Newsfeeds 1207 & 1208 via 
First off, Tekken news. Are you such a fan of the Tekken series that you would love to check out memorabilia for the game in a museum setting? Then head on over to Osaka Japan to the new Tekken museum that opened up there over the weekend. Andriasang has more details or you can consult Namco Bandai’s press release here (PDF file).
DISCLAIMER: Below will be some news about new arcade hardware by Sega. The excitement that follows such hardware revelations tends to lead us down speculative paths about Sega’s home hardware since there are past examples of them preceding a home launch with the hardware in arcades, like was seen with NAOMI. However since then, they have developed games on many hardware platforms that have just been used for arcades, usually PC-based with unique I/O boards (Lindbergh, Europa, Ringwide, Ringedge, etc.). A few went out to troll Sega fans on Ringedge saying it was going to be a new game system and that never came to pass. Just keep that in mind as the console speculation pops up every single time Sega gives a name to an arcade board. Not to mention that Sega’s home division is in no place to launch a multi-billion dollar effort to compete in this space seeing how they recently had some sizable layoffs and game cancellations.
Arc System Works has announced a the latest iteration of their Guilty Gear fighting series, Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R. Aside from the mouthful of a title, it had been announced earlier this year that GGXXACP (without the R) would be a launch title for Sega’s new software-to-arcade-cabinet download service called ALL.NET Plus Multi (although it is often spelled out P-ras Multi). It’s a competing service to Taito’s NESiCAxLive that is already in place in many game centers in Japan. This R version which has just been announced carries something interesting with it too – it is stating that it will be running on Sega RingEdge 2 hardware. There had been talk of Sega showing off such hardware earlier this year but nothing was shown; and at this point we still don’t have much in the way of details about it although Sega last year had been discussing systems for carrying 3D content into arcades. This doesn’t mention anything about 3D but I imagine that with the development of this new online system, RE2 has been made to specifically take advantage of that and maybe add a couple of other upgrades that can be gleaned from the constant hardware updates offered through PC hardware. This image below which is from the official game site that you can visit here shows GGXXACPR as supporting both RE2 and the new ALL.NET network which is all we know about it for now. Here’s a second source confirming its Ringedge 2 as well.
As for the game itself, it will be going on test next week in Japan and features some re-balancing and the usual additions one expects with these fighting games – improvements in the overall game but usually nothing too earth shattering. I admit however that I am not a Guilty Gear aficionado so perhaps there is some big deal here that I’m not seeing. Judging from the video of the game which I can’t get posted here, it doesn’t look like the kind of game that really pushes hardware but it looks good from what I can see behind all of that annoying Japanese text that scrolls across these videos. Hand-drawn, well-animated sprites will always look great and it’s refreshing to see it pop-up every once and a while. I wouldn’t hold your breath on this coming to arcades outside of Japan but naturally they will have a console version of it out fast enough so that the Japanese operators can be properly undermined as is required in the unwritten code of all fighting games released on Planet Earth.
UPDATE: Sega Amusements has posted a new image from their R&D Spy Cam on Facebook. This is just part of the cabinet, not the video game itself I imagine although if it was a videmption game then who knows. A guess – Western cabinet for MaiMai?
I like the disclaimer but there’s no way you can stop the Internet!
Agree, we will not stop the haters’ hating – but at least we try and provide clarification. I was waiting when I read the original Japanese report for some one to jump up and shout Dreamcast2!!
The main area of interest for us in the real world is that SEGA would slip a RingEdge2 through the backdoor and target it straight at Taito Type X Zero hardware sales (no AOU leak).
I wonder if this will now be the standard SEGA hardware for the next 18-months?
RingEdge and RingEdge 2 are mid range arcade boards. They aren’t being designed for home console modification use.(RE2 is speculated to be used in a mobile modified form for a new Android device SEGA is developing under the Sega Orbi brand.)
SEGA’s next console will power ARM CPU hardware which is Lindbergh’s successor. So the arcade board after RE2 is going to be used.
Well it didn’t take long for our resident rumor monger to show up.
That’s a problem? SEGA has alot of paper work to deal with right now as they are re-organizing and forming this new multi-media conglomerate.
SEGA has been developing a tablet device since 2010.
http://www.trademarkia.com/kids-pad-85264286.html
“Handheld games with liquid crystal displays; Electronic and mechanical game equipment, namely home-use game machines; Handheld units for playing electronic games adapted for use with an external display screen or monitor”
“handheld game apparatus with liquid crystal displays; electronic hand-held game units”
(This was taken from the ORBI brand trademark and KIDS PAD trademark.)
Do you have any info on RE2’s specs?( I heard it uses GeForce GT 425m and is capable of DirectX 11.1)
Love the way a simple report gets hi-jacked by the fanatic!
@SegaOrbi – the failure of any of your predictions has destroyed your credibility in many’s eyes. We would need you to stand by one of your claims with a timescale – rather than saying “oh that’s a home system and its just round the corner!”
I stand by the original comments we made – based on provable and accountable information. The RE2 is a successor to the 2009 system. Questions on how this will fit into the mix is of the only interest here. Wild claims of home and mobile systems, with no basis of proof other than questionable claims, will not find a home here.
In 2009, the rumors of a RingEdge based console were derived from the fact that SEGA had issued patents for game controllers around the same time they announced new arcade hardware. Anyone can automatically mistake that as console related In regards to that there was nothing concrete.
These rumors are different. They point to MAJOR changes taking place at SegaSammy. The recent layoffs should be overlooked since it only pertains to SEGA’s 11 year old 3rd party market. The company as a whole has more than enough money for home consumer products. They’ve made strong domestic profit for 3 straight years.
These rumors are based on US Gov Trademark documents. Before you call me out on my assumed bluff, it would be nice if you could investigate why Kabushiki Kaisha Sega filed a multi-media,mutli industrial trademark in January that already nearing registration. And if the tablet doesn’t exist, then why is a there a description for Handheld and Mobile devices in both the “KIDS PAD” and “Orbi” trademark? Why did SEGA renew their license to publish home game hardware in 2010? Why did they revive the “Sega Enterprises” brand in 2009? Anyone can clearly see, this was not the case prior to 2009.
A Trademark that long, that expensive isn’t going to be abandoned quickly or suspended, something as large and discrete as “ORBI” is very important and will be active very soon.
Also how come Trademarks aren’t considered credible? A prototype mark is normally a sentence or two long and has a very basic description.
I would appreciate it, if you gave me the benefit of the doubt.
Yes this is a problem because your full of it.
Every known condition of Sega today points away from whatever ludicrous legal, financial, and/or technical mumbo jumbo you bring up.
Sega’s home division is not profiting, layoffs are about, number of titles are shrinking…That is no sign of a return to hardware. Hardware is NOT Cheap in reality, no matter how much you insist on denying it.
Sega CANNOT launch hardware with a negative profit arm let alone Console hardware with a few billion in revenue, let alone little over a billion in profits(NONE of which comes from the home division). That’s far too little factoring in R&D(including all the other little changes you decided to factor in), Distribution, upkeep, employee pay, marketing ect…
SEGA is profiting on 3 things, domestic profit,amusement and panchinko sales. And has been for 3 years.
SEGA is not profiting on 3rd party physical form games, which is why they are switching to digital content.$86 million is pennies to SegaSammy. Their investors don’t want to make 3rd party physical form anymore because the cost of developing games is too expensive.
Sega IS forming a new conglomerate called “Sega Orbi” that will handle non gaming entities and Restaurant,Theater,Hotel Franchising.
You see it happen,soon trust me.
http://www.trademarkia.com/orbi-85517210.html
2/3 things are from the Arcade sector, something that has not had any trouble profiting.
So Sega’s investors want to save money by going an infinitely more expensive route? They’re idiots the lot of them and should be booted. Nintendo, the manufacturer of the weakest console this gen needs upwards of up to 13 Billion, JUST to break even. That’s 3X what Sega earns in Revenue, and based on the latest reports, 26X what they earn in profit.
This strategy you mention is also horrible. Sega is essentially trying to be Sony without the Sony fall out(assuming your statements are actually valid). They;ll spread to thin and the margins won’t be there. To think that Sega will venture into multiple industries and succeed is just ludicrous, especially given their current reputation on anything Non-Arcade.
Sony is on the verge of complete and total financial collapse.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=470940
http://ps3.ign.com/articles/122/1223379p1.html
http://kotaku.com/5900564/sony-thinks-its-going-to-lose-even-more-money
They’ve taken massive losses in revenue in budget. Their core brands are doing very poorly. The only thing that is profitable for Sony is the SCEI division. But compared to 10 years ago, the revenue,income and profit for Playstation is 50% lower than it was during the PS2 days.
Sony also lost $15 billion on PS3. 7 years of R&D and 4 straight years of poor sales. Its going to take years for them to recover those budget losses and VITA is the company’s sole hope to lead them back in the right direction. But so far, VITA has flopped. With only $6 billion dollars of R&D money left, a PS4 would sink them further and further towards bankruptcy.
Sony’s core brand is very very vulnerable right now. LG,Samsung and Toshiba are outselling Sony brand electronics by a wide margin. I suspect SEGA is aware of this and is looking into becoming a 2nd party manufacturer for Sony’s rivals.
As for SegaSammy, it is believed that “ORBI” has been planned for 7 long years. Also franchising with non gaming entities like Hotels,Theaters and Restuarants isn’t risky at all.Its smart business. Sega Orbi will be a MERE franchisee not an ” Wholly Owned and Operated” LLC. They’ll franchise with brands Hotel wise like Marriott International,IGH,Hilton Int,Starwood,Inc e.t.c
SEGA’s strategy is to have partnerships. They also want to have extra budget if their inevitable return to the home console business doesn’t work out as well as they hope. During the CSK years, SEGA’s revenue was just arcades,consoles and games. In the SegaSammy era, its domestic profitability lies in Arcades,Amusements,Parks,Broadcast media,Anime Distribution(They own TMS Entertainment) and Toys. SEGASammy’s overseas markets are doing poorly because the only thing they’ve done outside of Japan is just sell packaged multi-platform IPs in an oversaturated,stagnated,over budget corporate cut-throat North American gaming market. Also the point that I was making in SEGA’s move to digital-only content is because the cost of publishing and developing physical form content has reached an all time high. Averaging $50-60 million just on one title.
Huh. Well. I figured the comment I made waaaaay at the top would have headed this stuff off but, yeah, can’t stop the Internet!
Can’t we wait and see what happens?
Let’s just hope that when the truth comes out you don’t have to close down your site and change your name as you did last time!
Your talking about that troll Zachary Morris? Naw. I’m just a lifelong SEGA fan who’s done alot of research on them. I don’t know him and don’t follow him.
The last time I heard from Mr. Morris on the web was in February of this year. I have not heard from him since them.
I pass on Guilty Gear, not my cup of idea. But Tekken Museum?!?! F YES!!!! Tekken Forever!! Get hype for Tekken Tag 2!!
Going back on topic, I’m a little concerned with the way Guilty Gear will work in the US since there’s only a select few locations across the states available and we know that SFIV was a really costly investment. Bringing it here probably wouldn’t work, but the fighting community has moved on to the console front. That point makes it clear GG may only be suitable for countries outside Japan to stay on console or else it’s going to fall on def ears.
@Voltz – thanks for getting us back on topic.
Arc System Works has a strong Asian following and would be interested in a international release, but the game being tied to the All.Net would make this a difficult presentation.
No word on a non-connected version.
I just wonder if 2012 is time for a concerted effort for a international network emulating what is run in Japan – so we can embrace a wider audience?
You can definitely ignore “SegaOrbi”, he’s just a troll who spams gaming sites and forums with his false rumors. He just keeps changing his name but its the same tired old, fake stuff being posted.
“I suspect SEGA is aware of this and is looking into becoming a 2nd party manufacturer for Sony’s rivals.”
See that? That’s the sight of your credibility exploding into millions of Pieces.
In case you haven’t noticed, LG, Toshiba, and Samsung are having little to no problem meeting current supply demands and are in fact investing in expanding production lines. They don’t need Sega’s help at all.
This is why your rumors always fail. You make Sega out to be some saviors or power, or wanted by others, the envy of other companies. When in reality most other companies simply couldn’t give a crap and don’t care for Sega.
As an arcade fan and goer, I’ve had it up to here with your falsehoods.