We've heard that King of Fighters XII has been dated for Japanese arcades new April, and now we hear about the game's ever expanding line-up. There are 11 playable characters in the show floor demo: Terry, Kim, Athena Asamiya, Leona Heidern, Ralf Jones, Kyo Kusanagi, Shen Woo, Ryo Sakazaki, Benimaru Nikaido, Robert…

There are lots of arcades in Japan. Hell, there is a book's worth of arcades in Japan. But elsewhere? Hrm. The head of SEGA's AM2 arcade division, Makoto Osaki, calls the arcade market outside of Japan "practically dead" in an interview with game site Kikizo. Here's Osaki:

As foretold, here are the first screens of zombie love, zombie bowling, zombie rock and roll, zombie sumo, zombie apple picking Ai sareru yori ai shitai: House of the Dead EX. The game looks more causal and more crazy. It's jammed pack with mini-games that are controlled by the gun and the foot pedal — mini games, and…

We're excited about Tatsunoko vs. Capcom. The game seems like a fun arcade cross-over. Sure, there will be Western arcades that import the game, but will it get an official release outside Japan? Capcom USA is looking into it. No doubt the American licensing issues for the Tatsunoko Productions characters is sticky.…

The recent location test announcement for Capcom arcade game Tatsunoko vs. Capcom hinted at new fighters. Well, impatient people, today we bring you new Tatsunoko vs. Capcom fighters! Pictured is Street Fighter III main character Alex, complete with droopy overalls and everything. Joining wrestler Alex is genius…

As we previously posted, the Japanese arcade version of Street Fighter IV will feature Taito's NESYS Card System to save and track data - plus a cell phone site, too. During arcade play, players can win and save "Battle Points" on their NESYS Card. The Battle Points are weighted, so, for example, if you defeat a…

Starting July 18th, Street Fighter IV will be playable in Japanese arcades. To save your arcade achievements, the game will use Taito's NESYS Card System. (Makes sense as the game runs on the Taito Type X2 arcade system board!) The NESYS Card will come in four patterns, all of which are pictured. This saved player…

After its recent location test, details about SEGA's new arcade racer R-Tuned: Ultimate Street Racing have hit. Before the race starts, players select their car and its neon lights. There are unlimited super boosts - be careful as using it causes the steering wheel to shake and possibly lose control. Players can win…

We sure hope that upcoming Capcom arcade fighter Tatsunoko vs. Capcom is good. So far, it looks good! But we won't know until we give it a whirl at one of the location tests for the game. The game will be playable next month (soon) in locations in both Tokyo and Osaka — Taito Hey! in Akihabara and Ikebukuro GIGO from…

This Friday (today!), SEGA is location testing new street racing game from its famed AM2 division. Dubbed R-Tuned: Ulimate Street Racing, the arcade game runs on SEGA's Lindbergh arcade system board and supports up to four players. Apparently there is also a home version in development, but that's unconfirmed. The…

Konami has announced location tests for new Bemani title beatmania IIDX16 EMPRESS. Starting next month, the arcade location tests will be at Round One in Osaka's Umeda and another one in Tokyo (more details in the link). Okay, that's fine and all, but you know the current theme for beatmania IIDX15 DJ TROOPERS? If…

Before there was Guitar Hero, there was GuitarFreaks! Konami's rhythm game has been shredding up Japanese arcades since 1999 and is still going strong. Check out GuitarFreaks V5 Rock to Infinity, the latest cabinet (and 16th entry!) in the franchise. And after the jump? After the jump is Konami's drum title DrumMania…

Cute, glossy and girly. Yep, sticker pictures! Back in the mid-1990s, game developer Atlus (along with Sega) introduced the world to Print Club. The arcade machine let gals take snaps with buddies and printed them out on glossy sticker paper. Huge trend throughout the rest of the decade! That pic up there? That's not…

The Metal Gear Solid 4 publicity machine keeps on trucking! Konami's even using its arcade games to publicize MGS4 Hobby Blog's Frankie points out. He tells us:

The upcoming issue of Japanese gaming mag Famitsu has the first details about the Raiden IV home port. The game will be hitting the Xbox 360 and will feature the standard arcade game, plus two new stages, LIVE and the ability to share replay saves with online buddies. There's even an option for vertical ("tate") for…

Bust out the fancy hats! Square Enix honcho Yoichi Wada held the opening ceremony for card-based arcade game Lord of Vermilion at Shinjuku Taito Station. The game isn't Square Enix's first entry into card-based arcade games, which are very popular in Japan, as previously the company released a slapped Dragon Quest on…

Via game site Insert Credit comes info that Street Fighter IV will be getting a Japanese arcade this summer as we had previously posted. Apparently, the cabinet set will be released July 18th, and the PCB-only release is supposedly August 10th. This is unconfirmed by Capcom, and no word on outside Japan arcade…

Forget the Sega Rambo arcade game for a moment, look at that mullet! Look!! That business-in-the-front party-in-the-back belongs to none over than Hiroshi Fujiioka, the Sega Saturn's human mascot Segata Sanshiro. In the late 1990s, that character went around telling people to play the Sega Saturn — and had a truly…

*Sigh* Yes, that's a sticker picture of me and Koakuma Ageha fashion model Rina Sakurai. Interviewed her in late April for work! Nice girl, very smart. Her blog is here.

Wondering what the latest purikura (sticker pictures) trend hitting Japanese arcades is? Click over to Wired for a blink-and-you'll-miss-it short…

Wac-A-Bin-Laden! Creative Engineering, the folks behind Showbiz Pizza's Rock-A-Fire Explosion, has created this one of a kind prototype. According to Creative Engineering: