After years of lacking a notable presence in the west, Taito is finally ready to bring their NESiCAxLive arcade service to the United States by way of Round 1’s Puente Hills location in Southern California.
First launched in 2010, NESiCA utilizes a shared network to provide titles to arcade cabinets in game centers across Japan. Where normally cabinets would be confined to running a single game or collection determined by the distributor, Taito’s service allows arcade operators to run a vast number of titles, all of which are able to update on the fly. As you would guess, this is a godsend for the fighting game community, as board-switching has given way to online patching and all the benefits that come with it.
The current group of titles supplied by NESiCA run the gamut from relatively recent games like Ultra Street Fighter IV, BlazBlue: Chronophantasma, Persona 4 The Ultimax Ultra Suplex Hold (known as Persona 4 Arena Ultimax in North America), Arcana Heart 3 LOVE MAX SIX STARS!!!!!!, and King of Fighters XIII to older fare like Daemon Bride Additional Gain, King of Fighters ’98 Ultimate Match Final Edition, and Vampire Savior.
You may remember a handful of Round 1 arcades across the west coast hosting Tekken 7 location tests earlier this year, which proved fruitful for American fans who had yet to try the game themselves. In turn, this new development is surely a good sign for fans of lesser-known fighters in the United States, so let’s hope the partnership spreads.
Source: Round 1 via IPLAYWINNER