Arcade News Roundup: MAGFest, Japan Updates and More

Arcade and pinball news has been building quickly in early 2025, from indie machines at MAGFest to Japanese location tests, new pinball events and major industry changes. Here is a concise roundup for Australian arcade fans.

Indie arcades take the stage at MAGFest 2025

The 2025 edition of MAGFest once again brought video games and game-related music together, with a particularly strong arcade presence. Save Point supplied a selection of established games, while a larger dedicated area highlighted newer indie and homebrew projects.

A 20-minute tour from Indie Arcade Wave shows the event’s arcade selection in action:

Not every project followed traditional coin-op conventions. Many were designed for Steam or consoles rather than commercial cabinets, but several did receive full arcade-style housings. One standout was an elaborate one-off cabinet created for Nightmare Kart by Arcade Commons. Its bespoke construction would be expensive to manufacture and distribute at scale.

The largest indie title at MAGFest with a confirmed arcade path was Chef It Up, an original cooking simulator from Sydney-based MonkeySplash Studios. It first appeared in the United States late in 2024, with testing at Dave & Buster’s and later at IAAPA. The game was also featured positively in Edge magazine’s small “Arcade Watch” section in January.

Four pairs of BumbleBear Games’ Killer Queen Arcade were also available. BumbleBear has separately been testing the arcade version of ZOMBEEZ at Wonderville in Brooklyn, New York, where the team says it collected useful data. Cabinet adjustments are still being made.

Short clips from the MAGFest indie lineup appeared on Indie Arcade Wave’s Instagram and TikTok accounts, as well as in a video from Retro Pop Planet.

Frosty Faustings also featured an arcade area for the fighting-game community. Sega developers attended to promote the PC version of Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O., while imported cabinets were available for signing.

Japanese arcade developments

Bandai Namco’s new rhythm game Penda Beats has completed its latest location test. Attendees were unusually permitted to share photos and videos despite the game not yet receiving an official announcement. Available footage includes a full gameplay demonstration, a tutorial clip and a detailed location-test report. Its play style differed from some expectations, but early impressions suggest potential.

Bandai Namco is also preparing an update for its Mobile Suit Gundam Arsenal Base card game to tie in with the latest theatrical release in Japan. The company has announced Extreme VS. Infinite Boost, another entry in its arena-battler series. Idolm@ster Tours has received a substantial livestream, along with confirmation of a final location test before its planned spring release, which now appears later than originally intended.

Konami has confirmed that its new-style Gitadora cabinets are scheduled for release in March.

Sega has fewer new Japanese releases in its immediate pipeline, but Initial D The Arcade is collaborating with Project DIVA again. The sixth King of Performai rhythm-game tournament finals are approaching, and Sega has published an official guide to Japanese game centres for international visitors. The guide promotes Initial D, Virtua Fighter eSports and Maimai DX; the latter is expected to be the first of those titles to receive an official Western release through Sega Amusements.

Further announcements from exA-Arcadia were expected later in the week, including updates on games shown at IAAPA 2024.

Pinball at the Beach launches in Florida

Florida has hosted the first edition of Pinball at the Beach, a new event sponsored by Little Shop of Games. The retailer’s owner previously organised the Texas Pinball Festival through 2023.

The show included classic and modern machines, plus new titles such as Stern’s Dungeons & Dragons: Eye of the Tyrant and Metallica Remastered, Spooky Pinball’s Evil Dead, Jersey Jack’s AVATAR, Barrel of Fun’s Labyrinth and American Pinball’s Legends of Valhalla. A full report and photo collection are available from Pinball News.

Scott Pikulski launches Doozy Studios

Veteran designer Scott Pikulski has left Play Mechanix to establish Doozy Studios. His credits include CarnEvil, Aliens: Extermination, Aliens: Armageddon, Halo: Fireteam Raven and Minecraft Dungeons Arcade.

The new studio will initially concentrate on several console projects. Pikulski has indicated that successful results could eventually lead to additional work, potentially including arcade games.

Channel milestone and January releases

The arcade-focused YouTube channel passed 20,000 subscribers in January and marked the milestone with a special livestream.

Monthly new-release videos have also returned after a short break. The January 2025 list may not be completely final because UNIS had not confirmed the status of some titles. A separate video also reviewed several major recent arcade developments.

Industry headlines

• Bandai Namco reported strong third-quarter 2024 results and separately announced restructuring. The amusement business appears set to separate Japanese arcade development and sales from location operations again, with the former expected to become Bandai Namco Experience. The overseas impact remains unclear.
• Chrono Circle is going offline after updates stopped months ago. Andamiro’s US operation has also announced that its Star Wars coin pusher is shipping, while a limited run of black Pump It Up LX cabinets running the latest version will be sold in the United States from Amusement Expo.
• Sega has promoted a final opportunity to secure Mission: Impossible Arcade DX. It remains unknown whether the sit-down model seen testing in 2024 will return later, or whether a sequel similar to Transformers: Shadows Rising will appear.
• Ryan Cravens has left Stern Pinball to become vice president of arcade products at Pop-A-Shot.
• A Sega Amusements 40th Anniversary polo is listed on eBay for $50.
• A Twilight Zone trademark has prompted speculation about Stern’s next pinball update.
• Unofficial Neo Geo ports of Golden Axe and, previously, Shinobi have attracted attention. Developers of Metal Slug have also discussed how San Francisco Rush helped them through the pressures of development.
• Sega Japan, Mitsubishi and Takara Tomy are expanding amusement and merchandising opportunities.
• Vertigo Games has reportedly sold SpringboardVR, while the mixed-reality ping-pong table BitPong is undergoing promising testing.

Other gaming headlines

• The Switch 2 has finally been unveiled.
• The 2025 Game Developers Choice Awards nominations are led by Astro Bot and Black Myth: Wukong.
• A new Cotton Reboot game is in development.
• Commentators have begun writing off Apple Vision Pro after its slow progress and backlog concerns.
• Valve has stopped Steam games from forcing players to watch advertisements.
• Atari is bringing Breakout Beyond to consoles; the game was originally created for the unreleased Intellivision Amico.
• Nintendo has shut down the live-action Zelda fan film Lost in Hyrule.
• A reported 14% of North American gamers still play systems released before 2000.
• Punk Runner has been suggested as a possible arcade project, particularly with a yoke controller.
• Veteran game journalist Julian Rignall has discussed five decades in gaming.

For readers planning a home setup, RETROCADE’s arcade machine buying guide covers the key decisions, while arcade machines and racing arcades offer different ways to bring the coin-op experience home. For ongoing industry coverage, visit the RETROCADE arcade blog.