I can’t say I normally pay close attention to theComputer Entertainment Developers Conference(CEDEC), but this year (as spotted byTwitter user gosokkyu), it is presenting the Engineering Division Award for Excellence to Hitoshi Iizawa for their very important work in arcade emulation. Not just any arcade emulation, but emulation of the early 3D-era Sega Model 2 and Model 3 platforms.
In terms of game preservation, arcade games are a difficult area. Each game could be on its own hardware or hardware variation. While console emulation focuses on recreating the hardware in a way that can run its library of games, a lot of arcade games have to be approached individually. Add to that the fact that 3D game hardware is much harder to emulate, and itcan be a struggle.
The emulation was done specifically to fill out the arcades in the games by Ryu ga Gotoku studios. Games in theYakuza/Like a Dragon/Judgmentseries had full recreations of Sega’s old arcade titles, such asFighting Vipers,Virtua Fighter 2, andSega Bass Fishing. Not only are the games present, but the cabinets themselves (such as the Sega Blast City) are presented in painstaking detail.
The award states that it’s in recognition of Iizawa’s technical expertise, as well as for presenting the buried games for today’s players. His work in porting old arcade gamesgoes back to the ‘00swhere he worked onSega Ages 2500: Virtua Fighter 2and later helped portDaytona USAto PS3 and Xbox 360.
There has been some progress in emulating Model 2 and Model 3 games by fan communities. However, having an official means to play these games is always a plus. I would like to see some titles from these platforms make their way to storefronts, rather than being contained as games within a game. Hopefully, this work will eventually lead to that.
