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.
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:
Maimai PiNK
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.
The concert also included a performance from various other artists:
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Sangokushi Taisen
On the first day of the even, SEGA revealed a new entry in their Sangokushi Taisen series. The game, developed by AM#1, is a card-based strategy game. Players move real cards on a flat board in order to move their troops around over the battlefield, with the ultimate goal being the destruction of your opponent’s castle. First launched in 2005, the series has been very successful for SEGA, and was even ported to the Nintendo DS and Windows PC. Below you can find the new logo and some of the art featured on the game’s new cards, as well as a video of the live event at JAEPO 2016. In addition, SEGA launched a new website for the game.
Official website for Sangokushi Taisen
Doodle Card Battle – Shooting Down the King
At least, that’s my attempt at translating the title for this “drawing amusement machine” from SEGA and coconoe inc. Aimed at a younger audience, the game first asks kids to draw a fighter plane on a card, which the machine then reads and transports into the game. Up to six players can let their ships battle against each other. It’s certainly an interesting piece of technology, and you can get a better idea of how this works in the following videos (the latter a short, but impressive, demonstration of the game being played at the expo):
Source for the link to the video: Famitsu
StarHorse 3 Season V – Exceed the limit
SEGA also showed the new StarHorse 3 Season V arcade game, developed by AM#1. SEGA’s StarHorse series are arcade horse racing games where the players can bet on the outcome of virtual horse races. We included a recent video of the game in action below:
The new King of Beetles
MUSHIKING: The King of Beetles is a card-based arcade games aimed at children. The cards represent beetles that can be scanned in by the machine, and players can fight the CPU or beetles from other real opponents. Gameplay consist of a simple rock-paper-scissors mechanic.
Medal Tower of Babel and UFO CATCHER 9
SEGA also showed a traditional UFO catcher and medal game cabinet. Some screenshots and a small video from SEGA’s Vine account can be found here:
That covers most of the games featured at the event! Sadly, few if any of the things talked about in this article will make an appearance in the West, but we hope it gives you some insight in to what SEGA’s arcade business looks like at the moment.
Sources for the images: