Taito
Amongst all the merged factories, Taito and Square-Enix proved one of the most low-key merger / acquisitions. The outward appearance of the merged group was not evident, and even in off-booth briefings no real hint of how the new SEC groups control of the Taito name and AM / GM business will materialize. The company had a strong AOU booth with a number of strong releases and some surprise announcements to keep in the game.

Half Life 2 Survivor (Taito TypeX+) - The completed version of the Valve-based fps game had a special enclosure on the Taito booth, the game was shown in all it’s network shooting glory, and proved a strong product at the exhibition. The multiple function cabinet included its NESYS IC Card capability, and was scheduled for a full rollout for March, though still information on an international launch was not revealed.

The game includes two multi-functional joysticks and foot-peddles. These player controls alone had heads turning regarding this unique game. The specially designed deluxe cabinet was sporting an impressive rear LED lighting effect depicting in Battle Mode which side the player is on. The darkened enclosure on the booth seemed to point to a facility layout design that they would like to see the game placed in. Though alluded to at ATEI, the game will be receiving an international placement with its IC Card, though AOU did not reveal who would distribute it, nor was there any discussion of the possibility of wider site networks outside of Japan.

‘Chase HQ: Nancy Yori Kinkyuu Renraku’ (Chase H.Q.: Emergency Contact from Nancy) (TypeX+) - On the presentation stage on the booth, Taito showed a number of videos of forthcoming games, and specific features of the products on display. In a presentation video, the company revealed the development of a popular product from the 1980s. This surprise announcement at the show will mark the fourth in the series (Chase H.Q. (1988), S.C.I. - Special Criminal Investigation (1989) and Super Chase - Criminal Termination (1992). Continuing a plague in the amusement scene for the fourth bite of the cherry and famous brands; and this brand comes from happier years. The Miami Vice television show inspired the original game, which had the player rushing around streets, ramming hapless criminals into submission in the obligatory Porsche Turbo.

Taito revealed that they are looking into expanding their driving system range. Taito has many other videos to push, so TSR had honestly not expected to see a big push on BG4 at the event -- even though the driver is very popular with the Asian player base, in many cases beating Initial D from SEGA in player support. In one presentation Taito executives said they might develop a version of the game linked to a popular race league in Japan (D1 Grand Prix Series). More detail is expected for JAMMA. Off Booth Japanese facilities were heavily behind the new NESYS version of BG4 with the NET CASH prize feature marking the first application of prize payout tournament in Japan (see Stinger #416).

Breaking Stinger News - While Taito showed the enhanced version of the highly popular racer, news from Europe showed that the game was finding favor with the international scene. As reported in the Stinger #448, the DX cabinet of BG4 was seen on three booths - Deith, PMT and Taito’s own appearance. The games popularity requires consistent support to establish good sales and the split between three booths proved confusing.

Following the ATEI event, Deith Sales, a prominent amusement distributor run by the respected Deith family, announced that along with their recent acquisition by Photo-Me, they had signed an agreement with Taito to become the exclusive distributor of the driver in Europe. The company has continued to represent a strong range of video even though their focus has migrated to gaming products of late; with their distribution of SEGA and TrioTech properties (such as Ford Racing and Wasteland Racer), the company now takes on Taito.

Whether the DX cabinet or a reduced Standard cabinet (similar to that seen on the Namco booth during AMOA’05) will be deployed had not been revealed at the time of the announcement - though Deith were keen to promote BG4 as the most popular driver seen at the ATEI event. Its competition from SEGA, TrioTech, Raw Thrills and Global VR ensures a fast-paced driving video market for 2006, though the issues of no tournament or smart card support will factor into some opinions. Sources close to Deith however revealed that some software enhancements have been requested for the territory, though the game is already on the way for UK placement.

Yet another female-focused kid vending system, this particular unit with a strong design package, in a heart shaped cabinet; clearly building off the popularity of the Love & Berry system from SEGA, the Taito system is another homage development. Taito also showed new cards packs for their existing kid vending systems, with new Dinosaurs and ZOIDS cards. Speculation that these systems (in particular ‘King-of-Jurassic’ from D-GATE) would have been removed due to SEGA legal claims, though the product seemed to be thriving with a update of the card selection, and now Taito on the attack with their own Love & Berry variant.

Big Buck Hunter (PC Hardware) - A number of the Play Mechanix sports shooters were on booth. A plainly American style of shooting product, benefiting from the Betson / Raw Thrills agreement with Taito for joint distribution in Japan allows the game to receive an AOU placement. How the Asian amusement scene will take to the game is unknown - Incredible Technologies has attempted to sell the original Big Buck brand in Japan but had a very poor showing.

Super Bikes (PC Hardware) - A number of the cabinets made the trip to Japan - though sporting a new Red color against the boring Black cabinets seen at ATEI, the game still ran partly completed software. The bike game offering an additional driver to the Taito line-up; however how this will be accepted by the critical Asian market is still not proven. Sources revealed that The Fast and the Furious did not achieve a strong penetration in the market against other factory offerings, and it was obvious that Super Bikes is living off of its Fast and the Furious license.

It was recently revealed that Raw Thrills would be continuing with their PC development as hardware - against previous announcements that they had licensed to use the TypeX, it was revealed that the TypeX is basically a PC system that offers little to the future of Raw Thrills development at present but, the relationship should keep Taito and Betson together.

And this brings us to the important question of the current TypeX hardware’s future. The platform has not even celebrated its second birthday, but already the speculation has started that the platform could join the A-Wave in a sudden removal from production. For the dedicated TypeX+ the future seems to have been secured, but fundamentally this system is a glorified PC and there are already enough PC’s out there that don’t need to be specially designated - or cost a fortune as a manufacturer attempts to claim the bestowing of special ‘powers’, and the studios having to pay for the right to use it.

With its LindBergh system, SEGA has proved that a PC is capable of offering amusement power. The experiments with the TriForce having spoiled the possibility that the consumer consoles can make the move towards arcade acceptance. With speculation that the A-Wave will be biting the bullet during 2006, it has been speculated if TypeX will either receive a major makeover (as with the TypeX+) or just be simply superseded by a PC derivative. However there was one surprise new developer using the TypeX announced at AOU, and that was Capcom!

Taito used AOU to demonstrate a new 'Concept-2' universal cabinet that offered LCD large screen to compete with the likes of SEGA - hoping to offer a new home for theirs and their partner’s content. The importance of Taito's third party distribution of popular studios products threw-up some interesting new releases, and also some odd questions. On display on Taito booth Taisen Hot Gimmick 5 (TypeX) by Psikyo offered a continuance in the character based mahjong title. Further on the booth was 'Shikigami No Shiro 3' (TypeX) from AlfaSystem and Skonec - the vertical shooter continued the same Asian centric action as the previous. Finally 'Round and Round Chameleon' (Naomi) from Milestone; the puzzle game was based on the Naomi GD-ROM platform, and though 50 per cent completed is one of the last few Naomi products to be released. This begs the question why companies such as Milestone and others do not use TypeX as their chosen platform - the rumors of its inflated price adding to the speculation of a cheap PC-based system (such as the SEGA Aurora hardware) - though the possibility of the changing board allowing a reinvestment after flawed thinking last time adding to speculation.

Capcom
An appearance at AOU was expected, though hopes had been that Capcom would be showing more than just medal and prize games. The company had presence on booth of new video development but the majority was aimed at a younger audience. The company also had a showing off booth with involvement continuing with Banpresto on their GunDam release - though how long this will continue was in question; but more surprising was a licensing agreement with Taito revealed at the show.

‘War of the Grail’ (Taito TypeX+) - The company had promised to show more of the game that is in development, but the crowd was disappointed with only a video shown on the large screen of some sequences. Company executives were more forthcoming off the record, with the confirmation that the completed game will be seen at JAMMA. The system will be a terminal system similar to Monsters Gate, with an IC Card storage capability (based on the Network Entry System (NESYS) architecture). The game allows the players to select from a vast array of warriors from mythology, including King Arthur of Britannia, who fights with his sword Excalibur; Pallas Athena, a female soldier from Greece; Asterios, a Minotaur that fights with two huge axes; and Gargantua, a colossal Cyclops; the player controlling battling characters. But the big news was that Capcom had abandoned System 246, A-Wave and Naomi past hardware licenses and jumped in bed with Taito. Sources also hinted that Taito would be distributing the completed product.

The jump to the enhanced Taito TypeX after SEGA and Namco alliances proved a source of much speculation. Konami and Capcom had been linked to possible merger discussions, but following the revelation of the Capcom Taito hardware agreements tongues started wagging afresh. The announcement however placed the final nail in Capcom A-Wave links - seeming to confirm rumors internally of the 2005 shelving of all A-Wave projects that included the work done of ‘Capcom Vs. SNK’ and the highly controversial Street Fighter project. Could a move to the TypeX+ herald revitalization in video development we can only hope. Sources revealed that the game would support the Taito NESYS system - and be distributed by Taito.

‘Rockman EXE - BattleChipStadium’ (System 246) - Capcom brought their new kid vending product to the exhibition in an 80% complete version. The game stands out from the other kid vending systems with the use of the new ‘NaviLink’ System. As exclusively revealed last month in the Stinger (see Stinger #449), in a special relationship with Takara, the playable to store his character from other games on disparate platforms (toy, GameBoy and arcade) and transfer the data between platforms amassing enhancement and features by collected points; an alternative to the use of physical cards. The first example was playable at the show and pointed towards a new future for this hardware.

Capcom also had a version of their new children game system linked to an agreement with Tomy. The virtual pet theme showing an increase in the investment in children based products on the show floor. The greatest presence however was the medal games, with a new generation (as they claimed) of prize crane-style products. Licenses with Nintendo for the Donkey Kong and Mario in evidence in the branding of the latest medal systems, with Nintendo properties licensed to other medial game systems on the show floor (a disquieting situation that sees the consumer company supporting medal gaming and obvious young player crossover).

Also show...
The show floor beyond the vast covering and inflatable barrage of the larger factories, the exhibition contained the remaining amusement studios that still deride success for a market on the change. ABLE attended showing 'Kuru Kuru Chameleon' (Naomi) a puzzle game developed by Starfish. 'Sangokushi Yuuki' (Naomi) - was a card game with cartoon aspects.

One of the large independent booths at the show, AMI / Cave showed a selection of titles that hoped to defend their position in the resurging market. Pink Sweets: Ibara Sorekara (Cave 3RD System) - the sequel to the popular Ibara vertical shooter, was shown in a 70% complete version with a claim of an early summer launch. The extreme pink coloring of the booth and product pointing to the heavily themed female links - this color pervading a number of other exhibitors’ presence.

Other smaller booth presentations from the crowded big factories included Able, whose product is being distributed by Taito, and was on their booth as well. Atlus had a number of token games on booth. A vast portion of AOU was turned over to the prize items for the various UFO and Crane games predominant in the Asian gaming scene. The use of popular licenses and brands for these prizes was evident, along with the first 'high-cost' prizes as the crane systems move towards the high prize vending scene.

Along with the big SEGA House of the Dead 4 Special attraction, there were some other larger amusement systems at the show, the car manufacturer Subaru, and their six-axis 'Subaru CW' simulator, running a version of the PS2 game 'Gran Turismo 4'. This system had been shown at last year’s show and was originally developed back in 2003, but had not penetrated the scene competing with the SEGA Cycraft product. Serious concern if this will be the last time the company will plough investment into this complicated and expensive system.

Of the booth presence there were some interesting no-shows. One of the biggest non appearances was the Sammy name - the SEGA booth was resplendent with all things new, but the Sammy name was not one of them, that and the A-Wave was the other. It is assumed that the name has become the latest victim of the merger. Another name not present on any of the booths was SNK-Playmore. Sources have led many to see SNK focusing wholly on consumer ports for their brands, and putting the amusement side of operations on hold. It was leaked that Metal Slug 6 was the last expected coin-op release, with rumors of a new game being shelved (‘Sister Quest’ on A-Wave) - Capcom’s move to TypeX adding to the speculation.

Some of the other corporations that did not take space at the event included Atlus who are reported to have a game in development called ‘Top Driver’. Tecmo’s absence at AOU was also a sad reflection on the benefits of consumer development against amusement. Another missing name from previous years included Katou - But one of the big surprises was that Aruze did not show at AOU, despite having previously made such strong efforts to establish an amusement video presence. Sources revealed that along with the updated ST range, the company has new titles such as 'Type Tune' and 'Toy's March 2' all seen at JAMMA in partly completed versions.

So the attention turns from the UK, to Asia and now to North America as the good and the great gather in two locations. The Stinger has exclusive coverage of the Amusement Showcase International in chilly Chicago, but also of the highly influential Nightclub & Bar show in sunny Las Vegas - watch this space.

Breaking Stinger News - Just before the major Japanese event, some interesting interviews were carried out for the Asian media. Though sadly many will not make the translation to the international scene, TSR has gained some extracts.

The most important of these was an interview conducted with Yu Suzuki. The veteran leading light of the SEGA AM operation has recently been outspoken about the state of the amusement scene and was no different in this most recent interview. Revealing that SEGA now held a 60% share of the Asian manufacturing scene, he felt that the market was suffering from a lack of innovation, with the North American amusement manufacturers showing growing promise. He also revealed that there was no major difference in performance from current arcade hardware and the console scene. Of course, all this comes as no news to many trade members worldwide -- who have been saying these things for over a decade. But even at this late date, it is unusual (and refreshing) to hear them said by the top developer for the top Japanese game manufacturer.

Finally, before talking about his own studio’s development of new console titles, Suzuki voiced his interest in new interfaces such as that being proposed for the Nintendo Revolution platform. Though Suzuki has developed a unique interface game (‘PSI-PYI’), the need for major investment has been pinpointed, and hinted at an increase in R&D investment by SEGA on AM projects. That PSI PYI did not make it onto the AOU booth a telling statement.