Taito Egret II Mini

Hattori Hanzo

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40 games, 15 revealed:
  • Space Invaders (1978)
  • Lunar Rescue (1979)
  • Qix (1981)
  • Elevator Action (1983)
  • Chack’n Pop (1983)
  • Bubble Bobble (1986)
  • Rastan Saga (1987)
  • Rainbow Islands EXTRA (1988)
  • The NewZealand Story (1988)
  • Don Doko Don (1989)
  • Violence Fight (1989)
  • Cadash (1989)
  • MizuBaku Adventure (1990)
  • Metal Black (1991)
  • Kaiser Knuckle (1994)
Official website:
 

Orpheus

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With screen rotation for TATE mode. Nice !
........AND swap out CP w/ track ball & rotating knob (erm..."paddle" I suppose is what it is called. Thanks Gmegbin) :eek:

Fuck that botched effort that was the Sega Astro City Mini. I'm all in for this instead. When hacked the hardware without any factory games should be worth the price of admission.

Now just give me a Capcom Impress mini & I should be set.
 
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Gremlin

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Out of all the mini arcade consoles, this actually looks playable at the expense of being not so mini. I feel like it's hitting the sweet spot between novelty size and full-on bartop cabinet, which is nice. The TATE feature is dope, and I think the paddle controller is awesome, its nice to get some unique arcade control schemes on display. The game selection also appeals to me way more than the Astro Mini (Metal Black!!!), and Kaiser Knuckle being there means the other F3 bangers like Elevator Action Returns and Darius Gaiden are probably popping up on it too.

I'd totally scoop this up at retail, but the base price for everything + shipping from japan is prolly gonna end up over $500

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daskrabs

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Looks hella cool, twice as big as the Astro mini, but shipping alone on Amazon.jp for main unit and trackball/spinner bundle is $200. Need to pass.
 

Orpheus

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Out of all the mini arcade consoles, this actually looks playable at the expense of being not so mini. I feel like it's hitting the sweet spot between novelty size and full-on bartop cabinet, which is nice. The TATE feature is dope, and I think the paddle controller is awesome, its nice to get some unique arcade control schemes on display. The game selection also appeals to me way more than the Astro Mini (Metal Black!!!), and Kaiser Knuckle being there means the other F3 bangers like Elevator Action Returns and Darius Gaiden are probably popping up on it too.

I'd totally scoop this up at retail, but the base price for everything + shipping from japan is prolly gonna end up over $500

Yeah, I might have to set $ aside in slim hope of a US release but is that happens it will probably be by those cunts @ LRG & after that Astro Mini debacle I am not optimistic.

I hope we see Bust a Move on this.

Too many late 80's & early 90's games on these mini cabs.

What other hits (particularly mid to late 90's) did taito make?
 
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Digmac

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Looks hella cool, twice as big as the Astro mini, but shipping alone on Amazon.jp for main unit and trackball/spinner bundle is $200. Need to pass.
Amazon JP is ripping people on shipping. I paid less than $200 in shipping for my huge Vega Jr supergun and Taito G-Net board, and that was FedEx Express service.

Through a proxy, my estimate is around $75, to $100 tops for shipping costs. Granted, if one wants the full bundle with every accessory, this pushes the Egret Mini to almost $600 given the exchange rates that proxy companies give.

Even if one got the bundle with just the main unit and paddle CP, you’re looking at a little over $400 between the main cost plus my shipping estimate.

It looks great, and I’d love to check one out, but not for anywhere close to retail. I’ll leave this one to the Big Tymers.
 

Gremlin

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What other hits (particularly mid to late 90's) did taito make?

Bust a Move/Puzzle Bobble is almost a given I think. It'd be baffling to not include it.

Off the top of my head, dunno what would be late 90s but I expect the Taito F3 system to be the limit of this thing. There's definitely some gems on the hardware besides the two favorites I mentioned before like Rayforce, Dungeon Magic, Riding Fight and Gekirindan. All the later Bubble Bobble games are prolly a given (Bubble Symphony/Bubble Memories). Twin Cobra 2 would be nice but I'm sure there's prolly some Toaplan licensing stuff that'll mean we don't see it. G-Darius would be amazing but I doubt they'd go that far.
 

Raph4

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Shipping from Japan can cost a lot.
It's the same for SEGA Astro City, it's coming in Europe this month ~ June 22, 2021.
Just wait for local retailer.
 

Gremlin

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Oh, forgot to mention but the songs used in the video are from Raimais and Metal Black - Raimais not being in the list, I'm only assuming that it'll be one of the 40 games to be included.

Which is fine I guess, Raimais is ok.
 

Ajax

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If this has Kaiser Knuckle, and 35 other games beyond what's on that list (counting the games on the SD card), I imagine a good amount of F3 games will be on this as well. Darius Gaiden would be dope. Bubble Memories is such a good game, almost worth it alone if it has it.
 

ShootTheCore

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I've avoided all the Mini consoles until now but I'll make an exception for this one. Between tate rotation and the trackball / spinner, they've got me.
 

sirlynxalot

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This one looks cool, I'd like to know exactly how big it is. It's funny, these mini arcade consoles keep growing bigger in size, astro city mini was much bigger than neo geo mini, and now this is substantially larger than astro city mini.

I appreciate the screen rotating feature. It'd be well worth the money if this thing can get hacked and more emulators added down the line like a snes or PS1 mini.
 

BlackaneseNiNjA

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I’m all in. In addition to the extra unique controllers, the fact that they are also going to include the ability to expand the games is a nice touch as well imho.
 

max 330 mega

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I still dont know that i need one of these, but damn this is more compelling than the astro mini by a lot.
 

Ajax

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It's not that much bigger than the Astro City Mini, for those wondering. Roughly an inch bigger in relation to all dimensions.
 

KGRAMR

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They better include Elevator Action Returns, RayForce, Gun Frontier, Majestic Twelve and Twin Cobra II on that Taito mini! Just for shits and giggles, I would love to see Dino Rex included on that hardware XD
 
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KGRAMR

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Bust a Move/Puzzle Bobble is almost a given I think. It'd be baffling to not include it.

Off the top of my head, dunno what would be late 90s but I expect the Taito F3 system to be the limit of this thing. There's definitely some gems on the hardware besides the two favorites I mentioned before like Rayforce, Dungeon Magic, Riding Fight and Gekirindan. All the later Bubble Bobble games are prolly a given (Bubble Symphony/Bubble Memories). Twin Cobra 2 would be nice but I'm sure there's prolly some Toaplan licensing stuff that'll mean we don't see it. G-Darius would be amazing but I doubt they'd go that far.
The thing is that, as much I would love to see Twin Cobra II being included, Taito would have to talk with former employees of Takumi, as they were the one who took over the project after Toaplan declared bankruptcy in 1994. They would likely have to negotiate with Masahiro Yuge, former Takumi and Toaplan member who currently owns nearly all of Toaplan's IPs under the Tatsujin umbrella.
 

Orpheus

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So,
Oh, forgot to mention but the songs used in the video are from Raimais and Metal Black - Raimais not being in the list, I'm only assuming that it'll be one of the 40 games to be included.

Which is fine I guess, Raimais is ok.


TBH, that music in that trailer was so bad it made me want to stop watching all together. That was some of the most out of sync shit I have ever heard.

Anyway, moving on, looks like this thing brings MUCH more to the table:

- SD card slit to add more games
- adjustable (4-way & 8-way) mechanisms
- The control panel design on the Egret itself is modular so that means that all control panel variants can be used wither docked or detached as they are wired like a standard console controller, which is great because:
- .......not only do you have the optional trackball/paddle knob panel & the pink buttoned stock panel but an optional "Player 2" blue colored joystick panel as well as:
- .......optional handheld controllers as well, like the ones that Sega made for the Astro City mini

Pictures here:


7297cd073548788.jpg

taito3.jpg


This thing is a solid 10 months away & we only have pics to go off of right now so fingers crossed that the hardware end of things, particularly LCD, Video out, controls (Joysticks, buttons, D-pad, t-ball, etc) are executed well & feel arcade quality with solid build. Reason being is that we all know that people are eyeing this for modding so many of these will get some "city miles" on them. That makes the modular/removable control panels a welcome feature.

In regards to pricing, as per Engadget:

"Including the replica itself and the peripherals, the cabinet won't come cheap. On its own, it costs 18,678 yen ($170) and the expansion controller is 12,078 yen ($110). Taito is also offering an extra arcade stick for 8,778 yen ($80) and a gamepad for $3,278 yen ($30). If you want the lot, you can grab a 49,478-yen ($450) limited bundle that throws in extras like soundtrack CDs, and a 32,978-yen ($300) bundle sans the arcade stick and the gamepad. "

....Looking at it & laying it out there is a $50 up-charge for an additional "standard" player 1 (pink) or 2 (blue) control panel controller ($80) over a gamepad controller ($30). For that significant of a difference they joystick & buttons on the CP better be Sanwa quality.

The price of the t-Ball/paddle knob CP carries a $30 over the standard CP but justifies it with an included SD card with proper games for the dedicated controls on that CP.
 

Raph4

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Rotary controller is interesting too for PC/MAME :love:
 

SignOfGoob

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This looks WAY better than other attempts by other companies. The fact that it’s Taito is also major, we all already have 100 ways to play Altered Beast by now...

But EMS is up %40 to the USA right now though so I’ll likely skip this.
 
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