Japanese arcades suffer week-long blackout following Sega server hack

The sensory overload typically experienced when visiting video game arcades in Japan was eerily absent from some venues this week, reports ITMedia News [machine translation]. It says that a Sega system outage meant there was “no end in sight” for the rows of silent black screens. However, a recent tweet from arcade network operator ALL.net indicates that both Sega and Bandai Namco machines are affected. Moreover, arcade lovers will be pleased to hear that affected arcades will “gradually resume operation on a trial basis starting today.”

ALL.Net, a contraction of Amusement Linkage Live Network, was launched by Sega in 2004 to allow arcade games to look up to the net for auto updates, data logging, implement online play, and power national leaderboards. Sega titles like Initial D The Arcade, Maimai, and CHUNITHM, rely on this network, as do Bandai Namco games like Aiko no Tatsujin, Mario Kart Arcade GP DX, and Gundam Extreme Vs.

In its official apology blog post, dated November 2, ALL.Net / Sega Fave said that it suspended services a day prior after it became aware of its servers being affected by “unauthorized access by a third party.” It reassured customers that their personal info and billing data were not on the compromised server. However, it asked for more time to investigate, run safety checks, and so on, before restoring service.

This morning ALL.Net told customers that Bandia Namco titles “will gradually resume operation on a trial basis starting today (online play and card use enabled).” Sega products remain under maintenance, and online services are unavailable. There is currently no estimate for issue resolution, but a news bulletin is promised for November 10 (Tuesday).

Classic offline arcade machines weren’t affected by this outage, of course. Moreover, rival arcade gaming legends like Taito and Konami run their own, separate, arcade networks and authentication systems.

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