What were the most innovative games in Taiwan's amusement market last
year? In the past, Mahjong machines, Mary machines and pinball games reigned
in the local market, but current trends seem to be moving towards sport
games, simulators and fruit games. Despite the change in trends, original
and intriguing games were still successful regardless of the category into
which they fall.
New Poker Games
Over 36 new poker games were launched last year. Astro Corp., for example,
launched "Show Hand". Game Master System (GMS) released "Show Hand 2000",
while Bao Ma Technology (BMC) had "Show Hand Club". King '99 Bonus, which
had been very successful in the Taiwan market, was followed by "King '99
Bonus 2". Other games included "Taiwan Solitude", a touch screen poker
game and "Golden Jack", a high-low game adding some spice to the traditional
poker game.
Music & Dancing Games
In thepast, only a few manufacturers developed any kind of music or dancing machine
in Taiwan. The ones that did mainly concentrated on other types of video
games. That all changed last year after dance machines went on a rampage
in Japan. Since that time, Taiwanese companies have been committed to producing
music and dance machines. International Game System (IGS) in particular
has had good success developing the music and dancing games.
At TAMA -GTI Expo 2000, several Taiwanese companies exhibited Korean-made
music and dance machines, including Andamiro Enterprise's "Pump It Up DX"
and Amuse World Corp's "EZ2 Dancer". Coin-operated Karaoke also received
a lot of attention from foreign buyers, especially those from Brazil.
Supplementary Features on Gift & Crane
Machines
Recent crane machines have begun to combine different kinds of games.
The Taiwan-made 888 gift machine combines a pinball with a Mary machine.
Another game, Soccer Champion, with a WMH-139 screen, featured two gift
sections. Players can obtain gifts from both the top and the bottom. Goal
Keeper 2 is a redemption machine operated using a roulette wheel. Other
Taiwan-made crane games, including Strong Mariner, produced by Professional
Electronic, Gold Jack, produced by Sun Yuan Enterprise and Charm Girl produced
by Guan Shing Enterprise are all very popular. The games Conveni Station,
Drill-O-Matic and Happy Gyro are new releases from Taito, Namco, Banpresto
and Amuse World.
Creative Fruit Games Continue to Roll Out.
Taiwan's Subsino launched Desert Fox right after Desert Storm. Produced
by Astro Corp, Magic Bomb is a 5-in-1 game. Other hit fruit games include
Game Power System's Animal Wonders IV and Crown of the Golden Bell, Gang
Yih Technology's Golden Brain Line Game, Youal-Jigh Electronic's Super
Cheers, and Jigarry Industrial's Treasure. One game worth mentioning is
Tarzan, a Mary/Fruit game that became very popular in Asia, especially
in China.
New Pure Amusement Games Selling in Large
Quantities
ManyTaiwanese manufacturers launched new multi-player pure amusement games
in the year 2000. Kao Lu Hand Enterprises released CD Rich Man, a second
generation game which is doing extremely well. HK Racing is a linkable
game for up to six players. Hewi Chung Electronic released its New Roulette,
which allows up to twelve people to play at a time. Bingo Star and Roulette
II were new products from Taiwan Shin-Lien-Shin Technology. Da Shr Dai
launched New High Tech Ball and Bingo Dice. Super Match from Game Master
System (GMS) did an excellent job with their design. At TAMA - GTI Expo
2000, EFA Corp's displayed Sega's Star Horse, which can accommodate ten
players together with games such as Boat Race Ocean Hearts and New Bingo
Club.
New Mahjong Games Lack Innovation
Mahjong is a very popular game in Chinese society, but that does not
always translate to great sales of Mahjong machines in export markets.
The crackdown on amusement machines in China has made the Mahjong machine
market go from bad to worse. As a result, sales of Mahjong machines have
dwindled a lot compared to their performance in the past. There were also
hardly any creative or original Mahjong games released last year and most
of the games released were just new versions of old games. Top Luck Star
from IGS and Top Tycoon Winner 2 from Chia Nien Hua Development are examples
of such sequel machines.
Few Mary Games Launched
Overthe past three years, Mary games have been taking off in export markets.
Unfortunately, their popularity slowed down after crackdowns took place
in Brazil, Malaysia and China. GMS brought out two new Mary games last
year. One was Captain Hook, a game that combines a video games with a Mary
game, while the other game was a desktop game with a 5.5 inch screen, MINI
2000. Sun Giant Enterprise's Merry Carnival even offered a dancing Mary
game. Liang Yih Trading also launched a new product called Super Skater.
Both Golden Train and Volleyball 2001 are innovations from Wu mar Harng
Enterprise. The new games combine spinning lights and reels and are designed
especially for Latin American players.
Taiwan's Pinball Games on the Decline
Pinball machines petered out somewhat in the export market. No really
impressive pinball games rolled out in 2000. A couple of pinballs that
were released included Wu Mar Harng's Future Star, combining a pinball
with a reel, and Big Rich.
Corporate Cooperation Leads to Creative
Amusement Games
GoldFish Catcher could be considered the best-selling Taiwanese amusement game
of last year. Taiwan-based EFA Corp and Japan-based KNT Co. worked hand
in hand to develop Gold Fish Catcher, which received lots of orders at
TAMA - GTI Expo 2000 and Italy's ENADA 2000. Jig Pup II, developed by Feiloli
Electronic, was exhibited at the stand of Machines Games Automatics (MGA)
of Spain's FER - Interazar 2000. Last year, there were many instances were
companies cooperated together to create win-win situations.
Amusement games, such as Subsino's Last Fighting, IGS's Knights of Valour
2, BMC's Royal Club II and Eastern Dragon II, did very well in the market
in 2000. Fortune God, an amusement machine for promoting products by attracting
consumers to a location to play games and win prizes, is expected to be
very popular in the market. Other rosy games were the Body Fat Monitor
and Mobile Phone Battery Charge Station. These machines were placed at
locations where people tended to congregate such as movie theatres, train
station and night markets. These machines are not considered to be games
and therefore have less obstacles and more options for placement in the
future.
Kiddie Rides on the way to the Export Market
Most kiddie rides, manufactured by Taiwan companies, are for domestic
sale. It's very common to see 2-4 kiddie rides located around supermarkets,
clinic waiting rooms, beauty salons and convenience stores around Taiwan.
As more overseas operators show interest in Taiwan-made kiddie rides, more
Taiwanese manufacturers have begun expanding their business to export markets.
Japanese Simulation and Sport Games Dominant
FromEngland's ATEI 2000 in January to Japan's JAMMA Show in September of 2000,
powerhouse manufacturers of simulation games like Konami, Sega, Taito and
Namco have always attracted crowds of players. These companies' agents
in Taiwan, including Saint Fun International, Sume, Pan Asia Amusement,
EFA Corp. introduced simulation games featuring car racing and shooting
to the local market. As for Taiwan-made simulation machines, baseball games
were the most common type. Hoop Shot from Unizan Industrial Corp., Energetic
Baseball Game from Wei Ceheng Electronics and Slam Dunk 3 from Feiloli
Electronic are some examples.
As for video simulation games, Japanese products made up the lion's
share. Soon after video simulation games are promoted in Japan, they are
introduced into Taiwan. Take Sega and Namco for examples, they operate
arcade centres in Taiwan, and when Japanese video games pass Taiwan's standards,
the machines are installed in their arcades and amusement centres in Taiwan.
Besides, these Japanese companies have strong distribution networks in
Taiwan and new products are able to gain a standing in the local marketplace
within a short period of time. Japanese video games are extremely popular
among local players.
Taiwan-made Pushers Performed Well
Japan's products play an important role in the pusher machine market.
Subsino introduced Sixties Dream from Japan into Taiwan and put a lot into
its promotion. Sixties Dream is a game combining a pusher and a diamond
train. Korean-based Amuse World launched Golden Gate, while Sigma launched
Papuan. Local manufacturers developed some new pushers in 2000, such as
Taiwan Yuanmei's Golden Fantasy, a pusher for six players as well as Youal-Jifh
Electronic's Treasure Bank and Big Shock, which are pretty popular in the
night markets of central Taiwan.
Development of Local 3D VR Games Taking
Off
Asmore and more theme parks and shopping malls are built in Taiwan, demand
for 3D VR games continues to increase. Most 3D VR games are imported from
Canada, the USA and the UK, but Taiwanese manufacturers are slowly catching
up. Vivavr Technology attended many international park attractions shows
last year and has developed Pom Pom, Magic Broom, Submarine Killer and
the VR Touring System. Pascal Hydraulic & Simulation's Impulse is another
3D VR game developed by a Taiwanese manufacturer. In the realm of 3D VR
games, Taiwan still has a long way to go but continues to gain ground.
Parts & Accessories Still Out Front
Taiwan-madeparts and accessories have always enjoyed a good reputation in the export
markets. Pictured is Will Join Ent's director in Hong Kong AAE 2000. Taiwan-made
parts and accessories have long held an edge in the export marketplace
due to a wide selection of products, good quality and reasonable prices.
A lot of local companies have long-term cooperation relationships with
foreign operators such as Huai I Electronics, Pan Yes Electronics, Jyuee
Ang Ltd., Supreme Exim Corp., and Yiin Wang Industries. To sustain their
competitive edge, manufacturers work hard on bettering their products to
meet the demands of their markets. Products including Chameleon from Ying
Tchin Enterprise, Super Collector from Saint Fun International, and E-commerce
Kiosk from Wee Chin to name a few, have acquired patent rights in both
Taiwan and in China.
Cabinet Manufacture Becoming Standardized
The majority of cabinets in the market are made of ABS, with two different
specifications, 14 inch and 20 inch All Pass cabinets. Multi-functional
Big Rich Man cabinets are tailored for Mahjong games and Super 8 Line.
Super 51 is a 51-inch screen projector made by Shyh Ywan. Wee Chin Enterprise,
well-known fo its OK Baby series, also launched OK Touch, Q Baby and OK
Senior. The company is also cooperating with Austria's Funworld.
Haw Tian Co.,LTD.
2f, No 17, Pao Ching St., Taipei 105
Tel:
+886-2-2760-7407
Fax:
+886-2-2762-3873
E-mail:
gametime@seed.net.tw
twslot@ms33.hinet.net
Website:
http://www.taiwanslot.com.tw
