For the most part, arcades in the West (especially in North America) have been on the decline for decades. Yes there has been a resurgence in arcade opening and the mentality is still there alive and well, its not what it used to be. In Japan, while there have been a few closings, the arcade scene seems to be alive with new games seeing releases. And what better way to see what’s in store for Japanese arcades than the Japanese Amusement Expo going on right now this weekend at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, the same location that the Tokyo Game Show takes place every year.
This year it seems that everyone is releasing an arcade game of some type, especially Japan’s bigger developers/publishers. One of theme turns out to be Square Enix. In addition to announcing Ultimate Street Fighter IV content for Gunslinger Stratos 2 they also made a surprise reveal. Well I say its a surprise because not everyone follows the Japanese social media for most developers/publishers. Anyway last week they released the following trailer:
At first speculation, most thought that this was a teaser for a mobile game. And it’s natural to think that since SE has been on a mobile game kick for a while now. But that’s not the case. At JAEPO they revealed that this is actually an arcade game. From the looks of it it will be a free roam, 3v3 team format similar to the Dragon Ball Z arcade game. The gameplay, which might be pre-rendered, looks really pretty and seems to use an altered version of the Dissida fighting system for the PSP. SE will reveal more about the game on April 10.
Source(s) Gematus.com, 4gamer, Arcade Heroes
