This week marks a new amusement event, one that I’ve often heard of but never attended called the International Bowl Expo. I hadn’t planned on going but something worked out yesterday that means I’ll be there tomorrow and Thursday to check it out.
To promote their Bowl Expo booth, Sega Amusements issued a press release this morning touting the content that would be on hand. They will have their latest redemption & merchandising games on hand, the new Daytona Championship USA standard cabinet and a game that hasn’t been seen since it’s last appearance in Las Vegas, Transformers Shadows Rising. As a part of that release, a new cabinet image was shared which I’ve got here:
Before getting to the text of the PR that touts the game’s features, let’s do a comparison between the initial Amusement Expo cabinet seen in February and the one that is on display this week. The mold of Optimus Prime’s head appears to be slightly different (with the ‘ears’ shorter on the newer model); the should shield under that is different and shows the name for better visibility; the Autobot and Decepticon logos are now in the frosted windows; the sideart on the back portion is different; you’ve got the marquee of Optimus and Bumblebee behind the head as well as a backbone marquee that goes along the length of the cabinet; and inside it looks to have more lighting & art including a “Roll Out” display.
This production or near production version looks much nicer; although I still wonder if an upright model will be around. I checked with a contact at Sega who stated that the game will likely ship in July. Now let’s share what was found in the PR – nothing as far as new info apart from one level taking place on the Moon:
Sega Amusements International is excited to present TRANSFORMERS Shadows Rising and other top performing games at International Bowl Expo next week. Bowl Expo is recognized as the premier convention and trade show for industry leaders and stakeholders to experience, latest products, services and participate in interactive seminars. Sega will take up booth 809, from 20th to 21st June at the Paris Hotel & Las Vegas Convention Centre, in Las Vegas, USA.
The TRANSFORMERS film franchise continues to bring box-office hit after hit. This extremely popular global licence has strong family appeal making it an ideal game title for amusements. Sega’s TRANSFORMERS Shadows Rising features a sensational cabinet that based on the iconic red and blue truck that the leader of the Autobots, Optimus Prime transforms into when in vehicle mode. Gorgeous huge chrome exhausts, big grill and lifelike Optimus Prime head makes this game stand out in any location.
The action-packed gameplay takes place across three unique locations on Earth, and there is even a mission on the moon. All the action unfolds on a 55” Full HD monitor, at 60 frames per second thus delivering a crisp video. Set in a theatre cabinet with four speakers and subwoofer the whole experience is immersive and thrilling. As well as the fixed controllers, players can use the brand new ‘Hyperenergy Tech’ lever to either tactically destroy multiple enemies at once or defend against difficult enemy attack moves.
As mentioned, I’ll be there tomorrow to check it out and get some impressions. In the meantime, here is what I played of it at Amusement Expo 2018:
Well I must say the new cabinet version is a lot more eye catching than the original from earlier this year. Was there anything to show that the joystick was changed in anyway which is used for action sequences simulate to the rudder from dead storm pirates.
Can’t wait to play this