Pokkén Tournament is out in the wild in Japan, so attention naturally turns to hopes of seeing it in Western arcades. The arcade scene may not be as prominent outside of Japan, but we shouldn't forget that The Pokémon Company has talked up the prospects of some units making it to the West.
It seems that Dave & Buster's, the US chain that also has a branch in Toronto, will be scratching that itch - at least in a small way initially. In a Reddit AMA Kevin Bachus, Dave & Buster's senior vice president of entertainment & game strategy, was asked about the fighter and made clear that it's on the way for location testing Stateside.
Yes. We will be testing Pokken. Candidly both NAMCO and I are more optimistic about that title and our typical guests than Tekken.
...If it does well in test we'd bring it everywhere.
We're not surprised that the outlet is confident; elsewhere in the AMA Bachus explains that fighting games can do well initially before tailing off, but the Pokémon brand has such power in the market that it may beat those trends.
It'll be interesting to see how this location test goes once it arrives. Here's hoping more arcade chains in the West will also jump on board.
Thanks to Alex for the heads up.
[source reddit.com, via gameinformer.com]
Comments 30
I think this game will make a great NX launch title.
Edit: If it were to get released on Wii U, it would probably just help sell some consoles like MK8 and other games did, there's not really anything Nintendo can do to drastically increase sales to near PS4 or something. That's just thinking the impossible, so it's best to focus on the NX.
@Peace-Boy This
We have a D&B in CLeveland. Hope they are one of the locations that pick it up. Havent been there in awhile, would be a good reason to make the trip.
Bring this game to the U.S.!
@DinoFett ...that's what they're doing.
NX launch title FTW!
@Peace-Boy hoping that the NX will be strong enough to emulate the arcade version perfectly or better. I REALLY hope the rumors about the NX's lack of power to be untrue.
@chucknorrmis It will obviously be more powerful than the Wii U. And I'm sure the Wii U is powerful enough to play this game.
Do you truly think that the NX is going to be some kind of major blockbuster? As it stands, the NX is a mystery system and is releasing pretty quickly on the heels of the Wii U, which has not and is not getting a whole lot of support from Nintendo itself. All of this already on top of the Wii U leaving a bitter feeling towards Nintendo from quite a few consumers; It just sounds like it will be an uphill battle for Nintendo to win back consumers themselves, let alone drawing support from 3rd party developers. Sure this game would be a desirable addition for the Wii U, but I doubt Nintendo really cares a whole lot about the Wii U anymore.
You mean they might have to clear out one of their 900 House of the Dead shooter clones to make room for something new and original? LOL
@DarthNocturnal I'm pretty sure the Toronto mention was b/c they called it a US chain, but Toronto isn't in the US, so they didn't want a bunch of people pointing that out.
The D&B just shut down by me, but I can easily imagine these games do welling there. It's a bar by night but it's always full of kids during the day. The other 2 near me are always crowded, which is probably why they let mine close.
There's a Dave & Busters nearby where I live...YES.
I can't imagine this game not being incredibly popular. I've loved how it looks since it was announced, and I couldn't be happier if it was released stateside! If it's released on WiiU, I hope it comes soon.
Nx launch title. Would be incredible if it linked to some new main title pokemon game and would allow you to transfer some pokemon into pokken for battle. Even if it is a support pokemon.
This would be cool. Long live Arcades!!!
Level 257 would be a perfect to have a Pokken machine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Level_257
Level 257 is a barcade in Chicago that's owned by Bandai Namco themselves.
Bummer - they just closed the D&B near me. Would totally be fun to try out.
Bring it on! Let's do this!
I HOPE THEY APPROVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This game needs a console release, arcades aren't really big in the West anymore.
@kensredemption Any kind of arcade is still a niche market. You don't see people lining up in TGI Friday's to play on the arcade machines, and places like Dave & Busters aren't really regular trips. The West is much more interested in home console and mobile than anything else, and part of Nintendo's problem is that they treat the former as a second class market nowadays.
We just got a D&B a year ago about 5 miles where I live and in the same mall that I work. I still haven't been to inside of it, because money. But if they add Pokken, I will definitely check it out.
I smell a terrible new season of Pokemon coming!
@Peace-Boy
that's silly, at this point, if they did decide to release it on wii u, why not take what we can get?? why wait???
@RoomB31 That doesn't really make any sense. What they need and want is a strong NX launch, not another fail like the Wii U sales wise.
@DarthNocturnal @Bolt_Strike You guys must not understand how fighting games work. No need to demand it for console. It will come. They have an arcade run first, then come to console later. Namco always does this.
pleasebenearmepleasbenearmepleasebenearmepleasebenearme.
There are dozens of D&B in my county alone.It'd be crazy NOT to have it in at least one of them!
Please. I've long been meaning to try Tekken; this is as perfect of a starting title as anything. Not that arcades exist here- we need the WEEEEEE YOOOUUUU
Show Comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...