Good news for Tsum Tsum collectors: Disney Tsum Tsum from Konami was released in Japan on March 18. The Tsum Tsums are round fluff plush representing Disney characters especially popular in Japan. The are available worldwide since a few months ago. Disney Tsum Tsum is the arcade version of the smartphone game (Android and iPhone) which gameplay is simple: connect at least 3 identical tsums to make them disappear. Each Tsum Tsum has special abilities and players can save their data via the e-Amusmement Pass. They can also play in multiplayer cooperative mode. At the end of a game, the player receives a capsule with a super kawai tsum tsum keychain inside.

Author: SophieKitty More info... Permalink Tweet

NG:DEV.TEAM announces the opening of pre-orders for its next game for Neo-Geo MVS: Kraut Buster. It's a run'n'gun game in the style of Metal Slug. The story takes place in Europe in 1936, John "Küken" Mallone and Jack "Handsome" Rowdy are part of the Kraut Buster corps, their mission: defeat the evil dictator Dolph Edelwolf and save all girls in the process. Kraut Buster is the first game from NG:DEV.TEAM which supports 2-player simultaneous gameplay. The 2-player mode is integrated within the game engine and will be re-used in the future for appropriate titles, nothing could make us more happy! This is what was missing the most in the productions of the German developer. The game will feature 3 routes of different difficulty, finishing the game using the normal difficulty course will take an average of 35 minutes during which the players fight 5 or 6 boss and sub-boss. Technically, the game will run at 60fps and will occupy approximately 784MBits of ROM space. The different levels will be quite long and will offer panoramic backdrops with parallax scrolling. Like most games of this manufacturer, the scoring system is chain based. The project occupies 2 full-time and one freelance pixel artists, one programmer/designer and one musician; the excellent Rafael Dyll. A video of the alpha version has been published on Youtube, the least we can say is that it bears a strong resemblance with Metal Slug (including the bloody aspect). But the game coming out this Winter, plenty of time remains to refine the product. The Kraut Buster cartridge is currently available for pre-order in two editions: the standard gamecenter edition in its cardboard box for €399 and a limited edition of 99 copies hosted in a shockbox with a CD of the soundtrack, 2 posters, a postcard and a set of bonus stickers. This deluxe edition costs €449. A spin-off of Kraut Buster using the same characters but played in a top down view will be released later.

Author: Nomax More info... Permalink Tweet

In many Japanese game centers, yesterday was the last day of existence of Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Unlimited because it was replaced today by... Tekken 7! Finally, here is the seventh episode in a saga which began 20 years ago, this one uses the Unreal Engine 4. Darker than the previous games, this opus closes the Mishima clan saga with answers to many questions about the rivalry between Heihachi, Kazuya and Jin Kazama as well as the origin of the Devil Gene. There are currently 20 characters that you can choose including 4 new ones: Katarina Alves (a Brazilian girl using French kickboxing), Claudio Serafino (an Italian man with mysterious powers), Lucky Chloe (an otaku girl in a cat costume) and Shaheen (Saudi Arabian fighter). Small spoiler; the boss of the fourth stage is Heihachi Mishima and the final boss is his deceased wife Kazumi (which is a non-playable character). Regarding the mechanics of the game, there are two main innovations: the Rage Art, which allows the player to execute several unblockable moves if his life bar is almost empty, which allows him to inflict up to 80% of damage to the opponent. Attention, this disables the power gain usually granted for normal hits. The other big feature is the Power Crush, which leaves the player continue his attacks even if he is hit by the enemy. Beware that he however receive damage from these attacks. Also new is the Screw Attack system which allows a player to keep hitting an enemy who has just fallen on the ground. A first in fighting games is the possibility for each player to choose on which side he fights (both players may start on the left side of the screen, which is traditionally reserved to player 1), there is also a practice mode to train the performance of the different movements. Local and online matches are possible. Winning a certain number of matches unlocks a Treasure Box containing objects to customize the character and save it thanks to Banapassport. A limited edition of 88 special Noir cabinets (88 of Mishima) with golden details equipped with Tekken 7 was available on February 18 (with limited game modes), but now is the day the game is available in all game centers. As usual with the Tekken games, additional characters will appear in the game over time. [Trailer][Opening]

Author: Nomax More info... Permalink Tweet

Monster Strike MULTI BURST will be released in Japan tomorrow. This is the arcade version of Monster Strike, a RPG for Japanese smartphones developped by Mixi and Konami. The players use monster and skill cards to play. The arcade version adds new features to the smartphone version: new monsters and a new 2vs2 Tag Battle online mode. Konami already announced that there will be future events common to both the arcade and the smartphone versions of the game.

Author: SophieKitty More info... Permalink Tweet

Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- v.1.10 will be availabe on March 19. This is a major update since 3 new characters will be added: Shin Kiske, Elphelt Valentine and Leo = Whitefang. The 17 game characters will be rebalanced and the battle system will be improved. Two new stages will also be added as well as two new game modes: MOM and Sparring mode.

Author: SophieKitty More info... Permalink Tweet

A new bar opened in Liège on March 6. Its name? The Warzone! Why are we talking about it? Because it features arcade games of course! You can indeed play Guitar Hero Arcade, The House of the Dead III, Space Invaders, Terminator 2, Sega Rally and Virtua Striker 2. There is also a Star Trek pinball there. But that's not all; the bar has an impressive decor with walls covered with graphs made by GrafoDeco and surprising decor elements such as a Han Solo in carbonite (yes, he was there all this time). Anyway, you understand that the place is super nice! Take a look at this Youtube video to get an idea. Located at number 36 of the rue de la Casquette, the Warzone is open from Monday to Friday from 10am until late and on Saturday from noon. Check the dedicated page on this website occasionally to monitor the arcade area and their official Facebook page to stay informed of the latest events. We wish them much success!

Author: Nomax More info... Permalink Tweet

Time Crisis 5 is out in Japan today and the international release will follow shortly. Time Crisis 5 features a very impressive cabinet with two 55" screens displaying 60 fps continuously! The main new feature is the new double pedal system that makes the game more strategic. Indeed, the two pedals (marked "Left" and "Right") are used to move between cover points to the left and to the right of the scene. This allows the player to kill enemies he is not able to shoot from the front. The reload system has not changed, the player just releases the pedal to take cover and reload. Pressing the same pedal allows him to recover and shoot in front of him, pressing the other moves him in that direction. At certain times of the game, the player must press the right pedal at the right time to successfully pass events (which vary between games). The gun is equipped with a side button to change weapons at certain times of the game. The player must then decide which of the machine gun or the rocket launcher is the most suitable for the situation. The current game is composed of three stages; a classic level in a holiday resort, a sequence aboard a heavily armed gunship and a motorcycle chase. A free update currently in production called "Time Crisis 5 True Mastermind Edition" will add 3 whole new levels. Time Crisis 5 introduces new VSSE agents (Luke O'Neil and Marc Godart) but the players come across old acquaintances like Robert Baxter (their mentor and VSSE leader), Catherine Ricci (VSSE support agent) and Wild Dog (who's always so nasty and has become partly cyborg due the many confrontations with the VSSE). The Japanese version of Time Crisis 5 is compatible with the Bana Passport. Players can obtain medals by completing certain conditions: make 100 headshots, finish the game without continues, make 15 continuous hits,...

Author: SophieKitty More info... Permalink Tweet

Taiko No Tatsujin 6th update is released today. This time, the color theme is purple (murasaki). All songs and features from the Kimidori version are still present and 14 new songs are added: some come from console versions and others are completely new as Do you want to build a snowman? (Frozen), RAINMAKER (New Japan Pro Wrestling Kazuchika Okada Entrance Theme), Seishun Satsubatsu-ron (Assassination Classroom),... A few small improvements have been made to the game: the Favorites folder may contain 10 songs (compared to 5 in the previous version), the result screen has changed to make the scores and statistics more clear.

Author: SophieKitty More info... Permalink Tweet

Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown VERSION B starts operation today. The game is the same that the VERSION A, there is no balance adjustement or new character. The game will not be compatible with the ALL.NET network. Ranking services for the VERSION A REVISION 1 will be end on March 31. Players can use their current cards to transfert their data to the VERSION B.

Author: SophieKitty More info... Permalink Tweet

Game Developers Conference (GDC) is the largest exhibition reserved solely to the video game industry professionals. It is currently being held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco and ends on March 6. The first edition held 27 years ago gathered 25 developers. This year, more than 24000 visitors (programmers, game designers, artists, producers,...) are expected. Many conferences, workshops and round tables will be organised. This time, arcade games will be represented by Junya Motomura, director and technical artist at Arc System Works, who will hold a conference at GDC on Friday from 1.30pm to 2.30pm. During this conference named "GuiltyGearXrd's Art Style: The X Factor Between 2D and 3D", he will explain how Arc System Works has developed a new artistic style for Guilty Gear Xrd using Unreal Engine 3 to create 3D characters with a hand-drawn 2D look. Both the artistic (models, textures,...) and technical (programming, rendering) sides will be covered.

Author: AB Team More info... Permalink Tweet

All other news items are featured in our news archive.