I was happy to see that Sega had a stonger presence at AMOA than they did at ASI and it was great to finally get a chance to play games like Rambo and Sega Rally 3. I spoke with one representative at their booth who gave me a run-down on the prices as well as a little info on games not present at the show such as Hummer Extreme and R-Tuned Racing. It sounds like both of those games are coming along nicely and they say that R-Tuned looks great and Hummer has a motion base but I couldn’t find out more. I asked about House of the Dead EX but they didn’t know anything about it at the time; I also asked about what happened to Sanguozhi War 3 – it sounds like it tested fine but ultimately they decided not to bring it over. Part of the problem was that there was no translation for the game at the time of testing which hurt it a little but hopefully the idea will still be on the table. They also said that they have begun remanufacturing House of The Dead 4 again due to demand.
Anyways, onto the games at the show. Rambo is a lot of fun as it’s all about wanton destruction and it presents itself in a theatrical way by combining movie scenes from the Rambo movies into the game. Graphically I like it although it is a little rough on the edges (it could use some anti-aliasing or a higher rez) – still the action never slows down as enemies pummel you from all sides. I love the Rage mode that you activate with a button on the side or front of the gun (depending on the model) once your Rage Gauge is high enough and I’m also happy to see a standard version of the game for those operators that can’t fit or afford the deluxe model.
Sega Rally 3 was first revealed to the world via Arcade Heroes and so I was happy to get a chance to finally play it. I tried the motion deluxe version and was impressed with the motion – it didn’t throw me around making want to vomit so that’s a plus in my book. It also looks incredible, the hardware design was obviously a good choice on their part. While I didn’t play the standard version, I like the screen, it looks a little sharper than the deluxe version but the cabinet they had there was not the final design for the US.They said that the standard version would go for about $7200 per cabinet, but I’m not sure when it’s going to be available here.
Sega’s Clay Challenge was a surprise, it’s a fairly simple game where you shoot clay pigeons in different locations but it is being released as a kit upgrade for the Atomiswave board. I had thought that the Atomiswave was no longer going to be supported by anyone but it looks like it will be for a little while longer with this game. The version at the show wasn’t final but you get a good idea of what to expect from the video below.
They also had an updated version of Shoot This! Win This! with updated software, a Spongebob Squarepants redemption game and the Mini-Rider 2 that I didn’t try out but I did catch some video of it that you can see below.
Rambo
Sega Rally 3
Sega Clay Challenge
Mini-Rider 2
Ooh Clay Challenge? any good? It’s coming to a bowling centre near Cardiff soon. 😉
It’s OK but nothing really stands out on the game at this point and you didn’t see anyone playing it much next to Rambo, Primeval Hunt and SR3. If you like clay shooting then it’s probably up your alley but otherwise it didn’t get my blood running. Of course I’m not sure what else you can do with clay shooting to make it more exciting when it’s in virtual form.
oh great resurrect a 2003 product like ‘Sports Sooting USA’ and hope to place in dead A-Wave cabinets – and we wonder about the SEGA USA team sometimes!
I just love the way that that Sega rep gave Shaggy one story, then tells others ‘off the record’ a totally different line!
Its the reason the Stinger Report exists, this two-face sales speak messes up all the industry – when will these guys learn this, its common business sense (who ever said the US arcade scene was a business!)
That is bunk about why they did not ship ‘Sanguozhi War 3’, and the sales guys that hindered its release outside of Japan will be paying a high price for their inability to grasp opportunities like that!
Actually the rep himself said that he thought the game was cool…but he also admitted that he wasn’t really into games. Still, it was strange to hear that they would test a game in complete Japanese