The first of the two major yearly Chinese arcade trade shows is now just around the corner, as AAA Expo 2026 will be getting underway on May 10th. In advance of that, today we have our usual preview of everything new that site advertiser Wahlap will be bringing to the event. This has currently been announced by them in Chinese only, but that does not stop us from extracting the details. Let’s take a look at them:
Asphalt 9 Legends Arcade Plus
The main surprise that Wahlap have in store for AAA 2026 would be this, a new Plus edition of perhaps their biggest hit of the 2020s so far, Asphalt 9 Legends Arcade. We have already had Deluxe, VR, and Premium versions of this since 2021 – which reportedly surpassed the golden mark of 10,000 units sold. A majority of those were sold into China, but that’s where an update like this will do especially well.
The first and most obvious change is it now using 85″ vertical screens, a logical choice given that the likes of Wahlap’s own Storm Racer 2 now feature them and have received plenty of attention for doing so. But as well as that, look more closely (or translate the Chinese text) and it will reveal that they are also adding a competitive ticket redemption element. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that this is coming after Raw Thrills’ recent Jackpot Racer, though exactly how it is implemented here remains to be seen.
What we’ll also have to wait and see is whether or not LAI Games, who have carried the previous Asphalt games out West, will grab this update. It would be good if there were some new tracks and cars added in there too, though the promotional material given doesn’t seem to specifically indicate so.
Demon Hunter 1892
Besides Asphalt Plus, the other intriguing new thing in video games is Wahlap’s first original light-gun shooting game in some time. The official name is Demon Hunter 1892, although machine translation had been giving “The Witcher”, so this name change is for the best. In terms of the game itself, this is set to be an on rails shooter with a gothic, steampunk-ish aesthetic (which brings to mind UNIS’ After Dark from 2013), where players hunt demons (presumably in the mansion illustrated here). Given the four player stations and tethered guns, the base cabinet design looks the same as Kaiju Rampage/Monster Eye 3 Unite‘s; levels with multiple endings are also promised, meaning this should have decent replay value.
NBA Superstars
One curiosity that Wahlap are pushing hard right now, but has already been available for some time out West, is something that was quietly announced and linked in a Newsbytes a few weeks back: their new official Chinese version of Raw Thrills and Play Mechanix’s NBA Superstars. This is taking such priority for them that it is being listed before everything else mentioned here in their previews, which is interesting; though the game will mostly be similar to the one we have had over here since 2024, there are a few supplementary changes that seem to be exclusive to this edition, including a all new card vending feature. As such, the above two brand new titles will be the main focus in our upcoming coverage, but we will also try to get more information on how those aforementioned changes impact NBA.
Monster Eye 3 Plus
Here’s another thing that isn’t new-new either, as we have known of it for a little while now and is another update to an existing game – but this will be its first major expo appearance, so it similarly deserves special mention. Monster Eye 3 Plus falls into the super deluxe motion theater category of shooters (previously seen in the special attraction versions of the likes of House of the Dead Scarlet Dawn and Deadstorm Pirates 3D), in that it supersizes the game into occupying its own room with a large screen wall and multiple motion seats. As Wahlap have been promoting and installing this in select Chinese locations since the latter half of 2025, there are promotional videos of it already out there, which give a good look at what it’s like:
Card Games
Outside of video games, Wahlap also have a huge raft of new card vending games, which we shall cover all in one here for conciseness’ sake. The biggest of the bunch is likely their version of Elaut’s The Smurfs, which officially brings that game over to China in a slightly different looking twin cabinet design; as well as that, they have also got Geeese!, which seems to be based on a cutesy Chinese cartoon IP and features some video elements, plus a couple of original pieces with different flavors in the form of Infinite Tower (a sci-fi-y coin tower pusher) and Card Storm (a generic card dispenser game that can flexibly feature different card packs). They are certainly going all out in capitalizing on this trend, which isn’t too surprising:
Others
Wahlap’s Chinese trade show booths are always big enough to feature more than just their newest wares, so alongside all of the above, they will also have plenty of other recent titles. These will include their portfolio of officially licensed games out of Japan, like Sega’s Maimai DX, Chunithm and Initial D The Arcade, as well as their recent update to Konami’s Jubeat series and the Chinese edition of Bombergirl. One thing not among these is Bandai Namco’s Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune Ignition, as although it was confirmed to be coming to China several months ago, it seems that it isn’t quite ready yet still (a new round of tests are currently happening in Japan). Perhaps that’s something for the GTI show in September…
That wraps up this preview of what Wahlap will have at AAA 2026, but keep a close eye out for our upcoming coverage of the show itself, which will commence once the first day is over and we have received information from our sources out in China. We have already received a little bit of info from some other companies who will be there, but no huge revelations yet.
What interests you most among Wahlap’s new arcade games for AAA 2026?
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