There has been plenty of excitement over the upcoming return of Cruis’n to the arcade scene here in the States but over in Japan, they are keeping their racing scene plenty strong. Let’s take a look at some of the news that should excite racing fans:
Initial D Zero Location Tests
After going with Initial D Arcade Stage 8 Infinity, Sega has apparently decided to take a little page from Nintendo by restarting the count at Zero (I’m referring to Star Fox Zero). The latest iteration of the game will begin testing over three locations in Japan this weekend so perhaps we’ll have video by next week. Here is the official site for the tests.
Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 5DX
Bandai Namco has launched a new site for the latest version of the popular Maximum Tune series, 5DX. This upgrade features new courses, licensed cars and stickers, car parts, music and more for players to enjoy. Unfortunately there is still no indication that the game is making its way to the USA like I was told back at IAAPA 2015…so we wait. In the meantime, here is the official English site for 5DX.
Real Drive Location Test
Speaking of Bandai Namco, they have begun location tests for their latest dome screen simulator game, Real Drive. We’ve mentioned this game a few times before but it wasn’t being given what are considered proper location tests. With the realistic driving console, this is like a spiritual successor to Atari’s old Hard Drivin’
Here is a video of it in action from an earlier appearance of the game in case you missed that:
Which of these games would you like to see make their way overseas?
It has to be initial d zero and wangan maxitune 5DX. I have a feeling that the real drive game will be more of a novelty like namco’s previous Mach storm and Star Wars games. While they are good they’re more casual and not hard and plus if you win you have to pay to continue. The other two however are more dedicated. The last initial d version I came across was the 4th game and wmmt 3 version and ever since them there’re been no new versions come out which is a shame.
I believe Round 1 has said Maximum Tune 5 will be in select US locations by the end of the year.