was a cancelled

fighting game The fighting game video game genre, genre involves combat between multiple characters, often (but not limited to) one-on-one battles. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as Blocking (martial arts), blocking, grappling, counter- ...

developed for the Lindbergh arcade platform by new development studio Digital Rex, a development group within

Sega is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...

, headed by

Yu Suzuki is a Japanese game designer, producer, programmer, and engineer, who headed Sega's AM2 team for 18 years. Considered one of the first auteurs of video games, he has been responsible for a number of Sega's arcade hits, including three-dimensi ...

formerly head of

Sega-AM2 previously known as is a video game development team within the Japanese multinational video game developer Sega. Yu Suzuki, who had previously developed arcade games for Sega including ''Hang-On'' and ''Out Run'', was the first manager of th ...

. It is the first arcade fighting game to incorporate

touchscreen A touchscreen (or touch screen) is a type of electronic visual display, display that can detect touch input from a user. It consists of both an input device (a touch panel) and an output device (a visual display). The touch panel is typically l ...

controls. Shortly after location testing in 2005, its planned 2006 wide release was cancelled.

Gameplay

The futuristic fighter's premise casts the player as one of several warriors who are engaging in one-on-one combat. However, ''Psy-Phi'' twist is that the players will be floating around an opponent and relying on powerful blasts of energy as an attack. The premise of the game drew comparisons to ''

Dragon Ball Z ''Dragon Ball Z'' (''DBZ'') is a Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation. Part of the ''Dragon Ball'' media franchise, it is the sequel to the 1986 ''Dragon Ball'' television series and adapts the latter 325 chapters ...

'' and

Dreamcast The is the final home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was released in Japan on November 27, 1998, in North America on September 9, 1999 and in Europe on October 14, 1999. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, prec ...

game '' Psychic Force 2012''. The game featured characters: Ays, Reid, Vient, Silva, and Ness.

Development

''Psy-Phi'' is an arcade game based on Sega's Lindbergh hardware. The project was headed by

and incorporates a 29" touchscreen display for gameplay. An action-shooting game with one-on-one combat, players hovered in the air and competed with each other with attacks by trailing a path on the touchscreen or inputting special symbols on the touchscreen. Suzuki revealed that he enjoys Japanese manga adaptations of great science fiction works by the likes of

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

and

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories. His non-fiction output included works of social commentary, politics, hist ...

where the main characters have

superpowers Superpower describes a sovereign state or supranational union that holds a dominant position characterized by the ability to exert influence and project power on a global scale. This is done through the combined means of economic, military, tec ...

. ''

Space Harrier is a third-person arcade rail shooter game developed by Sega and released in 1985. It was originally conceived as a realistic military-themed game played in the third-person perspective and featuring a player-controlled fighter jet, but techni ...

'' actually came about because of this interest. Suzuki says the manga '' Babel II'' was his main inspiration in the creation of this game, and he had described it as "futuristic dodge ball". The game was showcased to an international audience at the Japan Amusement Machinery Manufacturers Association (JAMMA) along with other Lindbergh titles including '' After Burner: Climax'', '' Ghost Squad: Evolution'', '' The House of the Dead 4'', ''

Initial D Arcade Stage 4 The ''Initial D'' (D) video game series, known in Japan as ''Initial D Arcade Stage'', is an Arcade game, arcade racing game series developed by Sega, based on the anime and manga series ''Initial D''. In the United States and Europe, the game s ...

'', '' Let's Go Jungle!: Lost on the Island of Spice'', '' OutRun 2 SP SDX'', '' Sega Professional Tennis: Power Smash 3'', and '' Virtua Fighter 5''. ''Psy-Phi'' graphics—one aspect of the game that were questionably because it was the first Lindbergh game to be shown publicly. The graphics at JAMMA 2005 were described as "sharp, but they won't blow anyone away yet. The character models sport a high number of polygons and animate quite nicely. The special effects used for the various attacks are sharp and go crazy with particles and lighting. The stages shown were low-key open areas that weren't big on detail at that moment." The relatively unimpressive graphics were attributed to the fact that the game started development for the

Sega Chihiro Sega is a video game developer, publisher, and hardware development company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, with multiple offices around the world. The company's involvement in the arcade game industry began as a Japan-based distributor of coin- ...

arcade hardware. The original release was planned for spring 2006, but the arcade units were called back on March 6 (the units were still in shipping and had yet to reach arcades). It was then unknown whether the game was cancelled or called back for further development. Some units were previewed at trade shows, as well as some arcades receiving units for beta tests (most notably

GameWorks GameWorks is a gaming-based entertainment center with a single location . It was owned by then-owner ExWorks Capital, each venue featured a wide array of video game arcades, in addition to full-service bars and restaurants. It was originally cre ...

References

External links

*{{IGN, id=psy-phi 3D fighting games Arcade video games Arcade-only video games Cancelled arcade video games Multiplayer and single-player video games Sega arcade games Video games about psychic powers Video games designed by Yu Suzuki Video games developed in Japan Video games featuring female protagonists