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[Impotaku]

Taito is next to release a mini astro style arcade and releasing march 2022, so far it seems they have gone all out especially as the monitor can be rotated for tate mode games. The screen is actually 4:3 too and the sticks can be changed between 4 & 8 way gates.

EGRETⅡ mini | 株式会社タイトー

50タイトルまるごと遊ぼう！テーブルに置けるゲームセンター「EGRETⅡ mini」好評発売中！！

taito.co.jp

Besides the main unit there's also some addons too there's the usual joypad as well as an arcade stick and most interestingly a panel with a trackball and spinner that comes with an SD card with 10 games that use said control panel that you can slot into the unit and add extra games into it.

The games announced so far are mostly killers for me (goto offical site for list) as i love taito stuff there's 50 in total 40 of them been on the main unit and the spinner panel having a SD card with the other 10, more interestingly is that sd card slot as it hopefully means there's already an easy way to get extra games on there especially with 10 of the paddle/trackball games been added like that. Amazon japan are taking international preorders but the shipping costs are brutal depending on your country. I'm just gonna bypass that stuff and do it via tenso

 

[kunonabi]

Looks cool but I'll need confirmation of Elevator Action Returns before I grab it.

 

[Impotaku]

For me it had already won me over with the trio of rainbow islands (my absolute fave game) as well as bubble bobble & new zealand story, although out of whats been announced so far there's only 3 i have never played and i love the rest and finally i get to play arkanoid properly. Just hoping the emulation is upto scratch as i have no idea who is programming it but seeing as it's taito officially making it i'm hoping they don't fuck it up.

 

[Mufausa The 3rd]

Looks cool but I'll need confirmation of Elevator Action Returns before I grab it.

Kaiser Knuckle and Arknoid Returns are both on the mini console and they also run on the same arcade hardware as EAR (Taito F3 System). So it's very likely that you'll see that game on there too.

 

[kunonabi]

Kaiser Knuckle and Arknoid Returns are both on the mini console and they also run on the same arcade hardware as EAR (Taito F3 System). So it's very likely that you'll see that game on there too.

Cool, I lost my legends II copy so I've been in the market for a replacement.

 

[Neff]

Bubble Bobble, The NewZealand Story, Rastan Saga and Rainbow Islands are on there.... I'm in

 

[MrA]

oh cadash that's sweet, , definitely going to get the full set on this one, hope it gets brought to the west, even if done by limited run or something

 

[Animagic]

Taito is next to release a mini astro style arcade and releasing march 2022, so far it seems they have gone all out especially as the monitor can be rotated for tate mode games. The screen is actually 4:3 too and the sticks can be changed between 4 & 8 way gates.

EGRETⅡ mini | 株式会社タイトー

50タイトルまるごと遊ぼう！テーブルに置けるゲームセンター「EGRETⅡ mini」好評発売中！！

taito.co.jp

Besides the main unit there's also some addons too there's the usual joypad as well as an arcade stick and most interestingly a panel with a trackball and spinner that comes with an SD card with 10 games that use said control panel that you can slot into the unit and add extra games into it.

The games announced so far are mostly killers for me (goto offical site for list) as i love taito stuff there's 50 in total 40 of them been on the main unit and the spinner panel having a SD card with the other 10, more interestingly is that sd card slot as it hopefully means there's already an easy way to get extra games on there especially with 10 of the paddle/trackball games been added like that. Amazon japan are taking international preorders but the shipping costs are brutal depending on your country. I'm just gonna bypass that stuff and do it via tenso

I’m 100% in!!!

 

[Impotaku]

I'm surprised out of the announced titles so far that there's hardly any that i'm looking at and thinking nah i'd not play it, such a solid starting list, so many of my faves already covered but i do prefer the original rainbow islands over the remix extra version. The hard part is waiting to see what the remainder of the titles will be but the fact it can run roms off an SD card as thats how the spinner controller games will be added, apparently they will have a different menu all of their own when the cards in so i'm guessing some form of custom loader. It means however that there's potentially already a way to add in any missing taito favourites although i have no idea if taito will have some form of funky encryption on the sd card stuff. to stop people doing that.

On the official site they do mention that they plan on adding more additional titles outside of the stuff announced by selling them on SD card.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

Dat rotating screen

 

[Impotaku]

The next 10 games have been revealed via famitsu apparently

Steel Worker
Pirate Pete
The Fairyland Story
The Legend of Kage
Halley's Comet
Kikikaikai
Scramble Formation
Raimais
Bubble Symphony
Elevator Action Returns

 

[Dazrael]

Elevator Action Returns, that seals the deal for me. Wonderful game.

 

[kunonabi]

Elevator Action Returns, that seals the deal for me. Wonderful game.

Yep, the mini is worth it for Returns alone.

 

[bullnoi]

great lineup, give us Warrior Blade and this thing will be perfect

 

[Virt McPolygon]

I wonder if other USB arcade sticks would work on this? Don't really feel like buying any of the controllers, but I got an Astro City Mini stick that I'd prob use with this.

 

[Trimesh]

Dat rotating screen

Well, it's authentic - the original cab was like that too.

 

[Alexios]

Looks great. Screen is a bit bigger than Sega's Astro City Mini screen (5.0 inch vs 3.9 inch). Love the rotation. Some great games in there too, like The NewZealand Story and Elevator Action Returns. Shame the extra controllers are cabled gamepads, I thought you'd replace them on the cabinet.


It's not cheap clocking at like 130 euros in Japan if you buy it without any extras. The full limited edition bundle with all 3 extra controller options and some bonus items is like 377 euros, lol. Definitely for fans.

I still wish it was like 2-3x bigger though, why can't a big company make something like these Pandora's Box arcade systems with better inpjuts/innards/menu/emulation and, well, all legal and widely available.

 

[Alexios]

I wonder if the quality of the extra controllers is good enough (and compatible enough) to get them for use with PC emulators. The mini arcade stick might be cool too but in Japan they're costly at like 70~90 euros (though the trackball controller also comes with an SD card with 10 games for those inputs) so the quality needs to be top tier, sturdy and weighty too (except the cheap ~22 euro standard gamepad which even lacks shoulder buttons so for emulation, if it has a good d-pad and quality, you'll get decent use for arcades and genesis and such tops, no Saturn or PS1 onward).

 

[cartman414]

TATE mode? Yeeeeeeuuuuuuuuuuusssssssssssssssssss.

 

[Impotaku]

Next wave of games has been revealed

Adventure Canoe
Birdie King (Trackball)
Kyukyoku Tiger / Twin Cobra
Gun Frontier
Runark / Growl
Hat Trick Hero / Football Champ
Rayforce
Puzzle Bobble 2X
Bubble Memories
Puchi Carat (Trackball)

Man the lineup is killing it, that's all the main bubble bobble games in one place. And there's still more titles yet to be revealed.

 

[Alexios]

All 50 titles are now listed on the games page (including the 10 that come with any purchase, bundled or otherwise, of the trackball/knob controller). Tons of gems for sure. Even though usually when it comes to retro games people just think of Sega, Capcom, SNK and the like, Taito was so good.


Going by these videos it looks like that extra arcade stick controller is a bit larger than I thought too, hopefully it's nicely weighted with high quality innards to justify the rather high price it is to be sold for there.

 

[kunonabi]

Man, they actually managed to get Lupin III on there.

 

[kurisu_1974]

No egrets.

 

[Barakov]

No egrets.

Underrated poast.

 

[Alexios]

Video with all 40 games shown for like 10 seconds each, I guess it doesn't include the 10 that come on an SD card with the trackball/knob thing, the ladies now have all 3 controllers to display on the table too.

 

[kunonabi]

Video with all 40 games shown for like 10 seconds each, I guess it doesn't include the 10 that come on an SD card with the trackball/knob thing, the ladies now have all 3 controllers to display on the table too.

The stick and trackball controllers actually look like to be a pretty decent size.

 

[Impotaku]

Hardware samples finally arrived at Taito hq, look amazing.

The screen seems curved too looks like they are using some form of overlay lens to give the illusion of a crt.

 

[YoshiMadness]

I just freaking love all these mini consoles being released. And Taito is one of the greatest devs of all time. I actually used to have a Taito plug 'n play with 10 games on it, and it was one of my favorite plug 'n play consoles for sure. It's actually why I love Qix so much, because that was my first time playing it, and I adored that game.

I don't know if any of you remember SydLexia, but even though the man hasn't updated his site in years, I still love reading through his old articles because it's one of my favorite websites of all time, and this Taito tribute was always one of my favorite articles on the site: http://www.sydlexia.com/ttttt.htm

 

[UnNamed]

The screen seems curved too looks like they are using some form of overlay lens to give the illusion of a crt.

Nah its just a faceplate, there is no distortion and the screen is perfectly straight inside. But it is a nice idea anyway.

 

[Impotaku]

Nah its just a faceplate, there is no distortion and the screen is perfectly straight inside. But it is a nice idea anyway.

There is some distortion as the lights reflections are curved but i already said it's some form of overlay lens. I mean it's already a given that they are using a flat lcd panel but the lens on top does make it look a bit like a crt.

 

[Alexios]

Video with all 40 games shown for like 10 seconds each, I guess it doesn't include the 10 that come on an SD card with the trackball/knob thing, the ladies now have all 3 controllers to display on the table too.

Video of those 10 games that use the trackball/knob and were not in the above video.


Another play video that shows the main controls are of a pretty good size (almost full size stick, smaller buttons?) even if the screen/whole system are still small.


I wonder if they'll do an international version and/or how capable it is after it's inevitably hacked to play games by Capcom, SNK, etc. (it has all the buttons for it).

 

[Neff]

I wonder if they'll do an international version and/or how capable it is after it's inevitably hacked to play games by Capcom, SNK, etc. (it has all the buttons for it).

Sega's Astro City didn't get hacked, so this probably won't either.

 

[Speedwagon]

Sega's Astro City didn't get hacked, so this probably won't either.

Or did it?

 

[Neff]

Yeah I read about that guy putting Retroarch on it, but I've yet to see it running unofficial games in any decent capacity.

 

[Impotaku]

Sega's Astro City didn't get hacked, so this probably won't either.

There's a large difference this time as the egret mini runs roms direct off the SD card which means there's a very good chance to get other taito arcade roms to work especially ones that are for the various built in taito board emulation. The thing will be are the roms repackaged in some weird format or encrypted somehow. Nobody will know until release when we can look at what is on the SD card that comes with the paddle/spinner panel. As for running other stuff probably not easy but to be honest i don't care about retroarch or other consoles been added to it. 'm not buying it just to turn it into another shitty me too emulation box.

 

[dan76]

That rollerball and spinner.... what are the chances it will work on PC?

 

[Impotaku]

That rollerball and spinner.... what are the chances it will work on PC?

Pretty good chances as it's usb so thats the first hurdle down, something like mame will have a good chance of been able to recognise it properly and you just have to change settings & remap stuff so mame knows what to do with it for the various compatible games. My huge arcade astro mini stick worked fine on mame.

 

[Bullet Club]

Taito EGRET II Mini coming in 2022, packed with 40 arcade classics​

Dig this portable shmup machine​

German publisher United Games Entertainment, (parent company of ININ Games and Strictly Limited Games), has announced that it will be bringing the super cute coin-op Taito EGRET II Mini to western shores in 2022. The portable hardware, which launches in Japan in March, compiles a huge range of Taito titles from the golden arcade era.




The Taito EGRET II Mini features 40 arcade favorites from Space Invaders, Darius Gaiden, and Bubble Bobble, to Rainbow Islands, New Zealand Story, Growl, and many, many more. Elevator Action Returns is in the mix, so I’m sold. The cabinet includes a five-inch screen, which can be rotated to vertical orientation for the shmup releases — which is a very neat touch. Controls feature a six-button setup, and a joystick that can be switched out between four-way and eight-way.

A HDMI output will allow the console to play on the big screen, and all included games sport quality-of-life features such as save states, auto-fire, and stereo sound. In addition, fans will be able to purchase a cute mini paddle and trackball set, which brings with it a further 10 games including Arkanoid, Strike Bowling, and Plump Pop. While the “Mini” craze has definitely died off a little, I have to admit that the Taito EGRET II Mini’s quality game list and rotatable screen option make this unit pretty appealing. Certainly more appealing than the recent Taito Milestones collection.

The Taito EGRET II Mini launches in Japan March 2, 2022. We’ll let you know when a western date is announced.

Source: Destructoid

 

[Alexios]

 

[wondermega]

I've regretted (.....) missing out on putting an import order in for one of these. Since there will be a domestic version I am hoping to snag one in time! I am kind of over the mini craze in general - I only bought a Neo Geo and a PC Engine - but this one looks pretty tricked out with an amazing game list. Just to play Arkanoid with a spinner again? Oh hell yes...

 

[Mufausa The 3rd]

I've regretted (.....) missing out on putting an import order in for one of these. Since there will be a domestic version I am hoping to snag one in time! I am kind of over the mini craze in general - I only bought a Neo Geo and a PC Engine - but this one looks pretty tricked out with an amazing game list. Just to play Arkanoid with a spinner again? Oh hell yes...

I still have an Astro City Mini that I haven't even opened up yet. From Taito. I might buy the Spinner controller which comes separately so that I can play trackball and spinner games on MAME without having to lug around an X-Arcade or something else that's massive.

 

[German Hops]

Reservations are now up on the Games Rocket website.

Get in!

 

[jaysius]

Could you get swallowed by a whale in The New Zealand Story? I remember renting the game as a kid and the character was a small bird, but at the part where it eats you I never could get further.

Just saw a playthrough, you REALLY have to spam attack to defeat that boss once it swallows you, that kind of sucks.

 

[German Hops]

Just saw a playthrough, you REALLY have to spam attack to defeat that boss once it swallows you, that kind of sucks.

Just use the turbo button.

 

[Miyazaki’s Slave]

I want that arcade stick...but its not up yet on the GR site.

Thanks for the post German Hops

 

[jaysius]

Just use the turbo button.

I didn't have one as a kid, it was on NES, if I ever get a time machine, I'll go back and tell my 5 year old self that.

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

.

 

[daffyduck]

Reservations are now up on the Games Rocket website.

Get in!

Not finding this machine yet... Listing already pulled??

edit:
On StrictlyLimitedGames, the console and trackball expansion is $369.99 usd plus shipping. I don't really want it that much.
Would have also liked Chase HQ, Sky Shark and Hit the Ice.

 

[daffyduck]

BTW, anyone able to tell if there's been any mention of the standalone controllers also being usable on PC? Is it equipped with Sanwa gear?

 

[wondermega]

Didn't realize until just recently that the standalone controllers don't plug into the actual unit. Probably a petty thing to be bummed about, but here I am! Anyway I will not be reserving this, but will still keep an eye on it (see if someone gets proper Mame running on it somehow)