Half-Life 2 headed to arcades...in Japan

TOKYO--Taito today announced that it has signed an agreement with Valve Software to release Half-Life 2 in arcades. It will run on Taito's new arcade hardware, which is called the TypeX. Given the title's strong name recognition, Taito hopes to release the arcade version worldwide, and it is currently slated for a summer 2005 release.

As GameSpot reported from the Amusement Machine show this past September, Taito's TypeX board is based off the architecture of an ATX IBM-compatible PC. Since the hardware is, for all intents and purposes, identical to the PC format and uses the Windows XP Embedded operating system, PC games can be ported to the platform with great ease. TypeX cabinets come standard with AGP Radeon 9200SE (128MB) graphics cards that can be upgraded to X800XT cards, if required.

Taito's arcade release of Half-Life 2 will be a customized version of the upcoming PC release. Currently, three modes have been announced. You can enjoy the game alone in the story mode, or you can team up with players in other arcades, via network connection, to play cooperatively. And, of course, there's a versus mode where you can fight against players in other arcades as well. Furthermore, you’ll be able to enjoy the game on a wide screen and in 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound.