Today, Taito presents a new version of its musical game: Groove Coaster 3EX Dream Party. New songs will be added during the month. Today, 9 new songs (Girls & Panzer, Period Zero, Granrodeo, ...) and 3 renewal (Neon Genesis Evangelion,...) are playable and on March 27, 2 other songs (Vocaloid, Touhou Arange) will be available. Groove Coaster 3EX Dream Party introduces a new navigator: Yume, a pink haired girl.

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The new Taiko no Tatsujin is out today! Taiko no Tatsujin: Yellow Ver. was presented on Bandai Namco stand at JAEPO 2017 in February. This upgrade features a yellow theme representing Spring. The game has not changed much, the only difference with the previous version (Red) is about the song list. There are 16 new songs. 12 are available immediately (Your Name, Pokemon Sun & Moon, Osomatsu-san, Splatoon,... ) and 4 are available in the reward shop.

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Quiz Magic Academy The World Evolve was presented at JAEPO 2017 in February. The game will be available in Japanese game centers tomorrow. This new version of the famous quiz game from Konami introduces a new female character named Vany. You can watch the trailer here.

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Initial D Arcade Stage Zero hits Japanese game centers today! Sega released a new cabinet with new features. It's the first time that an Initial D game uses a new cabinet since Initial D Arcade Stage 4. It's equipped with a 6-speed speed shifter (instead of the sequential one), there are speakers in the seat and the steering wheel is smaller than before. Unlike previous Initial D games, the save card is now AIME and not a proprietary one anymore. Initial D 8 cards are not compatible but players can convert their Initial D 8 mileage into points to be used in Initial D Zero via their SEGA ID. Until now, the chara design was based on the manga from Shūichi Shigeno but in this new version, the chara design comes from the 2014 anime Shin Gekijō-ban Initial D Legend 1 -Kakusei-. The other big change is the music; most of the traditional Eurobeat soundtrack is replaced by songs from the movie (CLUTCHO, Backdraft Smiths,...). Initial D Arcade Stage Zero introduces an interesting new feature for the fans: team management. Players can create a team with friends and the team name will be displayed in local and online rankings. Each team can hold up to 6 members and the team name can't be changed. A player can not move to another team within 10 days of joining or creating a team. When a member moves to another team, his time attack records and points are reset, causing the team score to decrease and TA times to disappear. Another new feature is that, in competition mode, player can ask for a revenge race. You can watch the opening here.

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For its tenth release, Data Disc offers soundtracks of two arcade classics from the late '80s: Galaxy Force II and Thunder Blade. Using the sprite-scaling technique to simulate a three-dimensional universe, these two Sega simulators impressed a lot of players as they were ahead of their time. Their soundtracks are a mixture of funk and fusion, genres often associated with the space theme in those days (as in Space Adventure Cobra). Soundtracks of both games are composed by Koichi Namiki, Katsuhiro Hayashi and Tohru Nakabayashi and simulates real instruments using a Yamaha YM2151 chip and a proprietary PCM chip. On the A side, the Galaxy Force II soundtrack includes a live arrangement of "Beyond the Galaxy" played by Hiroshi "Hiro" Kawaguchi (composer of OutRun and Space Harrier) and his band (including a keyboard solo by Hiro himself). On the other side, Thunder Blade's O.S.T. features 3 unused tracks. The music was captured from the original arcade boards (System X and System Y) and remastered for vinyl support. The record is available in 3 editions: a limited edition in frosted clear and translucent yellow vinyl with white splashes, a translucent yellow edition and a standard black edition. Each edition costs £20 and can be ordered on this page: http://data-discs.com/products/galaxyforce-thunderblade from today at 20:00 CET. The vinyls will be sent to the buyers before the end of the month. You can listen to a song from each game on Soundcloud.

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Presented for the first time at JAEPO 2016, Nostalgia is finally released today. Konami created a new musical game that uses a piano keyboard controller. The game keyboard has the same size as the one of a real piano so you feel like playing a real piano. The player uses both hands to reproduce the notes scrolling on the screen. The song list is the most interesting part of the game: you can play beautiful melodies including famous classical songs, piano arrangements especially recorded of J-Pop, animes and series songs and BEMANI songs.

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The new upgrade of Mobile Suit Gundam U.C. Card Builder is out today. The new color theme is red: the cabinet LEDs are renewed to red color. The name "Mobile Suit Gundam U.C. Card Builder Counterattack" is a reference to the movie Mobile Suit Gundam Char's Counterattack released in 1988. Many new cards come from this anime and the reward of the Season 1 is two super rare cards also coming from Mobile Suit Gundam Char's Counterattack: Quess Paraya (new type) and NZ-333 α - AZIERU. The other Gundam titles introduced with new cards are: Mobile Suit Gundam 0083 STARDUST MEMORY, Mobile Suit Gundam F91 and Mobile Suit Gundam V Gundam. Mobile Suit Gundam U.C. Card Builder Counterattack will also bring a new map named "Axis surrounding".

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The new version of CHUNITHM AIR starts running today. New songs, new characters and new functions are added. CHUNITHM AIR PLUS features a lot of new songs in "POPS & ANIME" (Moonlight Densetsu covered by Mitsunoshi Mitsukoshi from Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon, Redo from Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-), "VARIETY" (DJ YOSHITAKA, PACA PACA PASSION) and "ORIGINAL" categories. The long-awaited "course mode" is now available (play pre-determined 3 songs in a row) and the play response has been upgraded. Sega also added a new function "In-store matching appeal". When the player searches in "in-store matching", he can select "Everyone OK!" or "Friends only!". A collaboration event with the animes Gochūmon wa usagi desu ka? (Is the order a rabbit?) and Chain Chronicle: The Light of Haecceitas starts today and will last until March 8. Players can get special nameplates.

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Border Break X Zero will be released tomorrow. This upgrade brings a lot of new weapons and mechas. A new stage is available: "Aiose", an orbit station floating in outer space featuring a new functionality named "variable field" where topography changes as time goes on. Parts of the map move also and at the end of the battle, both camps are close enough to see each other. There are also other adjustments such as the possibility to play 5vs5 in "Scud Battle" mode against 4vs4 currently,... Players can now choose which character appears on loading screens. Sega announces many upcoming events and campaigns this year.

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Nightmare is the first statue from Soulcalibur II to be released by First 4 Figures. Pre-oders are open today and the statue will be released in Q3 2017. Nightmare is the main antagonist of the Soul series. The Nightmare present in Soulcalibur II is Siegfried Schtauffen possessed by Soul Edge, the cursed sword. As usual, the statue exists in 2 versions: regular and exclusive. The regular edition of the statue is 22 inches (56 cm) tall and Nightmare stands with Soul Edge on a base, ready to take on all nearby souls. In the Exclusive edition, he stands on top of a flesh covered rock, LEDs are included in his eyes to give off a demonic look, truly bringing the entire piece to life. You can order the regular version here and the exclusive version here. You can also try to win a free statue by entering a contest on First 4 Figures Facebook page.

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