Nintendo and Arcade Gaming At JAEPO 2015 Game Feature
Nintendo once again looks for exposure in Japanese arcades. Of course, Bandai Namco and SEGA are there to help them along.
Written by: Herman Exum April 10, 2015
When Nintendo is mentioned you can be positive that the headlines will raise ears and eyebrows. Considering a slow and gradual rebound of the Wii U, a now-promising lineup of content, and effervescent rumors abound for their “NX” console project; there is plenty to discuss about how the company plans to reinvent themselves yet again.
But I’m not here to fanatically throw out speculation on those matters (we used to have a guy for that stuff), what I’m talking about are arcade games, more specifically, Nintendo and arcade games. It’s an area that like the state of coin-ops itself is niche and relatively low on the radar for many, but the business model continues to be feasible where the experience is more hands-on and public. It’s a unique segment that westerners are usually deprived of nowadays, save for the occasional pop-up gallery that only caters to the retro crowd.
In Japan, the annual JAEPO expo which is an amusement trade show took place back in February (13th-14th). During these two days a lot of games were showcased from rave/rhythm genres to RPGs that integrate with smartphone apps, even the likes of Square Enix teased some notable titles (Dissida Final Fantasy) while Capcom made a showing after a few years absent.
All of this is well and good but Nintendo games being there was a nice mixup of established titles and franchises brought to a different, and perhaps untapped medium. This approach also brought us titles such as F-Zero AX and Mario Kart Arcade GP being the collaborative efforts of SEGA and Namco, even going as far as creating a GameCube-based arcade system appropriately known as the TRIFORCE.
The first title is Luigi’s Mansion Arcade, a ‘light gun’ game by SEGA (and co-developed by Capcom) that takes everything you enjoyed about the green plumber’s haunted foray and condenses to its purest ghostbusting form. With vacuums that look like Dirt-Devils connected by Super Scope handles it appears that you’ll be sucking in spirits rather than shooting them down, with branching paths and plenty of bosses. Additional details were scarce except the tentative release schedule of this summer.
Pokkén Tournament was another title that got plenty of attention when revealed out of nowhere last year and then previewed by Famitsu in January. We’ve learned that Bandai Namco and producer Katsuhiro Harada of Tekken fame is handling the project, and that the game will be a 1-on-1 arena action game. In an effort to make the game more accessible they’ve even gone as far as to utilize console-style controls rather than a traditional joystick/button setup, a setup that even casual gamers can quickly pick up with ease. All these touches are welcome as the roster (currently six are confirmed: Lucario, Machamp, Blaziken, Suicune, Gardevoir, and Pikachu) go head-on with special moves, mega evolution attacks, and even assist character (Emolga, Fennekin, Snivy, Frogadier, Eevee and Lapras) happening during rounds. At JAEPO, game cabinets were playable as people finally got their first taste of the fast-paced Pokémon spin-off. The impressions have been receptive and the summer debut couldn’t come soon enough; however, information such as overseas and a potential Wii U release are yet to be announced.
As a person who’s enjoyed himself in the arcade early on, it’s clear that the scene is still relevant at least in Asia where the social element of playing in person remains (relatively) intact. Without being too zealous, it’s always nice to see a market like this thrive despite the common opinion of you know, “all arcades are dead”. More importantly, this could be seen as a cycle of willingness for Nintendo who’s been weathering the turbulence of changing tastes and the assumption that existing results would still provide dividends, such as the advent of cheap gaming for touchscreen smart devices – an observation that’s anything but new for any gaming company at this point.
What is unique this time is the scale of change with arcade titles and a willingness to enter the smartphone market in an attempt to ‘divide and conquer’ at least in Japan. If you’re lucky, andfortunate enough to live near a Japanese-style operator then you might be able to enjoy these games later this year too.
http://www.popzara.com/games/game-features/nintendo-and-arcade-gaming-at-jaepo-2015/
