JAEPO ’16 and the continued survival of arcade gaming in Japan

Held last week, JAEPO 2016 – the Japan Amusement Expo – is a showcase of the latest and greatest in arcade videogame technology. While the traditional arcade has been dying in the US and Australia, JAEPO 2016 is a proud, frenetic reminder of the continued survival of arcades in Japan.

With the sad news that Street Fighter V isn’t planned for release in arcades, it’s heartening to see the cornucopia of gadgets and cabinets that were on show at the Makuhari Messe convention centre. From fishing simulators, plush toys for crane machines, arcade buttons and joysticks, photobooths, to slightly esoteric rhythm games – there’s a mind boggling amount of diversity in the Japanese arcade scene.

I’ve been a long-time fan of rhythm games like Dance Dance Revolution, Drummania, and Taiko No Tatsujin (which is, essentially, a taiko drum simulator) – and Konami’s new beat-based title Otiroha will hopefully be a return to form for the arcade gaming juggernaut. Otiroha has headphone support, a line-out to record your playing, and a very unique control scheme which utilises triangles on a slider.

Konami also released Nostalgia, a piano-based rhythm game.

Despite the good news, there was slim showings from Square Enix and SEGA this year. Contrary to reports by Forbes, Bandai Namco is not halting arcade development and has built a new Gundam game that lets gamers go mano a mano with giant, Japanese robots.

Another title to keep an eye on is Magician’s Dead by developer ByKing. It’s a free range 3D battle game which features a dual control scheme of an analogue stick and a motion sensor that detects hand movements so you can cast spells by gesticulating. Legit cool.

Tekken 7 predictably drew some very large crowds – and early reports about the game and its slick mechanics means it is garnering excitement from fighting game aficionados around the world.

Arcades are reminders of the inherent diversity among gamers – there’s something wholesome and inclusive about having game machines in a public place. Arcade machines are wonderfully tactile and some of my fondest memories are those associated with the satisfying sound of a coin clinking down the chamber. Brad Crawford, a documentary film maker captures a slice of the modern Japanese video game experience in his project 100 Yen – and it is definitely worth check out if you’ve ever wondered why arcades continue to exist in Japan.

 

Posted in Blog, Games