Location test details!
Kinect leaves the living room
Next year Kinect will throw off its living room shackles and join the arcade scene, as Konami has announced it's working on an arcade version of Dance Evolution (or DanceMasters) for release in 2012.
The game is currently on test at certain locations in Japan, with the sensor tucked away inside the arcade cabinet.
Recently it was revealed the 114,000 Japanese have bought Kinect, with Dance Evolution the second-best selling game with 24,000 sales across Japan. Initial reports of the arcade game suggest the two versions are very similar, which bodes well for the game's success in its new environment.
This isn't the first time Kinect has been included in an arcade cabinet: last year we saw Let's Kinect, a $4,300 cabinet that let you play any 360 game you want — as long as you shelled out for the licence, that is.
Thanks to Sacra for the tip!
User Comments
1. dirtyvu
08 Dec 2011, 20:43 GMT
this is how insular Japan is. when Dance Evolution/Dance Masters far outsells Just Dance, Dance Central, etc.
I was reading an article the other day about whether the Tokyo car show has any more relevance on a world stage anymore. a lot of car manufacturers have basically given up on selling in Japan. The biggest foreign car maker in Japan in Volkswagen at 5%. And there's kind of no point for selling in Japan for many companies because it's such a small market (it is an island after all).
2. abHS4L
09 Dec 2011, 07:04 GMT
In terms of video gaming, Japan is still a pretty major region because videogames has a wide market over there. Sure DanceMasters is the best selling dance Kinect game but that's because it appeals more to an Asian audience, especially Japanese. I personally loved the dances of DanceMasters more than any other dance game because there was more variety and it actually looked like full routines. Wherever games are considered mass market, then there's a reason to try and appeal to them.