Americans can finally experience what Tosha Schareina did that fateful February 2024 day in Akihabara. Yes, that includes the fine folk at 131 Off-Road.

After months of appearing at conventions like Anime Expo, Maimai DX arrived stateside in September at various Round1 locations across the United States. The pseudo-washing machine rhythm game’s arrival at Eastridge Center’s Round1 nearly coincided with the San Jose mall’s third annual Fancon.

Fancon has been organized by Eastridge since 2023 as a one-day event consisting of a market, live performances at the center of the first floor, and naturally an “artist alley” selling fanworks. And of course, the Round1 on the second floor doubles as the arcade as the Japanese chain arcade-slash-bowling alley-karaoke place specializes in games from that country.

The 2025 Fancon took place on October 25. Similar to BART Anime Festival in September, it was free for all to attend though badges were given out for RSVPs along with perks like a commemorative Halloween pin and a free Round1 play card.

For full disclosure, despite Eastridge being one of the local malls for 131, we hadn’t visited it in over a year until Fancon. We certainly have fond memories there of karaoke and playing games like WACCA and Tetote Connect, but a busy schedule compounded with—to be frank—Eastridge’s issues made a return unfeasible.

Of course, Fancon coupled with Maimai‘s U.S. debut made that a possibility once more. Four cabinets were set up, each with the usual jazz of two songs each and multiplayer. Even with Fancon and it being almost lunchtime (the con ran from around 11 AM to 4 PM), there wasn’t much of a line due to the four-cabinet arrangement and modest foot traffic on the second floor.

Before Round1, the only way to play the DX PRiSM PLUS version was hope a vendor brought it across the Pacific or visit Japan. Schareina, who’s coming off a runner-up RallyGP points finish in the World Rally-Raid Championship, got to play it when he visited a GiGO in Akihabara ahead of the 2024 FIM E-Xplorer World Cup season opener in Osaka. Not really one for rhythm gaming (though it can be argued that such games might be beneficial for motorsports given the hand/eye coordination and timing needed), the Spaniard seemed to have good words for it after watching some local players before trying it himself.

For now, Maimai is one of a handful of games only available at Round1 in the United States. It’s probably not as tight as the exclusivity deals the chain signed for games like Chrono Circle and DANCE aROUND, but as it stands, you’ll have to swing by an R1 to play it.

As for Fancon itself, testimonies from congoers suggested it was smaller than in previous years. Most of the booths were set up around the center of the first floor surrounding the Starbucks and adjacent stores, including an empty store that was converted into console gaming for the con. As most cons have been doing lately, itasha were also displayed in the parking lot and even inside the building (the latter particularly a trio of KPop Demon Hunters cars and Motocompacto).

Featured image credit: Justin Nguyen