In the wake of the ATEI event, Japan hoped to thrill the gathered masses at the All Nippon Amusement Machine Operator's Union event (AOU'08) - celebrating its 22nd year. The event had a hard act to follow - many of the executives attending having made the trek to the London Show.
Doom and gloom greeted the 22nd All Nippon Amusement Machine Operator's Union event (AOU'08). The Japanese operator show (Feb. 15-16) is the first of the big Asian events and the harbinger of major moves in the market. Organized by the Japanese Amusement Machine Operators Union for the amusement and arcade industry, the show had been greeted with headlines on the internet that reported financial difficulties at SEGA and Namco were due to the success of the Nintendo Wii. However, the popularity generated by this year's show could not be down-played by the media -- as seen at ATEI player power showed the true popularity of amusement!
SEGA
The corporation favored an open-plan style of booth this year which looked a little bare, with speculation rife that news of SEGA's financial situation - and investment in AM business - would be about to see major change. What SEGA did have to show, however, proved to be strong and reliable content though JAMMA'08 is expected to offer some new surprises.
The company had a section set-aside for the popular fighter - 'Virtua Fighter 5 Revision D' (LindBergh Hardware) was the latest software update with a tournament run amongst trade and players. The company presented videos in the booth of 'Virtua Fighter 5 R' (LindBergh Hardware). This fifth version of the game is expected to appear in the arcades as a defense to the proposed July launch of Street Fighter IV and the latest update of Tekken 6, the game starting to show its age under stiff competition.
Another new software version that had been reported at a recent Private show last year was 'World Champion Cup Football International Clubs 2007-2008' (LindBergh Hardware). The Satellite Terminal (ST) version of the game was avidly played by keen gamers, this latest version with updated player cards. Another ST game was the previously launched 'Answer x Answer Premium'(LindBergh) quiz terminal game update.
Also seen in the SEGA booth, the company had developed a medal touchscreen line. Now in their second reiteration, 'SNC ver. 2' (LindBergh Hardware) SEGA Network Casino system and 'Club Majesty' (LindBergh) -- a twin screen gaming system -- were shown. As with most of the major manufacturers a number of third party titles populated the booth. The company showed 'Mamonoro' (Naomi) from G.Revolution / Gulti, and 'IRUMATIKKU ENBEROBU' (Naomi) from Milestone; these two vertical shoot-em-ups are expected to be the last ever fielded on the aging Dreamcast / Naomi hardware (celebrating its own 10th anniversary).
A dedicated portion of the SEGA booth was set aside for the launch of the new version of the popular crane system -- the 'UFO Catcher 8' with new SEGA Kidz plush on display. Along with a considerable number of kid vending games including the 'Disney Magical Dance' (Naomi), the company also set some space aside for the medal game division with a bright selection of big and small units. Another of the affiliated companies on the SEGA booth was SimuLine - who brought in a 'MiniRider 2' simulator.
Games that did not make it into the sparse open-plan booth included 'SEGA RaceTV' (LindBergh Hardware), the latest version of 'Initial D Arcade Stage: BREAK' (LindBergh Hardware) and the completed 'Primeval Hunt' (LindBergh). Why SEGA would not show the latest ID4 version was a surprise. But just as executives focused on what they did have in the display, a surprise leak by a respected source revealed that SEGA AM R&D was working on a brand new driving game, rumored to be the sequel to the popular 'Virtua Formula' series. That SEGA is working on a driver so close after launching SEGA RaceTV was an interesting development -- especially in the driver-heavy market.
Thanks to a tip from Arcade Renaissance, another game that failed to make an appearance in the SEGA booth was 'Melty Blood Actress Again' (Naomi). The popular series has proven a no-show at JAMMA'07 -- and again at AOU. The reason given was that the game needed additional development, but there is concern that the game may not be worth the effort after initial testing.
Breaking Stinger News - In a trend that seems to be sweeping many of the amusement factories in Asia, SEGA announced that they had plans to close 110 amusement parks and arcades in Japan, along with the redundancies of 400 staff. This major adjustment started shockwaves through the amusement scene -- rumors abound during AOU that major financial restructuring would be taking place, and that the top executive board were about to announce major changes.
But before the consumer industry could write-off amusement in Japan as dead, SEGA announced a major agreement with NTT-ME to install a full System Integration (SI) at over 2,000 of the companies facilities that will connect the sites with full LAN system based on SEGA's ALL.Net (Amusement Linkage Live Network) infrastructure. Following the establishment of the relationship in 2001, SEGA and NTT-ME have expanded the initial roll out to encompass all of their Japanese amusement centers, and have upgraded the system with a new B-FLETS broadband infrastructure that will connect over 1,000 machines per facility. This will represent the largest amusement network in operation and will be supported by all of future SEGA developments.
Bandai Namco Games
Adding to the confusion of the company structure, with the difference between international Namco Bandai Games, and the Bandai Namco Games branding at AOU; the exhibit included the added appearance of Banpresto, not as a separate name but as a combined division of the BNG presence at this year's show.
The BNG booth placed two groups of four networked 'Maximum Tune 3' (N2 System) machines near the main stage and video screen. The popular driving dynasty was the centre of a special tournament for the public players arranged for the last days of the show.
At the side of their exhibit, away from the big screen, Namco showed their latest new video amusement development -- surprising for AOU, which usually only shows production versions -- this game in development was a surprise launch. 'Ace Driver 3: Final Turn' (System N2 Hardware) was launched with four network deluxe cabinets on display. The original 'Ace Driver' (System 22 Hardware) launched in 1994, with a sequel launched in 1996; the game called by many at the time as representing Pole Position / Final Lap in 3D. The surprise launch of this F1 style game will now offer a new driver to compete against Taito and the proposed secret SEGA next driver project.
Breaking Stinger News - There was some concern that this game was another 'only for overseas' title - reliving the confusion with the 'MotoGP DX' (System N2) that had been developed by a Chinese team for non-Japanese application, only to be found to be a very poor performer and later abandoned for UK and US application. It was questioned if Namco management had made available properties to be updated by this Chinese team and that Ace Driver was just the latest brand to get the treatment. In the flooded international driver market, this game will have to be incredibly 'special' to hope to survive.
Next to the new driver, Namco placed their 'Tekken 6' (PS3 Hardware) systems - a surprisingly low-key presentation with just four cabinets and a main display shoehorned onto the side of the exhibit. What the situation is with the important Tekken series and why Namco was not defending their brand seemed to compound some rumors that Namco's AM division was suffering from a debilitating management re-organization.
In the evergreen section of development, Namco returned to their local brand with the 11th version of the beat music drum game 'Taiko no Tatsujin 11' (System 246 Hardware). The game with a life both on amusement and consumers just keeps on going.
The Bandai Namco presence was represented with a showing of Banpresto products in the Namco booth. Following its ATEI'08 premier, Banpresto's unique internal project 'Wacky Races' (TypeX�² Hardware) developed with GameWax was at AOU'08. Also present in a number of upright cabinets was 'Mobile Suit GunDam Vs. GunDam' (System 256 Hardware) - the latest of the popular Bandai robot license. On display was the latest DATACARDDASS kid vending content including the big launch of 'Onepy Match' (Proprietary Hardware); Banpresto also followed SEGA and Konami with a casino style touchscreen terminal system.
One game not at the show was 'Resident Evil Arcade 2' (Proprietary Hardware), rumored to have been in development in December following an interview with the R&D team responsible for the original consumer game series. This marked the second attempt by the amusement giant to cash in on the zombie blood fest ('Resident Evil: Survivor 2 Code: Veronica' (System 246) - 2001); in part fuelled by the success that Konami has achieved with their 'Silent Hill - The Arcade' release. The original BioHazard (Resident Evil) franchise has seen successful film adaptation and over 30million copies sold on the majority of consoles since it was launched in 1998. In 2000 Capcom created a 3D film experience based on their franchise ('BioHazard 4D Executor') that received an AOU launch but little else.
Breaking Stinger News - Just as the industry was preparing to gear up to the AOU'08 event news broke of a major shake-up in Namco Bandai Games, as the holding company sees declining revenue in amusement operation business. Reported to the financial sector Namco Bandai Holding presented a 30 per cent decline in net income - this blamed on a 57 per cent decline in amusement facility profits from its 1,792 internationally based facility operations. The company announced that they will be divesting themselves of 60 facilities - though no word on location (or territory). The exact reason for Namco's declining revenue will be revealed closer to the next financial reporting, but the announcement caused shares to plummet in the company.
The situation was made worse because Namco's company spokesman stated "...a lot of types of games that people played at arcades can now be done at home." This ambiguous statement was reported across the media as if Namco was confirming that Nintendo's Wii had killed the arcade scene! Certain media reporters working incredibly hard to ignore the rise in Konami, Chuck E. Cheese or Dave & Buster's recent revenues, jumping to a conclusion that the popularity of AOU's new releases will now be hard to believe.
Taito
As revealed in previous Stinger coverage, the 30th anniversary of Space Invaders theme played heavily in the vast Taito booth (named the Taito Station). The company even chose the show to preview the Nintendo Dual Screen and Sony PSP version of the classic coin-op title (Space Invaders Extreme) - later going on to make an official announcement on the new brand launch. Returning to amusement future the company attempted to establish its market hold with their VEWLIX cabinet. This seemed to permeate the whole of the AOU floor - the booth was felt by many attending to have the biggest assortment of new amusement of the show.
At the Taito Station the driver 'D1 GP Arcade' (Type-X Hardware) was given a prominent location. The supported Yukes studio development offers a power-sliding race narrative - first seen at JAMMA'07 the NESYS infrastructure twin cabinet game has still not been dated for international testing.
Taito has worked hard to be seen as the powerhouse for the new independent development community. Along with Capcom, SNK-Playmore, Arc System Works and others using the latest Type-X2 hardware, Taito revealed that Banpresto was a new developer. In the Taito display the Type-X2 was launched as a platform of choice for amusement development with over 11 AOU'08 releases running on the architecture.
One of those games running on the new hardware was 'Half Life 2: SURVIVOR Ver. 2.0' (Type-X), the latest software version of the popular arcade adaptation of the fps, with the VEWLIX cabinet version and DX on show. The new version includes maps and new characters in the NESYS supported combat experience based on the Valve title.
Breaking Stinger News - While Namco and SEGA were reporting the closure of over 150 facilities between them, blaming the closures on a depressed market, news from other amusement factories made SEGA and Namco appear to be covering up another reason for their financial difficulties. At the end of AOU'08 Taito announced that they were expanding their amusement venue operation. Initial statements spoke of a series of new venues to be opened in high traffic areas. Taito launched at the beginning of March the unification of their amusement facility empire. The new 'Taito Station' brand heavily themed in red and with the 30th Anniversary Space Invaders logo, will take effect from April 2008 Taito AM taking very seriously the new brand image - the Space Invader icon becoming the new brand for Taito. The new Taito Station red logo will become ubiquitous with Taito operation policy, the new theme will focus heavily on family values and creating a safe environment. Taito AM development will encompass a brand new facility development including special 'Happy Buttons' kiosks supplying visitor facility information. New machines such as UFO Catchers will now also be themed in the Red Logo of Taito Station.
In the announcement concerning the new unification of the AM division, it was revealed that facility revenues represented 30 per cent of Taito sales. In building this market Taito is talking of creating new facilities (in support of the already existing 300+ sites) using new concepts such as 100 per cent only UFO Catcher rooms, as well as new platforms from other manufacturers. The new sites proposed will see application of new player and guest infrastructure. How much of this new investment in AM business comes from the acquisition by Square-ENIX, or has to do with already implemented plans, was not revealed.
SNK-Playmore
Sharing space in the Taito booth rather than having their own spoke volumes of the status of the relationship - the SNK-P brand name not actually on the show floor, only represented through Taito. In the booth the 90 per cent completed version of 'Samurai Spirit Sen' (Type-X2) sat in four VEWLIX cabinets. Another eagerly awaited title, 'The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate March' (Type-X) - the 10th anniversary of the slasher fighting series - was housed in the Taito booth in more traditional video cabinets, the old style hardware of the Type-X architecture playing host to a game that seemed underwhelming in the face of stiff competition from Capcom and Namco.
The Taito booth video showed footage of the next in the KOF series with 'The King of Fighters XII' (Type-X2), the next in the version of the game running on the more advance Type-X2. How this game will split the brawling market was not touched upon; - like waiting for a London bus, first there are none and then three or four come at the same time; that is the Asian brawler scene. Though Capcom won the independent player poll of most popular game with SFIV, many questioned how big the lead would have been if SNK-P had been allowed to bring the more advanced KOF game to the show. The leaking of the trailer of this game at the show casts a shadow over the aspirations of Capcom and their title - the KOF XII rumored for a September premier.
Square-ENIX
An imposing black fronted booth attached to the Taito booth represented the big launch for the SQN amusement brand. The company placed all of its guns behind 'Lord of Vermilion' (Type-X2). The Square-ENIX developed card battle system offer a RPG with creatures from Final Fantasy through to the Final Fantasy XII consumer game franchise. The system is the first to use a living surface style back projected interactive tablet, and through employment of the NESYS infrastructure allows multiple battles with connected terminals.
The slick presentation saw a large amount of interest in the game and the entrance of Square-ENIX as an amusement brand, supported by its ownership of Taito. This makes the second use of the Final Fantasy brand in amusement 'Eternal Wheel' (Type-X2) being the most recent release.
Capcom
On the first 'private' day of the show the queues of young players who managed to bypass the exhibition organizers regulations became a flood - all to play 'Street Fighter IV' (Type-X2). Now with the new tag line 'Here to Smash You Up!' Capcom would have you think it was the 20th Anniversary of the brand; in fact the company launched the original Street Fighter game in 1987. This new version represents the 16th official version released, though none of the versions were ever so important to the survival of Capcom; the franchise is also soon to be graced with a new motion picture.
The machines displaying the pre-production runs of the Taito VEWLIX cabinets -- many exhibited with the latest version of the brawler code stated to be 60 per cent complete - were mobbed by players masquerading as trade visitors. Capcom had to place a 90 and then 120 minute wait sign (like a theme park) for people to test the game - the 'no photos' signs were ignored, and soon the web was heaving to SFIV images (see coming Stinger feature).
The company displayed the first details of the machines unique features including networking between four cabinets offering 'Cross-Link' (Link-Match) so players can search for new opponents from machines around them, and on the network, as well as the games AI characters. The machine supports the Taito NESYS infrastructure - it was revealed also that in its final production model it will have a Smart Card system.
Obviously the game was the product of the show - still not finished going on its first series of industry site-tests that month. The comments from Capcom executives were incredibly telling on how Capcom Japan and Capcom USA have been working on this - the most important release in the company's history. The product is licensed to the US division, with sources suggesting that the marketing and the branding of the title is the responsibility of America. However, a slight shadow was cast over the SFIV appearance by the popularity of SNK-P's strategically leaked video of KOF XII.
The Capcom booth also had a number of independent products on display - sitting in conventional cabs (or cabinets) were 'Fate Unlimited Code' (Type-X2) and the Arc Systems Works developed 'Sengoku Basara X' (Type-X2) which found a strong following of loyal beat-em-up fans.
Breaking Stinger News - Capcom in early February had announced their financial third quarter, with net sales up by 4.8 percent to 51.66 billion ($484.5m). However, net income had fallen 17.8 percent to 3.57 billion ($33.5m) - the amusement operation and coin-op division had been part of the decline - with a company statement that the market for them was 'stagnant'. Oh what a difference a show makes!
News Story with thanks to Kevin Williams. Please visit
www.thestingerreport.com for others.
