One of the more recent Stinger Reports (1/7/08 to be exact and yes I’m a couple of days late) took a look at the exciting application of robots and coin-op amusement. A while back when IAAPA came around we reported about a coin-op title called SlamBot where two players battled it out with two robots in defending certain buttons in an enclosed cabinet but it looks like SlamBot is not the only operation on the block vying for some well-deserved attention in the arcade sector. [Slambot Website]
One of these that the Stinger mentions is Robo-Basho by Robotic Amusements. The cabinet seems to share some similarities in design with SlamBots but the difference is obvious with the game itself. Robo-Basho is essentially robotic sumo wrestling. There are three robots encased in the chamber and up to three players attempt to push their opponents robot off of the raised platform. If a robot is knocked over, they push themselves up correctly and are ready to go at it again. The robots are controlled by some very game console-like dual analog controllers but what is not clear is how they are powered and how they recharge. There is a video of Robo-Basho after the break! [Robotic Amusements Website]
Out of Europe is a coin-operated version of football/soccer called RoboSoccer. It also features a self-contained system where four players can play a game of soccer by using robots. It is rather large and thus meant for large venues but as it does not require n operator for use, it has automatic appeal for football/soccer fans as well as robot fans that may not have the resources to build their own robot soccer arena. [RoboSoccer Website]
It doesn’t take a lot of explanation to convince an operator the benefit of robotics on the coin-op scene – it’s cool, it’s an instant attraction, systems I’ve seen are relatively cheap and there is no way you can get this on your home console system. But one thing that does need to be addresses is maintenance. If a robot stops working, can a standard tech handle it? Is there a long warranty on these games? Do they break often? We’ll try and find out more and bring you the latest on the robotic coin-op scene, including some more information on SlamBot.
Hit the post break below for the promo video of Robo-Basho!
