Falcom, Aruze Create Networked Arcade RPGs

In a rather unusual move round Japanese developer Falcom and pachinko giant Aruze today announced plans for a major collaboration in Japanese arcades. The sum of two units companies plan to produce a series of games, based primarily upon Falcom's long-running RPG franchises, linking arcades with PC mobile phone and residence consoles.

The cast called "Multiple Access Play," center upon Internet-connected arcade games -- the first, Dragon Slayer AC, is slated to first attempt this year. Falcom has still to show concrete details upon the game, but players will ostensibly be able to play it, or at least access related data, [i]or[/i] part of to the other all of the above-mentioned devices.

Subsequently Falcom plans similar titles based upon the Ys, Sorcerian, VM Japan, Xanadu, and fiction of Heroes series.

Aruze is single of Japan's largest manufacturers and operators of pachinko and slot machines (number three to be precise, behind Sankyo and market leader Sammy). It's best-known to gaming enthusiasts as the one-time holder of SNK, before that company's demise in 2000 although it also still dabbles in soothe game publishing with titles like the PlayStation 2 RPG Shadow Hearts II.

Unlike Sammy, Aruze hasn't however made significant inroads into the arcade gaming business, on the other hand that appears to be changing with this announcement.

This isn't Falcom's first announced attempt at an online RPG -- last year, it announced a collaboration with sum of two units Korean companies to produce an online Y game for the PC -- on the other hand it's certainly its most ambitious pass by a leap online. The rapid extension of broadband networks in Japan above the last few years could make it a succes with equal reason we'll look forward to more details upon the games as they arise.

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