It is that time of year for the AAMA (American Amusement Machine Association) Gala and with that some news on upcoming video arcade pieces. The selection is usually limited when compared to larger events like Amusement Expo or IAAPA. Because there are some newsworthy pieces this year, we will divide them up into different posts instead of doing everything all at once. Let’s start off with Namco.
Bandai Namco At The AAMA Gala
Thanks to an anonymous (but very reliable) source, we have the goods on the following:
Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 5 – At a presentation by Bandai Namco Amusements America, the presenters (dressed in Pac-Man arcade map suits) discussed the upcoming US released of the popular Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 5. My source only stated that it “will ship in a set of 4 units and a tower to dispense the player cards”. That confirms part of what another source had told us a short time ago about a minimum purchase. This is standard practice to find a quad set of WMMT units in other parts of the world and such a thing always becomes an attraction in and of itself.
However, the Gala source did not state anything regarding a limited number of units, price, release date, if the physical cabinet at the gala event and whether or not this is WMMT5 or WMMT5DX. If we do receive any pictures, we will be sure to update this post. Stay tuned!
Pac-Man Smash Slim Line – One piece that made an appearance is a new version of their Pac-Man Smash air hockey table. Designed for smaller spaces/kids, the source to send this photo said it is “super small” and only plays with the small pucks. It also uses a different play surface that is dark like the original game and is similar to the standard Pac-Man air hockey game that we saw at IAAPA 2015/EAG2015
While I do imagine that Bandai Namco also took their latest release, World’s Largest Pac-Man, that is all of the information received on Namco at the Gala for now. If we receive anything else, I will update this post and mention it on our social media channels.
What are you looking forward to the most from Namco?
So I take it Wmmt 5 is officially going to be released in the states then? I really hope so because I can’t stand the dead heat game series anymore. It used to be ok but its appeal is more to casual players. I hope we get the play th game here in the UK.