Arc System Works has revealed that it will release the arcade version of Under Night In-Birth II Sys:Celes on March 27, 2025. People who prefer to play in arcades will soon be able to find the fighting game in amusement centers across Japan.

The arcade release will run under Sega's ALL.Net P-ras MULTI Version 3 platform. As such, players will be able to use Aime cards to record their save data. The arcade cabinets will also contain ports for external headphones and gamepads.

One of the screenshots for the arcade version revealed that it will have 25 playable characters at launch. Besides the three new debutants on the console releases—Kaguya, Tsurugi, and Kuon—it will also include Uzuki. The latter is the game's first post-launch character added via DLC in July 2024. However, that also means arcade players will not get immediate access to Ogre, the second DLC character who appeared more recently in consoles in February 2025. The season for the console releases also includes Izumi as its third and last extra character coming in August 2025.

The arcade version of Under Night In-Birth II Sys:Celes will appear on Thursday, March 27, 2025. The original fighting game is readily available worldwide on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

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Bandai Namco published more details for The Idolmaster Tours: To You Radiant Smile a day ahead of its launch in Japanese arcades on March 26, 2025. The Idolmaster Tours will launch with 94 cards featuring the 15 starting idols from the first five sub-brands up to Shiny Colors.

The cards in The Idolmaster Tours will have one of the following four categories: Costume (shirt icon), Accessory (jewel icon), (clapping hands icon), or SP Appeal (SP icon). The first two categories will let players customize the idols' attires, while the latter two will provide gameplay advantages during the live performance stages.

Players will be able to get one card after each gameplay session. The arcade game's main menu also indicates that there will be Tours Rare cards available for separate purchases during specific periods.

In addition, players can take up to twelve photos from the live performances. The game can also automatically generate the remaining photos if the player has not filled the quota. They can then select up to three photos that they can to their smartphones or mobile devices via the generated QR code.

The Idolmaster Tours: To You Radiant Smile will be available in arcades across Japan on March 26, 2025.

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Arc System Works has released Venom as a new DLC character for Guilty Gear Strive. Although the character's release was delayed from the initial window at the beginning of 2025, the company kept its subsequent promise of releasing him within March 2025.

The company's official site indicates that Venom is so far available on the PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, and PC versions of the fighting game. While Queen Dizzy appeared later on the Switch and arcade versions for free, Switch version players will have to prepare additional funds to unlock Venom. The Japanese webpage confirms that Venom will only be available as a paid DLC character, along with the next two anime-based Season 4 characters: Guilty Gear Strive: Dual Rulers' Unika and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' Lucy.

Arc System Works has also published multiple trailers related to the character on its YouTube channel. The first one is the character showcase trailer with Japanese voiceovers by Junichi Suwabe:

The next trailer is a close copy of the above, but it instead features English voiceovers by Howard Wang:

Arc System Works also ed a Starter Guide video that explains Venom's move list. As shown in the above showcase trailers, a partial Robo-Ky will also make cameo appearances in several attacks.

The fourth and final new trailer lets people listen to Venom's theme song, "A Tenth of Myself." This song also features vocals by NAOKI.

Venom is now available as a DLC character for the PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, and PC releases of Guilty Gear Strive. The same character will appear later in the Nintendo Switch and Arcade versions of the fighting game.

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Capcom and Taito announced that they will add Mai Shiranui to Street Fighter 6: Type Arcade on March 13, 2025. Players of the game's arcade version will soon be able to use the SNK guest character on their preferred platform. As that will be in a cabinet, there will be no additional fee or need to buy DLC to use the crossover character.

The arcade version, which is separately handled by Taito, usually has a staggered update pace from the original fighting game releases that Capcom is managing on consoles and PC. As an example, the other SNK guest character Terry Bogard appeared in Street Fighter 6: Type Arcade on October 24, 2024, which is exactly a month after he debuted on the console and PC releases on September 24, 2024. Mai will be a similar case, as she has been available on the original Street Fighter 6 releases since February 5, 2025.

The difference will lie in the availabilities in the character selection menu. In the console and PC releases, players have to purchase DLC to unlock the post-launch characters. In this arcade port, Capcom and Taito are making all extra characters available to choose without any additional charges besides the credits required for a gameplay session.

The addition of Mai Shiranui will not be the only new thing in this arcade update. Capcom and Taito will also add High Master, Grand Master, and Ultimate Master as new achievable ranks in the Master League.

In addition, people who play the game on both arcades and consoles (or PC) can link both of their s. If they have acquired Master League titles and DX character colors in the console/PC version of Street Fighter 6, they can also use those in their linked for Type Arcade.

Mai Shiranui will appear in Street Fighter 6: Type Arcade on March 13, 2025. The character is readily available via DLC in the PC and console releases of Street Fighter 6, the latter of which appear on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Xbox Series X.

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Bandai Namco has announced the full launch date for The Idolmaster Tours: To You Radiant Smile. The new arcade game will be available in amusement centers across Japan on March 26, 2025.

This title will appear as a rhythm game with real card-based idol outfit customization. It will have two main gameplay modes. The Rhythm Live mode will play like other rhythm games, where the player must hit the buttons and sliders at the right time in accordance with the musical notes.

The Idolmaster Tours will distinguish itself with the Create Live mode, which will test the player's creativity as a live stage producer. They can use the sliders to adjust specific spotlights and press the buttons to launch special effects and change the camera view.

The Idolmaster Tours will have a total of 15 idols available at launch. The roster will basically feature the three main highlighted idols from the franchise's first five sub-brands. Characters from the original series, Cinderella Girls, Million Live, and Shiny Colors were playable earlier during a location test at the November 2023 Amusement Expo. Bandai Namco later added the three male idols from SideM's Dramatic Stars unit in the June 2024 location tests.

The rhythm game will also have 7 playable songs with 4 difficulty levels at launch. In the Rhythm Live mode, the hardest Master difficulty will only be available after the player gets a minimum grade of B in Expert level. Access to the songs will also depend on the unit the player has chosen.

1. "The Idolm@ster" from the original series (Female idols only)
2. "Onegai! Cinderella" from Cinderella Girls (Female idols only)
3. "Thank You!" from Million Live (Female idols only)
4. "Drive A Life" from SideM (Male idols only)
5. "Spread the Wings!!" from Shiny Colors (Female idols only)
6. "Nando demo Waraou" (All idols)
7. "Voy@ger" (All idols)

The final launch art for The Idolmaster Tours also features Saki Hanami from Hatsuboshi Gakuen: The Idolmaster, the sixth sub-brand that was revealed and then released for mobile devices while the arcade game was still under development. However, Saki will not immediately appear in the new arcade game. Bandai Namco noted that it will add more characters—including those from Gakuen Idolmaster—to the roster sometime after launch.

The Idolmaster Tours: To You Radiant Smile will be available in Japanese arcades on March 26, 2025.

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Capcom has announced the launch date for Onimusha VR: Shadow Team. It will set up the first-ever VR game for the Onimusha series at its own arcade centers across Japan in March 2025.

The company has previously showcased Onimusha VR at the Amusement Expo in Tokyo in November 2024, which signifies that the game will be available for arcades. The company has since announced its gameplay details and costs. People will have to pay 1,000 yen to access the arcade VR game, and a gameplay session will last around 20 minutes.

The new game will let up to four players become body doubles for Kaijin no Soki, the protagonist of the 2006 PS2 game Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams. Each of them will also have a unique name to distinguish themselves from Soki, whose name in Japanese (蒼鬼) means Azure Ogre.

• 緋鬼 - Hiki (Scarlet Ogre)
• 翠鬼 - Suiki (Green Ogre)
• 黄鬼 - Kiki (Yellow Ogre)
• 紫鬼 - Shiki (Purple Ogre)

The new VR arcade game will be available at the following amusement centers on the specified dates:

• MIRAINO Aeon Mall Hakusan in Ishikawa Prefecture - March 14, 2025
• MIRAINO Aeon Mall Toyokawa in Aichi Prefecture - March 14, 2025
• Plaza Capcom Shitoro in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka - March 15, 2025
• Plaza Capcom Hiroshima - March 19, 2025

Onimusha VR: Shadow Team will be gradually available in Capcom's arcade centers across Japan starting from March 14, 2025.

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Capcom has revealed a new collection of Monster Hunter Wilds merchandise that will appear as crane game prizes at its Japanese amusement centers. The lineup will include a Palico plush and a same-scaled potion drink bottle they use in the game. The company will release these items on the same day as the game's global release date.

The Palico plush will stand at around 40 cm (~15.75 inches), while the bottle will be approximately 15 cm (~5.9 inches) tall. The drink bottle will be able to actually store liquid up to 600 ml (~20.29 oz).

Besides the properly scaled Palico plush and bottle, the crane game prize lineup will include an acrylic clock available in two different designs. Other than Palico, people will be able to obtain one with an Arkveld design.

In addition to the above three items, Capcom will hold a Must Buy Campaign that rewards a slider pouch that features either the Palico or Seikret by spending 500 yen on the crane game. To enter this campaign, the player must inform a staff member who will then help the spent money.

The new Monster Hunter Wilds crane game prizes will appear at Capcom's amusement centers across Japan on February 28, 2025—the exact same day the company releases the video game worldwide on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC.

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Konami has been gradually adding content based on Hololive Vtubers to its arcade rhythm game Sound Voltex, and one of the group's most famous Vtubers is set to the lineup. The company has announced that it will add new content based on Usada Pekora in Sound Voltex Exceed Gear on February 20, 2025.

Four songs performed by Usada Pekora—all of which also appeared in the Usagi the Megami album—will permanently appear as playable tracks in both the arcade and PC versions of Sound Voltex. The songs in question will be "Alibi Bunny," "Zenjinrui Usagika Keikaku," "RaRaRa Rabbit," and "Saikyo Megami Usa Pekora."

In addition, Konami will temporarily add more obtainable content themed after Usada Pekora in the Generator. Other than voiced appeal stamps and touch background movies, players can also get Pekora herself as a Nemesis Crew navigator.

The company had previously added content based on Shirakami Fubuki, Nekomata Okayu, Tsunomaki Watame, and Houshou Marine. This time around, it will hold a rerun banner where players who missed content from those Vtubers can get another chance to collect them all. This banner will be available for the same duration as the new event.

The Hololive Vtuber crossover content will be available to obtain in the Japanese arcade game Sound Voltex Exceed Gear from February 20, 2025, until March 23, 2025. The Vtubers' songs will remain selectable and playable on both the game's arcade and PC versions for the foreseeable future.

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Nissin has published a new game-themed Cup Noodle commercial ad. The video features the Chili Tomato Cup Noodle, and it is inspired by Gama no Abura's commentary on the Daigo Umehara match in Guilty Gear XX.

The original source of this video is the commentary on the match between Daigo Umehara and Shishamo during the Tougeki - Super Battle Opera 2003 tournament. The over-the-top delivery by Gama no Abura, who is also known as a fan of Umehara, elevated it to a famous meme in the Japanese gaming community.

Nissin is not the only company that has embraced the meme. Kadokawa also employed Gama no Abura to provide a parody commentary when it published the second volume of the Umehara Fighting Gamers manga in 2015. However, Nissin took a further step by also having Arc System Works produce an original clip that shows the Daigo Umehara-controlled Sol Badguy preparing the Cup Noodle.

The new commercial ad is available to watch right below:

This ad is based on the original Guilty Gear XX, which first appeared in PlayStation 2 and arcades in 2002. The version readily available on the PC gaming platform Steam is Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R, which was the last version released in arcades in 2012. While the game has been available on Steam since 2015, it received a GGPO rollback netcode update in late 2020.

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Capcom revealed that it will sell a new book containing key art from games it released in the up to 40 years since its first release. The book will have the title "Capcom Key Art Catalog since 1984 to 2023," and it will be available on March 20, 2025, at 9,900 yen (~$65.20).

The A4-sized book will have a total of 376 pages. It will cover over 300 games Capcom has released on numerous platforms throughout 40 years since 1984, with explanations in Japanese and English.

The first-ever title Capcom released was the arcade shooting game Vulgus in May 1984. Since 2023 is the cutoff year, the latest games featured in this book should include the Resident Evil 4 remake, Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection, Street Fighter 6, Exoprimal, Mega Man X DiVE Offline, and Monster Hunter Now.

Here are the samples for some of the pages in the book:

The new catalog book will be available for purchase in Capcom's physical and online storefronts. The company will also sell the book at the Capcom Exhibition, which will take place at Osaka's Nakanoshima Museum of Art from March 20, 2025—the same day as the book's release date—until June 22, 2025.

The "Capcom Key Art Catalog since 1984 to 2023" book will be available for purchase in Japan on March 20, 2025.

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Capcom announced that it has sold over 1 million copies of Street Fighter 6 in Japan alone as of December 20, 2024. The company also launched numerous campaigns to celebrate the sales milestone. The celebrations range from merchandise sweepstakes to an interview with a former sumo wrestler.

The merchandise sweepstakes run until February 21, 2025, and it involves the social media X which is still widely used in Japan. People residing in the country can win a variety of prizes from T-shirts to a 23.8" gaming monitor.

Capcom also published a new interview video with Terunofuji Haruo, the former sumo wrestler who had attained the highest Yokozuna rank. It covered Street Fighter 6's close connections to sumo, such as the in-game appearance of Edmond Honda and the game's official tournaments being held at the Ryogoku Kokugikan National Sumo Arena.

For the record, the previous sales milestones Capcom announced for Street Fighter 6, such as 2 million in July 2023 and 3 million in January 2024, factored in purchases from all around the world. A week after the game just launched in June 2023, Famitsu recorded 21,192 PS5 game copies and 12,078 PS4 copies sold in Japan. Capcom's new announcement noted that the 1 million sales milestone combines physical and digital sales of Street Fighter 6 on all available platforms made exclusively inside Japan.

Street Fighter 6 is available worldwide on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, and PC. An arcade version titled Street Fighter 6: Type Arcade is also available in amusement centers.

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Bandai Namco revealed a new racing game titled Wangan Midnight: Speed Ignition. The new title, which is inspired by Michiharu Kusunoki's Japanese highway racing manga series, will be available in arcades. [Thanks, 4Gamer!]

The new arcade game will feature cars like the Nissan GT-R and Honda NSX. It will also have a new arcade cabinet aimed to heighten the sense of presence inside a car. In addition to improved speakers, it will also come with a steering wheel with better control and a 6-speed H-pattern shifter for players to change gears like in real cars with manual transmission.

The new subtitle Speed Ignition will mark a major departure from the long-running Wangan Midnight: Maximum Tune series, which initially launched in 2004 and had its 20th anniversary in 2024. As of early 2025, the arcade game's latest version is 6RR Plus in Japan, 6RR in Asia Pacific, and 5DX in North America and mainland China.

Wangan Midnight: Speed Ignition will be available for arcades. Bandai Namco will hold the first location tests for the new arcade game at Namco Matsudo in Chiba prefecture on March 21-29, 2025, and Namco Lazona Kawasaki in Kanagawa prefecture from March 28 until April 2, 2025.

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Penda Beats, a new rhythm game potentially similar to Taiko no Tatsujin, will begin its location tests at Namco Ikebukuro from January 31, 2025. There’s not a lot of information on the game yet, though pictures from s show how the machines in question look. [Thanks, Taiko Time!]

s NightCherry4241 and MMedaru13200, among others, have posted pictures of the Penda Beats arcade cabinet on their X (formerly Twitter) s. At the top of the machine, we can see the game’s logo, as well as the characters drawn in a cute art style. They’re all holding light sticks, and similar light sticks appear in the console area, complete with cords attaching them to prevent theft. It appears that Penda Beats will be a rhythm game in which you wave the light sticks like wotagei.

According to the automated trademark bot, Bandai Namco filed for a Penda Beats trademark back on December 18, 2024. It listed it as a storage medium for a commercial video game program and electronic circuits, as well as a commercial game machine. It filed a trademark for the logo on the same day, though under a different application.

The Penda Beats location test will begin at Namco Ikebukuro from January 31, 2025, and so we’ll get more information on the gameplay and such then.

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The Evo 2025 title lineup was revealed at the announcement show that was broadcast on the official YouTube channel. Eight fighting games will appear as the primary highlights in the Evolution Championship Series 2025, including SNK's new release of Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves and the return of Marvel Vs Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes.

Here is the main title list for Evo 2025, which will take place in Las Vegas in early August 2025:

• Street Fighter 6
• Tekken 8
• Guilty Gear -Strive-
• Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising
• Under Night In-Birth II Sys:Celes
• Mortal Kombat 1
• Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves
• Marvel Vs Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes

At the end of the show, it was revealed that Evo 2025 will also have an extended lineup that includes the following titles:

• Rivals of Aether II
• Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O.
• The King of Fighters XV
• BlazBlue CentralFiction
• Killer Instinct
• Plus at least three more titles which are to be announced on February 15, 2025

The first six main entries retain their positions from the 2024 edition. Even though SNK replaced The King of Fighters XV with Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, which is slated for release on April 24, 2025, the former still exists in the extended lineup.

However, even though Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike is also appearing at Evo Japan 2025, the title is nowhere to be seen in this lineup. It remains to be known whether 3rd Strike will be among the additional extended lineup titles that will be revealed on February 15, 2025, or not.

Evolution Championship Series 2025 will take place in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA on August 1-3, 2025.

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Sega revealed new pouches based on the Pokemon Eevee and some of its Eeveelution evolutions. The company will release the pouches as crane game prizes in Japan on January 17, 2025.

The pouch collection will appear with the title Pokemon: Eievui & Starlight Night. Besides featuring Eevee's Japanese name, Sega will decorate the pouches with star constellations.

The lineup will consist of four designs, and that means three Eeveelutions will accompany Eevee in this collection. However, it will not feature the most common Gen I evolutions Flareon, Jolteon, and Vaporeon. Sega will instead include Espeon and Umbreon from the Gen II Johto games Pokemon Gold and Silver, as well as Sylveon, who debuted in the Gen VI entries Pokemon X and Y taking place in the -inspired Kalos region.

Here are the sample images showing the pouches on both front and back sides:

Eevee is arguably one of the most popular Pokemon in the franchise. An unofficial poll held in Japan in late 2024 had Eevee win the cutest Pokemon poll. In April 2024, Ginza Cozy Corner sold Eevee-themed cakes where all eight Eeveelutions known as of 2024 also accompanied it.

The Eevee-themed Pokemon: Eievui & Starlight Night pouches will be available in select amusement centers across Japan on January 17, 2025.

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