Armored Princess Battle Conductor is released in Japan today. The game was presented for the very first time by Konami at JAEPO 2020. The title features Busou Shinki. They are girls' figures in armour made by Konami since 2006. They can take different poses and have many interchangeable parts. The line of figurines has become a cross-media franchise with video games, manga, novels, anime, CD and artbook... Armored Princess Battle Conductor is a royal battle action game playable up to 4. The player trains a Shinki and the battles change depending on the relationship between the player and the Shinki. Before the battle, the player can communicate with her in her "home" as well as customize her appearance and weapons. She can carry two different types of weapons and change weapons during the battle whenever the player wishes. At the moment 15 Shinki are available, including Edelweiss who was not present during location tests. Konami has already announced that new Shinki will be added gradually. To push further the link between the Master and his Shinki, he can print cards with her own image on the Card Connect terminal.

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Raiden IV x MIKADO remix is originally a Switch port of Raiden IV with a new soundtrack by various artists linked to Mikado game center: Go Sato Band, Heavy Metal Raiden, Cosio, Fantom Iris, Keishi Yonao, Daisuke Matsumoto, Sochi Hosoi, O.T.K.). The game will also feature all game modes found in previous home ports and will be released on April 22nd, 2021. A preview of the new soundtracks is on YouTube. But that's not all: there will also be an arcade version that will be released on exA-Arcadia in December 2021. The exA-Arcadia version will feature at least two exclusive BGM songs by O.T.K.. There's a crowd funding campaign to finance the development of this game. The goal is 10,000,000 yen (78,900€). Rewards include two limited edition items: a limited edition bundle (10 copies) for 600,000 yen (4,730€) including a limited edition Raiden IV themed exA-Arcadia motherboard, a premium colour Raiden IV x MIKADO remix game cartridge (set on free play), an exclusive poster, a soundtrack CD and a coloured paper autographed by all artists. A limited edition software kit (25 copies) for 250,000 yen (1,970€) is also available including all the same items as the bundle without the exA-Arcadia motherboard. These editions are available on the Camp Fire page.

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A new game for Nintendo Vs. System is released today! Vs. From Below is the first game to be released on this hardware for 30 years and it's made by Matt Hughson (with art by Haller Zoltán and sound by Tuï). It may looks like a typical Tetris game but has an extra difficulty in the form of a giant octopus (a kraken) that pushes blocks upward with its tentacles. Vs. From Below features 3 game modes: "Timed" where the Kraken attacks every 10 seconds (pushing garbage blocks onto the screen), "Fixed" where the Kraken attacks every time a block lands and "Classic" where the Kraken is sleeping, causing no threat. Note that the garbage blocks created by the Kraken can be cleared like normal blocks. As you see the Classic mode is your usual Tetris but with both soft and hard drops available. Best of all: the game is free! You will need 10 64Kbit EPROMs to play this game on your Vs. System (5 for a Vs. Unisystem). You can use any PPU chip but you have to set the dipswitches accordingly to display the correct colours depending on your chip. If you want to see the game in action, there's a trailer on the official website. You can download the game here: https://mhughson.itch.io/from-below.

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Due to COVID-19 measures, EAG International will not take place like every year at ExCeL London in January 2021. However, the organizers had the very good idea to organise EAG Online! This new trade fair format will be held entirely online, as the name suggests, and will take place from January 27 to 28. As year 2020 has been a disaster for operators, this will be an opportunity for them to look toward the future and to find out what's new from manufacturers and distributors and to meet new partners online. Exhibitors will be able to upload photos, videos,... and organise live chats with visitors. As with the classic version of EAG, this edition will bring seminars about extremely interesting topics such as life after Brexit, cashless payment solutions, staff training and the latest industry developments in Europe. As EAG chairman Martin Burling explains, although nothing will ever replace a face-to-face meeting, an online event also has advantages such as saving time and money on travel and accommodations. Visitors and exhibitors will certainly appreciate this in these difficult times! Access to EAG Online is free of charge and registration is open at https://www.engagez.net/node/584280/eventregistration. Please note that this year, Arcade Belgium will be there with a virtual stand to present the latest arcade releases!

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Konami released the 26th pop'n music game today. This new game is named pop’n music Kaimei Riddles and runs on the old standard style pop'n music cabinet and not in the new one presented at JAEPO 2020. The theme of the game is solve riddles: Mimi and Nyami are detectives trying to unravel a series of riddles. More than 20 new songs, including songs by popular artists, are available. Konami is planning to hold monthly game events and music additions that imagine solving a mystery.

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Dengeki Bunko FIGHTING CLIMAX IGNITION APM3 is out on Sega ALL.Net P-ras MULTI version 3 today. This new version adds a new network battle function that allows you to compete with rivals nationwide. Thanks to the cabinet USB port, a gamepad can be used, so even players who are not good at lever operation can play with confidence. In addition, Aime card data such as battle records and linked sites are the same as the APM2 version, so you can continue to use it.

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After being announced in March 2020, DoDonPachi Saidaioujou EXA Label is finally coming out today. Expected as the holy grail by Cave fans, this version promises to be the ultimate version of DoDonPachi Saidaioujou. It is developed by TEAM EXA-AM2 under Cave's supervision and features no less than 4 game modes: Original (similar to the 2012 PCB version), EXA Label (the difficulty of the game varies according to the player's performance), X Arrange (similar to the Xbox 360 version) and Inbachi (face off with legendary boss In-bachi). In addition, the Sakuraya character and D-type ship are available in all EXA Label modes (with of course the voice of Aya Hirano). There are many other changes in the gameplay; for example, the hyper gauge increases when you hit enemy projectiles and if you miss, you get a bomb and a hyper. The game can run in 4K, of course supports tate and yoko modes and has 2 frames of lag which is the same as the original PCB version (the Xbox 360 port had a 4-frame lag). For the first time, the game has a title and logo in English; internationally, it will be known as Dodonpachi True Death - EXA Label. As for the original, the visuals and the chara-design are by Ryo Nagi and the music is composed by Manabu Namiki. DoDonPachi Saidaioujou EXA Label is available as a software kit, standard bundle and limited edition bundle. The limited edition includes an exA system decorated on the theme of Dodonpachi, a 180cm high cardboard POP of a character of your choice (from 4 different models) and other exclusive goodies. An art set in Vewlix format is available on request. You can still order your copy from Red Sun Systems in Europe.

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Super Battle Princess Madelyn from Monster Bath Studios (formerly Causal Bit Games) is now available on exA-Arcadia. This is an adaptation of the Ghouls 'n Ghosts style action/adventure game already available on PC, Xbox One, PS4 and Switch. Compared to the home version, the game has been completely reprogrammed from the controls to the artificial intelligence. The gameplay has also been redesigned to fit the arcade environment. There are also new stages and a brand new soundtrack by Gryzor87. Koichi Kikuta (chara designer of the anime KonoSuba) is in charge of this version's game arts. In Super Battle Princess Madelyn, you play Madelyn, a young princess apprentice knight. Accompanied by her ghostly canine companion Fritzy, she's on her way to avenge his death and save her family and her kingdom from the clutches of an almighty sorcerer. Madelyn can use a whole range of weapons and power-ups and will venture into many different sceneries such as cemeteries, swamps, castles, the countryside,... The arcade version of Super Battle Princess Madelyn supports English, Japanese, French and Spanish languages and the kit includes an A1 reversible poster, a marquee, instruction strips in Japanese and English and an instruction sheet. You can see the game in action in this trailer and order your Super Battle Princess Madelyn kit from Red Sun Systems.

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Fight of Gods Arcade Edition is out on exA-Arcadia today. Forget religious wars, this is the ultimate holy battle as Deities themselves enter the ring in this crazy fighting game! Created by Taiwanese studio Digital Crafter, Fight of Gods was originally released on PC in March 2019. It was banned in Malaysia and Singapore because of its religious content. The 17 available characters are Buddha, Jesus, Moses, Anubis, Santa Claus, Zeus, Odin, Amaterasu, Athena, Freyja, GuanGong, Lamia (hidden in the PC version), Mazu, Sif, Susanoo, Tudigong and Beliar (exclusive to the arcade version). All stages are mythical places like Mount Olympus and the Garden Of Eden. The game uses 5 buttons: Light, Medium and Heavy attacks, Throw and DPS Activate. Beside extra character Beliar, the Arcade Edition includes new art by Junny (Bandai Namco, Arc System Works), new music by Go Sato, faster gameplay and French and Spanish languages (in addition to English, Japanese and Chinese). Here's a video from the location test held at Ko-Hatsu game center in March. If you play the game in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore or Thailand, you may find out that Buddha has been disabled in your local version of the game. As all exA-Arcadia games, Fight of Gods Arcade Edition is distributed by Red Sun Systems in Europe.

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Since March, the COVID crisis has greatly affected the profitability of game centers, causing unexpected losses for Sega (while the opening of several new game centers was planned for this year). And while the situation is slowly improving in Japan, the future remains uncertain, notably because of the absence of a large part of foreign tourism. In order to protect itself against this situation, Sega Group has decided to sell 85.1% of Sega Entertainment company's shares (the division that operates games centers, restaurants and rents machines) to Genda, a company created in 2018 by former President of Aeon Fantasy, Mister Nao Kataoka. Genda specialises in the rental of amusement machines and owns the LIFTる。 website and mobile application which allows players to remotely play cranes and have their won prizes delivered home. Genda also rents machines in China and owns children's leisure center Kiddleton in the United States. For Genda, taking over the operation of Sega's 193 game centres is part of an expansion strategy that will eventually extend worldwide. The game centers keep the Sega branding, Genda taking care of their management. A similar event occurred in 2016 for Joypolis when China Animation Group bought out the majority of Sega Live Creation's shares to form CA Sega Joypolis, this led to the opening of new Joypolis parks in China. This does not affect the development and manufacture of arcade games, which remains 100% owned by the parent company within Sega Corporation. It should be noted that Sega Sammy Holdings has also sold 37% of its shares held in Sanrio (Sega Sammy is therefore no longer the majority shareholder with the 6.68% remaining owned shares).

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