Upswing Fuels Asian Trade Show

Sega RaceTV

The Asian amusement industry gathered enmass in Tokyo for the 45th Amusement Machine Show (lovingly called JAMMA after the association which drives it). But the attendance was supported by a large showing of international amusement executives, both those representing the satellite divisions of exhibiting factories, as well as a wide smattering of distributors interested in Japanese amusement opportunities.

The event marked a very important step in the arcade scene with a reported 12% upswing in sales for all of the major factories and increased operational revenue that looked set to see 2007 reach pre-1997 figures. The increased interest in amusement was marked by a number of momentous developments.

This was the first real AM-Show of the modern YouTube generation, with coverage for fans of not just pictures but videos of the latest releases in action. A level of video coverage unprecedented of amusement at any other event -- and a sign of a new future level of interest. The recent upswing in amusement interest by the guerrilla consumer media was reflected here. For the first time 1up.com hired Gamevideo.com to attend and cover the show. This was supported by a plethora of YouTube (and Asian equivalent) posts of games; making a bigger travesty of the No-Photo signs littering the exhibitor booths.

On the show floor, after the new appearance of the Japanese Amusement Industrial Association (JAIA) support of the new structured AM-Show, the amusement industry continued to fuel the rise in amusement popularity. Following the companies Summer private show presentations the production versions of the key releases were gathered:

SEGA
The company had an open plan style, but a large amount of diverse products on display to the distributors and operators. The continuation of the popular Satellite Terminal (ST) series was seen with ‘Derby Owners Club 2008 - Feel the Rush' (LindBergh) – the new look cabinet and sleek lines offered a highly advanced version of the original horse breeding and racing game. Support of the ALL.NET and IC Cards will see SEGA hoping to stretch the brand.

Other ST machines on the booth included ‘Quest for D: The Battle Kingdom' (CHIHIRO), along with the trivia game ‘Answer x Answer' (LindBergh) and the latest version of ‘World Champion Cup Football Intercontinental clubs 2006-2007' (LindBergh). A video also showed the latest version of the ancient Japanese warrior roll player ‘Sangokushi Taisen 3' (CHIHIRO) the game competing directly with the Konami Digital ‘Magical Gate' RPG, building on the company's card recognition tablet.

Stinger Breaking News – Just as ‘Sangokushi Taisen' third version was launched in Japan, the Stinger was given exclusive news that SEGA USA was actually in the process of testing the original game for placement in the US games market. A test facility in Chicago has had a machine set-up and card system installed and under evaluation. Sources revealed that the reaction had been incredibly impressive, reminiscent to original Derby Owner interest. However the game's complexity means that SEGA might have to emulate their work with ‘World Champion Cup Football' and have their operation operate the game themselves.

The big release on the booth was ‘SEGA RaceTV' (LindBergh), in a 60% complete version, with only one operational track, the 2008 release was shown with its full four-player cabinet network. Developed by AM-Plus, the frantic racing game included licensed vehicles that incorporate car damage and eight cars to choose from, racing over 5 courses. One commentator who saw the game likened it to a cross between ‘OutRun 2' and ‘Crazy Taxi', while The Stinger sees touches of ‘F-Zero' and ‘Power Drift' from the in game announcer supported race experience. The game will be hitting the arcades hard, as SEGA hopes to blast out other frantic driving games such as Raw Thrills ‘Fast & the Furious' and or Global VR's ‘NASCAR Racing' which offer serious competition.

Carrying on round the booth, SEGA showed the latest revision of the fighter game ‘Virtua Fighter 5 Version C' (LindBergh); this version of the game included better physics and new characters and arenas all supported by the ALL.NET (VF.NET) tournament environment. SEGA proved the power of their VF.NET tournament and supported a one-day Virtua Fighter tournament on their booth. The players paying ¥100 to enter the show floor to take part with a limit of 65 players; it was the second time that the company has arranged such a tournament.

Stinger Breaking News – Just as SEGA JP showed the fighter, in direct competition with Tekken 6 in Japan, sources revealed that for the first time the Virtua Fighter 5 series would be exported for American and European placement. Minus the IC Card reader this is a major move to globally compete against the 3D brawler from Namco, and maximize the branding of the game in lieu of the launch of the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 releases.

On the SEGA booth there were a number of third party developments, to be distributed by the company and also running on the die-hard Naomi hardware architecture. ‘Mamonoro' (Naomi), developed by g.rev / Gulti, the vertical shooter offered an interesting lasting opportunity. In a similar vain, the game ‘Illvelo' (Naomi) from Milestone also offered a vertical shooter, this time in a cute graphical style; the game hoping to follow in the tracks of games such as ‘Radirgy' and ‘Chase Filed'.

SEGA showed a large number of kid vending titles as the product line expands into its own division. But the show had a momentous new launch in this series. On the booth and given a special launch was ‘Disney Magical Dance' (Naomi). Building heavily on the IP from Disney, the company offering all the major Disney characters for players to collect, the big element of the game was the use of a dance mat, seen with BeMani style games, the player having to replicate moves. Mixing the dancing stage style of play with the kid vending card collecting element and the billion dollar Disney brand and SEGA seems to be sitting on a major development in this sector. No news of international placement.

Off the booth in one corner a newly launched product from SEGA was presented – missed by many international visitors attending the show, the company showed ‘MEGA 3D 360'. This unique 3D film theatre system, offering 360 3D film presentation; reminiscent of a small scale Circle Vision theatre (as developed by Disney) the system at the show had viewers wearing glasses and viewing a Time Travel experience. The company expanding their placement of mid-size attraction across the market – there was no information if this was a licensed platform or a specially developed AM product.

News Story with thanks to Kevin Williams, please visit www.thestingerreport.com for the full story and others.