It’s the second day for JAEPO 2016 in Japan and now we have more videos to share of the latest ideas and games that will be making their mark on game centers in the region. There isn’t much that looks like it will translate easily to Western markets but never say never! You can revisit part 1 here.
Magician’s Dead (ByKing) – Arcade developer ByKing is taking concepts from their first title Gunslinger Stratos and giving it a magical spin. It is an off-rails/free range 3D battle game where one hand uses an analog stick to move your character while gestures used by your other hand will cast a wide variety of spells. The game uses Unreal Engine 4 and most likely the final version will feature a number of characters to battle with. The game isn’t playable at JAEPO 2016 which could mean this won’t be ready until Winter 2016 or perhaps 2017. On top of that, ByKing has developed their own network service to compete with the likes of Taito, which they are calling BNAS.
Tekken 7 Fated Retribution Akuma Details – More details were shown on Tekken 7 Fated Retribution, particularly about Akuma. If I am understanding it correctly, he plays just like in SSFIV. So in a way this is looking like the Tekken X Street Fighter game we never got. More details at Famitsu.
Cytus Omega (Capcom) – This was unveiled last year but the cabinet was completely different. Since this is known as a mobile game, Capcom has worked at created a unique hardware experience with this one, providing a 5.1ch 3D surround sound system, with that pod section in the back used to focus the sound. I’m surprised they aren’t calling it Q2 Sound or something like that. This also will have a unique story built just for the arcade game so its not just pick a song and play like most rhythm games. The character MIU is unlocking memories of her past by playing songs, with progress of your player avatar being shown on a map. This is expecting a release this Summer in Japan.
Otoiroha (Konami) – Combines Jubeat style buttons with large sliders on each side. Capable of both headphone support and line-out for recording.
Nostalgia (Konami) – Video of this new Bemani game in action. I wonder if this game sets the record for the largest number of usable buttons in a video game as both rows of the white and black are needed to play.
Final Fantasy Theatrhythm (Square Enix) – The new Final Fantasy music arcade game will be using a control scheme similar to that of Taito’s Groove Coaster, with some slight adjustments. This makes sense for them to copy the style given that SE owns Taito and seems to be slowly phasing the brand out anyways. With a focus on the story and RPG elements, this also helps the game stand out much like Cytus Omega. Thanks to ECM for the link on the video for this one.
Gundam Extreme VS Multi Boost ON (Bandai Namco) – This isn’t the ‘Gundam Pod’ that most people think of when they think of Gundam arcade games, but it still involves Gundam mechs beating the everloving circuits out of each other. This version also promotes quad cabinet setups that can battle other teams around Japan and a smartphone aspect to it.
Sengokushi Taisen (Sega) – If you have 45 minutes to kill and understand Japanese then this stream will be of interest, which gets into the history of this card-based warfare game series and what the new entry will be bringing to the table.
Groove Coaster 3 Link Fever Releases March 10th – the 3rd arcade iteration of Taito’s rhythm game begins final tests and will be released next month. The game is at the show although I have not come across close-up pictures of the setup yet.
Plus this CROSSBEATS REV x GROOVE COASTER collaboration event is coming soon…
Star Wars Battle Pod Flat Screen (Bandai Namco) – Since this is one game we’ve enjoyed in the West for some months I don’t need to focus on it but it was at JAEPO where Namco reconfirmed the development of The Force Awakens stage coming this Summer.
That’s all for now – more tomorrow if available! What are your thoughts on this year’s JAEPO event?
Seeing how the Japanese Arcade game makers see third person death match looks so cool. I so want to try these games out.