Arcade News: Virtua Fighter, Stern Pinball and Wahlap at 35

As 2024 draws to a close, the arcade and pinball calendar has quietened after IAAPA, but several important developments remain. Sega has announced a new Virtua Fighter, Stern has launched a new competitive pinball series, Wahlap has reached 35 years, and GoldStorm Pirates is expanding across Japan.

New Virtua Fighter announced

Sega revealed a new Virtua Fighter at The Game Awards 2024. It will be the first fully fledged entry in the influential 3D fighting series since 2006’s Virtua Fighter 5. That game performed less strongly than its predecessors, particularly in Western markets, where the series has historically had a smaller audience than in Asia.

The new project has attracted considerable interest, although its presentation and development direction suggest a home-platform-first release similar to Tekken 8. Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, the team behind the Yakuza series, is leading development, with several former AM2 staff members also contributing.

An arcade version has not been ruled out. Sega continues to support the franchise in selected Japanese venues through its APM3 digital distribution platform. APM3 carries an online-enabled remaster of Virtua Fighter 3tb and an arcade version of Virtua Fighter eSports, the 2021 update to Virtua Fighter 5 that also appeared on PlayStation 4.

The latter has in fact just received a new 2.0 revision, adding balance changes and further online content. A location-tournament support service is also planned for February. If the new game reaches arcades, Japan is the most likely territory, with Round1 USA another possible destination. Outside Japan, exA-Arcadia remains the main modern platform consistently supporting fighting games.

The Game Awards also brought a new Ninja Gaiden by Dotemu and Sega’s Sonic Racing Crossworlds. The latter could suit an arcade adaptation, following the earlier Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing release through Sega Amusements.

Two exA-Arcadia releases arrive

Two games that followed the IAAPA period deserve attention. FixEight EXA Label arrived shortly before the show, while Jitsu Squad Feat. Samurai Pizza Cats and Cambria Sword Another Cry have since become available through exA distributors.

Jitsu Squad is notable as the platform’s first beat ’em up, a genre associated with games such as Double Dragon and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The exA version includes gameplay-flow changes, fixes and exclusive content featuring the Samurai Pizza Cats. Modern arcade beat ’em ups remain uncommon, with Raw Thrills’ 2017 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles among the better-known recent examples.

Cambria Sword Another Cry combines a distinctive visual style with substantial content. It features six playable characters, 72 weapons, 80 bosses and just one frame of input lag. The game appeared at Amusement Expo 2024 but was not shown at IAAPA.

Stern launches the Pinball Cup

Stern Pinball has started a new competitive programme called the Stern Pinball Cup. Players take part in six points-based races using supported Stern machines and the Stern Insider Connected app.

For the first six weeks, participants are grouped by skill level. That structure gives newer and intermediate players a chance to compete against similarly experienced opponents rather than facing the world’s strongest pinball players immediately.

Stern has also published a video looking inside the company’s headquarters and its large “Silverball” display.

For Australian collectors considering digital pinball at home, RETROCADE’s virtual pinball machines provide another way to explore the format beyond commercial competition.

StepManiaX receives a larger standard cabinet

Step Revolution has launched a new StepManiaX website and displayed an updated standard cabinet at IAAPA 2024. The revised model features a larger monitor and additional LED lighting.

Wahlap marks 35 years

Wahlap has reached its 35th anniversary, five years beyond the milestone recently marked by UNIS. The Chinese company was among the first from its market to establish a substantial international presence, helped by higher-profile releases such as Storm Racer G. It now works with a growing list of prominent partners.

The company’s official website has not published a dedicated anniversary announcement, although InterGame has a short report on the milestone, alongside a new corporate video. The report incorrectly lists Maimai DX as a Wahlap title; the company markets Sega’s Chinese version rather than developing the game itself.

At IAAPA 2024, two recent Wahlap projects made with Taiwanese developer IGS were represented in the West. IGS’s Monster Eye series is being distributed by LAI Games as Kaiju Rampage, while LAI is also selling Asphalt Moto Blitz DX, the latest entry in its arcade collaboration with Gameloft. Both sit alongside Wahlap’s broader portfolio of driving and amusement releases.

GoldStorm Pirates rolls out across Japan

GoldStorm Pirates has entered its full worldwide rollout, beginning with Japan in December. Cabinets first appeared quietly at flagship Namco venues in October, followed by a wider national operation that includes Taito HEY in Akihabara and Silk Hat Kawasaki Mores.

The arcade shooter has been compared favourably with House of the Dead Scarlet Dawn. A Namco venue in Matsudo has even positioned the two games together. Western release news was expected during the first quarter of 2025, while additional footage from the second stage was captured at IAAPA.

Georgia changes coin-operated amusement rules

Georgia’s changes affecting coin-operated amusement machines were signed into law in May 2024. The measure appears to focus on prize and merchandiser machines rather than conventional amusement games played for entertainment without tickets or prizes.

The shift comes as family entertainment centres add more redemption equipment and manufacturers respond with skill-based prize machines offering lower-value rewards. A high-value prize must cover the cost of the prize itself, the machine, electricity, venue revenue sharing and, under the new arrangement, state-related costs, making purely skill-based operation difficult to sustain.

One reported consequence has been a rise in slot-machine operations at Georgia service stations. Those machines are gambling products rather than amusement games, but the state revenue structure reportedly makes them more attractive to operators than merchandisers.

More arcade and gaming headlines

• A new Wangan Midnight project is drawing inspiration from Namco’s cancelled 2010s racer Real Drive.
• Pac-Man’s 45th-anniversary event in Japan included a drum-shaped guest, Sonic, original cabinets and a World’s Largest Pac-Man installation.
• Idolm@ster Tours received a preview ahead of its planned spring 2025 arcade release.
• New footage has appeared for Bike Dash Delivery, while ICE published an IAAPA 2024 recap.
• Chaos Code Nemesis Experiment on exA-Arcadia has been delayed but remains in development.
• Initial D The Arcade received another MF Ghost collaboration with new cars and a course.
• Sega said the response to its kids’ card-game anniversary exceeded expectations, while its UFO Catcher crane series won a Japanese product-naming award.
• Former Atari Games president Dan Van Elderen has died. Mortal Kombat co-creator and artist Josh Tobias also visited the Insert Coin exhibition.
• Ace Amusement showed a trailer for Wave Riders X-Treme, and Incredible Technologies wants to expand Golden Tee’s competitive gaming ambitions.
• Other notable items include a Darius Gigamax build, a 1981 Taito technician photograph, a VR company moving towards a non-VR professional simulator, and a new trailer for Zero Latency’s Space Marines VR.

Home gaming headlines

• Sega’s CEO ruled out more mini consoles and said the company does not consider itself a retro company.
• Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii brings The Ocean Hunter home in spirit.
• A quarter-sized arcade cabinet toy based on Elevator Action has been released.
• Genki’s Tokyo Xtreme Racer is returning Japanese street racing to Steam.
• Comparisons of the Saturn and PlayStation versions of classic games have prompted fresh discussion.
• Tetris The Grandmaster 4: Absolute Eye continues its move towards Steam, while Dodonpachi True Death has reached the Nintendo Switch in Japan.
• Speculation about Nintendo Switch 2 continues, and the Sonic 3 film opened ahead of Disney’s Mufasa in its opening weekend.

For more Australian arcade coverage, visit the RETROCADE arcade blog, or explore the range of racing arcades and upright arcade cabinets.