I do kind of love all these poverty fighters that are coming to the eXa. They look fun and remind me of the Neo Geo... which is kind of nice, because the more mainstream, modern games in the genre tend to bore the hell out of me.
Announcements for those who can’t understand Japanese or bad translations:
New Info
exA-Arcadia is in 500+ locations worldwide with 23 games release and 50 more in production.
Dodonpachi SDOJ EXA Label - free update with 1 frame input lag, improved slowdown simulation in original mode supervised by PEK, added Inbachi mode settings menu for practicing, faster load times, etc coming in April
Noisz Arc Coda Location Test on April 7 at Taito Hey
P-47 Aces Mk II has new stages and enemies, all music arranged by Manabu Namiki and 1 frame input lag.
Touhou Perfect Sakura Fantastica to be shown at Reitaisai on May 8 - music by Keishi Yonao, programmed by Yugo Fujioka (ex-Cave, A2B)
New Games
Astro Ninja Man EXA - title #2 from RIKI with new music and more, 1 frame input lag
Cambria Sword: Another Cry - completely new entry in the series only for arcades with 1 frame input lag
jam jam’n Jelly Exalente - brand new 2 player horizontal shooter
Shinorubi Pink Label - arcade only true vertical version, not the version on Steam
P-47 Aces Mk II is looking really great! the audio track played from the new arranged soundtrack was brilliantly done .. so catchy.
It might have been simply down to the live stream quality, however I did find it hard to follow what was going on with the amount of player fire on screen when three players were in action, not so easy to distinguish enemy projectiles from the players. Each plane is offset into the distance (Z axis) which helped but perhaps something else is also possible? i.e an option to display unique colour or lighting for each player and the enemies bullets. One for location test feedback.
Was thinking how cool a modern version of Senjō no Ōkami II (Mercs) would be!tate with modern updated graphics something like if Mercs and blazing chrome had a baby!
Update: I stand corrected by @Shou. I only made up this conjecture due to the lack of knowledge about the arcade business. Of course arcade video games have much smaller competition compared to console.
I do want to give my few cents about arcade game business:
Definitely good news that Exa Arcadia has sold at least 500 units (500+ locations have Exa Arcadia globally), which some locations hold more than one Exa Arcadia unit. While that number sounds good on paper, the limited computer component supply issue still persists and will continue to attract some small indie early adopters that simply want a game released to an arcade platform without profit motive.
Of course, game developers that use an already released game and make exclusive version with some new content is the most cost effective method to release the games onto the said platform.
At this rate, for charging $2000 for an Exa game cartridge to operators and 500 would be sold, that would make a gross revenue of $1 million, a very improbable goal.
To make $100k in gross revenue, takes far less copies compared to consumer games, but audience scale of operators and collectors can make it tricky
$2000 per unit, 50 units
$1000 per unit, 100 units
$500 per unit, 200 units
Until the computer supply issue gets resolved, it will likely be a first few years of initial losses due to investment in manufacturing. I am sure Exa Arcadia will find a way to give great faith in the brand.
Corrected since Exa Arcadia did confirm they are profiting healthily.
Last edited by MrJBRPG on April 6th, 2022, 2:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Lots of conjecture, so I’ll very clearly state that we are a profitable company.
Why is console hard?
Take a popular Japanese shooter port on Switch.
It’s $25.
After Nintendo’s cut, taxes, IP holder cut, you’re likely left with:
$14
Due to the crowded marketplace, you’re probably selling on average 20,000 units if you’re lucky.
You’re a bit over 20k units sold to get to $300,000 net revenue.
This particular example had 6 programmers working on it for 2 years plus. Then you have all of the sales discounts, console marketing, management and licensing costs. Take that all away and how much do you have left?
Next time, you see someone say if you ported this game to Switch you’d sell a bunch. Remember that it’s likely not enough to even start a serious business conversation.
The arcade market especially now has way less competition to wade through to find a game (ie discoverability) with higher margins but of course a lower installed base. Now, there is only exA making joystick games. Taito, Sega and Namco have all exited.
This is a definite purchase for me. It's so cool to see this game finally get an official arcade release. Hopefully there will be more SNK collaborations in the future.