The IAAPA 2017 trade show has begun in Orlando, FL and with that, we’ve got quite a bit of news to chew on. Let’s start with one of the surprises – the “mystery” game by Raw Thrills and a couple of other partners – Nintendo and Capcom.
Mario Party Challenge World First Details
At the beginning of 2016, news came along that Capcom & Nintendo was trying out a Mario Party “Medal Game” (Japan’s version of redemption) for the Japanese market. Now the concept is landing on Western shores but with the help of Raw Thrills. What we see at IAAPA 2017 should be considered an early prototype – more of a tech demo than anything – but it also has begun testing out on location last week. Capcom & Nintendo have no official comments to make on the game at this time but there is a Capcom rep at the show who is involved with the game’s development.
The tech part of it comes into play with projection mapping onto the surface with multiple “pockets” that are constantly in motion. The projection is sharp, colorful and bright. The center of the playfield will also raise up and shake if a player manages to unlock the Board Game where a multiball event happens to “battle” Bowser.
As you’ll see from the video below, it supports up to six players but the main thing you do now is guess which character the ball will land on then watch & wait. Raw Thrills says that with Capcom in charge of development, they are looking to make the game “simplified” from what it is right now but also more skill-based. How that will change has not been detailed yet. Link to the YouTube version of this video, also in 4K
What do you think about this from what we’ve seen so far?
Was told there would be a new version og Big Buck hunter, is that correct?
Not that I am seeing. They have a Big Buck Wild here but only one. Otherwise focus is going all into their other new games
As a participant in the Big Buck World Championship a few weeks ago, I was able to see a trailer for a new update coming in 2018 to Big Buck HD called Monster Island. From what I’ve seen, there will be new Adventures, Bonus Games, and a new Trophy type called Monster Trophies. We did not get to play it during the tournament, so I wouldn’t have expected it to be shown at IAAPA. I have the trailer on my phone, so if you want to see it, e-mail me at federicoread23@gmail.com with “Big Buck” in the subject line and I would be more than happy to send it to you as a Google Docs file.
Very excited about this. I’ve wanted to play medal games in the US for a long time now.
How would you say this relates to medal games in Japan? Is it that multiple people surround the same game and all “bet” on the results of a shared experience (the ball falling into a hole)?
Or I guess the bigger question would be what you consider the main difference from Japanese medal games and our usual US redemption games. Other than the physical form of the output (little medal balls = paper/electronic tickets).
Excited for all the reports from IAAPA!
In the present form, it really plays the way you describe – not so much a game but more of a gambling device. You make a bet that the ball will go into a certain pocket. You have no control over anything otherwise.
Since that won’t fly in most markets here, they’ll be modifying it to avoid that problem. US redemption tends to have an element to it where the player has some degree (small or large) of control over the outcome. Most of the time that is good timing to release a ball/coin/stop an element of the game, etc. My best guess for now is that the ball will be a timed launch controlled by the player but we’ll see for sure soon.