In July 2024, “Pokémon FRIENDA,” the latest in Pokémon’s series of arcade games, will launch at amusement arcades and commercial establishments all around Japan. Pokémon expanded into the realm of amusement machines earlier this century out of a desire to provide opportunities to experience the fun and excitement of playing with Pokémon to very young children.
Pokémon arcade games are targeted at children ages 4 to 8. Each time a game is played, the machine randomly dispenses a chip depicting a different Pokémon. Chips can be collected just for the fun of it, or they can be used to engage in another battle. This genre of Pokémon gameplay has become popular among children since the release of the first series of arcade games, Pokémon Battrio, in 2007.
Arcade game development and machine manufacture are performed by Marvelous Inc., while manufacture of the chips and promotional activities are handled by T-ARTS Company, Ltd. The Pokémon Company fills the role of overall producer.
Pokémon FRIENDA is the 5th series of Pokémon amusement machines created by its trio of developers.
The concept behind development of Pokémon arcade games was our desire to give children too young to have played “Pokémon” video games their first encounter with the amazing world of Pokémon. Ever since development got underway in the early 2000s, the three project partners have continuously devised innovative ways to get children even as young as preschoolers to understand the intricacies of arcade gameplay, so they could experience and fully enjoy the fun of it.
For example, young children need to learn how Pokémon battles work, the way each Pokémon is of a certain type, and the need to choose the optimal Pokémon type or ability to fit each battle situation. While this aspect adds tremendous depth to the play action, getting small children to comprehend and master such details is no easy matter. To ease their way to understanding, in Pokémon amusement machines the variety of each Pokémon’s abilities has been pared down, and relative strengths and weaknesses of Pokémon are described in terms easy for children to understand. Together these modifications make it easier for children to master the basics of battle.
In addition to simplifying how Pokémon arcade games work, innovations were devised by Marvelous to make game operations especially enjoyable for children. A number of elements were incorporated that randomly change the course of a battle. For example, the intensity of a Pokémon’s skill is changed through spins of a roulette wheel, and players can root for a Pokémon by hitting the operating button repeatedly.
Extra-special attention also went into the design and quality of the various chips dispensed by the machine during gameplay.
Each chip, when set in the amusement machine, calls up a Pokémon inside the game. In this sense, a chip is equivalent to a Pokémon, so acquiring a chip is just like catching a Pokémon. T-ARTS Company, who manufactures the chips, says they always aim for designs and textures that will induce children to delight in getting a new battle partner.
“FRIENDA Picks,” the chips used with Pokémon FRIENDA
With each series of Pokémon arcade machines jointly created by The Pokémon Company, Marvelous and T-ARTS Company, development was a challenging undertaking.
Pokémon Battrio, our first arcade game machine, was created to offer a full-scale battle experience. Here, the chips randomly dispensed from the cabinet were known as “pucks.” Pokémon Battrio proved popular among battle enthusiasts of all ages.
In the next two series – Pokémon TRETTA and Pokémon Ga-Olé – Pokémon captured during gameplay were distributed to players in the form of chips. This element reproduced the “catch and collect” aspect of Pokémon video games, and both series were enthusiastically received.
Project members monitoring to see how children enjoyed playing these earlier Pokémon arcade games came to an important realization: the presence of parents or guardians watching their kids having fun, but they themselves looking rather lost with nothing to do. To remedy this situation, a project got underway to enable children and adults to play games together, just as if they were friends. The project yielded the development of “twin-cabinet” type arcade games – two machines, placed side by side, that could be simultaneously played together. Thus was born the fourth series of Pokémon arcade games, Pokémon MEZASTAR, which was launched in 2020.
Now, with the development of Pokémon FRIENDA launching in July 2024, while retaining the thrills and excitement of the first 4 generations of Pokémon amusement machines, a new concept was added to enthrall children even more: a hunt for hidden treasure.
A variety of background settings appear on Pokémon FRIENDA’s large screen: a volcano, a savanna woodland, a cave, and so on. Here, players go on exciting adventures together with their Pokémon buddies.
In addition, for the first time in a Pokémon amusement machine, we added a touch panel. This adds a greater intuitive feeling to actions like petting a Pokémon or throwing a Poké Ball to catch a Pokémon.
Pokémon FRIENDA’s 3D displays add excitement and reality to battle scenes and avatars.
Pokémon FRIENDA is also the first Pokémon arcade machine that displays its leading characters in vivid 3-dimensionality, adding tangible richness to their reactions and show of feelings. This augmented capability was incorporated to make players feel even stronger sentiments toward their Pokémon and avatars.
In developing Pokémon FRIENDA, the members of the project team hoped that this new arcade game would help create fun and fond memories shared by children and their parents or guardians. Getting children to love Pokémon is only part of the equation; equally strong is our hope that with Pokémon FRIENDA parents or guardians will gain incalculable pleasure from spending time and sharing experiences with their children. Such lasting memories are the ultimate goal in developing twin-cabinet machines.
Pokémon FRIENDA will provide young children with their first opportunity to experience the immense fun of Pokémon games – opening the door for them to join the throngs of Pokémon battle enthusiasts worldwide.
