ride that stops every couple minutes until you insert a dollar to continue.
The skill of the person on the kiddie ride will not be relevant.

My thoughts exactly.  That late 90's "Star Wars Trilogy" game was like this.  There is no technique or skill involved; it's just "ooo, aaah, cool Star Wars graphics and sounds!"  Take away those things and there is absolutely nothing left.  Nowadays, those graphics aren't even impressive anymore, so that "game" is completely worthless in my opinion. 

A few weeks ago I played this great big Transformers arcade game when I found myself in a "ticket-spitter" arcade.  The game cost me about 5 tokens and it was absolutely horrible.  You just move these "crosshairs" around a screen and pull a trigger while a pre-scripted "movie" plays out.  I can't believe this is considered to be progress. 

[Le Chuck]

http://www.polygon.com/2014/10/8/6947239/star-wars-arcade-machine-star-wars-battle-pod

[Vigo]

So...............................................................................................is it even a game? 

[JimmyU]

It looks like it's going to be a variation of also released by Namco.
Or if you go further back, Galaxian³.

[SavannahLion]

So...............................................................................................is it even a game? 

Let's see what the article says .To make things easier, I put the important bits in bold. Let us review, shall we?

Japanese game-maker Bandai Namco did the almost unthinkable today, it unveiled a brand new Star Wars-themed arcade machine.

At a time when the golden age of arcades is a distant memory, the publisher behind Ace Combat, Dark Souls, Dragon Ball and, yes, Pac-Man, held a nearly hour-long event on the eve of New York Comic-Con to unveil their new machine destined for what few arcades remain.

Star Wars: Battle Pod, is a dome screen arcade system designed to offer gamers ban experience they can "only dream of." It's a game, according to the company, that you don't just play, you experience.

The Battle Pod is a single seat space flight sim that uses a curved screen to drop players into the game, and the movies. Players sit inside the pod, using a flight stick and throttle to fly and fight their way through the Star Wars franchise.

The domed screen works in conjunction with a seat that reacts to explosions, special fans that blow air, vibrating controllers and 5.1 sound. The vibration, air gusts and sound turn the game into an incredible Star Wars "toy," they said.

Settings in the Unreal Engine 3-powered game will include Yavin, Hoth, Endor, the Death Star 2 and players will be able to pilot a snow speeder, X-Wing, speeder bike and the Millennium Falcon. The game will also feature a final "Vader's Revenger" stage which has the Sith lord trying to take out the Death Star in an Advanced TIE Fighter.

The game will start to hit arcades this coming January, but if you're in New York you'll be able to check the game out at the Midtown Dave & Busters. The machines will be there starting tonight until Nov. 2.

I'd say this is slightly more than a rail shooter. I read the article twice to make sure that Smell-o-vision wasn't integrated into their "experience".

Checked out my local redemption place recently and mentally inventoried the non-ticket spitters there. All but three were "Rail shooter" type games. This new Star Wars sounds like it's explicitly designed for that kind of place. A bunch of ---smurfing--- losers shoving 8 tokens into a machine for a 55 second "ride".

[Cobolisdead]

Ehh, it could be fun. If I see it, I will definitely give it a try. Not likely though since most of the arcades around here won't carry anything new like this.

[Generic Eric]

I hope it's not like that new batman game.

[Sjaak]

[Cobolisdead]

Doesn't look that bad, but the voices are wrong.

[Generic Eric]

So an "on rails shooter"  with very specific hardware?  Not unlike any gun game.  There aren't any games around where I am, not until you are about 2.5 hours away.  That is why I am hoping for a PC port.

[pbj]

Looks fun as hell if you ask me.

 

I only ever saw one Galaxian 3... and they were dismantling the damned thing.   

[keilmillerjr]

Star Wars is too little kid oriented after the origional trilogy. Disney even acquired Lucas film in 2012. Not enthused.

[RandyT]

I'm not a huge SW fan, but I do have a soft spot for rail shooters.  Panzer Dragoon anyone?

I'm with PBJ.  Looks like a fun game that's pretty well done.  I doubt I'll see one in the flesh, but I would guess that a console / PC version will follow when the arcade revenue dwindles.  It would be great on a projector

[Le Chuck]

Hells yeah to a PC port, if they port I'll slap this in Starfighter and rock out.  Looks like it might be the game that Trilogy should have been and lets be honest, I still enjoy Tril even if it is only one layer deep. 

I'm still mad tho that the other Namco shooters like Deadstorm Pirates haven't made it to PC tho.   

[wp34]

I'll play that for a dollar.  Looks awesome. 

Hopefully it will be in Mame before I turn 60.   

[Vigo]

A little too much "rail" for my taste, but I get why they did it, and I will give it a go if the local Dave and Busters gets one. I am just glad it is actually a game at this point. From the press release, it sounded more like one of those "virtual roller coaster" rides. Where they blow wind at you and rock the seat when watching a video.

Anyone else think WTF with the vader's revenge level?

The game will also feature a final "Vader's Revenge" stage which has the Sith lord trying to take out the Death Star in an Advanced TIE Fighter.

 

[BadMouth]

Since you can't really fail, the object of the game is to rack up the highest score possible by destroying enemy craft and getting combo bonuses through quick kill streaks.

Kiddie ride.

I like the hardware though.

[dkersten]

Looks fun to me.  I would even pay a couple bucks for a 4 minute "ride".  I would love to see a PC port with triple screen support.  I would get off my lazy butt and build my sit down racer cab AND buy a good set of flight controls, just to play a game like this at home, especially if it had some extended game play.  As it is, I bet you couldn't get more than 45 minutes of sequential gameplay out of it before it was just repetitive, but a good, high action space shooter on a wrap around screen would be fun as hell to play. 

[opt2not]

It would be great on a projector

Or the Oculus Rift

[Rick]

Or the Oculus Rift

You mean like this one?



(FYI, playing Half-Life 2 gives me motion sickness after 45 minutes. It's awesome.)

[RandyT]

Or the Oculus Rift

The 3D glasses may be a little too immersive for some things.  Great for 1st person stuff, but unless the actual cockpit/forward portion of the vehicle of is rendered (ala certain views from car racing games) and moved relative to head position, the effect wouldn't be optimal.  There's something to be said for wrap around (or very large) screens and having the actual controls and panel visible in the real world for simulations where these are necessary.

[opt2not]

For rail games, 3D glasses is perfect. It's actually tough to play full-on FPS' or games that are not on rails or track with the immersion of 3D mainly because of the control scheme. Moving your character's position in 3D space, while looking in another gets really disorienting.

My ex-employer was working on some 3D glasses projects and I was able to playtest a few of them. There was a ski game that was similar to SSX, very tough to master due to the aforementioned issue with disorientation. Another was a Racing type game, which worked out really well with the glasses, and the last was a helicopter simulator (complete with Collective, Cyclic and Antitorque controls) that also worked out really well, though mainly because helicopters don't move too quickly in full 3D space so it was easy for your brain to adjust on-the-fly to the direction/orientation changes.

But a game on rails is definitely the best usage, mainly because you don't have to control your orientation/positioning, it's just look in the direction you want while riding a "rollercoaster".

Battle Pod looks like it's pretty much a rail game, but with a  bit of drift while you're aiming.

[Rick]

For rail games, 3D glasses is perfect. It's actually tough to play full-on FPS' or games that are not on rails or track with the immersion of 3D mainly because of the control scheme. Moving your character's position in 3D space, while looking in another gets really disorienting.

Yes, and no. You can get very used to the whole moving and looking fairly easily, after very little time. The DK2 handles immersion really well. I actually can't wait for EvE: Valkyrie, which I hope serves to be 'the game' to prove the 3D glasses' success.

[RandyT]

For rail games, 3D glasses is perfect. It's actually tough to play full-on FPS' or games that are not on rails or track with the immersion of 3D mainly because of the control scheme. Moving your character's position in 3D space, while looking in another gets really disorienting.

Isn't that what you do in real life?

But a game on rails is definitely the best usage, mainly because you don't have to control your orientation/positioning, it's just look in the direction you want while riding a "rollercoaster".

I guess it depends on what you are supposed to be doing in the game.  I tend to think of it being compared to the difference of driving a car, and driving a motorcycle.  The experiences are quite different.  Then again, one segment of the SW game is on a speeder, so not really optimal for a "cockpit" experience either.

But I'll agree that 3D goggles without really good head position tracking, really is best suited for rail type games.  I just believe that the surrounding environment needs to be virtualized, or else it's like driving from a seat mounted on the front bumper of your car

[Slippyblade]

...or else it's like driving from a seat mounted on the front bumper of your car

Man, wouldn't that be a rush though?

[spoot]

Looks like it could be fun.  But I'm soooooo sick of everything Star Wars it's not even funny.

[Louis Tully]

Looks like it might be fun for a little bit but the controls are backwards.

[armi0024]

I got to play the Gundam pods in Tokyo, all I can say is that I can not wait for this to hit the US.  I was over there with a friend who adores Vectors and early classics, you could not drag the two of us out of those machines.  They are just very well done, you feel like you are in the game.

[LightningBolt]

Wow this game looks amazing!!
Star Wars Trilogy is probably my favorite arcade game to play, this one looks just as good.

I have an Oculus DK2 and really don't like it. To be fair it's probably because most of the software for it right now blows but maybe in a couple of generations it will be good.

[Rick]

I have an Oculus DK2 and really don't like it. To be fair it's probably because most of the software for it right now blows but maybe in a couple of generations it will be good.

I have that my Lenovo Y510P runs fairly well with it, but my gaming rig (running a midrange nVidia video card) runs the apps a lot better, especially anything with the new Unreal engine. It's ... different, but I don't think I hate it. I definitely like the "Virtual Desktop" app, and REALLLLLY LOVE the MaxVR program for running movies - it's like being in the theatre, without all of the annoying people.

[Generic Eric]

Wow this game looks amazing!!
Star Wars Trilogy is probably my favorite arcade game to play, this one looks just as good.

I have an Oculus DK2 and really don't like it. To be fair it's probably because most of the software for it right now blows but maybe in a couple of generations it will be good.

Are you a software developer?

[lilshawn]

I have an Oculus DK2 and really don't like it. To be fair it's probably because most of the software for it right now blows but maybe in a couple of generations it will be good.

I have that my Lenovo Y510P runs fairly well with it, but my gaming rig (running a midrange nVidia video card) runs the apps a lot better, especially anything with the new Unreal engine. It's ... different, but I don't think I hate it. I definitely like the "Virtual Desktop" app, and REALLLLLY LOVE the MaxVR program for running movies - it's like being in the theatre, without all of the annoying people.

it doesn't help they completely changed the way the system operates. The DK1 went through a similar growth curve of ---smurfy--- apps and terrible response. But near the end of it's cycle, most of the bugs had been worked out and the devs were pumping out apps like no tomorrow.

I, (luckily) sold my DK1 to a sucker a few days before the announcement of the commencement of the DK2  shipping and got over 2x the price I paid for it. I saw in the dev forum that the evolution of the DK2 had taken it in another direction for the tracking and decided to sell and hold out on purchasing the DK2 for exactly this issue. The CV is not far off and i'd rather wait till then. The DK2 was more of an experiment in tracking change than an actual working unit. The DK2 will never reach a "completed" dev status and devs begin pumping out apps like the DK1 did it will be orphaned...the CV is right around the corner now there is no need to push the SDK support for the DK2 to completed when they are changing it again.

[LightningBolt]

Wow this game looks amazing!!
Star Wars Trilogy is probably my favorite arcade game to play, this one looks just as good.

I have an Oculus DK2 and really don't like it. To be fair it's probably because most of the software for it right now blows but maybe in a couple of generations it will be good.

Are you a software developer?

Nope..err yes, but not for oculus. I know obvious question/answer is obvious "you weren't supposed to get it if you weren't a developer". I don't care, I have wanted VR for two decades but it ended up being a letdown. No loss though.

[Generic Eric]

Wow this game looks amazing!!
Star Wars Trilogy is probably my favorite arcade game to play, this one looks just as good.

I have an Oculus DK2 and really don't like it. To be fair it's probably because most of the software for it right now blows but maybe in a couple of generations it will be good.

Are you a software developer?

Nope..err yes, but not for oculus. I know obvious question/answer is obvious "you weren't supposed to get it if you weren't a developer". I don't care, I have wanted VR for two decades but it ended up being a letdown. No loss though.

I get it.

I had to exercise some restraint.  The cost helped with that. 

[Rick]

I don't care, I have wanted VR for two decades but it ended up being a letdown. No loss though.

Since the last time I played with a VR unit was shooting dragons and other people in the 'original' incarnation of VR, I'm still pretty impressed. The comments from lilshawn, above, however are giving me angina.

:S

[LightningBolt]

I don't care, I have wanted VR for two decades but it ended up being a letdown. No loss though.

Since the last time I played with a VR unit was shooting dragons and other people in the 'original' incarnation of VR, I'm still pretty impressed. The comments from lilshawn, above, however are giving me angina.

:S

Don't get me wrong the technology is very impressive especially the tracking. One demo I could literally walk around an apartment which was an awesome little experience. I suppose what I mean is that it feels like something cool to try but it doesn't have a long term appeal for me anyway. I'll still get another oculus once it's more of a mainstream thing with good software.

[Le Chuck]

One demo I could literally walk around an apartment which was an awesome little experience.

Wait, so what you're saying is that we have the technology to reproduce Kaneda's apartment?!  I can play the the games inside the simulation?!  I can lay on a TMNT futon?!  I can bask in the glow of ten thousand shades of carpet?! Who all knows about this?  Have we checked Craig's list?  Is there a "Kaneda's Apartment" experience on its way to my local Chuckee Cheese right now!?

[Generic Eric]

One demo I could literally walk around an apartment which was an awesome little experience.

Wait, so what you're saying is that we have the technology to reproduce Kaneda's apartment?!  I can play the the games inside the simulation?!  I can lay on a TMNT futon?!  I can bask in the glow of ten thousand shades of carpet?! Who all knows about this?  Have we checked Craig's list?  Is there a "Kaneda's Apartment" experience on its way to my local Chuckee Cheese right now!?

This train has jumped the shark and is off its rails!

[yotsuya]

One demo I could literally walk around an apartment which was an awesome little experience.

Wait, so what you're saying is that we have the technology to reproduce Kaneda's apartment?!  I can play the the games inside the simulation?!  I can lay on a TMNT futon?!  I can bask in the glow of ten thousand shades of carpet?! Who all knows about this?  Have we checked Craig's list?  Is there a "Kaneda's Apartment" experience on its way to my local Chuckee Cheese right now!?

Yes, but you have to wear these to get the full interactive experience....

[yotsuya]

"Hello, Chuck... I've been expecting you. Shall we play a game?"

[Rick]

Yes, but you have to wear these to get the full interactive experience....

I don't have to pee all over my own feet too, do I?

 

[Le Chuck]

Fixt - in a really disturbingly yet likely accurate way

[RandyT]

"Hello, Chuck... I've been expecting you. Shall we play a game?"

I got queasy just looking at the still

[yotsuya]

I just like how the quantum parallax distortion makes his toes look big and gappy.

[lilshawn]

that pic makes me have to pee.

he looks...comfortable? like that.

The comments from lilshawn, above, however are giving me angina.

:S

as it should. I'm GLAD the Rift has gone the way it has. It's better to have everything worked out with thousands of testers than to have another Google glass on our hands.

it will work itself out. just keep an eye on it. Oculus has a pretty good head start with regards to the R&D side of things...I'd be more worried that one of the "competing products" COUGHCOUGHProjectMorpheusCOUGHCOUGH get's pushed out the door, hits the masses and flops, tainting VR for another 25 years.

[Rick]

Oculus has a pretty good head start with regards to the R&D side of things... I'd be more worried that one of the "competing products" COUGHCOUGHProjectMorpheusCOUGHCOUGH get's pushed out the door, hits the masses and flops, tainting VR for another 25 years.

I'm actually quite impressed - the head tracking on the DK2 surpassed my expectations, and even if I'm stuck with it after devs have stopped creating stuff for it, I see it as being worth it...

I'm a huge movie fan, but people irk me. (I had a guy almost pick a fight with me a few weeks ago, when I was out with my son - I said, "would you PLEASE be quiet?!" when he was RECITING THE DAMN MOVIE LINES after each one was uttered... He told ME to "f off", if you could believe that. Fffffuuuuu... After I told him I'd get an usher, he was 'mostly' quiet. I certainly wasn't going to shush him for laughing at the funny parts.)

So, anyway, it's nice to have an app where you can look around, and see a bunch of empty chairs, and have a (virtual) HUGE movie screen looming in front of you. (Oh, and sound as loud as I want? Yes please.) For that reason alone, the DK2 gets a 'win' from me. Go go, anti-socialism!

[lilshawn]

Oculus has a pretty good head start with regards to the R&D side of things... I'd be more worried that one of the "competing products" COUGHCOUGHProjectMorpheusCOUGHCOUGH get's pushed out the door, hits the masses and flops, tainting VR for another 25 years.

I'm actually quite impressed - the head tracking on the DK2 surpassed my expectations, and even if I'm stuck with it after devs have stopped creating stuff for it, I see it as being worth it...

I'm a huge movie fan, but people irk me. (I had a guy almost pick a fight with me a few weeks ago, when I was out with my son - I said, "would you PLEASE be quiet?!" when he was RECITING THE DAMN MOVIE LINES after each one was uttered... He told ME to "f off", if you could believe that. Fffffuuuuu... After I told him I'd get an usher, he was 'mostly' quiet. I certainly wasn't going to shush him for laughing at the funny parts.)

So, anyway, it's nice to have an app where you can look around, and see a bunch of empty chairs, and have a (virtual) HUGE movie screen looming in front of you. (Oh, and sound as loud as I want? Yes please.) For that reason alone, the DK2 gets a 'win' from me. Go go, anti-socialism!

the loudmouths get louder and the silent suffer...until they snap and beat you to death with a tire iron.

[Rick]

the loudmouths get louder and the silent suffer...until they snap and beat you to death with a tire iron.

Ain't that the truth?

My favourite time was sitting watching The Punisher (Tom Jane, 2004) for the second time. I had seen it once previously, and had shushed a group all through the fight with 'The Russian'. Anyway, the scene starts up, and all of a sudden behind me, a guy goes, "Oh my god - OH MY GOD THIS IS GREAT!" and I shush him. The scene continues, he starts gushing over how exciting it all is, and I shush him again. He slaps his hands together, and says something to the effect of "HOT DAMN!" and I lose it - I turn around and say, "Do you mind? Please be quiet!"

It's quiet for the rest of the movie. When I get up at the end, I feel a heavy tap on my shoulder - I'm standing, a row down from the guy. I'm 5'9" tall. He's sitting, and I can already see he's taller than I am. He stands up - easily 6'4" - and leans in towards me. He says, "Hey man, I'm really sorry about all that - I just got really into the movie, that's all."

I'm sure you can imagine my adrenaline rush by that point, and I was now happy that it was slowly lowering. (While I wasn't too concerned that it would have become heated, and even if it had as I've been in similar situations, but I'm certainly not looking to pick a fight where I'll be the obvious underdog.) I told him all about how I missed the scene the first time I had seen the flick, and he apologized again, and shook my hand on the way out.

Maybe it's the fact that he was surprised that a small guy like myself would dare call a big guy like him out, but I like to think that there are all sorts of people in the world who aren't automatically douchenozzles when confronted for doing something wrong.

[yotsuya]

So, anyway, it's nice to have an app where you can look around, and see a bunch of empty chairs, and have a (virtual) HUGE movie screen looming in front of you. (Oh, and sound as loud as I want? Yes please.) For that reason alone, the DK2 gets a 'win' from me. Go go, anti-socialism!

You could also, you know, like pop a DVD in/stream a video from NetflixHuluAmazon and not have to wear anything over your eyes. 

[Rick]

You could also, you know, like pop a DVD in/stream a video from NetflixHuluAmazon and not have to wear anything over your eyes. 

I do that already (I have 15TB of storage on my Media Server) but it's really not the same. I presently have an older 42" Plasma and a Yamaha Soundbar with Sub that work nice for that, but when you put on the Oculus, it is seriously like you're sitting in a theatre. And yeah, I'm one of those guys who actually doesn't mind moving his head to watch a guy punch out the other guy. Only adds to the whole ambiance.

(...also doesn't hurt that the theatre is so much cleaner than my living room.)

[RandyT]

RE: Watching movies with goggles

You just sit down and fire up a flick, and a crook breaks in.  Sees that you are "checked out" and proceeds to leisurely fill his bags for two hours. 

Not for me.  I don't like not being at least partially in touch with my surroundings for that long.

[yotsuya]

RE: Watching movies with goggles

You just sit down and fire up a flick, and a crook breaks in.  Sees that you are "checked out" and proceeds to leisurely fill his bags for two hours. 

Not for me.  I don't like not being at least partially in touch with my surroundings for that long.

Replace the drumset with Rick. This is what I would do to the top of his head while he was "checked out".

[Rick]

Replace the drumset with Rick. This is what I would do to the top of his head while he was "checked out".

Wow, is this force-feedback ever realistic! I can almost feel these teeny-tiny raindrops hitting me on the head!



re: Randy - I hear you. I'm never alone, mind you. When those burglars break in, I'm sure my Wife would be actively shaking me to let me know. She sleeps like a log, but if there's a hushed, strange noise in the middle of the night, look out. Bionic hearing. It's spooky.

[lilshawn]

She sleeps like a log, but if there's a hushed, strange noise in the middle of the night, look out. Bionic hearing. It's spooky.

Evolution. The female has evolved over the centuries to actively listen for a crying baby during sleep. Me, forget it. I'm impervious to noise...light on the other hand, my eyelids may as well be transparent. I have electrical tape over every little light and display in my room. Even the little standby LED on the power supply INSIDE the TV casts a series of small circles on the wall that bugs the crap out of me.

considering buying a bunch of these: http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/eeb6/

[dkersten]

Replace the drumset with Rick. This is what I would do to the top of his head while he was "checked out".

omg, I saw that movie with my son when he was 14, and he brought a date.. I was sitting next to this 14 year old girl when Will Ferrel's nuts are blown up to the size of the entire screen, and the worst part was that it was the funniest part of the movie, so I was caught between one of the more awkward moments in my parenthood and laughing so hard it hurt..

As for getting attuned to hear a baby cry (or something out of place) I think it is learned.  In the first 16 years of being a parent I was so in tune to my kids sounds, if one of them woke up in an entirely different part of the house, I was instantly awake and sitting up.  And when someone broke in through my son's bedroom window, I was halfway up the stairs with a gun in hand before my wife had even stirred.  Fast forward about 5 years and you could drive a truck through my house and it wouldn't wake me, but my phone on vibrate will still wake me up instantly at 3 am and my reflex is to reach for glasses with one hand while turning on the phone with the other to see who it is.  (calls at 3 am suck ass, they are never good).

As for watching movies, my theater room is fairly soundproofed, no windows, only one door, down in the basement, insulated all around, floor up above was "unsqueaked" when I redid it and is pretty darn well insulated, two walls are solid concrete behind the drywall, the wall the screen is on faces bedrooms, and the 3rd wall is against stairs/laundry space, so it is about as isolated as you could get in my house.  Add the sound system cranked up to reference +10 and you are as effectively disconnected from the rest of the world as you can get.  Thieves could use a backhoe and a dump truck to scrape off my entire first floor while I watch a movie and I wouldn't be any wiser to it until I went upstairs for more popcorn.  I would probably notice Will Ferrel's nuts on my forehead though....  Just sayin.