[Thanks to JDevy for the catch]
The headline here might seem a bit odd, but keep in mind that on the arcade side of the games business, we often don’t get a lot of information about the games that grace the scene until they are released. All manufacturers have a website to some degree, although most leave the reader wanting for quite a bit more. Fortunately for Raw Thrills, they tend to detail what their games are all about, which gives us something to discuss, so let’s get to it!
If you missed the initial news back in March, it was revealed that Play Mechanix, Raw Thills, Mojang and Microsoft Game Studios were all working together on bringing the wildly popular Minecraft to arcades by adapting the Minecraft Dungeons game into a piece that would work for arcade style play. We’ve not heard much about it since, apart from some location test sightings out there, but now that changes with a big update to Raw Thrills’ website about the game. This includes a new cabinet shot, a card promotion banner, game dimensions, a brochure, screenshots, and even a manual.
Here’s a new cabinet render; The page states that it comes with a 65″ HD screen, although the manual has diagrams for installing a 75″ screen along with the 65″ one. For those curious, I dug into it and from what the manual states from the model numbers, both screens are 4K Samsung TVs. I presume that the two listings means 65″ will be standard, 75″ the deluxe for locations that want to spend a little bit more and have the extra space to spare. For the 65″ version, the dimensions of a fully installed machine come in at around 117″ tall, 72″ wide, and 68″ deep (rounding up slightly on all of those numbers):
While many of the details on the page were previously mentioned, one new nugget about the gameplay is something that should reassure those who were worried about it being a quick redemption kind of game:
- Nine exciting levels to explore – from the Frozen Fjord to the Fiery Forge – totaling more than 100 minutes of fun-filled gameplay!
For those keeping track, TMNT was about 40 minutes long on a start-to-finish playthrough; Halo: Fireteam Raven was around 45~50 minutes to complete. For a non RT game, Adrenaline’s Tomb Raider plays about 60 minutes long, but I’m not sure if any games out there beat Maximum Tune 5 (not sure how long it takes to go through all of the story mode there, but it’s at least a couple of hours).
On the cards, they are still showing that 60 cards will be available, but have now revealed that each machine purchase comes with 2,800 cards to start (700 cards per dispenser). Like Injustice, operators will be able to purchase additional cards from their distributors and new card series will be launched in the future. Here’s what the stand-up promo banner looks like:
The page also has some fresh screenshots to give us a static look at the action. While Minecraft itself has never been “a looker,” intentionally using blocky objects and low resolution textures, the overall 4K resolution of the game makes for a sharp and colorful image, while they are employing some nice environmental lighting effects to make up for any deficits in other areas. Click on the images below for a bigger view:
The questions that remain on this now depend on who you are – If you’re an operator or a gamer, the first one you are probably wondering is: When will this be available? If you’re an operator, you’re also wondering: How much will this cost? As an update to the original post, I received some answers to that from a distributor source. On price, it’s just a smidge under $13,500 plus freight and the game will ship “late June.” Thankfully that puts it well under $20k, but about $1000 over the typical $12k range on DLX Raw Thrills games).
The contact did mention some limited availability, which could be connected to the delays in manufacturing, parts & shipping that are affecting pretty much anything electronic, including arcade games – I know of at least three different companies who are looking at these delays as most manufacturing in this regard is centered in China and there are still pandemic-related issues + high demand going on that will take time to iron out. There are also other issues out there (lumber & fuel costs on the rise) which could be affecting things, although I haven’t been able to confirm any of this with RT specifically – just speaking in general.
Either way, I’m sure we’ll see the game in arcades this summer – what are your hopes for it?
Rae Thrills should make a game based on Sony/Naughty Dog’s popular Uncharted or The Last Of Us. What are your thoughts?
Depending on how it’s handled, that could be cool. Not everyone likes the rendition of Tomb Raider that was done for arcades (in part because of some weird issues, like that game not having any leaderboards), but Raw Thrills does like to do justice to the games they convert.