The AAMA Gala has been taking place all week but today is where we hit product day. Tap That was already announced and now we have something unexpected from long time game maker Valley-Dynamo and newcomer (sort of) Gizmo Game Design.
Before getting to the products, Valley-Dynamo is a company that has been around for decades, producing a plethora of products that users have come across in arcades, bars and other venues. They specialize in pool tables, air hockey and foosball. They’ve dabbled in making video arcade cabinets before as well.
Dennis Nordman is a name that you might know, having designed a number of pinball machines since the 90s, including work for Stern, Jersey Jack, Heighway and Williams. He is now part of a new company called Gizmo Game Design and for their inaugural products, we have two games that are much like a pinball machine.
All Star Baseball
These two games takes us back to a time before video games, where electro-mechanical games were king. An innovative variation on pinball came along simply known as a ‘bat game’. These novelties had a pinball-shaped cabinet but featured a baseball-bat like device used to hit the silverball at targets on the playfield. You would also have models with animated baseball teams setup in the backbox.
All Star Baseball is a modern take on something like Midways’ 10th Inning. Players play a basic game of baseball, including the ability for head-to-head play with one player pitching the ball, the other swinging the bat. A team of players is located in the backbox and are animated, running around the bases. Numerical LED scoring displays show the status of the home, visitor & high score; digital sounds further enhance the game. The mode that players will really want to go for is the Home Run Derby, “which will allow you to test your skill at taking every pitch deep. Home runs, and nothing but Home runs!”.
Zombie League All Stars
The second game in the works is like the one above but with a zombie theme. Both games are in production as we speak, with 50 pre-orders about to go out the door according to the article that Replay Magazine has about the titles (which I just received today). By Gizmo’s website, they showed the games off earlier this year but I missed the news about their development at the time.
UPDATE: Received a picture of Zombie League All Stars at the AAMA Gala. I’ve not heard what the pricing is supposed to be; if reasonable, then this really could be a nice piece for street locations to grab. This is the kind of thing you don’t get on your phone and most players these days have never come across such a machine:
And the pic from the Gizmo website
I can confirm that these games are being shown at the AAMA Gala but I have not received any photos of them in that setting yet. I imagine that these will be at IAAPA 2017 so that is likely when I will get a chance to give them a spin.
If the price is right, then this could be quite an interesting piece for venues to add, particularly smaller locations who may not be into adding the latest giant game to their floor but would like to have something different. Although if your operation has a sports theme, then that is where something like this will fit best.
What do you think about these new arcade products?
This is really interesting. I can see players confusing it for pinball at first (when I first looked at it I thought that’s what it was), but otherwise, I think it would be really neat to play. Definitely different. I’d like to see this unique stuff tried in video, though…