Commentary

Japan bids to reclaim its amusement scene crown

Japan's amusement players work to redefine their facility business with enticing music and video games amidst an explosion in capsule gaming and crane machine venues.

Image: Adobe Stock.

March 13, 2023 by Kevin Williams

Japanese amusement machine producers are anxious to restore the grandeur their industry was long known for, as witnessed by a recent surge of music and video game offerings.

The country's amusement scene looks to redefine its facility business on one hand with enticing music and video games, and on the other there is an explosion in Gashapon (capsule gaming) and crane game venues.

Following are some highlights.

Bandai Namco Amusement

Bandai Namco Amusement has introduced a videogame in its "Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme Versus" series, with "Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme Versus 2 Overboost." The two-on-two robot combat game is the latest in the series first launched in 2001 — featuring satellite terminals in multiplayer combat.

BNA also updated its "Mario Kart – Arcade Grand Prix DX" — a work in progress with two new selectable characters and new marquee. The new version of the popular arcade series has four-player network racing and many of the familiar elements from the Nintendo licensed property.

It is planned for a release in summer of this year and looks to be an update kit to systems in the market. The game series has seen great success in the West, and it is hoped that this latest version, when released, will get an international placement.

The company has also announced its "Idol Master Tour" — the popular group music game, the latest in the series scheduled for a 2024 release and which will start testing in the summer.

The company also has new crane games, a genre in amusement that is very popular with the Japanese audience post-lockdown. "Crane 3," based on the series of UFO catchers, features new styling.

The company's chain of active entertainment spaces has been another example of the diversification of the amusement trade in Japan.

"Jump X Jump," a standalone physical attraction, features a rotating obstacle, like the "Wipeout Meltdown" Inflatable Renta systems employed across Western trampoline parks.

BNA, like many other amusement operations in Japan, has been broadening its amusement venue business, growing its capsule gaming line with the Gashapon Bandai Official Shop retail stores.

But the operation has also reinvested in its amusement venue interests. In December, it was announced that its "Namco Tokyo" concept will open in April, offering a new entertainment venue approach from the traditional amusement hall styling, in what BNA call an "amusement complex."

Bandai Namco Technica has introduced "Dead Heat Unleashed" — a street racing title, a game that incorporates a course based on the popular Tokyo Street circuit of the evergreen "Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune."

Konami Amusement

Konami Amusement has introduced "Momotara Electric Iron" — a screen and medal game based on a popular consumer game series that includes the "metal pusher" feature.

Konami has also launched its dungeons RPG title, "Eldora Crown Eternal Labyrinth," with a sit-down networked play cabinet, with players steering their team through the dungeons, avoiding traps and attackers.

The game is supported by a collectable card element for magic and weapon enhancement.

The company also introduced two "Dance Dance Revolution 20th" games supporting the "Benami Pro League Season 2." The golden dance stage systems are used as part of the play of the competition tournaments held, labelled "eSports x Music."

Taito

Taito has introduced an entertainment center offering called "X-Station" that includes immersive XR entertainment systems — what the company has dubbed "eXtended Reality." The center's "Cube" system is a multi-projection 5D immersive attraction that tracks players' actions and relays them on the 450-degree projected screens.

Two of the latest games for the system include a four-player standing shooter "Space Cube" and one with "Treasure Explorer" — four-players sitting on stools to allow them to spin and blast targets as the experience races through caves, with players using their controllers to shoot at enemies in a cooperative virtual ride attraction.

The "Cube" system is the latest in the trend of "immersive enclosure" concepts we have reported on.

Taito also introduced "Music Dive" — a music rhythm game using the familiar circular touchscreen configuration. The music game is supported by a slew of licensed music and an extensive social media component, all connected to the Taito "NESiCA" network.

Capcom

Capcom has made a surprise return to the arcades of its brawler game with "Street Fighter 6 Type Arcade" supported by eight Taito Type X4 cabinets supporting the "NESiCA" network and tournament play component. Taito will rep the game in the amusement trade and will release the consumer console version of the game in June, although there are no plans revealed of a Western amusement release.

Capcom also announced its "Capcom Box" crane game facility chain, with sites dedicated to complete "frictionless" operation, seeing a completely cashless payment system.

Patrons just walk into the stores and use either smartphone QR code or contactless payment cards and can play the latest crane machines. This is the latest in the frictionless approach to payment that has been championed by Japanese operators, weaning their audience off cash.

This new chain store features Capsule Labs, Capcom's capsule gaming vending store. Capcom also has some 40 conventional amusement facility businesses under the "Plaza Capcom" brand, and has also been experimenting with new venue concepts, most recently with its "Miraino" entertainment site, including VR, e-sports and amusement.

Sega Corp.

Sega Cop. introduced a tabletop battle game, "Great Battle of England," with players using the unique card table that tracks the movement of collector cards on its surface and represents them on screen in the game.

The company also introduced new branding for its crane game, "UFO Catcher 10." This and other crane games are supported by the company's new "Prize On" platform — a smart app that allows patrons to pay and collect points on their smartphone when they play the catchers.

Sega has divested most of its facility operation business to Genda Entertainment, which has doubled down on its consumer games business, working in partnership with Microsoft on what has been dubbed its "Super Game Project" — based around the "Azure" cloud platform.

Japanese game developers are clearly working to restore the amusement empire that played a leading role in the world's amusement and entertainment industries.

(Editor's note: Extracts from this blog are from recent coverage in The Stinger Report, published by Spider Entertainment and its director, Kevin Williams, the leading interactive out-of-home entertainment news service covering the immersive frontier and beyond.)

Music & Games

About Kevin Williams

Along with advisory positions with other entrants into the market he is founder and publisher of the Stinger Report, “a-must-read” e-zine for those working or investing in the amusement, attractions and entertainment industry. He is a prolific writer and provides regular news columns for main trade publications. He also travels the globe as a keynote speaker, moderator and panelist at numerous industry conferences and events. Author of “The Out-of-Home Immersive Entertainment Frontier: Expanding Interactive Boundaries in Leisure Facilities,” the only book on this aspect of the market, with the second edition scheduled for a 2023 release.

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