EXAーARCADIA [New Arcade Platform/Publisher]

[hamfighterx]

FYI for anyone interested in EXA games and able to get out to the western Tokyo suburbs, do yourself a favor and check out WCG - World Game Circus in Tachikawa. Their main location is all rhythm games, but they have like 4 small places on the same couple of blocks. One is their "Club Exa" room across the street from the main rhythm game location, a STG-focused small arcade with 6 or so EXA machines and a handful of other non-EXA cabs in there too. Really great selection of Exa titles including brand new stuff. I was last there in December and played some Earthion, saw some Exa games I don't typically see like Fixeight, Chaos Code, P-47 Aces, Air Gallet.

Systems might not be powered on, but they all have a power switch set up so you can flip the switch yourself and boot the machine. Last time I went, when I arrived and was the only person in the building and had the place to myself kicking back and playing some games. A few people popped in, including the manager (who was mostly hanging out down the street at one of the other branches).

Prob the best Exa selection I've seen in Tokyo. Otherwise I usually like Hey, spent some time on their Air Gallet Exa Label a couple months ago as well.

[To Far Away Times]

Overall I would say the more traditional arcades in Japan look like they are doing reasonably well. The problem seems to arise is when the leases of their buildings run out and that seems to be the killer blow. It's just can't be viable to renew the leases long term. Which I think puts eXA in a bad position and the future of their business somewhat out of their control.

Not so fun fact, but this killed one of my favorite arcades in SoCal. That place was always packed, but still went out of business. Apparently the landlord wanted them out of the complex, so they jacked up the rent to an unreasonable amount and basically forced them out. It seems funny now with the presence of Barcades in the US, but in the mid to late 00's, there were additional restrictions placed on businesses that serve alcohol that were in close proximity to areas that target minors like arcades. Arcades were seen as sort of dragging down the the surrounding restaurants, so if you could get a tenant that wasn't an arcade that would be a more desirable outcome.

[tzm_rade]

FYI for anyone interested in EXA games and able to get out to the western Tokyo suburbs, do yourself a favor and check out WCG - World Game Circus in Tachikawa. Their main location is all rhythm games, but they have like 4 small places on the same couple of blocks. One is their "Club Exa" room across the street from the main rhythm game location, a STG-focused small arcade with 6 or so EXA machines and a handful of other non-EXA cabs in there too. Really great selection of Exa titles including brand new stuff. I was last there in December and played some Earthion, saw some Exa games I don't typically see like Fixeight, Chaos Code, P-47 Aces, Air Gallet.

Systems might not be powered on, but they all have a power switch set up so you can flip the switch yourself and boot the machine. Last time I went, when I arrived and was the only person in the building and had the place to myself kicking back and playing some games. A few people popped in, including the manager (who was mostly hanging out down the street at one of the other branches).

Prob the best Exa selection I've seen in Tokyo. Otherwise I usually like Hey, spent some time on their Air Gallet Exa Label a couple months ago as well.

I have been meaning to go there for a while now. Don't they essentially have all eXA games? But damn is it far away! Like you can play some eXA games in the morning and then climb a mountain in the afternoon. I have to bring my hiking shoes. Calling it Tokyo is a stretch lol.

[hamfighterx]

I have been meaning to go there for a while now. Don't they essentially have all eXA games? But damn is it far away! Like you can play some eXA games in the morning and then climb a mountain in the afternoon. I have to bring my hiking shoes. Calling it Tokyo is a stretch lol.

Yeah it's a bit of a journey, but not THAT crazy if you're coming from the western side of Tokyo. It's like a 26 minute train ride from Shinjuku station to Tachikawa station. Though, WGC isn't super close to the station either, it's like a 20min walk. I made an afternoon of it the last time I went - hung out near the station for a bit and had a nice Italian lunch, checked out the large Book Off, grabbed a Christmas gift for a friend at the Nihon Falcom official goods section of the Kotobukiya near the station (right next to Falcom HQ). Then took a stroll down to play some eXA games.

I would not be surprised if they do have basically all eXA games, the selection was very nice and I assume that the many marquee/instruction cards they had for games not currently in the machines means they also have those and could swap them in. A little less convenient for people to visit than something in Tokyo proper (and nothing at all wrong with Mikado or Hey), but it's rare to see a totally independent arcade with this kind of niche focus, and that's the kind of place I do want to make a little effort to support. A suburban neighborhood eXA focused arcade room is an incredibly cool thing to even exist.

[Jackoz]

Overall I would say the more traditional arcades in Japan look like they are doing reasonably well. The problem seems to arise is when the leases of their buildings run out and that seems to be the killer blow. It's just can't be viable to renew the leases long term. Which I think puts eXA in a bad position and the future of their business somewhat out of their control.

Not so fun fact, but this killed one of my favorite arcades in SoCal. That place was always packed, but still went out of business. Apparently the landlord wanted them out of the complex, so they jacked up the rent to an unreasonable amount and basically forced them out. It seems funny now with the presence of Barcades in the US, but in the mid to late 00's, there were additional restrictions placed on businesses that serve alcohol that were in close proximity to areas that target minors like arcades. Arcades were seen as sort of dragging down the the surrounding restaurants, so if you could get a tenant that wasn't an arcade that would be a more desirable outcome.

There is a new arcade opening in the area with a good looking selection

https://www.2ndlooparcade.com/

[Jackoz]

FYI for anyone interested in EXA games and able to get out to the western Tokyo suburbs, do yourself a favor and check out WCG - World Game Circus in Tachikawa. Their main location is all rhythm games, but they have like 4 small places on the same couple of blocks. One is their "Club Exa" room across the street from the main rhythm game location, a STG-focused small arcade with 6 or so EXA machines and a handful of other non-EXA cabs in there too. Really great selection of Exa titles including brand new stuff. I was last there in December and played some Earthion, saw some Exa games I don't typically see like Fixeight, Chaos Code, P-47 Aces, Air Gallet.

Systems might not be powered on, but they all have a power switch set up so you can flip the switch yourself and boot the machine. Last time I went, when I arrived and was the only person in the building and had the place to myself kicking back and playing some games. A few people popped in, including the manager (who was mostly hanging out down the street at one of the other branches).

Prob the best Exa selection I've seen in Tokyo. Otherwise I usually like Hey, spent some time on their Air Gallet Exa Label a couple months ago as well.

I went there once last year during a free play fight night in the bigger building on the 2nd floor. They have exas there and in the other smaller building across the street. It does seem like they have every game on hand.

[CStarFlare]

There is a new arcade opening in the area with a good looking selection

https://www.2ndlooparcade.com/

This is incredible news.

[To Far Away Times]

There is a new arcade opening in the area with a good looking selection

https://www.2ndlooparcade.com/

This is incredible news.

That is one hell of a line up.

[tzm_rade]

A completely random bit of fate took me out to Hachioji this week so inspired by the posts in this thread I decided to stop by Club Exa in Tachikawa and play a few exA shmups in the morning. Might put up a more detailed post/review next week when I get some time to write up something. It didn't quite match my expectations (both in a good and bad way) but still an interesting experience and cool chance to play some games.

Next week I'm also planning to head up to HEY and will check out their latest exA selection.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

A completely random bit of fate took me out to Hachioji this week so inspired by the posts in this thread I decided to stop by Club Exa in Tachikawa and play a few exA shmups in the morning. Might put up a more detailed post/review next week when I get some time to write up something. It didn't quite match my expectations (both in a good and bad way) but still an interesting experience and cool chance to play some games.

Next week I'm also planning to head up to HEY and will check out their latest exA selection.

For tzm_rade,

Please take some high-res jpegs and post 'em here -- it'd be nice see what the Hirose HEY game center looks like nowadays with the latest Exa-Arcadia stg releases.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[tzm_rade]

Oops. DIdn't really think to take any pics of the exAs in HEY.

So I'll do that next time I'm there or someone else can. I did count they have at least six exA cabinets in total : three that I saw on the shmup floor and another three that I saw on the fighting game floor. Next time I'll take some notes of exactly what games they have running.

Here are a couple pics of Club Exa 2 in Tachikawa. Again didn't really think to take any pictures of the cabinets themselves. So maybe next time but it's unlikely I'll be down that way again for quite some time so hopefully someone else can get some better pics at a better time when all the cabs are powered up at once. When I went it was a ghost town





I turned up at opening time on a week day and the place was was completely closed up lol. Had to call the owner of WGC on the phone and he came out and opened the place up for me and I just played a few games on my own for a couple hours. As you can can see half the space seems to be dedicated to rhythm games which are a mystery to me. The back half of the room is dedicated to exA machines. I think in total they had 7 set up. I covered up some leaderboards which could be used to identify people.

HEY has that official game center feel and gets a lot of foot traffic while Club EXA is definitely more of a hobbyist kind place for the hardcore players off the beaten path.

[Emerl]

They're teasing Campaign Version again. (TBC it is not April Fool's Day in Japan anymore).

https://x.com/exaarcadia/status/2039421750577185231

[PC Engine Fan X!]

They're teasing Campaign Version again. (TBC it is not April Fool's Day in Japan anymore).

https://x.com/exaarcadia/status/2039421750577185231

This is in reference to the upcoming Cave DoDonpachi Campaign Version Exa-Arcadia variant version, right?

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[jehu]

They're teasing Campaign Version again. (TBC it is not April Fool's Day in Japan anymore).

https://x.com/exaarcadia/status/2039421750577185231

“You see. It’s true.”

I can’t see shit, even when squinting and trying super hard, but okay, cool.

Really revitalizing the arcades with this one, boys! Party like it’s 1997!

[spmbx]

They're teasing Campaign Version again. (TBC it is not April Fool's Day in Japan anymore).

https://x.com/exaarcadia/status/2039421750577185231

“You see. It’s true.”

I can’t see shit, even when squinting and trying super hard, but okay, cool.

Really revitalizing the arcades with this one, boys! Party like it’s 1997!

Admittedly i'm not too thrilled about a potential lockin to exa for this release. But since you're not too thrilled about it, what "revitalizing the arcades" release would you realistically envision to be possible that would get you excited? I personally think this is pretty big stuff in our niche corner of the entertainment world.

[SuperPang]

As much of a Cave fanboy as I am, I’m far more interested in seeing what they do with Exa Label than I am in playing campaign version. Sure, it’ll be great to finally play the unicorn of Cave shmups, but I think it’ll largely be the novelty act.

[jehu]

They're teasing Campaign Version again. (TBC it is not April Fool's Day in Japan anymore).

https://x.com/exaarcadia/status/2039421750577185231

“You see. It’s true.”

I can’t see shit, even when squinting and trying super hard, but okay, cool.

Really revitalizing the arcades with this one, boys! Party like it’s 1997!

Admittedly i'm not too thrilled about a potential lockin to exa for this release. But since you're not too thrilled about it, what "revitalizing the arcades" release would you realistically envision to be possible that would get you excited? I personally think this is pretty big stuff in our niche corner of the entertainment world.

Don’t get me wrong - I’m hype, and have the good fortune of being ready to buy on day one. For STG fans, I don’t think they could have caught a bigger fish. Campaign has the mystique.

I’m just skeptical about the possibility of revitalizing the arcade as such. No STG is going to do it. I do worry they were disappointed by the sales of their last big wave of STGs, but this is only a vague hunch. But exA is hanging in there longer and better than I expected.

I was also just amused by their tongue-in-cheek “confirmation.” They’re clearly enjoying the rumors, and all that the rumors are stirring up, so they’re stirring and stirring more. The plausible deniability and the time zone ambiguity (April Fools’ or not!?!) are delicious for what they’re up to.

[tzm_rade]

The bro energy they have while the industry dies around them is quite interesting. I think about a third or more of the game centers they still have listed on their website with exA machines have closed down especially in Tokyo and Kanagawa area. In fact I think there might even be zero exAs in Kanagawa now from what I can work out.

[Jackoz]

The bro energy they have while the industry dies around them is quite interesting. I think about a third or more of the game centers they still have listed on their website with exA machines have closed down especially in Tokyo and Kanagawa area. In fact I think there might even be zero exAs in Kanagawa now from what I can work out.

Exa have said that the majority of their sales are outside of Japan.

[CStarFlare]

As much of a Cave fanboy as I am, I’m far more interested in seeing what they do with Exa Label than I am in playing campaign version. Sure, it’ll be great to finally play the unicorn of Cave shmups, but I think it’ll largely be the novelty act.

I wouldn't be surprised to see a polished version of the original Campaign included, similar to the Special' in Batsugun. Manual hyper activation?.

I also wouldn't be surprised to see a rework of Trap's old DDP Arrange hack. I'm quite interested in how this shakes out.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

A retro-throwback of DoDonpachi + DoDonpachi-Campaign Version as a dedicated double-pack Exa-Arcadia release would seem most likely to happen/be released -- with some exclusive Exa features to sweeten the deal. It'd certainly be much better than the current "barebones" classic Cave DDP jamma pcb offering/experience as it is. Throw in both yoko and tate options with proper scanline filter support as usual for completeness -- now we're talking about the "complete" gaming experience with DDP + DDP-CV Exa style!

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

A retro-throwback of DoDonpachi + DoDonpachi-Campaign Version as a dedicated double-pack Exa-Arcadia release would seem most likely to happen/be released -- with some exclusive Exa features to sweeten the deal. It'd certainly be much better than the current "barebones" classic Cave DDP jamma pcb offering/experience as it is. Throw in both yoko and tate options with proper scanline filter support as usual for completeness -- now we're talking about the "complete" gaming experience with DDP + DDP-CV Exa style!

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

I just hope this will somehow lead to campaign version being released on steam and/ or modern consoles, but somehow I doubt it.

[Bassa-Bassa]

The Strania case was an exception which won't happen again (especially if the original company is not involved beyond licensing). Supposedly, that's what's keeping the platform alive. And don't forget those other rumors that say Exarcadia stopped that homebrew development trying to copy the game by eye.

[Serge.EXE]

RIP to the Exa-Arcadia cabinet that used to be at the Grapevine Mills Round 1. Not sure when they got rid of it, but I played it 2 years ago and now it's no longer there. I don't get down to Texas often, and no one else documented that it was there. I forget what else it was running other than DDP-SDOJ.

[NeoStrayCat]

RIP to the Exa-Arcadia cabinet that used to be at the Grapevine Mills Round 1. Not sure when they got rid of it, but I played it 2 years ago and now it's no longer there. I don't get down to Texas often, and no one else documented that it was there. I forget what else it was running other than DDP-SDOJ.

Oof...The only time the I ever had a chance to check out the Exa cabs were at the Puente Hills Round 1, and that was for a week (or 2, I think) location test and then they're gone. Doubtful I'll see Exa cabs at a Round 1 again. But at least the 2nd Loop Arcade in Torrance, CA has some Exa cabs/games with a few STG's over there.

[To Far Away Times]

Oh, I used to go to the Puente Hills Mall back when I lived in SoCal. Never saw the eXa machine, but I did play some Darius Burst AC and EspGaluda 2 there. And yeah, the sit down 32x9 enclosed Darius Burst cabinet with the subwoofer absolutely rips.

That mall is also the set where the parking lot scene was filmed for Back to the Future, so if the eXa machine is no longer there you could try sticking some stolen uranium in your car and hitting 88 mph and you might have another chance to play it.

[maximo310]

RIP to the Exa-Arcadia cabinet that used to be at the Grapevine Mills Round 1. Not sure when they got rid of it, but I played it 2 years ago and now it's no longer there. I don't get down to Texas often, and no one else documented that it was there. I forget what else it was running other than DDP-SDOJ.

Oof...The only time the I ever had a chance to check out the Exa cabs were at the Puente Hills Round 1, and that was for a week (or 2, I think) location test and then they're gone. Doubtful I'll see Exa cabs at a Round 1 again. But at least the 2nd Loop Arcade in Torrance, CA has some Exa cabs/games with a few STG's over there.

It was a 2 week location test at Puente Hills & then round 1 burbank had a cab with sdoj/aka blue to r at some point in 2022-2023 next to the salamander 2 cab. But it got removed later on & I'm not sure if they have anything else stg-related besides salamander 2 & r-type 2.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Here's Arcade Heroes' coverage of the latest Exa-Arcadia titles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xd6_LBqhpdk

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Nate123]

The Strania case was an exception which won't happen again (especially if the original company is not involved beyond licensing). Supposedly, that's what's keeping the platform alive. And don't forget those other rumors that say Exarcadia stopped that homebrew development trying to copy the game by eye.

what are you even talking about

[spmbx]

what are you even talking about

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