IAAPA 2025 isn’t the only major arcade event happening this month, with Japan’s Amusement Expo (formerly called JAEPO) is coming around again this weekend. This show has definitely diminished in its stature over time, partly due to the organizers not budging on it now being held close to IAAPA each November instead of the traditional February time frame. This complicates things for international visitors and exhibitors, to the point that some have to make the choice of attending only one or the other, but there are still a few new games being shown off that are worth talking about. I have also heard that the show will be moved into the Summer next year, which should hopefully produce better exhibitor attendance.
Here we have a preview of the main four companies attending the show, from Bandai Namco to Taito. Also keep in mind that we don’t know for certain that all of these games will be made available to the West; for games that will, stay tuned for our IAAPA 2025 coverage, which is coming in the next couple of days.
Bandai Namco
Bandai Namco have already been in the news plenty of late, from the unveiling of their IAAPA lineup to Resident Evil 2: Dead Shot going on test in the US. Unfortunately the latter won’t be appearing at either the Orlando or even Japan shows just yet, but in its place will be several other new games. Over in the East, the big two showcases will be for Wangan Midnight Speed Ignition, their major overhaul of the Wangan Midnight racing games that has been in testing this year, and their new take on the old Taito punching machines with One Piece Dawn Strike (as well as a coin pusher based on the latter franchise).
Also on hand will be Penlalive, Bandai Namco’s new original pen light rhythm game, and a curious little cookery game called Tekipaki Kitchen that had only been a tiny blip on the radar until now. Perhaps that could compete with Chef It Up, if either release out West?
Konami
Konami have been mentioned on the blog more often than usual this year, owing to their subtle return to the US arcade market, internal reorganizations, and constant location tests for new products. The last of those is definitely being borne out here with numerous new titles, including the brand new Pop’n Music cabinet, Super Punch Mania, Gashaaaan!, and Demon Slayer: Nichirin Battle Slash, an interesting looking new card game based on the hit anime (and the first for arcades). Given its success overseas, it would be surprising if that doesn’t get a chance over here soon too…
Sega
This year marks the 60th anniversary of crane games in Japan, and with that is coming a ton of commemorative exhibits at this expo. One of the companies going all out on that front is of course Sega, who popularized the enduring form of the Japanese crane game in the 1980s with their UFO Catcher; as well as a museum showcasing past models, they will have a novel new UFO Catcher Immersive attraction, which purports to recreate the sensation of being lifted by the crane (though obviously not physically) in a ‘floor is lava’-like group game.
Also in attractions will be a big screen version of Chunithm, celebrating that game’s 10th anniversary. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see some promotion of Maimai DX‘s current North American rollout too, considering how well that has been going… that aside, Sega will be largely promoting what look to be their Japan-exclusive works as usual, including StarHorse Party and their new ranges of Paw Patrol and Curious George pieces for children. It would be a surprise if any of those come over (or an unexpected reveal happens), but never say never…
Taito
Finally, Taito’s presences at these shows have been smaller than most other companies’ for a few years now, but they’re still hanging in there. Granted, they haven’t had much new-new of their own creation for a bit (the last time they did was around 2022/23, when they launched Music Diver at Round1 locations and Street Fighter 6 Type Arcade), but they have brought together enough here to fill out their space, including a horror-themed attraction for their immersive projection box system called Welcome to the Death Game, and their Getter Spin D prize game, which is being marketed by Wahlap overseas.
Taito is also going to celebrate the upcoming 40th anniversary of their company mascot, Bubble Bobble, with a historical display, and a new game. There seems to be an implication that their recent Bubble Bobble Sugar Dungeons for home platforms is a going to be available as an arcade game, but so far it isn’t clear if that is through NESiCAxLive or if it will be its own dedicated game. The latter would be nice…
Before we wrap up, it is worth noting that exA-Arcadia were there last year, but have decided to skip the show this year so that they can better focus on IAAPA 2025. They have just begun shipping both Chaos Code NEXT and Axel City 2: The Final Storm, but we’ll have a full story up about those soon, along with an exA IAAPA preview. Fortunately, everything exA will be available overseas and not limited just to Japan.
That’s it now for this brief preview of the main companies attending Japan’s Amusement Expo; there also should be one or two smaller companies with some unexpected surprises. The show will be happening on Friday (business day) and Saturday (public day), where we hope to have a full recap up by Sunday – this will make it a close-run thing with the big cross-company IAAPA 2025 preview, so keep an eye out for that and this in relatively quick succession on the blog and YouTube channel.
We do have a source in Japan choosing not to attend IAAPA who will be able to get us some original media directly from the show floor, so that’s something to look forward to. As always, there will be a decent amount of Japanese press coverage to link and pull additional information from as well. Until then, what of this preview of Japan’s Amusement Expo 2025 interests you most?
