Commentary

Attack of the entertainment robots!

The entertainment sector is experiencing the same issues as the rest of the world, with live events impacted by the global health crisis, and acceleration in what had already been a growing trend before the partnership between remote and venue emerged.

Image provided by iStock.

September 20, 2021 by Kevin Williams

The ability for the entertainment space to be a versatile environment, with a connected online persona as well as the physical entertainment space, has seen the coining of the term the "clicks, bricks-n-mortar" entertainment business. The social media element of the business is seen with report booking, and the creation of player avatars collecting points and comprising skins. This opens the business of entertainment to the deployment of a version of games aimed at remote access, building on the concept of "telepresence."

The migration between the "physical/digital" divide, offering an entertainment facility an offline capability to their online persona or avatar, has become even more real under the conditions of lockdown. However, there has been a consideration for entertainment venue operators, even before the global health crisis, to have the ability to offer "virtual prize centers," with no need to retain stock and redemption prizes sent as online orders directly to the guest. Some operators are even experimenting with touchscreen kiosk prize selection and dispatch.

The entertainment sector is experiencing the same issues as the rest of the world, with live events and even live working impacted by the global health crisis, and acceleration in what had already been a growing trend before the partnership between remote and venue emerged.

Japan set precedent

With this, the concept of "live play" has evolved. It is not such a new idea — fundamentally, these online apps allow the player to control their game remotely, while a robot interface on the physical amusement machine relays their commands. The marriage of a monetized online game apps with live play proved a strong pull with the Japanese UFO machines, the first to be configured to this trend. So was created "Online Skill-Crane Game" in 2015 — originated by Netch and its "Netcatcher Netch." Hordes of UFO machines hooked up to online robots, controlled by players from the smart app.

The opportunities for the international scene were not lost on the developers and Netch created a Westernized version of its platform, called "Akiba Catcher," in 2016 and was soon followed by other variants in the same approach from Taito and then Sega, who would later hand the business to Genda. This can be best seen as a game craze that builds on "live streaming" from social media — the remote involvement in live activities from the comfort of your connected online device. This is seen from YouTube and Twitch streamers to the ability to interact remotely with entertainment devices and win physical items through the employment (hopefully) of the user's skill.

Trade association forms

The importance of this new business can be seen regarding how quickly a new trade association has been launched to attempt to police excess. Announced in May, the Japan Online Crane Game Operators Association has a primary focus on establishing operational guidelines and regulations for members to follow regarding the "live play" hardware.

The fast-paced nature of the "live play" scene, from an Asian perspective, was illustrated with news only a matter of days after the announcement of the JOCA of a brand-new approach to the concept. Japanese amusement veteran Taito announced the upgrade of its app with the inclusion of the new service, "Taito Online Medal." This marks the first serious move to include Medal games (Japanese style token pushers) into the "live play" genre.

With Online Medal, the company offers players on smart devices a chance to play real Medal game machines through a robotic interface. The app allows player to play with real-time video on one of Taito's latest Medal machines (Dino King Victory) and, in return for setting up an account, players are rewarded with free points/medals to begin with.

This is a major development in the "live play" scene, opening the door towards consideration of other Medal games that could be converted for remote play.

We have seen operators of amusement spaces incorporating a "live play" element into their machine mix, giving themselves a secondary business revenue stream through remote play. A recent example is seen with Round1, with chains in Japan and North America, adding its name to the list of online skill crane systems with the launch of its new Japanese service, "Round1 Online Crane Game."

Mini golf cashes in

"Live play" has broken beyond the confines of just amusement and redemption and crossed over into mini-golf. 54e Dev Studios, a game app developer with a long pedigree of previous work, has released its latest game app, "OneShot Golf." The system offers specially created mini-golf courses being played by a horde of some 50 online controlled putting robots, located in a warehouse.

The company is building its own robots which work within what the developers are dubbing "connected reality." The motto of the team behind the concept putting down the interest to control the golfing robots, rather than just a video game representation, is "you can't fake real." There are also added elements of live course updates and even real "course hosts" (staff in the warehouse) interacting with players with words of encouragement. The app has been configured for casual play, but also includes daily tournaments. The concept is feeding off the basic premise of "live play" and pointing to a new growth in this business approach.

The concept of "live play" has also evolved from the deployment of immersive technology, allowing traditional systems to be incorporated into game experiences. We have seen the deployment of robotic interfaces with existing amusement hardware, such as with the "Online Crane Game" and the emergence of "Online Medal Game" systems. But, with "OneShot Golf," we see the creation of dedicated robots to supply the live-feed and represent the player acting as their avatar. This leads us to the other aspect of "live play" in entertainment.

Chinese developer Owatch, known for its VR products, has also entered the augmented reality scene with "AR Racing." The system comprises three racing seats with screens that represent the view seen by the cameras on the RC cars racing around the model race course.

The concept of "live play" in this format is not new. The first real interpretation of camera-based RC cars to go into production was released by Sega in 1988 with the "Sega Super Circuit" racer, and again in 1998 with Disney and its "Treasure of the Incas" attraction at DisneyQuest. The unique player experience is supported by a compelling audience appeal, watching the connected remote control racers on the model board.

The ability to present radio-controlled action to both players and audiences has evolved with the use of real-time communication.

Drone racing emerges

In the sports scene, the explosion in popularity of drone racing has rocketed the interest in owning and racing aerial drones, although many customers do not have the space or capital to invest. This has offered the opportunity for the development of interactive drone-based experiences to be packaged for the entertainment sector.

Leaders in this move include start-up Drone Interactive — the company is investing in the creation of its "Arcadrone" player. This is a purpose-built enclosure that allows up to four players to control their aerial drone within a special arena. The game offers a gladiatorial battle between the devices, with combat represented and the drones never actually making physical contact.

This concept brings us full circle, with a logical conclusion of the "live play" that started with the "Online Skill Crane Game" — and it is expected that other RC style remote-play concepts will be tested on the changed landscape of mobile gaming in the coming months. What this means for the amusement deployment of "live play," and whether we will see a new hybrid entertainment venue with arena spaces setup for live and remote players, all controlling their own robotic avatars, remains to be seen and we will report back with developments as and when they happen.

(Editor's note: Extracts from this blog are from recent coverage in The Stinger Report, published by KWP and its director, Kevin Williams, the leading interactive out-of-home entertainment news service covering the immersive frontier and beyond.)

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About Kevin Williams

Along with advisory positions with other entrants into the market he is founder and publisher of the Stinger Report, “a-must-read” e-zine for those working or investing in the amusement, attractions and entertainment industry. He is a prolific writer and provides regular news columns for main trade publications. He also travels the globe as a keynote speaker, moderator and panelist at numerous industry conferences and events. Author of “The Out-of-Home Immersive Entertainment Frontier: Expanding Interactive Boundaries in Leisure Facilities,” the only book on this aspect of the market, with the second edition scheduled for a 2023 release.

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