Time: February 23-24, 2001
There was an upbeat atmosphere among the handful of overseas visitors to the AOU Show 2001. Sega attracted the biggest crowds for its video presentation of "Virtua Fighter 4". Ropes had to be hastily put up around nearby booths to stop visitors clambering up for a better view. On the other hand, "Virtua Striker 3" did not create much of a stir.
Sega's "Walk The Dog" game(?) would fit very nicely into Konami's new fitness centers but not sure how well it will do overseas(or if there will be an overseas version). Sega also showed "Club Kart DX","Dynamic Golf", "Wild Riders", the baseball game "Super Major League", "UFO Catcher The Ride" and a marble balancing video game called "Monkey Ball".
Namco had the monster shoot-em-up gun game "Vampire Night" on display, its cooperative R&D effort with Sega. Other products on the Namco booth were the Japanese big drum game "Taiko Tatsujin" and the PCB game "Mr Driller G".
Konami showed the latest versions of its music games. "Drum Mania 4", "Guitar Freaks 5", "Dance Maniax 2", "Para Para Paradise 2", "Dance Dance Revolution 5" and "Beatmania II DX 5th Style". The Konami yobbos were out in force as usual manhandling any potential photograph-takers so the pictures aren't great. Apart from music game sequels, Konami showed the sensor boxing game "Mocap Boxing", "SilentScope 3", a new music title "Mambo Agogo" and "Thrill Drive 2".
Taito had a nice single player driving game called "Stunt Typhoon" but the price is a bit steep. Aruze showed two Neo Geo titles "Sengoku 2001" and "Nightmare in the Dark".
This report with thanks to;
John RyanManjiro Works
Tel: +81 90 2105 8084
Email:john@manjiro.com
Web: www.manjiro.com
