Sega Amusements Announces New Arcade Racer: Drone Racing Genesis

The great thing about this time of year is that it’s a busy one for new arcade game announcements, as we have another arcade racer to discuss. Sega has formally announced a title which will debut at IAAPA 2022 here in a few weeks, Drone Racing Genesis. In addition to this post, I’ll put up a video discussing this later today.

Let’s share bits of the press release to unpack this one, shall we?

Drone Racing Genesis is an exciting, brand-new entertainment concept brought to you by the leaders in arcade game development Sega Amusements International. Making its worldwide debut at IAAPA Orlando on booth 1010, Drone Racing Genesis is THE “must experience” game at the show!

“We’ve seen drones rapidly become part of our society, initially for aerial photography but most excitingly it has spawned a huge global following for drone racing and E-sports – currently one of the fastest-growing sports and a worldwide phenomenon. Our game Drone Racing Genesis captures this exhilarating spirit of drone racing and brings it to indoor locations such as arcades and FECs for the very first time. It has all the fun and competitive rivalry of a traditional car racing game but using Drones” commented Paul Williams, CEO.

Here’s the cabinet, which features a bold orange/yellow/white color scheme – it’s also one of the rare racing games to not feature a steering wheel but a joystick:

The full PR (which can be found at the bottom) mentions that it was made for both casual and core players, opting for the joystick for control over the drone instead of twin thumbsticks like everyday drone systems tend to use. The game can link up to four cabinets, features five selectable drone vehicles, four tracks, and “battery charge” power-ups which serve as the boost. Here’s a promo image for the game that Sega began sharing shortly after I published the post:

The race locations feature a city(Metro City, which was also found in Sega’s Daytona Championship USA), a snowy mountain environment, volcanic caves, and a tropical island. Gameplay offers a quick race or championship set, with players needing to complete checkpoints in traditional Sega racing fashion. You can also see from these shared track pics that you’ll need to be flying through the rings:

Again, this arcade-exclusive game will be at IAAPA in less than a month; What are your impressions about it from what we’ve seen so far?

For myself, I mentioned that with Dead Heat Unleashed that it’s good to see some options among racers, particularly ones that look like they’ll cost less than some titles we’ve been seeing lately. While I get that FECs need big, bold, expensive games, smaller locations without a billion dollars still need new games that they can afford too. I also appreciate that Sega took a different approach from the normal car racer here, it’ll be interesting to see how this plays.

Welcome to Drone Racing Genesis!

Drone Racing Genesis is an exciting, brand-new entertainment concept brought to you by the leaders in arcade game development Sega Amusements International. Making its worldwide debut at IAAPA Orlando on booth 1010, Drone Racing Genesis is THE “must experience” game at the show!

“We’ve seen drones rapidly become part of our society, initially for aerial photography but most excitingly it has spawned a huge global following for drone racing and E-sports – currently one of the fastest-growing sports and a worldwide phenomenon. Our game Drone Racing Genesis captures this exhilarating spirit of drone racing and brings it to indoor locations such as arcades and FECs for the very first time. It has all the fun and competitive rivalry of a traditional car racing game but using Drones” commented Paul Williams, CEO.

Drone Racing Genesis gameplay is fun and thrilling! The game is easy to grasp and designed with casual and core players in mind. Players can compete in championship mode or take part in a quick race while challenging up to 4 friends in linked gameplay. To get a place on the podium, players must race to the finish line while completing checkpoints and collecting those all-important ‘battery charge’ power ups to give their drone a super boost to zoom past their rivals.

In real life, drone controllers are handheld devices with thumb joysticks. We opted for the intuitive, classic arcade game joystick controller, as we discovered it gives players ultimate control over their drone – “they sure need full control, at those blazing speeds.” Stated Lester Travasso, Sales & Marketing Executive.

The game takes place across four visually stunning race locations – from picture-perfect tropical ocean resorts to snow-covered mountains, intense volcanic caves in the wild nature park to the glistening lights in the bustling Metro City. Players also can choose from five distinctive drones with unique characteristics and sponsorship liveries. Drone Racing Genesis encourages players to keep coming back over and over to experience every racecourse, get a real feel for their favourite drone and ‘rule the skies’ while competing to make the leader board.

Drone Racing Genesis cabinet features a unique reclined seat that creates the illusion of being in a futuristic drone cockpit and instantly immerses players in the nail-biting racing action. The bright colour-changing header, lit cabinet edges and under-seat feature begs player’s attention at any location.

If you plan to visit IAAPA Orlando, you cannot afford to miss Drone Racing Genesis. Sega Amusements will be on a larger booth 1010 this year, from 15 – 18 November, at the Orange County Convention Centre, Orlando, USA. We hope to see you there!

For further information contact SEGA Amusements International on +44 (0)208 391 8090 / +1 847-364-9787; sales@segaarcade.com.

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