AOU 2010

Each year, the “All Nippon Amusement Machine Operators’ Union” show doesn’t seem to get much coverage in the West. Despite being hosted at the same venue as Tokyo Game Show, there aren’t as many booth babes, no ‘megaton’ titles and nowhere near as much hype nor speculation surrounding the event. There are, however, lots of free to play arcade cabinets.

We arrived just in time to sneak in before everyone else, so we had a while to scout around and get our bearings. At first glance the show’s floor seemed a little disappointing at less than 1/3 the size of Tokyo Game Show with half of the area dominated by purikura (print club), pachinko and UFO catcher machines. The Sega and Konami areas were largest and stood out most, but Taito and Namco Bandai were also present, promoting smaller titles.

As soon as I entered, Metal Gear Arcade’s presence gobsmacked me, but upon closer inspection I was slightly disappointed to see that it was essentially Metal Gear Online in 3D with knobs on. That said, playing it was still a lot of fun (although it took some time to get used to). I was given a gun and a fancy pair of 3D goggles then left to navigate a barrage of Japanese menus by myself. After decking my avatar out with mismatched camouflage gear I ventured into the heat of battle. The built-in 5.1 surround sound boomed and I attempted to take down the blue team. I failed. It takes a while to get used to controlling your movement with the analogue stick on the gun and look around using your own head at the same time (the goggles have a built-in camera to track your head movements). This coupled with the need to hold down an extra button other than the trigger of the gun to fire doesn’t help much either. Hot and discombobulated, I stumbled out of my chair and went off for a wander.

Sega’s staff were warming up for the day with a motivational speech from a very… jolly chap in a flamenco getup. Laughing exercises ensued, which seemed to bewilder and bemuse the staff more than unwind them. Sega’s most heavily promoted game at the show was undoubtedly Project DIVA Arcade, featuring the ever-popular virtual idol Hatsune Miku. An extended trailer and a couple of rather creepy lifelike projections of the character were shown in a mini theatre, while next-door the arcade cabinets were fully playable. Not my cup of tea, but it had some interesting features like some Sega-licensed tracks (Magical Sound Shower) and an option to upload your replay to Nico Nico Douga, Japan’s YouTube equivalent.

Hidden around the back of the Sega area was the Virtua Fighter 5 R version C “Final Battle Audition” which I wouldn’t have entered even if I could have. Those guys were pros – all I can do in Virtua Fighter is jump about a bit with Sarah. In case anyone preferred their fighting to take place in 2D, Melty Blood: Actress Again – Current Code was just around the corner from the tournament too. Shining Force Cross was the only other game that really struck me as it looked a lot like a Shining Force meets Phantasy Star Online. Only the original version was playable, with the new update only being shown in a trailer.

The most popular area proved to be the main UFO catcher area hidden away behind the Prize Fair Area. It became clear that many families had paid the 1,000円 entry fee to gain repeated access to these machines to amass a year-long supply of plush toys for their families. Taito’s machines proved to be the most popular, if only because they had a seemingly endless supply of assorted plushes ranging from cuddly, time-travelling robo-kitty Doraemon to Japan’s PlayStation mascot, Toro. There were many alternate versions for each plush, so some were only available for a short time. From the sprawling queue I noticed something odd – everyone was winning. All people had to do was choose the prize they were after, line up the catcher and play for it. What was the catch? There was no catch. In fact, it seemed as if the staff behind all the UFO catchers had been told to give the toys a little nudge to fall down the prize chute even if they missed.

The cutest prizes going were FuRyu’s nemuneko (sleeping cat) plush toys. Tubby bundles of glee that they were, my special lady friend and I walked away with similar expressions on our faces upon winning them. The lady manning the catcher happily exclaimed “omedetou gaijin-san!” (“congratulations Mr. Foreigner!”) and sent me on my way. My plushie spoils from the rest of the day were a giant Toro toy in a Kuro outfit and Gloomy Bear with his master, Pity. Sega also had their own UFO catcher area, although they only seemed to have Disney and Spongebob plushes which didn’t measure up to their Japanese counterparts. Whilst Sega’s area was intriguing, Konami’s area proved the most popular with other attendants. The latest Guitar Freaks, Drum Freaks and Dance Dance Revolution were all playable, and the prize for taking part was a neat Bemani CD.

There were only a few small stores around, and they were limited to ones selling arcade cabinet parts. If you were so inclined, buttons, joysticks and even key mechanisms were available for enthusiasts to buy and fix up their cabs.

Floating around the show floor were a number of Japanese costumed characters including Rilakkuma, Gaspard & Lisa, the Lotte Koala. The star of the floor though, was everyone’s favourite Sega character – Sonic. He sped around not knowing quite where he was going with only his maraca-wielding sidekick to guide him about. Hovering above all of these characters were a few entertainers on stilts who made some quite impressive balloon animals that really lit up some kids’ faces.

In the centre, pachinko and purikura machines were the order of the day. The pachinko machines, being a form of gambling, seemed a bit out of place considering the number of children and cute characters roaming around. Then again, pachinko seems to be a widely enjoyed pastime over here. Purikura, or “print club” machines are highly elaborate passport photo cabinets that allow you to pose for several shots with friends, then heavily manipulate the images with stickers and text. The resulting images are printed on glossy sticky-backed paper and shared out. These machines are, of course, aimed at schoolgirls often found caked in make-up. Not that this stereotype ever stopped me from joining in. Quite pleased to have gotten our snazzy snaps for free, we realised that a lot of the girls around us had fistfuls of photos and bulging albums – they had been going at it all day!

Booth babes were present, but they were few and far between compared with the likes of Tokyo Game Show. Their outfits seemed quite muted and toned down, with the exception of the bathmat-like dresses some of the purikura booth babes had donned.

The day ended with an epic musical finale performed by “H.Live!” (Sega Sound Unit [H.]) featuring, amongst others I couldn’t quite recognise, the Space Harrier theme and OutRun’s Magical Sound Shower.

It’s a shame AOU isn’t covered so much in the Western games press, but it’s understandable as few of the machines we saw will ever get released outside of Japan. It was quite laid back compared with the madness of other trade shows, and had more of a family day out atmosphere about it than a sweaty nerd one. I recommend going if you do ever get the chance though… if only for a few bags of free plush toys!