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| Professor 2915th Post
  
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|  "Re(1):SNKP to end (internal production of) ga" , posted Wed 19 Jan 19:21:  
[edit] Added/fixed some wordings and indentings.
[edit] Updated KOF XIII videos.
If the rumor of the new president's focus is true, the result of SNKP's business shift would probably be a scaled down videogames operation rather than its total disappearance.
As for Licensing, it may not be the president's final goal, but it's not a good part-time solution either [if done just alone without any future releases by SNK]. Licencing brands without continuing to maintain their value is quite meaningless. If at all, it would only work as a short-term method.
SNKP from its past experience should know how difficult it can be for a small-scale company in Japan to reassemble quality development staff. If the company is letting a good chunk of their in-house game development go, it's likely to bring a long-term effect to the future of its division. It doesn't look like they're completely shutting down their game business though, as Matsushita from the consumer division is apparently still with them (see bottom of post).
On a separate subject, SNKPlaymore unfortunately doesn't list earnings by division on its annual sheet so it's not clear how much profit or loss that its arcade gaming, consumer gaming, mobile, and Pachislot divisions are each making. But it's quite clear that the Pachislot is where SNKP is placing its focus.
SNKPlaymore is a very minor contender in the Pachislot industry and doesn't have anywhere a brand name the way it does in the arcades. But because of the raw size of the market--over 12,000 Pachislot gaming halls in a country the size of California, they seem to be making profit. --That's more than triple the number of Mcdonalds in the country.
While SNKPlaymore hasn't been making too many new IPs in the games division, it's been aggressively doing so in the Pachislot division. However, none of it has yet to gain any recognition the way some others have, take for instance Tecmo's Rio/SBJ franchise.
On a side note, Yoshiyasu Matsushita seems to be still working at SNKP and quotes, "We still have people that worked on games like Metal Slug, KOF, and ASO". FYI, the quote should not be taken out of context-- it wasn't a comment about the recent movements, but of SNKP compared to the old years when Twinkle Star Sprites was released.
Note: For anyone wondering about the total number of arcades in Japan, statistics declares the figure to be a little over 8,000 but it's highly inaccurate. This is due to the law that states any store which land mass is occupied 10% or more by amusement machines, including locations such as local eateries with a few cabinets, requires to be declared as an arcade. The actual number should be quite lower, possibly like a third of that. Major chains currently total to only about 700 stores. (Adores: 90, Bandai Namco: 200, Capcom: 34, Sega: 200, Taito: 180, News[Purchased from Atlus]: 20. Figures are approximate.)
The major chains have closed down around 20% of their stores in the past two years. The store count continues to drop, which could factor in as one of the reasons why SNKP may be making a change.
[this message was edited by Professor on Sat 22 Jan 01:20] |
| Professor 2911th Post
MMCafe Owner
| "Re(3):SNKP to end (internal production of) ga" , posted Wed 19 Jan 22:24:
quote:
I don't know, in spite of certain missteps, they've maintained their IPs for a very long time. Companies usually don't come to a decision to license out unless there's a few decent offers on the table already, so this may have been encouraged by something of that nature.
If the company's new tactic is indeed to grant more licenses as rumored, I'm not sure if the decision came due to offers, or if it's simply one that's going to be the result of downscaling. It may be a combination of both.
With Matsushita still in the company, it could be plausible that SNKP is cutting back on its game development but mainly towards the arcade.
Personally, I think that the new president, unless he's completely incompetent, would be smart enough to continue the periodic release of KOF to at least keep the IP's value at the current state, whether in-house or outsourced.
On miscellaneous news, KOF98UMFE and KOF2002UM now have the electronic distribution date of January 24 for arcades running the NesicaLive system. That's 5 days from now.
http://game.snkplaymore.co.jp/game/details.php?item_id=210
http://game.snkplaymore.co.jp/game/details.php?item_id=211
And on other topics, extremely crisp endings of KOFXIII in 720P have been released by SpekSNK.
http://www.youtube.com/user/SpekVideo#g/u
Also, Random taunts and King corner-to-corner that were forgotten to be posted.
http://www.youtube.com/user/MMCstation
[this message was edited by Professor on Thu 20 Jan 05:01] |
| Pollyanna 2983th Post
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| "Re(5):SNKP to end (internal production of) ga" , posted Thu 20 Jan 20:58
Professor: You've really provided a wonderful wealth of (industry) knowledge lately! For what it's worth, I've really appreciated the insight.
quote:
The question then is: is KOF still KOF if it's made by someone else? I suspect an Arc Systems KOF would necessarily change the character of the game itself.
(rant)
Last time we talked about this, I think I got irritated because people wanted KOF sold off to Capcom or Arcsys. Saying "I like KOF, but I want it to be made by a group of people who have nothing to do with KOF" doesn't make sense. And if you don't like KOF, but you just like Capcom and/or ArcSys, then wouldn't you want them to make their own game, rather than KOF?
But that's an extreme case. I'm actually a big fan of outsourcing to an extent. I don't remember his exact words, but Inafune said something about that, like "How many Capcom employees does it take to make a Capcom game?" Meaning, if you have 5 Capcom employees directing an outsourced team, it (ideally) will still feel like a "Capcom game" (remember, all their fighting games now are outsourced).
So when I look at the (possible) current situation with SNK, it makes sense to keep a few people on and outsource otherwise. It's not like they haven't done this before. Seeing how much they've struggled with things like ports and netplay, this model seems like a welcome option. It just gets complicated because sprite artists are involved.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| kofoguz 883th Post
Red Carpet Regular Member++
| "Re(6):SNKP to end (internal production of) ga" , posted Thu 20 Jan 22:46
quote:
Professor: You've really provided a wonderful wealth of (industry) knowledge lately! For what it's worth, I've really appreciated the insight.
The question then is: is KOF still KOF if it's made by someone else? I suspect an Arc Systems KOF would necessarily change the character of the game itself.
(rant)
Last time we talked about this, I think I got irritated because people wanted KOF sold off to Capcom or Arcsys. Saying "I like KOF, but I want it to be made by a group of people who have nothing to do with KOF" doesn't make sense. And if you don't like KOF, but you just like Capcom and/or ArcSys, then wouldn't you want them to make their own game, rather than KOF?
But that's an extreme case. I'm actually a big fan of outsourcing to an extent. I don't remember his exact words, but Inafune said something about that, like "How many Capcom employees does it take to make a Capcom game?" Meaning, if you have 5 Capcom employees directing an outsourced team, it (ideally) will still feel like a "Capcom game" (remember, all their fighting games now are outsourced).
So when I look at the (possible) current situation with SNK, it makes sense to keep a few people on and outsource otherwise. It's not like they haven't done this before. Seeing how much they've struggled with things like ports and netplay, this model seems like a welcome option. It just gets complicated because sprite artists are involved.
I agree if someone must buy SNK, it should be (and hopefully) square enix. IIRC they bought the Eidos but kept the name and let the franchises have new chances. Like the Ottoman style. Conquer but let the culture go on.
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| karasu99 517th Post
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| "Re(8):SNKP to end (internal production of) ga" , posted Fri 21 Jan 02:34
quote:
I agree if someone must buy SNK, it should be (and hopefully) square enix. IIRC they bought the Eidos but kept the name and let the franchises have new chances. Like the Ottoman style. Conquer but let the culture go on.
Now, that's an interesting idea.
Taito, which currently leads the arcade market as the manufacturer of the TypeX series, Vewlix, and Nesica system, is a subsidiary of Square Enix. If SquEnix decides to find a leeway with SNKP, that could lead to something. I don't think it's realistic, but it definitely is a practical concept.
I'm with Iggy-- I would rather not see Square Enix doing the purchasing-- despite their deep pockets. They are actually one of the few companies that I could really see altering the franchise in a detrimental way rather than letting the culture continue. Someone could probably make the argument that SNKP culture is part of the problem though I suppose.
I would prefer Arc Systems, or even (please, no one laugh) someone like Capcom, even if they then outsource it-- at least someone who has produced fighting games outside of the 90's. Maybe even Namco?
I think a full Arc Systems do-over of KOF could be really excellent, especially if they don't top load it with a huge number of new characters.
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| Professor 2914th Post
MMCafe Owner
| "Re(10):SNKP to end (internal production of) g" , posted Fri 21 Jan 05:30:
[edit] fixed typo and some wordings.
To get one thing straight, SNKP isn't selling itself off-- if they were, they wouldn't be depreciating their current workforce. They're not bankrupting either, at least according to their last year's financial sheet (2008-2009).
If the rumors hold truth, it'll kind of be like a Deja Vu from the Aruze days in more ways than one. But this time, self-inflicted. Oh the bad memories. If anyone remembers Eolith, that's what happened last time a KOF was made under another company.
Outsourcing can be good depending on the developer. As long as there's a good producer and director taking control of the project, it may actually be better than making in-house. The only issue is, when you pay cheap, you get cheap...
[this message was edited by Professor on Fri 21 Jan 06:09] |
| Pollyanna 2984th Post
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| "Re(8):SNKP to end (internal production of) ga" , posted Fri 21 Jan 08:33
quote:
I agree if someone must buy SNK, it should be (and hopefully) square enix.Wait, we already have a KOF: The Movie, we don't need Squareenix to get them to make another one.
Come on, Kofoguz and the Professor make sensible points and you still say this? If you wanted a Square-Enix/SNK burn, you should've said "They're a great match, since they both ruined their reputations by releasing incomplete games." Tohoho...I mean... *sob* *sob*
I know there isn't an indication here that SNK is getting bought out, but I'm starting to wish it would happen. I love their fighting games, but everything else could use some work. I have given up hope that they're going to fix things on their own.
We've seen plenty of mergers and buyouts that haven't hurt the integrity of either company's IPs. Even if someone like Square bought SNK, it's not like they would start making KOF RPGs. Why would they?
As a sidenote, the Queen's Blade game on PSP was really surprisingly good. I wouldn't have picked it up on my own, but it was highly recommended by a friend and I ended up enjoying it a lot. Of course, I like SNK games too, but I'm completely uninterested in the combination of the two. Kind of like with Sky Stage. I like KOF...I like shooting games...I have no interest in the two together. Just like I wouldn't want KOF Monster Hunter or like...I dunno...mint ice cream curry.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| chazumaru 723th Post
Red Carpet Regular Member
| "Re(330): Max Mega Pro Spec" , posted Fri 21 Jan 09:42:
Thanks for the replies. Many points I want to comment on. I'll try to keep it brief and easy to read.
Prof - SNKP's business shift would probably be a scaled down videogames operation rather than its total disappearance.
Yes, this is an important distinction and the reason I specified the "internal production" bit in my topic title. It seems the future of SNKP would be closer to what happened with Sky Stage, possibly combined with a stronger inclination in licensing their IP to other publishers in various media. The big mystery to me is how SNKP produces their mobile games and whether this business is lucrative or not. The many episodes of Days of Memories hint at good business.
Prof - SNKPlaymore is a very minor contender in the Pachislot industry
Maybe SNKP is hoping for a situation akin to how the Gen-san franchise evolved from being an obscure former game hit to being one of SanyoBussan's strong IPs in the Pachinko business. Obviously, through their involvement with Eizo, Irem was in a slightly better situation than SNKP to transfer the IP from one business to another (I can detail this paragraph if it is unclear but it is slightly off-topic).
What I am curious about is how the short tenure of Aruze has affected the course of SNKP in the slot business. I am pretty sure SNKP is never going to work with or near Aruze in the near future, which might create some obstacles in their expansion. On the other hand, even with such a short exposure to Aruze's methods and business, they must have learned a few things from them. The scenario speculated in this topic for SNKP's future is very close to what Aruze intended to do when it owned SNK ten years ago.
[edit] Ah Prof beat me to this.
Prof - I think that the new president, unless he's completely incompetent, would be smart enough to continue the periodic release of KOF
Does this annual KOF update need to be a fighting game, though? Does it need to be a game at all? I don't have an opinion yet but I suspect the answer can be argued convincingly either way. The proper way to keep KOF bankable might have been to refocus it much earlier (around 1997~1999) as an ambitious cross media project and adapt focus towards the area emerging as dominant.
kofoguz - if someone must buy SNK, it should be (and hopefully) square enix.
I don't think this is good business for SQEX. They benefit as much from SNK with their current strategy as they would by buying the company. While the game division of Taito might want to secure exclusivity of SNK franchises for Nesica, the AM division as a whole would benefit much more from franchises which can be turned into medal games, which means they need higher profile IPs (which Taito and SQEX can aleady provide).
karasu99 - I would prefer Arc Systems
Highly implausible for financial reasons. On the other hand, ASW making the next KOF (for SNKP or another publisher) is much more plausible.
無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は
[this message was edited by chazumaru on Fri 21 Jan 19:35] |
| Nekros 329th Post
Bronze Customer
| "Re(10):SNKP to end (internal production of) g" , posted Fri 21 Jan 22:46
quote:
I think it's a better option (still not realistic) than bought out by Capcom. If they would have interest in 2D games they have(Hellooo, look what we found here. Its heart still beats) Darkstalkers. No need to buy a company for a project they can already do
If Capcom produces a Vampire/Darkstalkers game, I am pretty sure the character models will be in 3D (I mean outside of an AnakarisxSasquatch dating sim on mobile phones). Using 2D would make no sense in their current strategy, unless they hire Arc System Works again and decide to focus on Japan only. It would depend on Capcom AM's agenda, though.
If they're wise enough, CyberConnect 2 is on their side. I can trust only them do to a proper cartoonish feel, graphics and colors in a 3D Vampire. Dimps or other team involved in SFIV may result in a mere "let's do Vampire in SFIV way", and that's not sounds good for sure.
The point is SFIV has is own style, good for SF series, but not much appealing to Vampire (I mean the filters, shadowing, graphics in general).
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| chazumaru 724th Post
Red Carpet Regular Member
| "Re(4):Re(10):SNKP to end (internal production" , posted Sat 22 Jan 02:33
quote:
That would have been a great idea but for whatever reason nobody at SNK was thinking along those lines fifteen years ago.
Well obviously, it is always easier to give them lessons with hindsight 20/20. Their biggest mistake was the debacle of Hyper Neo-Geo 64 and SNK completely missing the boat on the music genre boom.
(OK, their biggest mistake that did not include the letters S, A, C, N, O, T and H in some order.)
In retrospect, the new hardware should have been focused on delivering quality music games and possibly powering their own purikura machines to reduce dev cost by accelerating production, while the MVS system would have been kept as cheap fodder for their core audience and the foreign market. Then wait for 3D to becomes much cheaper thanks to the distruptive PC accelerator cards model promoted by Naomi. But all this happy scenario would have required an insane degree of foresight and we are talking about the company that released Neo Geo Pocket one week after Game Boy Color came out on the market.
Spoon: one big problem for Japanese companies (especially small companies such as SNK) is the relative lack of success of Facebook in Japan. It makes it hard for them to understand what to do on social networks which do not fit the Mixi model. However I am not on a social network myself so my view might be outdated; is Mixi still the thing? I get the impression Twitter+Twitpix ended up killing everything else in Japan. It took the country quite some time to adopt Twitter but the boom has been impressive.
無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は
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| Professor 2917th Post
MMCafe Owner
| "Re(7):Re(10):SNKP to end (internal production" , posted Sat 22 Jan 18:43:
I almost neglected on writing one minor thing about SNKP's official site. Since everyone seems to be relieved from SNKP's PR comments, I thought this should be addressed.
New Years is always a big thing in Japan. For the past years, SNKP released a bucketload of new years greeting cards on their official site to commemorate the occasion. ( 2010 / 2009 ) Take for example this one, which was kind of cute.
This year, it was just one picture of Game-manteau and that was it. At the time, it was pretty puzzling why the company would release only just one greetings card that looked like a 15 minute job, even taking into possibility that they could've been consumed at XIII's home development.
If that was any indication of SNKP's attitude towards future game operations, it's not exactly great. Hopefully it's just the internal productions downsizing.
quote:
Yeah, I was thinking of Mixi and the like at the time, but I had completely forgotten the names of things!
Asia has its own social networking heavyweights, but the idea of the thing is what I mean, not the particular platform. All of the students I've met lately from China have only gone and made Facebook accounts since coming to America, though they've got 100s of "friends" on RenRen or QQ.
Is there any one SNS that has dominance in Japan the way that FB has in North America (or the way myspace once had in the US)? Mixi's been around for awhile, but I never knew how big it actually was/is.
Spoon- Mixi is pretty much the single powerhouse with Twitter being about the only indirect competition. They offer a wide variety of services much like other SNS including game apps which've really been a hit.
Unfortunately, traditional Japanese game publishers are utterly bad at making casual games and they've entered the market way too late. Even with Mixi, by the time some of the first domestic contenders like Success came in, the top slots were already taken by other asian publishers.
[this message was edited by Professor on Sun 23 Jan 04:58] |
| Professor 2918th Post
MMCafe Owner
| "Re(9):Re(10):SNKP to end (internal production" , posted Tue 25 Jan 00:00:
KOF98FE and 2002UM for the Nesicalive is out today. I haven't checked it yet but all cabinets with BBCSII should play them. Only thing is, most people probably don't know how to switch games on the Nesica: button1+Start before throwing in credit.
It didn't dawn to me until now, but the Nesica's system is a good way of checking the rough player popularity/population of a given game.
According to stats, less than 10 people played 2002UM throughout Japan today with a card.
http://nesica02um.snkplaymore.co.jp/ranking3.php
With 98FE, it's better, but under 30.
http://nesica98um.snkplaymore.co.jp/ranking3.php
Today is a monday. The rankings will get more users during the week and the stats should stablize in a week or two. Players with no wins shouldn't be ranking in the first place.
The figures for 2002UM seem quite low, possibly since people are playing on the old machines that aren't Nesica; they're often half priced. 98FE on the other hand is gone from many stores and it's also tuned.
quote:
Thank you Prof. on your insights. I hope this turn out true. I'm not sure how SNKP as a disembodied license holder can handle KOF and other licenses (Eolith again?!). It's not like The Tetris Holding company where anyone can make a Tertis game.
Its hard for me to believe that SNKP is going to throw years of work on the KOFXII and XIII sprites to waste and let KOF go 3D like SF at least for the near future, and thats a very hard to find talent as mentioned.
Well, they're not disembodied as a company so management of licenses should be of no problem.
Again, they're likely to be shifting busiess focus, and that's not exactly surprising. They've already built a Pachislot manufacturing plant in Hyogo prefecture that can mass produce up to 60 thousand machine units a month, and that was two years ago.
As for the probability that the KOF franchise could go 3D again... To do so at current standards costs a lot more money than doing 2D. So unless there's a company that's willing to do that...
[this message was edited by Professor on Tue 25 Jan 00:55] |
| sibarraz
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| "Re(3):SNKP to end (internal production of) ga" , posted Wed 26 Jan 03:19:
quote:
Hey guys, I had a question, the input delay that the arcade version of 98um has, was fixed on 98UMFE right?
By theory, it should be mostly gone if played on a CRT cabinet. Unfortunately, noone's really been able to report on it since most arcades have the game running on an LCD.
Currently, those who've played the game have bigger complaints than latency. The game gets stretched out to a 16:9 ratio on LCD, and what's more, since it shares cabinets with BBCSII (the games are selectable on startup kind of like the old MVS machines), they're running with BBCSII button layouts which makes things odd for SNK games.
Welcome to the board!
Thanks for the welcome!
And lol, sucks to hear that
Even though Nesica is in theory a very good idea, the system has so many cons that made me hate the fact that 98umfe will ony appear there, I'm still praying to see a console release, but I had my doubts (even though, I could see SNKP releasing it for PSN, but dammit, I want it for xbox too)
One last question, so far how has been the balances? I know that is still earlier to tell, but maybe some players could put their point of view about the buffs and nerfs in the game (and how much krauser was destroyed)
[this message was edited by sibarraz on Wed 26 Jan 03:22] |
| Professor 2923th Post
MMCafe Owner
| "Re(2):Re(10):Re(10):SNKP to end (internal pro" , posted Wed 26 Jan 03:41:
[edit] deleting previous post with some additional sentences and moving it down here
Karasu:
It should become available for all Nesica games, though there's only 3 right now. Are you thinking of making a script to tally them in some form?
BlazblueCSII has a different, mobile-friendly GUI
http://bbcs2.net/index.php?m=036_rank_total
Nesica portal is here
http://nesica.net/
quote:
Hey guys, I had a question, the input delay that the arcade version of 98um has, was fixed on 98UMFE right?
Sibarraz: By theory, it should be mostly gone if played on a CRT cabinet. Unfortunately, noone's really been able to report whether it feels like vanilla 98 since most arcades have the game running on an LCD. It reportedly feels less laggy than 98UM though, and the few who've reported say that it's smooth.
But all in all, those who've played the game have bigger concerns than latency issues. The game gets stretched out to a 16:9 ratio on LCD, giving it an even more pixelated look than it already does and also making it hard to figure distances correctly. What's more, since it shares cabinets with BBCSII (the games are selectable on startup kind of like the old MVS machines), they're running with BBCSII button layouts which makes things odd for SNK games.
Balance, too early to tell. It's only been out 2 days and it's a Wednesday. According to players, Krauser is weakened just enough so that he's still good and not 'nerfed'.
Personally, I'm wondering how the player population will grow since, with the Nesica system, the game is only available for 100yen a credit. The previous 98UM was 50 pretty much anywhere. That's double the price.
Welcome to the board!
[this message was edited by Professor on Wed 26 Jan 04:17] |
| Professor 2925th Post
MMCafe Owner
| "Re(8): KOF & SNKP Thead 6" , posted Thu 27 Jan 07:14:
quote:
Well, how about the third day of the game? some interesting info to share?
By the way, I always had this doubt, I once heard that even though Eolith did an important part of the devolopment of KOF 2002, Playmore who recently regained the rights of the game was the company who did almost all the work
How was the development of 2002? even though they share lots of common things, the improvement from 2001 to 2002 was incredible
Not by much, and it'll probably be like that for a while. According to reports, people are playing BBCSII on most Nesicas and some stores apparently have game select locked, so unfortunately, it's pretty difficult to try KOF98FE. And the others who've played it are debating whether it's worth paying double the price for its mild balance fixes (weak characters buffed a bit, strong ones toned down but not nerfed). In other words, it doesn't have any new additional content, at least for now.
With Aquapazza now announced for a spring distribution, I think 98FE and 02UM(Nesica) are going to have a tough time bringing niche income to SNKP even after BBCSII's popularity starts to fall.
I don't remember too well but if I'm correct, 2002 was licenced by Playmore, developed by Brezzasoft, and published by Eolith. Brezzasoft was established by some staffs of the former SNK. After a few twists and turns, they later became a part of SNKPlaymore.
[this message was edited by Professor on Thu 27 Jan 08:58] |
| sibarraz
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| "Re(7):SNKP to end (internal production of) ga" , posted Wed 2 Feb 02:16
quote:
Last time we talked about this, I think I got irritated because people wanted KOF sold off to Capcom or Arcsys. Saying "I like KOF, but I want it to be made by a group of people who have nothing to do with KOF" doesn't make sense. And if you don't like KOF, but you just like Capcom and/or ArcSys, then wouldn't you want them to make their own game, rather than KOF?
To be fair, if Capcom were about to make a KOF, developed by dimps, the game will had more that had something to do with that the own SNKP
Hell, with Arc System Works will be the same, I had heard that lots of ex workers of SNK went to ASW after they broke
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| mbisonhatclub 262th Post
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| "Re(7):SNKP to end (internal production of) ga" , posted Wed 2 Feb 05:54
quote:
Last time we talked about this, I think I got irritated because people wanted KOF sold off to Capcom or Arcsys. Saying "I like KOF, but I want it to be made by a group of people who have nothing to do with KOF" doesn't make sense. And if you don't like KOF, but you just like Capcom and/or ArcSys, then wouldn't you want them to make their own game, rather than KOF?
SNKPlaymore doesn't even give 10 shits about THEIR OWN stuff anymore, so no, I wouldn't want them to make products based on "their own" material. Most of the people who devised "their own" material most likely aren't even with the company anymore--just a bunch of inhuman salarymen just trying to make a yen in a programming job. And besides that, people already mentioned that a lot of the people who used to be in SNK are now working at aforementioned companies, among others.quote:
Would it also give Capcom flexibility to do Capcom vs SNK 3? Then again, the earliest it would be possible would be after Capcom and Namco's versions of SF X Tekken were released.
The problem I have with people thinking of a CvS3 game is that SNK no longer has the star power it used to, and it'd be like McDonalds doing a cross promotion campaign with your local burger joint. Nobody would really care besides you and the people in your town who go there. SNK is a washed up has-been and it makes more sense for Capcom to prefer Namco simply because Tekken has star power and SNKP stuff is very niche. Shine get.
I'm not saying I wouldn't like a CvS3, but even if Capcom grabbed some of SNK's property for that idea, again, the only people who would care are those who still like CvS2, and Capcom sees no benefit in making a product of hype that receives little to no attention.
At this point, it'd be more viable to do an Arcsys vs Capcom, or Arcsys vs Examu
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| Professor 2935th Post
MMCafe Owner
| "Re(2):KOFXIII 2-on-2 Ratio Tournament Video" , posted Fri 4 Feb 10:39:
quote:
Professor, how many cabinets did they have before? Curiously, SoCal started having XIII cabs popping up everywhere in the last 6 weeks or so, however at least one is v1.0 strangely (We had one cab at AI for ages, then within 4 weeks we have about another 3 and now 1 in NorCal). Maybe it's just a coincidence.
I believe Shinjuku's Carnival had 4 when the game launched. December it was down to 3, now it's 2. At least two other arcades in the district took theirs out as well. Unfortunately, I hear that it's disappearing from many arcades in Japan.
If the used PCBs are making their ways overseas, 6 Weeks would make sense because KOFXIII is being pushed out of their cabinets by BBCSII/Nesica(12/9) and SSF4AE(12/16). The player population is immensely different.
XIII seems to sell out in second hand PCB stores as soon as they come in, probably because their price is only around 130,000 yen (approx $1600) in the used market. Good deal for a half-year-old game.
However, I'm not sure about a v1.0. That sounds really odd since no arcades had it in operation after the recall as far as I know. If more 1.0 cabinets pop up, that would arouse various suspicions.
BTW Kane, can you try out the reflex test on this thread? I'm wondering how an active arcade player would do.
On a side note, it should be a sin to move the game into a CRT cabinet as a few arcades are starting to do. The game is quite a pixel art masterpiece. There's a lot of details in the backgrounds that are too small to see on Youtube videos, like in the UK stage, the really ugly driver that's sweating like a pig, and two really freaky kids at the corner buses normally hidden by the HP bars. In terms of character details, I'm wondering how many people noticed the extremely small differences in alt colours, like in King's case, how she has an earring on some colours or no gloves.
[this message was edited by Professor on Fri 4 Feb 19:53] |
| Professor 2940th Post
MMCafe Owner
| "Re(1):AI Casuals" , posted Thu 10 Feb 21:07:
Kane:
Nice vids! I'm sure everyone appreciates them.
Your Chin is really good! Mai is sharpening up well too.
Chazu:
What's more, that's KOF97 on the left side! I wonder what the game on the right is, it kind of looks like green flames. And.. what in the. Someone must have enjoyed a bonus stage.
Now, this is an interesting idea.
KOF13, Flavored-Team Matches - Nico
These were matches where the players needed to pick a fixed team from one of the options below.
1.KOFXIII Default teams
2.KOFXIII Special ending teams
3.Original Concept teams: French team, Muay Thai team, DDK team, Southtown team, XI team, Kyokugen family team, Historical rivals team, Historical sidekicks team, XI AOF team, 96 AOF team, Hero team, Ponytail team, Bandana team
The video (part 1) features the following matchups:
Elisabeth team vs AOF team / XI team vs Females team / French team vs Iori team / XI team vs New Heroines team (Sp.ending) / Elisabeth team vs Muay Thai team
[this message was edited by Professor on Thu 10 Feb 21:50] |
| sibarraz
8th Post
PSN: n/a
XBL: sibarraz4life
Wii: n/a
New Customer
| "Re(6):98UMFE Tourney" , posted Thu 17 Feb 10:31:
quote:
Well, as Recap pointed out elsewhere, it is the first time Brikinger/Ironclad can be officially played in an arcade.
I did not follow so much but what is the business set-up of Nesica? The operators still collect the money directly, right? If so, don't you think there will be an option to set up the price you want for each game?
The last time a big corporation tried to mess with independent arcade operators, it was Sega and it cost them Virtua Fighter's dominance over Tekken. I would have thought Taito would have learned from that.
Then again, many things about Nesica confuse me.
…え！？
As far as I know, Nesica works in this way
Basically, YOU MUST charge 100 yens, because for every time that you play, Taito and the company that developed the game charges you with 33 yens (or were 66, I can't recall) this makes that it doesn't matter if you put a coin with a lesser value, you must pay that feed, also, it seems that taito charges with a suscription and other things, but I can't recall that well, I read somewhere, maybe professor could give us a more deep explanation
EDIT: Wait, you can play AOF 1 and Fatal Fury on nesica? and at 100 yens? what's the point, at this moment I would only pay those prices for games like garou, RB2, some samshos, and maybe fatal fury special, but not to play those games
[this message was edited by sibarraz on Thu 17 Feb 10:35] |
| Toxico 5255th Post
PSN: Toxic-Baron
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
|  "Re(7):98UMFE Tourney" , posted Thu 17 Feb 15:00:
quote:
I did not follow so much but what is the business set-up of Nesica? The operators still collect the money directly, right? If so, don't you think there will be an option to set up the price you want for each game?
as I know, Nesica works in this way
Basically, YOU MUST charge 100 yens, because for every time that you play
He obviously knows how it works, the question was probably mostly a rhetorical issue of "what the heck is Taito thinking, can't the operators change the worth of the credit via dip switch?" or "Can't the coin socket or whatever can't be replaced by something that takes / reads 50yen instead?"
The said answer is that probably they can't, otherwise we might have heard of it by this point already. And Taito seems to be quite happy with the way things are working as of now. I get the feeling that the system could probably collapse if the number of available games is greatly increased, the more the available choices the board has will ultimately dispel in in that third party developers without big hits aren't going to see the cash.
quote:
Wait, you can play AOF 1 and Fatal Fury on nesica? and at 100 yens? what's the point,
The prospect of playing AoF 1 or SS1 in single player mode and preventing those stupid emo brats from touching BB for a period of over 40 minute time while the player hogs the machine all to himself is easily worth much more than a mere 100yen 
目に焼きつけて、死ぬがいい・・・
Update 23 as of 25/10/10 (Temporary mega upload link).
Now sponsoring : video game analogies (ES)
Last update : Chapter 22 as of 10/01/11
[this message was edited by Toxico on Thu 17 Feb 15:03] |
| Professor 2950th Post
MMCafe Owner
| "Re(8):98UMFE Tourney" , posted Thu 17 Feb 18:37
Well the thing is, the machine keeps tabs by credit rather than price. And of course there's no config to set the credit of price, otherwise some arcades would set the machine on 50y and and actually charge 100y.
Anyway, the games are offered for free. So it's not going to hurt arcades in terms of buying new titles. But for small-scale arcades, they don't have the luxury of slashing prices, and what's more, there doesn't seem to be a freeplay/rally mode option right now. Thus, they may lose customers to larger arcades.
So obviously, most arcades have all their Nesica locked to the game that rakes in the most profit. In the current case, that'd be BBCSII.
For publishers, this makes a life-or-death situation for them because they can't sell a crappy game and run away. If their game sucks, no arcade will run their game, and thus no profit share.
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| chazumaru 742th Post
Red Carpet Regular Member+
| "Re(9):Nesica" , posted Thu 17 Feb 19:10
I was genuinely asking how it worked! The answer is more or less the business deal I had understood previously but I was not sure, so I wanted confirmation. Thanks Sibarraz.
Maybe Taito does not care so much about Nesica becoming a success in venues other than their own. Maybe they simply calculated that, in terms of costs of goods and maintenance, it was more affordable to swamp their own arcade centers with Nesica cabinets.
Was there a change of staff at the top of Taito AM? They were completely dominated by Sega and Namco from the end of the F3 generation until the mid-2000s, and suddenly they have all these unconventional ideas such Type-X, Nesica etc. I am not sure everything they bring up to the table is a goldmine but they sure have disrupted Sega's anticipated hegemony in a struggling business sector.
Prof:
True, but it also creates some interesting situations such as G.rev releasing a game simultaneously on Arcade cabinets and XBLA. If this becomes a norm, it will completely change the traditional eco-system for arcade business. There would be no more ultra-expensive PCB, no more second hand market, no more changes/extras/bonus for the home release etc.
To be honest, I am not sure I see the point of playing an game in an arcade if it immediately loses the benefit of being exclusive for a while. There are just too many advantages playing at home. Especially for shooters, which are score competitive and can absolutely rely on weak online connections. G.rev is either shooting themselves in the foot, or being very savvy by anticipating the end of the traditional arcade business and already adapting to the new revenue architecture everyone will have to face soon.
無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は
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| sibarraz
8th Post
PSN: n/a
XBL: sibarraz4life
Wii: n/a
New Customer
| "Re(8):98UMFE Tourney" , posted Thu 17 Feb 22:59
quote:
I did not follow so much but what is the business set-up of Nesica? The operators still collect the money directly, right? If so, don't you think there will be an option to set up the price you want for each game?
as I know, Nesica works in this way
Basically, YOU MUST charge 100 yens, because for every time that you play
He obviously knows how it works, the question was probably mostly a rhetorical issue of "what the heck is Taito thinking, can't the operators change the worth of the credit via dip switch?" or "Can't the coin socket or whatever can't be replaced by something that takes / reads 50yen instead?"
The said answer is that probably they can't, otherwise we might have heard of it by this point already. And Taito seems to be quite happy with the way things are working as of now. I get the feeling that the system could probably collapse if the number of available games is greatly increased, the more the available choices the board has will ultimately dispel in in that third party developers without big hits aren't going to see the cash.
Wait, you can play AOF 1 and Fatal Fury on nesica? and at 100 yens? what's the point,
The prospect of playing AoF 1 or SS1 in single player mode and preventing those stupid emo brats from touching BB for a period of over 40 minute time while the player hogs the machine all to himself is easily worth much more than a mere 100yen
|
| Professor 2960th Post
MMCafe Owner
| "Re(1):Capcom increases Pachislo presence" , posted Fri 4 Mar 23:06:
It's been a while since there were any KOFXIII videos; a-cho arcade in Kyoto prefecture has footage from a tournament on 2/27. There was also a tournament in Yokohama around the same time featuring some top players including Dune so those videos should come around the Internet in the near future as well.
Part1 / Part2
On a distantly related note, with Evo vs. Garden coincendently getting announced, I was taking the occasion to rework on an arcade guide map that was in the making since last year. Taking a rough tally, only about one in five arcades (that have fighting games) in the the main areas of Tokyo remain to have KOFXIII since it's been replaced with the Nesica system for the most part. SNKP isn't distributing the game on the Nesica at least yet, which is a pity and income left unearned.
And for those who are wondering, Tekken6BR continues to be the definite king of the arcades at the current time. Figures set aside, SSF4AE and BBCSII seem to be doing equally popular and their audiences seem to be vastly different. 4AE seems to be popular amongst the older and hardcore players whereas CSII seems to have more players in residential areas; students, schoolgirls, and young workers play the game.
samberto: It was a bit too much text to translate so I had a link to Babelfish for it on a previous post. Interestingly, it came out pretty legible.
[this message was edited by Professor on Sat 5 Mar 01:04] |
| karasu99 560th Post
PSN: robotchris
XBL: robotchris
Wii: n/a
New Red Carpet Member
| "Re(3):Official Thread of Pachislo information" , posted Wed 9 Mar 03:20
quote:
The new cover art went with a different style but managed to be just as odd as the originals. What's the deal with Ralph's head? What's the deal with everyone's head?
That said, I do like the art for Ikari 3. It's all speed lines and Rambo clones and is very indicative of its time period.
I have to say I'm really pretty excited about this (probably no surprise to anyone). I know, it's yet another set of old games collected, and all are probably available in emu, but still, it's nice to see SNKP collecting games that do not involve Garou, SamSho, or KOF. You know, kind of like if Namco released something (post PS1 Namco Museum) that did not include Pacman, Galaga, and Dig Dug.
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| Professor 2994th Post
MMCafe Owner
| "Wrapup for March" , posted Fri 1 Apr 00:52:
I'm a little late on these subjects--actually, I'm a little late on pretty much everything thanks to the damn situation on the east side here--but here's a few things that may spark some interest.
1. Eisuke Ogura still at SNKP : Nippon Chichi!!
Unfortunately the quake happened right before the EB fest, so the artwork never had the chance to go on public display. Pity.
2. NeoGeoFreak Section closing from Dorimaga Gemaga, and hints to..
According to reports, the SNKP page/column on Gemaga will end after this month's issue. The reports also say that SNKP publicist Yuzuko hints in this final column that "the game that everyone is anticipating will soon..."
Now again, I haven't checked the issue so I can't confirm on this Dorimaga news until a bit later. And
[Edit 4/2] It's legit, the section is closing down in this issue after its 6 years of running, and the slight comment is there. Still, it can be about anything. However...
Fixed name of magazine. I keep calling it by its former name.
3. Official KOF's novelist Akihiko Ureshino makes some really weird comments on Twitter (3/29).
I recently asked assistant manager Copplay, "Is it ok if I write a few short stories for KOF or MI and post them on my personal site?". Well, I've just received a call saying "Not now, We've got things on our side that we're thinking of". Is something going to happen soon!?
No, there's now way it's about MI. I can pretty much testify to that. There's nobody to make it anyway. Unless of course they're doing things without my knowledge. I guess it's because if I write anything fuzzy, people would still take it as an official word.
If they did give me the go-ahead, there's stuff I can write immediately, like a story about Alba and Soiree.
But if they're saying not to touch on KOF around this time of the year, I think it's not too hard to imagine things. Heh.
[this message was edited by Professor on Sat 2 Apr 17:10] |
| Professor 3004th Post
MMCafe Owner
| "Re(1):Alex's Arcade 4/9/11 Tournament vids" , posted Thu 14 Apr 06:39
quote:
Argh double post but well worth it.
UPDATE: The AI tournament vids are giving me lots of trouble between dropping frame rates and audio desyncing when I edit each vid (each taking 5+ hours per edit and I've done parts 3 and 4 twice.). I've also uploaded parts 3 twice and failed (they take 8+hours including processing) and part 4 failed yesterday. So for now I'm just going to release the tournament we had over the weekend that CMD.Duc (Ash) has been kind enough to upload onto my account already.
KOF XIII - Alex's Arcade 4/9/11 Tournament in HD Playlist.
Wow, that's a lot of footage from Alex arcade! I'm looking at them, thanks! It's pretty fun to watch other players--your gang picks a good variety of characters too.
I know the headache you must be going through with the videos, Youtube can be pretty annoying. Does the original footage/raw video have dropped frames? If yes, a pseudo-solution may be to try saving the video without sound and see if Youtube accepts it. If its does, it probably means that Youtube has an issue understanding the video file when the desynched sound is in there. There's ways around that, like saving the sound as an audio file, using an audio program to match its length to the video, and then merging it with the video that you've made that doesn't have sound.
If the original footage doesn't have any dropped frames, it's probably just an issue with your software. Uploading by single matches might be a solution.
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| Kane317
31th Post
Rare Customer
| "Re(2):Alex's Arcade 4/9/11 Tournament vids" , posted Thu 14 Apr 08:00
quote:
Argh double post but well worth it.
UPDATE: The AI tournament vids are giving me lots of trouble between dropping frame rates and audio desyncing when I edit each vid (each taking 5+ hours per edit and I've done parts 3 and 4 twice.). I've also uploaded parts 3 twice and failed (they take 8+hours including processing) and part 4 failed yesterday. So for now I'm just going to release the tournament we had over the weekend that CMD.Duc (Ash) has been kind enough to upload onto my account already.
KOF XIII - Alex's Arcade 4/9/11 Tournament in HD Playlist.
Wow, that's a lot of footage from Alex arcade! I'm looking at them, thanks! It's pretty fun to watch other players--your gang picks a good variety of characters too.
I know the headache you must be going through with the videos, Youtube can be pretty annoying. Does the original footage/raw video have dropped frames? If yes, a pseudo-solution may be to try saving the video without sound and see if Youtube accepts it. If its does, it probably means that Youtube has an issue understanding the video file when the desynched sound is in there. There's ways around that, like saving the sound as an audio file, using an audio program to match its length to the video, and then merging it with the video that you've made that doesn't have sound.
If the original footage doesn't have any dropped frames, it's probably just an issue with yo
-- Message too long, Autoquote has been Snipped --
Hmm that makes a lot of sense. Yes, the original raw footage has dropped frames and desynced audio. Thanks for the suggestion.
www.youtube.com/kane317
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| sibarraz
62th Post
PSN: n/a
XBL: sibarraz4life
Wii: n/a
Occasional Customer
| "Re(7):FRESNKPLEAKS" , posted Mon 18 Apr 22:30
quote:
I should be honest, I never heard about tsukibito, is a good game?
It's quite a different game from anything you'd expect SNKplaymore to release. It's an entry level adventure game for all ages, and the art style has a really light touch to it. The thing about wanting its characters in KOF is a joke of course.
I actually kind of liked this game. I wouldn't nessesarily suggest it's a good buy though. It's got rough spots and it also lacks in volume despite of its full price as a DS game. Something like a good weekend rental.
Trailer here
thanks for the info, The game requires some level of japanese to play it? I love to play obscure SNK games, since well, they are a different aspect from the company that is always good to see, it's sad that the RPG for DS was cancelled, and I still has hopes that mamedev emules the HNG64 to play buriki one and then SNKP uses that source code remember where they left the source code of the original game and sell it for some consoles
And back to the leak, It's kinda weird seeing which logic will you SNKP, New Characters? If they put them they will not even try to do some balance? If the netcode isn't good, people will still bitch about raiden (even though seems that now he is not that bad as is used to be), so it's weird of them themdon't try to do anything there. If there's DLC, they will rebalance the game just like Blazblue does?
I'm kinda excited to see which new extras will add the game, even though I will not be surprised that they don't add anything, I mean, samurai shodown sen was released 2 years later, and they didn't put nothing worth it (still love the game lol)
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| mbisonhatclub 286th Post
PSN: hadoolket
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Copper Customer
| "Re(8):FRESNKPLEAKS" , posted Tue 19 Apr 11:50
quote:
I should be honest, I never heard about tsukibito, is a good game?
It's quite a different game from anything you'd expect SNKplaymore to release. It's an entry level adventure game for all ages, and the art style has a really light touch to it. The thing about wanting its characters in KOF is a joke of course.
I actually kind of liked this game. I wouldn't nessesarily suggest it's a good buy though. It's got rough spots and it also lacks in volume despite of its full price as a DS game. Something like a good weekend rental.
Trailer here
thanks for the info, The game requires some level of japanese to play it? I love to play obscure SNK games, since well, they are a different aspect from the company that is always good to see, it's sad that the RPG for DS was cancelled, and I still has hopes that mamedev emules the HNG64 to play buriki one and then SNKP uses that source code remember where they left the source code of the original game and sell it for some consoles
And back to the leak, It's kinda weird seeing which logic will you SNKP, New Characters? If they put them they will not even try to do some balance? If the netcode isn't good, people will still bitch about raiden (even though seems that now he is not that bad as is used to be), so it's weird of them themdon't try to do anything there. If there's DLC, they will rebalance the game just like Blazblue does?
I'm kinda excited to
-- Message too long, Autoquote has been Snipped --
The new characters will be Orochi Iori and Orochi Leona
Spoiler (Highlight to view) -
that's how Capcom's Ono would have it
End of Spoiler
join the m.bison hat club today
i'm not just the president i'm also a client
|
| Loona 395th Post
PSN: IkariLoona
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Silver Customer
| "Re(10):FRESNKPLEAKS" , posted Tue 19 Apr 17:26
quote:
SNKP needs his own Ono, maybe as a joke.
Had him put updates on his facebook status every 2 hours with comments like :
- SF IV = QCF + P
- 3d is for losers
- The netcode in our games is god awful because REAL MENS PLAY OFFLINE IN THE ARCADES
- We released an incomplete kof xii because that will create hype on the next game since couldn't be worse than the previous one
- Raiden dropkick is purposely broken since that had people talking about the game
- The original SNK is overrated
- I think that KOF XIV should be on 3D since that means that THE FUTURE IS NOW!
- I'm talking with Ryo Mizufune to do the sequel of Garou Mark of the Wolves on 3D
- I think that we will never see KOF XIII on consoles
- KOF XIII is what every fan of fighting games in the world is expecting
oh, and all this updates needs to be attached with a picture showing what he is doing at the moment with a figurine of cham cham, in wacky situation like going to a night club, in front of a viewlix cabinet with blazblue running on it, in the offices of SNKP, or before he is going to had sex with his wife while cham cham censures some private parts
And with all that included, he will still be less obnoxious than Ono : (
That's material for a fake Kukino account right there, but didn't he leave some time ago? I can't recall any other name from an SNKP staff member still involved with the KoF series, I'm a terrible SNK fan ;_;
Mind you, the thing about incomplete XII is kinda consistent with the 1st iterations of many SNK series (only 3 character selectable in FF1, only 2 that play practically the same in AoF1, no team edit in KoF94), which made it easier to make the sequels look like great improvements.
"Beat the machine that works in your head!" - Guano Apes "Open Your Eyes"
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| Professor 3014th Post
MMCafe Owner
| "Re(5):Re(10):FRESNKPLEAKS" , posted Sat 23 Apr 21:46
quote:
Looks like termites are going to have a lot of fun with this baby.
The Yellow face in the neo geo logo represents the first time that I saw your games
The blue one, the first time that I saw your price
What a nice gadget, the detail is very beuatiful, maybe the only detail that I would have loves to see is a convertor of AES to MVS games, that would have been perfect
They don't sell the sticks right?
Lol, you have a good sense of humor.
Almost forgot to answer-- the aformentioned Tsukibito is unfortunately very heavy on Japanese so you definitely don't want to pick it up-- just watch a little bit on youtube and check the site, and you'll get the gist of its graphics. I don't think it fared too well in Japan either for that matter, it's not the type of game that screams good sales.
The Walnut wood MVS doesn't have a joystick, which is definitely unfortunate. That would really be interesting. As long as you don't get splinters.
Another short set of Kof13 matches - Nico
On a separate note, Carnival arcade in Shinjuku is having yet another KOF13 tournament tomorrow, this time a single player tournament with no ratios, no holds barred. How cheezy will it be with K' Raiden Kula Liz? They'll probably have it recorded again so we'll see in the near future.
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| Professor 3016th Post
MMCafe Owner
| "Nesica Live interview w/Price model, etc" , posted Tue 26 Apr 13:38:
Gigazine features a lengthy interview with Taito's AM division subcheif Takafumi Fujimoto, and it discloses a number of interesting points about the Vewlix and its Nesica Live system.
For anyone that's new to the Nesica Live, it's a system where new game titles get distributed online to arcades for free. Arcades can purchase the kit and hook it up to their cabinets, and from there on, there's no more need to go through wiring hassles and whatnot to switch between games. Most arcades in Japan are already upgrading their Type X2 machines into Nesica Live systems, leave aside the machines running SSF4AE. It's expected that most (if not all) future TypeX2 games will be released on the Nesica Live.
-Nesica Live's concept came up as early as 2005, but it took until 2009 to to materialize. Fujimoto says it's a good deal for arcades because they don't have to risk the purchase of a new arcade board. Once they install a Nesica Live, they can download games for free. It's a pay-per-play system. It started out with 9 participating game publishers, and it's now up to 16. By September, it should be up to 20.
-About the pay-per-play price model: Taito charges 30-20 yen per game to the arcade. The model has three prices depending on the type of the game: 30 yen, 25 yen, and 20 yen. A standard game is charged 30 yen, whereas a classic/vintage game is charged 25 yen, and past games (on the Type X) without any real changes are charged 20 yen.
-In the case of the standard 30 yen, Taito takes 10 yen as its share and the remaining 20 yen becomes the publisher's profit. (So that means, if an arcade offers their games at 100 yen per credit, they'd make a 70 yen profit. But if they're a nice arcade that charges only 50 yen, they'll only be making a 20 yen profit).
-The Nesica Live kit costs under 300 thousand yen, which Fujimoto explains is a low price when considering that a modern arcade game can cost 200-300 thousand for a HDD kit or 300-400 thousand for a full kit. Again, once it's installed, all future games are for free.
-The Nesica Live system currently consists of an authentication&distribution server, a ranking server, and a money charge&storage server.
-With the new e-cash law established in Japan in 2009, Taito was able to launch the services for Nesica Live and its Nesys IC card system. The law causes issues for people to charge money directly on ic cards, but it allows users to accumulate points when they throw in money to play a game (kind of like a mileage program for arcades). The points aren't being used for anything yet, but Taito plans a programme in the future where they can be traded for in-game items and other services.
-The Nesys' user data can be moved from one ic card to another, meaning that, for instance, players can freely switch to a new card if it has a better artwork. Unlike other similar systems, a single card can hold the player's data for all the games on the Nesica Live.
-Player scores can be checked online, which is a big difference from the old days where the top national scores had to be self-reported. It's all automatic now. Taito was also thinking about making location data of strong players available, but they're currently still debating since it can also be the cause of problems, such as people being discovered that they're skipping their jobs. They might implement it with an option to switch it on and off.
-Nesica Live can be a solution to fighting game balance. The Nesica Live is connected to the internet and its game's records are shared with its developer, meaning that they can see what characters are strong and whatnot. And using the Nesica Live, the publisher can patch the game before a major tournament, such as the Tougeki SBO preliminaries.
-Online play can be implemented on Nesica Live, but it hasn't really been done due to the issue of lag. It's not a problem for games that include latency by design, but when considering how much effort is put into the Vewlix cabinet to reduce latency, it kind of kills things. For instance, with the old KOF franchise, its input device was directly connected to its PBC so there wasn't any latency at all. With the new i/o boards for the Nesica Live, there's zero latency as well. The new Vewlix cabinets (Vewlix Diamond) features a low display latency LCD on top of that. But when online play is implemented, that practically all gets thrown away since the game needs to be designed with up to around 4 frames of buffering. So the participating publishers are considering it an issue as well, but it shouldn't be as much an issue for new games that are designed with latency in mind. It's completely possible with non-fighting games such as mahjong. Fujimoto doesn't think there's a workaround to the latency issue. Their company has the arcades connected to an optic fiber line called the Nesys Hikari, but there's still lag issues depending on the region. He thinks that the only true solution would be the invention of something even faster than optic lines. (the interview makes no mention or question about GGPO nor methods such as rollback implementations in hiding latency)
-The Nesica Live's lineup is mostly fighting games at the current time but other titles such as Senko no Ronde and Strania: The Stella Machina will be released soon. There will also be classic titles in the future including Elevator Action, Puzzle Bobble (Bust A Move) and NeoGeo titles. Fujimoto thinks that only having fighting games in the lineup won't allow people to really kill time in the arcades, and he wants to "fix" that. He believes arcades are leaned towards installing fighting games because they bring in more money, but having them as the only lineup in the will scare off customers. He says he would like to see things like they were in the old days, where they could release a more inexpensive smaller sized cabinet that could be placed at shopping centers or mom&pop candy shops for children and family to enjoy.
-There were over 100 thousand table style and standard style arcade cabinets in operation at the peak of the arcade market, but now it's down to 40 thousand. Large-sized specialized cabinets are the current trend. Fujimoto believes that the standard cabinets are better for the arcade's economy since they cost less and there's less risk in investment. In the end, he believes balancing out on the installed machines, let it be prize machines or print club machines, is the key.
-Taito was initially expecting about 500 orders of Nesica Live kits, but the response they received was above their expectation and they had to rush on additional production (no figures disclosed). One of the contributing factors was that its first title was Blazblue CSII. Again, Fujimoto emphasizes that unlike traditional PCBs, the arcades don't have to pay anything after their initial purchase of the kit. If the current game on the Nesica Live isn't bringing good income, the arcade can switch to another game that they've downloaded for free. Fujimoto also expects that the unit sales of the Nesica Live will continue on, because as new games are released, arcades with only one unit will figure out that it isn't enough to run all the upcoming lineup titles such as Strania and Aquapazza.
-Fujimoto says that the Nesica Live solves inventory and financial risks for publishers as well. In a way, Taito is carrying the burden now because they're paying up for the server costs. Together with the fact that its games can be made on a PC environment, they expect that should really lower the hurdle for developers to make arcade games. Companies that have only made console games and companies that have PC games are already knocking on Taito's door. As the selection of games begin to grown on Nesica Live, other issues such as the game select screen getting too crouded and the cabinet's instruction panel are expected to rise. Taito is already thinking about solutions to them.
-Another vision for the future is to have some form of connectivity between home consoles/handhelds and the arcades using the Nesica Live system with the use of wireless LAN.
[this message was edited by Professor on Tue 26 Apr 13:52] |
| sibarraz
78th Post
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Occasional Customer
| "Re(1):Nesica Live interview w/Price model, et" , posted Tue 26 Apr 22:36
Very good interview Professor
Some points that caught my attention
- About the online High Score, I never thought that the fact that your boss can caught you skipping job with this system could be a problem.
Don't get me wrong, I understand that this could be a problem, on january from this year 2 friends who work were invited to the launch conference of EA CHILE, and they took me with them because they don't wanted to appear on camera, but to be fair, heredoesn't make sense since unless I'm missing something. I doubt that players are that stupid to put their real name on the arcade high scores, they will put some nick or at best their initals, I will never Put Sebastián Barraza, I will just put sibarraz, or SIB (and this reminds me that when I had a children, I must name him Sebastian Nietzche Krauser)
Also, there's a tracking system to search players? there's a register of which time of the day they played?
- Also, it seems that now arcade operators can charge 50 or 100 yens unlike the initial days where it seems that you can only charge 100 yens, good to hear that, and good for taito to be changing almost all the machines with viewlix cabinets or taito type x2 boards
- I'm still hoping to see one day the nesica system here on the western, the idea could be so good, free games for the operators, what a big catalogue, the only turning point seems to be that charging 50 yens here is already expensive, and 100 is only possible in overpriced arcades on shopping centers. Also, I don't know how dangerous could be bringing those systems here, I know that they could find a way to unlock those games after being downloaded and play them free, alas.
Semi off topic, how is doing KOF98UMFENxL? Did the game pick up? or just was killed by nesica system used only for CSII?
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| Professor 3019th Post
MMCafe Owner
| "Re(2):Nesica Live interview w/Price model, et" , posted Thu 28 Apr 19:33:
quote:
Very good interview Professor
Some points that caught my attention
- About the online High Score, I never thought that the fact that your boss can caught you skipping job with this system could be a problem.
Also, there's a tracking system to search players? there's a register of which time of the day they played?
- Also, it seems that now arcade operators can charge 50 or 100 yens unlike the initial days where it seems that you can only charge 100 yens, good to hear that, and good for taito to be changing almost all the machines with viewlix cabinets or taito type x2 boards
-- Message too long, Autoquote has been Snipped --
sibarraz: Nesica Live should have absolutely no problem in figuring out where and when the users played their game. I'm not sure if they keep a log, but there should be no technical limitations. FYI, in the case of some other arcade games like Konami's Quiz Magic Academy, when you're playing the game and facing human opponents on network, you can actually see their names and what arcade they're playing at.
As for the pricing, arcade operators were actually able to freely choose between charging 100 or 50 yen from the beginning, just that no store owner would set their machine at 50 yen. And I still haven't seen arcades with a 50 yen setup, except when they have special occasions. For example, some arcades set their machines at 50 yen for 1-2 weeks after the earthquake to try and get customers back; nobody was going out to the arcades and they were losing business.
KOF98FE is an interesting case: some people are still playing UM since it's cheaper, but many of the players have apparently switched to FE now, one of the main reasons being that the input latency is better. Despite the popularity of BBCSII and SSF4AE, most large-scale arcades have a cabinet running KOF98FE now. I'm not sure for how long though, considering Aquapazza is slated for release soon.
[this message was edited by Professor on Thu 28 Apr 19:40] |
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