This year's AOU arcade expo opens its doors at the Makuhari Messe just outside of Tokyo on the 19th and 20th.

If you've been keeping up with the event all these years (see andriasang.com's coverage from last year), you might have realized that one day is missing this year. Usually, the event has two press and business days followed by one paid public day.

While this is probably indicative of a declining arcade market, there are still a few big products set for display at the show.

Check the AOU information page for live coverage from the show floor tomorrow, but to hold you over until then, here's a short company-by-company preview. Click on the companys' names to be taken to their official event sites.

SEGA

The big attraction in Sega's booth this year is Project DIVA Arcade, a rhythm game featuring the Hatsune Miku virtual idol. This Ringedge title is similar to the PSP Project DIVA game, with players tapping circle, square, triangle and X in time with the rhythm. New for the arcade is a tie-up with Nico Nico Video, which will see user generated music continually added to the game. A release is set for Summer.

Hatsune Miku makes her arcade debut.

The other big title in Sega's booth isn't from Sega. Ecole will be showing off Melty Blood Actress Again Current Code. This is a followup in the Melty Blood 2D fighting series. The reason it commands attention is because it's the first Ringwide fighter.

2D fighting via Ringwide.

Also in Sega's booth: Network Taisen Quiz Answer X Answer 2DX, Virtua Fighter 5R Ver. C, Border Break, and Shining Force Cross. These are all already in arcades.

KONAMI

Konami waited until the very last minute to announce what will probably be the show's biggest draw: Metal Gear Arcade. The other Metal Gear game that was announced alongside Peace Walker and Rising at last year's E3 will at last get its playable debut.

So far, all the information we have is pretty much what was shared in the E3 announcement. MGA is based off PS3's Metal Gear Online but adds in some "plus-alpha" content. The big feature is a 3D display and movement system. You wear goggles to view the action in 3D. The goggles also serve as a tracking unit, allowing you to control your sights, movement and targeting.

Metal Gear Arcade is based off Metal Gear Online.

The Metal Gear Arcade cabinet and headset.

Other titles in the Konami booth include Quiz Magic Academy VII, Mahjong Fight Club Garyu Tensei and Tenkaichi Shogikai. Bemani titles include GuitarFreaks XG, DanceDanceRevolution X2, and jubeat knit. The new jubeat adds such features as tag entries and matching between players of different levels.

The new jubeat.

Konami will be broadcasting live feeds of its booth on Saturday. Access the live feeds here. Konami also has a Twitter feed for the show.

Taito

Taito always shows off the silhouettes for unannounced games at its arcade event sites. This year's AOU site has two such silhouettes, so it looks like we can expect at least two unveils from the publisher.

This is just an image, but Taito's booth always looks like this.

Outside of these two games, the Taito booth will offer the Minna de Watto! "No Thought" game that was announced at JAMMA last year, and an updated version of Music Gun Gun. This one features music chosen by players. A special "police" version of virtual idol Hatsune Miku (who's everywhere these days, it seems) will appear as a guest character.

Police Hatsune Miku!

Namco Bandai Games

There's one major point of attraction in the Namco Bandai Games booth. On the first day of the show, the company will announce a new entry in the Gundam VS series. The announcement will take place via a stage presentation at 11:00 on the 19th.

The Gundam VS countdown site.

Outside of this, the Namco Bandai booth will be home to the awesome Tank! Tank! Tank! in its second showing, Wangan Midngiht Maximum Tune 3DX Plus, and Dead Storm Pirates. Wangan adds the Nissan GT-R and Nissan Skyline GT-R cars, a course set in Fukuoka, and new dress up items. Dead Storm Pirates is a shooting game where two players can match their aims up to get a more powerful shot.

All your AOU coverage

You can find all your AOU 2010 coverage, including articles and media, in one location at our AOU 2010 feature page. In particular, be sure and refresh the mobile blog page throughout the day for live updates from the show floor.