Before you think I’ve gone off my rocker to start talking about musicians that are popular worldwide, this post has nothing to do with Lady Gaga. It just so happens that for whatever reason, they decided to call the latest amusement trade show that has taken place in China GAGA 2012. That has not made it easy to sort out from among some completely unrelated content but finally I have something to share.
The GAGA Expo took place between the 15th-17th in Panyu Guangzhou Ying Star China. GAGA apparently stands for “Guangzhou Panyu Animation & Game Association” [Website]. I haven’t been able to figure out quite yet everything that was there and there often are surprises found at these shows, like the 3D Street Fighter IV machines, the Angry Birds arcade machine and Plants Vs. Zombies cabinets we saw last year. Manufacturers that are supposed to have been there include Sega, Konami, Wahlap and IGS.
Wahlap has provided a decent update of what they had to show off. First is a game called Top Star. From what I can tell, it looks like it’s trying to be ReRave but with a cabinet that isn’t too far off from what you generally see from these rhythm games in China with the base located under the feet.
Also at the Wahlap booth was Konami’s latest entry into their soccer game series Winning Eleven.I am surprised that a stronger push hasn’t been made for soccer games out West as even in the US it seems that the sport has gained popularity in recent years and it’s popular pretty much worldwide.
Wahlap’s flagship racing game which we saw last year at IAAPA 2011 in Orlando was there but in greater numbers, the Ridge Racer-esque Storm Racer.
I’ve found a few videos from the event, mostly focusing on the rhythm games that were on hand, which were pretty much elaborate rip-offs of games Konami has done. Even when the games are rip-offs at the very least I have to hand it to some of these companies for making really nice booths that are much more of a spectacle then we see with the US shows.
Focus on the DrumMania clone:
And focus on the Jubeat clone:
For the moment this is all I can manage to find but if/when more comes along I’ll be giving it a post.
I can’t be the only one that noticed the guy in the first video wearing a ‘GuitarFreaks XG/drummania XG’ tshirt? (Kinda want one, myself)
And I wish I knew which game featured ‘Beat It’ … listen closely in the first video!
@ArcadeHeroes – the reason for the failure for a international launch on Winning Eleven is simple. KDE was not prepared to pay for all of the sponsorship of players and teams for a game that was not possible to push effectively.
Sadly we will all have to brace ourselves for a new way of selling Japanese machines internationally!
I meant more just for a soccer game in general – since Golden Tee shows that you don’t need licensing to make a successful sports game work and given how people enjoy soccer/football I imagine that people would play even if you don’t have licensed teams. But I get what you are saying with Konami there.
@ArcadeHeroes – less we forget the original Golden tee was ‘Peter Jacobsen Golden Tee 3D’!
But I understand, a simple football (Soccer) game for amusement – say a top down competitive game harking back too ‘Football’ by Atari. Right?
I could see it – but as the amusement trade is in lock-down at the moment the Chinese will have to come up with the idea.
Top Star is actually a lot closer to Ouendan for the Nintendo DS than it is to ReRave. It’s also been in development for almost 2 years (meaning it isn’t inspired by ReRave). I’m not 100% on the details, but Pentavision Entertainment in Korea has some hand in the development of the title, while it’s being produced, manufactured and released solely in China.