Here’s a Look at SEGA’s Showing at the Japan Amusement Expo 2016

The 2016 edition of the Japan Amusement Expo took place some days ago (from February 19 to February 20th). At the exhibition, Japanese arcade game developers got to show their latest arcade games and amusement machines, and SEGA was of course no exception. This year’s showing from SEGA held little in terms of surprises. In particular, Virtua Fighter 6, a game many fans were hoping to see announced, was nowhere to be seen. On the other hand, what SEGA did have to offer showed that they’re still very much relevant in the Japanese arcade business. It also gives us some insight as to why the arcade game business remains relevant in Japan. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at what SEGA had to show at the event.

Wonderland Wars

SEGA’s MOBA Wonderland Wars was shown at the event, where it also celebrated its first anniversary. Wonderland Wars is one of SEGA’s more notable arcade games released in recent years, given the interesting controls. Aside from a analog stick used to move your “hero” character (consisting of characters such as Cinderella and Alica), players also use a stylus to draw on the screen and issue commands. Apart from that, the gameplay is similar to that of the more popular MOBAs in the West. Battles are between up to 4 versus 4 players, and the goal is to destroy the other team’s castle. Both teams get NPC characters that defend their castle, but defeating NPCs of your opposing team grants your heroes experience, allowing them to level up.

At the event, visitors were given small chocolates wrapped in chibi art featuring the characters of the game. Below you can find an official wallpaper made for the game’s first anniversary, as well as screenshots from SEGA’s official Twitter account.

Wonderland Wars 1st Anniversary Wallpaper 1920×1080

A photo of the game’s cabinet at the event.

The game’s cabinet.

Visitors were given these small chocolates.

A view of one of the Wonderland War arcade cabinets.

Official Wonderland Wars cosplay.

Official Wonderland Wars cosplay.

The birthday cake for the game’s 1st anniversary

The team celebrating the game’s 1st anniversary

A photo of the stand for Wonderland Wars at the event.

You can view the trailer for the latest version of Wonderland Wars 1.50 here:

KanColle Arcade

KanColle (short for Kantai Collection) is an online browser game where the player controls a fleet of Kanmusu (“fleet girls”). As the name suggests, these girls are “moe anthropomorphisms” of actual World War II battleships and submarines. After the launch of the original game, it has been ported to the PS Vita and also received manga, light novel and an anime adaption. SEGA’s KanColle Arcade is the arcade version of Kadokawa Games’ browser game. The player needs to collect physical cards to assemble their fleet in the game, before heading into battle. We added the new screenshots which SEGA recently released below, as well as a re-post of the promotional video SEGA released earlier in 2015. Like Wonderland Wars, it shows that arcades still manage to offer a type of gameplay not found on home consoles.

Chunithm Plus

Also featured at the event was Chunithm Plus, an upgraded version of the original arcade rhythm game Chunithm, which features new content such as the new “World’s End” difficulty level and additional songs. Chunithm was developed by the same team that worked on the maimai arcade rhythm game (more on that below).  Rather than using conventional buttons, the game is controlled using a “ground slider”, which is essentially a touch screen version divided in different sections, which light up as you touch them. In addition, you also have to move your hands in the air at times, which is picked up by sensors on the side of the cabinet. To understand how this works, take a look at the following video (yes, that’s indeed someone in a penguin suit explaining the game).

Here are some more screenshots and a view of the arcade cabinet of the game:

An in-game screenshot from Chunithm

An in-game screenshot from Chunithm

An in-game screenshot from Chunithm

An in-game screenshot from Chunithm

The Chunitm arcade cabinet

Maimai PiNK

Maimai is another arcade rhythm game from SEGA, featuring a round touch screen and eight buttons surrounding it. A combination of hitting the buttons and using swipe movements on the screen are used to control the game. Since the initial release, SEGA have released multiple versions of the game, the latest being maimai PiNK, which was now featured at JAEPO 2016. Below you can find a video featuring SEGA’s ever-enthusiastic Takenobu Mitsuyoshi (music composer for various SEGA games such as Virtua Fighter 2, Daytona USA and Shenmue), where he demonstrates the basic controls for the game. And while it may look easy, the game can get quite difficult indeed. Here’s an example the level attained by expert players.

Maimai x Irodorimidori X Chunithm concert

Maimai x Irodorimidori X Chunithm Concert

SEGA also held a “Special Live JAEPO 2016: Party Night” concert at the expo. Part of that concert was Irodorimidori, a virtual idol group created by SEGA, which has its own songs that are featured in both Chunithm and maimai. At the event, the real-life counterparts for 4 out of the 5 members of Irodorimidori were present. Emi Nitta (voice of Serina Akesaka, and also know as the voice of Honoka Kousaka in Love Live!) was unable to attend. SEGA fans may also know M · A · O (who voices Irodorimidori’s Hakobe Naru) from her role as Dreamcast in the Hi-sCoool! SeHa Girls anime.

An Irodorimidori Wallpaper, showing the entire group.

The Irodorimidori stage, before the actual concert.

A photo of the four members of Irodorimidori who were present at JAEPO, just after their live concert.

Ayaka Fukuhara (Agata Arishiana)

Ayano Yamamoto (Tennouzu Nazuna)

Kaoru Sakura (Kobotoke Nagi)

M · A · O (Hakobe Naru)

The concert also included a performance from various other artists:

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