Japan's largest fighting game festival, EVO Japan 2026 presented by Levtech (hereafter EVO Japan 2026), has arrived.
As it is a festival, you can enjoy yourself for a whole day just by visiting the various exhibition booths.
This time, we are highlighting the REJECT, VARREL, and DetonatioN FocusMe booths!
Arcade Sticks on Display This Year! The REJECT Booth!
The REJECT booth features players like Umehara, who recently fought a heated battle in Evo LEGENDS LIVE - DAIGO vs MENARD!
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At the REJECT booth, they were selling merchandise such as T-shirts!
The lineup was diverse, featuring stylish designs typical of an esports team as well as items with an Amaki Pururu motif!
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The display shelves also stood out, providing a clear view of the contents.
It looked like a high-end meat counter.
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Of particular note was the display of the REJECT Arcade Controller, an arcade stick supervised by Haitani!
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In addition to the black and red coloring available for general sale, the white and blue REJECT Arcade Controller EVO Edition was also on display!
Beyond just a display, actual hands-on play was possible!
I also had the opportunity to try it out, and in a word, it is a very easy to use masterpiece!
In addition to being equipped with Sanwa Denshi levers and buttons familiar to arcade stick players, it is extremely lightweight for its class.
Pro-level players often worry that jump inputs might accidentally trigger when performing Hadouken commands; however, REJECT has solved this problem by including a Jump Button Mode that switches upward inputs to button inputs similar to a leverless controller.
With other features like a handle grip, it can be called a top-tier choice for players who actively aim for tournament participation.
However, while the 24mm buttons, which are smaller than buttons on legacy arcade cabinets, are arranged in a layout suited for faster inputs, they may not suit everyone depending on their hand size.
Pre-orders for the REJECT Arcade Controller are currently being accepted!
If you are interested, check out the official online shop!
Right After the Announcement of the New Organization! The VARREL Booth!
The VARREL booth is seeing a rapid surge in attention right after professional figure skater Uno Shoma and professional gamer Tokido joined!
At the time I visited, there was already an event announcement featuring Tokido!
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Of course, official merchandise sales are also in full swing!
To my surprise, the uniforms worn by the players are also for sale!
There are even ones for Uno Shoma!
If you wear this, will you feel like a world champion!?
Ikenkuma Is Back in Stock! The DetonatioN FocusMe Booth!
DetonatioN FocusMe, the professional esports team operated by DetonatioN Inc., also had a booth on display!
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This booth also has plenty of goods with stylish designs typical of an esports team!
Of course, there are new items as well!
Furthermore, we saw the long-awaited restocking of the Itabashi Zangief, Ikenkuma Plush!
It is a popular product that sold out instantly at the SF League Grand Finals venue!
The smiling expression is very cute!
It makes sense that it would sell out immediately.
There are many other attractive booths!
I hope this reminds those who went to the venue of the excitement and conveys even a bit of the atmosphere to those who could not attend.