AOU 2001: Namco

Many probably expected Namco to unveil either Soul Calibur 2 or Tekken 4 at the AOU 2001 Amusement Expo, but instead of those anticipated games, Namco decided to push its gun-shooting game Vampire Night. The game is being developed by Sega's Wow Entertainment, which previously worked on the House of the Dead series. Vampire Night resembles that series, and even its difficulty and pacing are similar to those of the HOTD games. The main characters are vampire hunters with guns, and the cutscenes try to make them look like cool, calm CIA-type agents. One scene showed a young lady asking, "Who are you people?" The two characters simply replied, "We're vampire hunters" and walked off without another word. The game utilizes Namco's System 246 board, and if a PlayStation 2 port is planned, then PS2 owners will have an exciting shooting game to look forward to.

The rest of the titles at the booth were not as eye-catching. Mr. Driller G, an upgrade of Mr. Driller 2, now allows the player to choose from six different characters, of which has a completely different style. For beginners, Poochi the dog can dig two blocks at a time, and Horinger Z the robot can survive one block falling on him. For expert players, Hori Ataru--the brother of Hori Susumu (the main character)--consumes air faster, but he can rapidly move sideways, and Hori Taizo--father of Hori Susumu--also consumes air faster, but he can dig faster than the rest. Of course, the skills of the main characters Hori Susumu and Anna Hottenmeir are more suited for the average player.

Taiko No tatsujin made its second appearance since the AM show, with finalized GUI and cute cartoonish character designs like those in the Mr. Driller series. The soundtrack of the game consisted of familiar theme songs from popular Japanese anime and television series, but the game itself played too simple, and the magic didn't seem to last too long.