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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Vritra Hexa is released on exA-Arcadia today. Vrita is originally an horizontal shoot'em up from Neotro released in 2012 on mobile phones, it was then adapted on Steam as Vritra Complete in 2018. The story is set in a world based on an ancient Indian legend, where the player controls a dragon fighting against hordes of creatures summoned by the evil dragon Vritra. The Hexa version is the "definitive" version of the game as it brings many improvements over the old versions. It features a two-player mode, a rearranged soundtrack and HD graphics. This version also offers new weapons and new modes: the Exa mode (with branching paths, new stages and bosses) and a Caravan mode (score attack). An online ranking is also available. Vritra Hexa is localized in several languages: English, Japanese, French and Spanish. There is also a limited edition of the game sold with a white exA-Arcadia system decorated with an illustration of dragons in black and white made by Tatsuya Ishikawa (character designer of Dragon Spirit). Each system is signed and numbered by producer Hiroshi Sawatari and illustrator Tatsuya Ishikawa. It also includes the soundtrack CD signed by composer Fumihito Uekusa and a unique photo of producer Hiroshi Sawatari with a handwritten message. The limited edition also includes the contents of the standard edition: an A1 poster, a marquee, instruction strips in English and Japanese and the manual in English and Japanese. Vritra Hexa can be ordered from Red Sun Systems.

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Although many arcades in the country such as the Free Play in Lanaken and the Reflex in Ostend have already closed their doors this week, the arcades that are still open will have to close as soon as tomorrow and will have to remain closed for one and a half months. They should be allowed to reopen on Saturday December 14th, 2020. This COVID-19 related measure concerns all non-essential shops, including arcades. Unfortunately, it also applies to arcades offering a privatisation system such as Gate Ninety World which has just opened in Nivelles. The situation will be assessed by the Government's Consultation Committee on December 1st. Courage to all and stay safe!

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The latest work the music game beatmania IIDX series starts operation today. This new version is named beatmania IIDX 28 BISTROVER. This time, the game has been redesigned on the themes "gourmet" and "travel". Some interesting features are included. For example the STEP UP mode in which songs and musical scores that suit your skills are automatically selected. beatmania IIDX 28 BISTROVER also contains a large number of club music, popular songs and anime songs.

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It is not every day that we have the pleasure of announcing the opening of an arcade in Belgium. But today is a day of celebration as Gate Ninety World is officially open even if, unfortunately, in order to follow COVID-19 measurements, the hall is currently only accessible via reservation per session of 2 hours minimum. Located in Nivelles, Gate Ninety World aims to (re)discover arcade and pinball machines to as many people as possible. The arcade also serves as a showroom for the sale of new and second-hand arcades and pinball machines rental. About forty arcade and pinball machines can be played in the arcade: there are dedicated and generic machines (Net City, Blast City, Swing, ...) and all game styles are represented: OutRun 2, Time Crisis II, Pop'n Music 3, Double Dragon, Fist of the North Star, Metal Slug X, Puzzle Bobble, Street Fighter II, Shock Troopers - 2nd Squad, Windjammers, Zero Gunner 2, Doctor Who (pinball),... You'll find the complete game list on the location page. Refreshments and small snacks are also available. Please do not hesitate to contact the Gate Ninety World team for more information on bookings and sales, they will be happy to answer you as soon as possible.

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Dragon Quest no Daibōken Xross Blade is released today. It is a new trading card game from Takara Tomy A.R.T.S. and Square Enix. It is based on the new animated series Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibouken which started airing on October 3rd. You place 3 cards on the board to form a party and start battle. The list of currently available cards can be found on the site. You must pay attention to how you place your cards in order to correctly use skills and special attacks such as the "Kizuna Attack". In 1-player mode, you can follow the story or clear dungeons. A local 2-player mode to compete with friends is also available.

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Koihime † Enbu RyoRaiRai Version3 is out today on Sega ALL.Net P-ras MULTI version 3. The game is developed by Unknown Games and M2. New characters are available in this version: the general Xu Huang and the strategist Guo Jia. The existing character animations have been revamped. The game supports now nationwide online competition and thanks to the Aime card support, players can record their information and display rankings on linked sites.

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Ongeki R.E.D. is coming out in Japan today. In this upgrade, Sega has added many songs in different categories: Gurenge - LiSA (POPS & ANIME), If you can become someone's heart - Yuri Cannon feat. GUMI (niconico), Night of Knights (Touhou Project), Sound Chimera - Laur (VARIETY), GlitterGlitter - Shuhei Mutsuki/Akari Hoshisak (Ongeki),... New songs can be exchanged in the Medal Shop. Collaborations with Puella Magi Madoka Magica and CUE! start at the same time and will be available until November 4th.

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Onion Soup Interactive announced Nippon Marathon 2 - the Brave World Tour! The game will be released on Nintendo Switch / PC (Steam) and an arcade version on exA-Arcadia (Nippon Marathon 2 Turbo) is also scheduled for April 2022. A Kickstarter campaign has started on September 29th and will end on October 28th. You can check it here. New features are already announced: more powerful & new stupid characters, a lot of playful movements such as "grabbing" the enemy, new courses set in London, the United States, France and other parts of the world, new B moves set for each character such as Elizabeth Nishibori's "Unicorn Rage" and new weapons such as star fruit that functions like a shuriken. Supporters can choose from a variety of benefits, including beta test play and the availability of sustainable merchandise such as limited edition T-shirts, OST, artbook, posters,... Supporters investing 5800€ will get a Nippon Marathon Turbo 2 exA-Arcadia 4p Arcade Cabinet! It comes equiped with Nippon Marathon Turbo 2 installed and ready to play. Note that shipping costs are not included.

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Two musical games were released yesterday in Japan. https://wacca.marv.jp/WACCA Lily by Marvelous! and HARDCORE TANO*C and maimai Deluxe Splash by Sega. WACCA Lily makes a few changes from the previous version: WACCA points are replaced by Lily points and the current WACCA points are reset. The trophies have been automatically reset and the trophies of the current season 01 are no longer available. The difficulty level of some songs has been changed. maimai Deluxe Splash has a new "challenge songs" feature: completing a "Challenge Song" will make you win that song. Old songs that were no longer available in maimai Deluxe PLUS are available again and, on the other side, some others are no longer available.

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