Sega Japan's MaiMai has Limited Overseas Release for English Version
Although this may not necessarily be headed out West any time soon, or possibly not at all, I still would like to garner a little more attention for the MaiMai, a new rhythm game from Sega Japan. This concept for this game is refreshingly different to many of the rhythm and dance games currently on the market. While most require you to be light on your feet in some way, for those of us who are much less co-ordinated the MaiMai only requires you to use your hands to perform two actions: hit the buttons and swipe the touchscreen when indicated. Sega has also recently released an upgrade for the game, MaiMai Plus, which was made available on the 13th of December.
A video from Diginfo did specify Sega intended an overseas release, and the English version of the game has reached some of the South East Asian countries, like Tawain, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia, however, whether or not this particular unit will make it to the West (i.e. Australia, New Zealand, the US, etc) has not been specified. The number one reason so far for doubting it's wider release is the fact that the online functions require the use of SEGA ALL.NET service, although the game still functions on it's own without that (it would just mean the online functions wouldn't work).
Personally, I hope it does come to the West, simply because this unit looks like a ridiculous amount of fun. It's still active like other rhythm and movement games,but not in a tiring way, and it still requires rhythm without having to be super co-ordinated with your feet. Also, with a round interface, bright LED buttons and integration of the touchscreen into gameplay, the design and concept is very different, andI think any arcade that implemented a pair of MaiMai's would garner a lot of attention.
To take a closer look at the MaiMai and how it works, here's a video sourced from Diginfonews:
