Andamiro's Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom brings the film franchise to arcades
Clomp, clomp, clomp – here they come. The colossal dinosaurs from the "Jurassic Park" movies will again roam the earth, only this time it's in arcades and family entertainment centers. Andamiro is pleased to announce that its latest game, the first-ever redemption attraction inspired by Universal Pictures' blockbuster film franchise, begins shipping in November.
Andamiro's new game takes its name from the fifth and most recent film, "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom," which opened in theaters in 2018. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is Andamiro's second licensed title from Universal; the first was Despicable Me Jelly Lab, released in 2017 and still in production.
JWFK's gameplay is simple and addictively fun. The player presses the start button; a model toy truck rolls back to begin; and the player pushes the truck up the track, trying to align with the BIGWIN! marker to win the bonus. Tickets are won with every play, based on where the truck stops. When the player lands on the BIGWIN! marker, the bonus is won, and a victory song and light show are activated – "escape success!"
Like the genetic engineers portrayed in the movies, Andamiro's designers set out to create a "bigger, badder and better" attraction.
Bigger: JWFK one of the largest games built by Andamiro and will have a commanding presence in gamerooms. Its setup dimensions are 55" W. by 118" D. (almost 10 ft.) by 85" H. (7 ft.) – similar in space to two 10-ft. skee-ball alleys. JWFK has two user positions, or tracks, that offer independent play.
Badder: JWFK boasts a super-bad look with meticulously detailed art and a roaring soundtrack. To meet the demanding requirements of Universal, Andamiro created a game as spectacular as the Jurassic Park movies themselves, closely replicating the imagery in the films. As a result, JWFK looks, sounds and feels like a "Jurassic" theme park.
Better: JWFK has "more teeth" than any other redemption game on the market. It stands out, catches the attention of passers-by and offers an entertaining skill challenge. One push, game is done, and tickets are won.
"Some 300 million people bought tickets to the five Jurassic Park movies," said Andamiro USA president Drew Maniscalco. "And how many more watched it on TV or video? It's one of the most-recognized entertainment brands in the world and we are proud to partner with Universal to bring it to arcades."
Michael Crichton's best-selling "Jurassic Park" novel was published in 1990 and turned into a movie in 1993 by Steven Spielberg. A sequel, "The Lost World," also written by Crichton, became a movie in 1997, and "Jurassic Park III completed the first trilogy in 2001. The franchise's second trilogy, a continuation of the first films, began in 2015 with the release of "Jurassic World," followed by "Fallen Kingdom" three years later. The reboot's third installment, tentatively named "Jurassic World III," is expected to open in theaters in July 2021. It will bring back original Jurassic Park stars Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, along with Jurassic World's Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard and BD Wong.
"The five Jurassic Park films had worldwide box office sales of $5 billion dollars in total," Maniscalco observed. "And Andamiro's game is being released 18 months ahead of what is expected to be the biggest blockbuster in the franchise's 27-year history. It's going to be a 'epic' asset, and long-term earner, for amusement operators."
Andamiro's arcade game borrows from a popular theme in the Jurassic Park movies: dinosaurs chasing trucks. The game's objective is to "escape from the island." The central components are two miniature off-road vehicle replicas that players push up the railed tracks. There are seven ticket-point zones along the tracks differentiated by colors and an "out" terminus on the backboard. Tickets are won when a truck stops at any of these positions; a low-ticket value can be awarded when a truck is pushed too hard and hits "out." To keep things interesting, the position of the BIGWIN! bonus marker changes with every turn.
What makes Andamiro's JWFK so much fun is that the player actually grips and pushes the truck without the intervention of a lever, plunger or other controller. Additionally, the playfield is mostly open. Acrylic side and front windows prevent people from reaching over to cheat. But if that doesn't stop a cheating attempt, motion sensors inside the playfield area will detect abuse and disable the game in progress. Game over!
"When people ask me to describe JWFK's gameplay, I say 'it has the elements of a shuffleboard table and a skill stop game wrapped up in an exciting action movie,'" said Andamiro USA marketing manager Nick Montano. "As for how to play: don't push too hard, or too soft … do your best to read the distance between the starting point and BIGWIN! marker to predict how much push power is required to stop at the marker."
Andamiro's Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom began testing in arcades in July 2019 and consistently ranked in the top 2%. It makes its official debut in late November at IAAPA Expo in Orlando, FL (booth # 1,300).
ABOUT UNIVERSAL PICTURES: Universal Pictures is an American film studio, owned by Comcast through its wholly owned subsidiary NBCUniversal, and is one of Hollywood's "big six" film studios. Its production studios are at 100 Universal City Plaza Drive in Universal City, CA. Distribution and other corporate offices are in New York City. It is the world's fourth oldest major film studio, after the renowned French studios Gaumont Film Co. and Pathé, and the Danish Nordisk Film company. Six of Universal Studios' films – Jaws (1975), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Jurassic Park (1993), Despicable Me 2 (2013), Furious 7 (2015) and Jurassic World (2015) – achieved box office records, all becoming the highest-grossing film at the time of its initial release.
ABOUT ANDAMIRO: Andamiro Co. Ltd. designs and manufactures ticket redemption amusements, prize merchandisers and sports games, along with the world-famous Pump It Up music and dance simulator line. Andamiro was founded in 1992 in South Korea and maintains offices, development studios and manufacturing plants in Seoul's high-tech area. Andamiro USA Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Andamiro, was established in 2000 in southern California. Andamiro has brought to market more than 100 amusement machine titles that operate in a variety of entertainment destinations. The MLB Players Association, NFL Players Inc., Nickelodeon (Viacom), Universal Studios, The Walt Disney Co. and World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. are among Andamiro's licensing partners.
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