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Fatal Fury, Samurai Showdown pachislot machines headed for Japan
It's probably pretty rough for SNK Playmore fans to see the "Fatal Fury" and "Samurai Showdown" names in the same sentence as "pachislot," a type of Japanese slot machine. Neither of the classic fighting series have seen a fresh installment since the '90s; ports and anthology collections are the most recent ways to get doses of the 2D fighters. Nevertheless, SNK Playmore has licensed both properties for pachislot games called Fatal Fury PREMIUM and Samurai Spirits: Kengou. These machines come with extravagant trailers, which sort of help us imagine what modern installments of either fighter would look like. Fatal Fury and Samurai Showdown fans can probably find support from the Breath of Fire or Star Ocean communities, which haven't been getting the announcements they've been hoping for either. But hey, at least overall interest for these series wasn't measured with sales of a port like Darkstalkers Resurrection. [Image: SNK Playmore]
Castlevania's last 'Rebirth' -- as a pachinko machine
You may never have watched six minutes of promotional footage for a pachinko machine before, but that's about to change.
Chun Li hits slots, stars in own pachislot machine
Whether she's turning aside blows in Street Fighter IV or audiences in her very own motion picture, Chun Li has certainly made multitasking an art. A martial art, if you will. Now Siliconera has caught Capcom's favorite gal gambling as the star of a pachislot machine. Where does she find the time?Titled Chun-Li Ni Makase China, the machine allows players to see Chun Li pummel cars and other fighters into submission as they empty their pockets of loose change. The skill stop machine is just one of several of slots in Capcom's Pachislo machine business, which include an earlier released Street Fighter II slot as well as machines based on Devil May Cry 3 and Biohazard. However, Capcom noted in a financial briefing that Chun-Li Ni Makase China has "struggled" since its release. Apparently gamblers just aren't captivated by Miss Li's massive coin operated thighs.
Another weird direction for Evangelion
The last Evangelion game to be announced for the DS was a cute minigame collection based on an SD comedy spinoff of the series, taking the characters out of the world-saving storyline and putting all the characters together in an elementary school. The next game using the license, then, must be the real one, some kind of robot-filled RPG that retells the epic storyline of the anime and manga, right? Or, like, a big robot fighting game?Nope! It's pachinko. A PS2 pachinko port, to be precise. Hisshou Pachinko/Pachislot Series 1: Shinseiki Evangelion - Magokoro wo, Kimi ni debuted as a pachislot machine, then was released by D3 as a PS2 game in September. It may seem like a miss to people who want substantial Eva games, but this is probably going to sell.
Fist of the North Star Pachinko uses Miis
We brought you the story that an EA producer was not given access to Mii code for My Sims, and that according to him, no third parties were. The situation seems to have changed, because Sega Sammy is using the little guys and gals in its Jissen Pachinko/Pachislot Hisshouhou! Sammy's Collection Hokuto no Ken Wii. It's not the most exciting implementation of Miis, with no Fist of the North Star-style makeovers or actual in-game avatars-- in fact, it consists mainly of a Mii portrait tied to a character profile.The game uses Nintendo Wi-fi as well, but for online rankings, which hardly counts as online play. We aren't ready to call that an implementation of third-party online play yet.Coming from a licensed pachinko game, proof that it is possible for third parties to use Miis. Sega does what E ... Ain't?
Finally, a pachinko game for the Wii
We might sound sarcastic, but we're happy to see different kinds of games come to the Wii. This latest title from Sega Sammy is a collection of pachinko and pachislot (pachinko plus slot machine) simulations, called (deep breath!) Jissen Pachinko/Pachislot Hisshouhou! Sammy's Collection Hokuto no Ken Wii (Fighting Pachinko/Pachislot Victory Way! Sammy's Collection Fist of the North Star Wii). It's based on the same popular Sega Sammy pachinko games that have been released on the DS, PS2, and PSP, and contains a bundle of pachinko and pachislot boards. And, of course, it carries the license of the classic, brutal Fist of the North Star manga and anime series.This one is interesting for the same reason a lot of Wii games are: Wiimote controls. Apparently, you can use the Wiimote steering-wheel style to control the speed of the dropping balls. We admire the novel Wiimote use! It also has online ranking, in case competition motivates your pachinko-playing.Jissen Pachinko/Pachislot Hisshouhou! Sammy's Collection Hokuto no Ken Wii (Fighting Pachinko/Pachislot Victory Way! Sammy's Collection Fist of the North Star Wii) comes out on May 24th in Japan, and probably never anywhere else. Any pachinko fans here? Do any of you import these kinds of things?
