Mini Motor Racing Arcade Coming In Spring 2014 Via Tecnoplay

Earlier this year I noticed that the release list for arcade games was becoming more populated with small/indie type games than usual. Today I received an email from San Marino-based arcade/amusement distributor Tecnoplay that they are getting into the manufacturing game with a port of a mobile app/PC game called Mini Motor Racing Arcade. They handled the hardware side while contracting Australian-based The Binary Mill to rework the game for arcades.

Clarifications: I received an email from Tecnoplay to clear a few things up:

– The cabinet is our property, designed and built by Tecnoplay. We made an agreement with Sega for the Virtua Tennis 4 [cabinets].

– The picture here included is not the final: the accelerator pedal is missing. As soon as we will have the final picture I’ll forward it to you.

– The video footage of course is not the arcade one. In the next few days I should receive a video for the Arcade version. I’ll forward the link asap.

– We can sell the product all over the world;

– Price still to be confirmed. Hope to update you very soon also with this.

We will show the product at the incoming Enada Rimini show, from the 19th to the 21st of Mach.

It will be a 90% finished software.

Also, in answer to one of the comments: the track will be visible all the time with some zoom in-zoom out effect.

As you can see from the picture below, the cabinet design should be familiar as it is similar to Sega’s “iPhone” cabinet design used for Virtua Tennis 4. The main difference being the addition of the steering wheels and the large action buttons to the side. Scroll down for more details on the game itself.

According to the info send along with this graphic, they compare the game to the Super Sprint series although I would say it’s closer to the likes of Sega’s Hot Rod or SNK’s Drift Out. Either way, it’s a top down racing game, the style of which we have not seen in quite some time. The game will have “more than 40 tracks and more than 20 cars to be customized by difference skins along with powerups to enhance acceleration, maximum speed and control”.  It also will have unlockable content for players, including tracks, cars, skins and championship courses. To save progress, players can use an RFID card on any cabinet. The game supports three linked cabinets for a total of six players and they will offer a ticket redemption option on request.

Here is a video showing the PC-version of the game. On Tecnoplay’s FB page they share this version so I assume that the arcade version will be based upon that, plus any changes needed to make it work arcade-style.

A price was not mentioned in the e-mail, nor distribution territories but I would assume that this will certainly cover Europe. I will check into that part further and update this post as appropriate. What are your thoughts on a top-down scrolling racer returning to the arcade market?

[Tecnoplay Website]