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The following is an interview from the IGN Japan website. This translation is for educational and fan use only.
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At this point, the exA-Arcadia is operating across Japan from Kyushu to Hokkaido, but because of COVID-19, we can’t say that we’ve completely integrated into arcades yet. It seems we’ve caught the attention of arcade fans and arcade store managers with the latest DODONPACHI TRUE DEATH EXA LABEL, though. Speaking of DODONPACHI, it’s a bullet hell game developed by CAVE Interactive and released in 1997, which put CAVE on its bullet hell-based route. The latest entry to the series was TRUE DEATH (also known as SaiDaiOuJou) in 2012, but now, we’ve added a new mode and revived the game as EXA LABEL.
(From Left) Alex, Eric, James
Alex, the leader of exA’s in-house development department “TEAM EXA-AM2”, was in charge of this port and its new mode. The source code itself was provided by CAVE, but it was quite difficult to reproduce the original game’s processing omissions. Arcade game processing omissions are basically caused by the upper limit of an arcade board’s performance. But, on a more powerful board, those omissions need to be simulated on the software side. Alex consulted top players’ on-site testing to port the arcade mode with as close to the original gameplay as possible.
Many ideas have been incorporated into the new mode. TRUE DEATH has been a very difficult game for CAVE fans so far. I, the writer, could barely reach Stage 3. In the new “EXA LABEL” mode, the difficulty is lower, but some changes will enhance the exhilarating gameplay. A mode has also been added called “INBACHI,” which allows you to directly challenge the secret boss, “Inbachi.” Inbachi is a strong enemy that no one has cleared even among the bosses of devil difficulty called the true boss of Cave, and it is almost impossible for ordinary players to meet. In a sense, this is the mode that is most likely to contribute to income.
Unique to exA Elements have also been added, like “gadgets” that display various statuses in the empty left and right parts of the screen, original and arranged soundtrack options, and video output in 1080p and 4K.
We asked exA representative Eric Chung about the goals of the exA platform. Eric regularly plays games, and he also won as a runner-up at EVO for Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution. exA was created as a platform for games in his favorite arcade. Right now, home video game consoles and PCs are the main platforms for shooting and fighting games, but Eric thinks that arcades are still meaningful considering their unified standards, responsiveness, and social factors. And since the OS used on the board is Windows, he thinks that it can be used for purposes other than game content. He wants to grow his business as a new platform for arcades. In terms of specifications, the exA is equipped with an Intel CPU and Nvidia GPU, and it seems to have the same power as PS5 and Xbox Series X. Most games released on current generation hardware and PCs can be ported to exA.
The business model follows the traditional arcade method. In the past, arcades used to buy boards from manufacturers and let them play for ¥100 or ¥50 to recover the purchase cost. For example, if a board is ¥100,000 and 1 credit is ¥100, that board’s cost will be covered if it’s played 1000 times, and then the rest of the profits will go to the store (stores have to maintain the machines, though). But recently at arcades, network housings have become more widely implemented. Although these have the advantages of online battles and regular content updates, stores are charged a minimum 30% fee per every ¥100 credit for the network usage, along with the initial housing and board investments. The initial investment on a machine can’t be covered as quickly this way, and stores still need to pay for the network even after a machine is covered.
In the office where the arcade machine housings are lined up, there are a bunch of posters made for exA.
So now, about exA. exA sells system software for ¥200,000 and game ROMs from ¥140,000. If an arcade pays those initial investments, the income will be a direct profit. Of course, things like online battles and game updates are valuable to users, and there’s no problem utilizing machines with network systems. But, with those machines, the variation of stores’ games is limited since many arcades don’t have a choice but to supply only the most popular games. Eric wants to provide a variety of content to arcades by adopting the old arcade business model. He’s also skeptical of online arcade games, saying that not only is a platform filled with strong players not profitable for arcades, but the games themselves have changed to accommodate network delays.
It’s unclear at this point whether Eric’s idea is a nostalgic arcade supremacy or a good idea in a business niche. There is no doubt that it will be effective enough to bring the foot of a player who is fond of arcade games like me back to the arcade. In addition, it seems that a hit work at an arcade has been born in an unexpected way.
For example, Nippon Marathon is a party game where you run around a suspicious Japanese city with a strange cosplay. It was a hot topic as an indie game, but at the location test last year, the exA version of the game, Nippon Marathon Turbo, was said to have produced a phenomenal income. Certainly, local multiplayer works are similar to arcades. Even if this is a festival effect limited to the location test, there is a possibility that it will be profitable if the game center side operates in an event format.
For shoot-em-up arcade games and their fans, new games like AKA & BLUE TYPE-R and Vritra Hexa have appeared in exA. These are remakes of games released on mobile and PC, but the exA versions have been thoroughly remade for arcades and upgraded to 1080p and 4K compatible graphics. Many people want to devote their concentration to playing a shoot-em-up while they’re at an arcade. Every now and then, I want to play shoot-em-ups at arcades (but I want these new versions to be released for home and PC play too).
ExA makes the development environment for the system compatible with various game engines so many games can be played on it. Not only that, exA provides arcades with tools that allow managers to see data like play time and income and it supports key performance indicator settings. Eric’s advice to developers interested in an exA version is: “Arcades are really like the ocean. The amount of content there is less than you’d expect.”
ExA doesn’t just sell to arcade stores, but also to restaurants, bars, and individual players. That kind of thing isn’t possible in Japan with strong regulations of the arcade business, but in North America and other countries, they are increasingly popular in restaurants and at many other places where video games can survive other than just arcades. Eric mentioned one interesting story about exA-equipped machines in Silicon Valley offices where tech companies meet. Since the 2010s, arcade cabinets have been recognized as fashionable in North America, and that kind of boom is supporting the spread of the exA.
The arcade situation in Japan continues to be harsh, partly due to COVID-19. However, the demand for playing games offline seems to be increasing year by year. Besides the already released games on the exA, 50 new titles are being developed. I’ll be interested in watching how the exA-Arcadia will develop in the future.
I love translation, writing, and talking about video games. MOTHER has been the series that's inspired me the most - from Itoi's writing to the MOTHER 3 fan translation. I research gaming translations and storytelling through games. I'm also making a game called GNOMONIC. I appreciate any constructive comments to help me improve.
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