Bandai Namco Brings Maximum Tune 5 Back to Life With Upcoming Online Tournament

Bandai Namco is officially rejuvenating 2014’s Maximum Tune with an online tournament scheduled to run from January 12 to February 14, 2021.

Known as “The 4th Nagoya Area Online Champion Match”, the competition tasks participants with besting the ghost data of the current top-ranking racer for the chance to earn exclusive name plates and rankings.

“There are 6 different name plates during this event, which can be won during the Qualifiers or Main event,” said Bandai Namco Amusement America in a recent press release. “After each Qualifier race, there will be a short mini-game in which players have the chance to receive a name plate.”

The qualifier begins January 12, 2021 at 7:00 A.M. CST and ends February 7, 2021. at 4:00 A.M. CST. The main event begins February 7, 2021 at 7:00 A.M. CST and ends February 14, 2021 at 10:00 P.M. CST.

At risk of this becoming an opinion piece, I’d like to discuss just how exciting this news is to me. Online support is darn near nonexistent in the American arcade market—outside of Golden Tee and Big Buck, of course—so it’s nice to see Bandai Namco giving it a fair shake.

Would it be nice to have Maximum Tune 6 instead? Sure, but we call balls and strikes around here, folks. I’d wager the Maximum Tune community welcomes support of any kind with open arms. (At least I do.)

So yeah, consider this article a big “thank you” to the folks at BNAA for not only acknowledging their player base but also providing them with something fun to do in the seemingly never-ending pandemic era.

Now that Bandai Namco has graciously blessed us with a tournament, I very much want the rest of the industry take note. In an always-online world, I see very little reason why American arcades shouldn’t wholeheartedly embrace the times, with Japanese arcades serving as a model.

Here’s hoping we see more online tournament for all sorts of arcade games in the very near future. In the meantime, make sure to join in the proceedings at your nearest Maximum Tune 5 cabinet.

I sure do wish there were one near me.