Right as I had mentioned on Facebook that it has been a very slow week for news, I decide to check the Japanese arcade news circles and of course, something worth mentioning pops up. Knock on wood I suppose.
UPDATE: I have confirmed that this will be making an appearance in the US, likely on a location test first and they will see how it goes from there.
At a Namco owned location in Japan, a new game has landed for location testing called Lost Land Adventure. Developed by Bandai Namco Amusements, it blends a few concepts together to create something that is once again, very unique and exclusive to the arcade sector. Judging by these pictures, it looks like the spawn of Deadstorm Pirates, Primeval Hunt and Mach Storm. Via Twitter:
The game just showed up today and is on test for an unknown amount of time. It does continue the trend of large-format games that are focusing on providing an experience you will not get at home (as dome screens are not something coming to every home any time soon) and it also is the sneaky alternative to VR, the advantage being that you don’t have to put something on the player’s face for unique visuals and the disadvantage being cost and space. Either way, after Gundam, Mach Storm and now this I think it is safe to say that Namco really believes in the technology. I just hope that they can bring the costs of the tech down sometime in the near future.
We will keep an eye out about this for any developments. Since it is a Bandai Namco game then that means it has a good chance of showing up in North America. I do not know if this is the “big” development that Namco has in store for IAAPA 2014 or not (which was described only as something bigger than the new Mario Kart, Mach Storm or Dark Escape), although it seems like this will be a pretty big deal. My only other guess now at something to fit the bill would be a new Time Crisis (what a bomb that would be if it uses this cabinet above) but that is only my own speculation for now. I am fine with it being an original IP so whether this is “it” or not, I look forward to giving this a spin one day.
As I sat down for first time in mach storm it felt not only perfect but a really refreshingly great idea for a light gun game.
Sounds exciting this game but I hope it’s not going to be mega hard and impossible to play without unlimited amount of credits as that was dark escape’s weak point about the game and was over way too quick unless you continue.
Wonder if they make a time crisis 5 based on this with the new dome screen feature in the series but a razing storm 2 would be even better, just holding the trigger and aiming all around would be awsome 😀
I like the Mach Storm concept. however the on-rails and price make it a really hard sell and lasting appeal. if the game came in a sandbox arena I think bringing it to a tournament competition level would be much better along with lasting appeal.
I feel like a lot of games from namco are becoming more casual and easy rather than arcade games that test player unless it’s super hard and forcing you to continue by putting more money in the machine.