Before getting started into this update from the arcade scene in Japan, I just wanted to express condolences over the passing of Nintendo President Satoru Iwata. He may not have any direct work in the arcade industry but he seemed like a genuinely great person and was a gamer at heart. His enthusiasm and creativity drove the direction that video game entertainment has taken in recent memory. I have an Aunt who was recently diagnosed with the same condition he suffered from so I’ve seen first hand how horrible it is and can understand why he wasn’t travelling as that would have been too much. As shown by the reaction around the world, he will be missed.
Ok onto some news:
BlazBlue Centralfiction Trailer – Arcsystemworks has unveiled the next Blazblue to come to the arcade, launching soon through Taito’s NESiCAxLIVe network in Japan. I’m admittedly not up-to-speed on all of the differences this is showing (except for maybe the purple timer bar, I don’t remember seeing that), but overall this will provide more hardcore 2D arcade fighting goodness in front of some spectacular backgrounds.
Sega Chunithm How-To – This rhythm game appears to be the replacement for Sega’s Maimai game, which did get an International/English release although I have never seen the game in distribution out West. While we’ve seen similar games from the Japanese market before, this looks to change it up a little with the sensor area above the keyboard. Not too shabby that the actors managed to play it perfectly on Expert mode with a weird mask probably blocking some of the view; it looks like fun.
