Bomberman Arcade Game Turns Dream into Nightmare

Konami From Classic Party Game to Arcade Gambling Nightmare

Konami’s party game turned into an arcade gambling nightmare.

Imagine an eight-player Bomberman arcade game. It sounds like an absolute dream, right? The scale of one of the best party games ever made would be massively increased. But, hold on, because it seems like publisher Konami has turned this dream into a living nightmare.

According to indie dev Brandon Sheffield, Konami has gone a step too far in their pursuit of profit. They’ve created a Bomberman game where you have to pay real money for bombs. Can you believe it? Once you run out of bombs (which happens after, like, three explosions), the game starts yelling at you to insert more money. Talk about frustration! Eventually, it even stops you from walking. I don’t know about you, but this genuinely made me mad. Who would think of implementing such a ridiculous system? You might be late to the party in hearing about this, but it’s hard not to be outraged.

Since stumbling across this tweet, I’ve been captivated by this bizarre game. I’ve fallen into a mind-boggling rabbit hole trying to figure out what the deal with it is. As it turns out, this is a localization of a Japanese medal game called Bomberman: The Medal, which Konami announced back in 2018 for Japanese arcades.

Medal games, similar to pachinko, are a way to simulate the questionable thrill of gambling in a country with restrictive gambling laws. It’s like buying arcade-specific tokens and playing games with them until either you hit a jackpot (unlikely) or you run out of tokens. Bomberman: The Medal works similarly, except you spend medals to place bombs. You need two medals to place a normal bomb, and 10 medals for a massive AOE blast. The catch is that you can earn more medals by catching enemies in your explosions. This allows you to continue playing and keep the fun going.

Now, let’s pause for a moment and acknowledge the exploitative nature of arcade games. They’ve always been designed to squeeze every last penny out of our pockets. They often trap us in absurdly difficult worlds where we need to make a microtransaction every time we run out of lives. With that in mind, Bomberman: The Medal doesn’t sound so bad. You put some money in and the better you play, the longer you get to keep playing. If I had a whole afternoon to waste at an arcade, sure, I’d give it a shot. Let’s see how long my medals can last!

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But here’s the twist: the localized version of Bomberman is not a medal game. Instead, it’s a ticket game. Effectively, it’s like a glorified skeeball setup with devilish hooks to keep you engrossed. You put your money in, drop your limited amount of bombs, and receive prize redemption tickets as your payout. There are no tokens to earn, meaning you can’t extend your playtime by being skillful. Instead, the little Bomberman character starts nagging you to “swipe the card.” Talk about adding insult to injury!

To really understand the absurdity of this game, I suggest watching the video below. It took me some deep (and I mean deep) YouTube searching to find it. The video showcases how the big enemies, with the highest jackpot payouts, require endless bombs to destroy. When you hit one, the game bombards you with flashing lights and encouragement to keep attacking. But without a health bar, you have no idea how much money you’ll need to drop in order to defeat it. The only solution? “Swipe the card.” Oh, the frustration!

Another curious detail from the video is that you don’t control a Bomberman character; instead, you control a cursor that places bombs. However, in the original Bomberman: The Medal, you did have a controllable character. I guess the “swipe the card” message hits differently when it’s coming from a cute little cartoon character rather than a piece of UI.

This English version of the Bomberman arcade game has drawn many comparisons to those fishing-themed ticket redemption games found in modern arcades. You know, the ones that are essentially glorified slot machines, where you continuously drop cash for a minuscule chance at a meager jackpot. Regrettably, it seems this Bomberman game is no different.

Feeling frustrated and disappointed with the state of modern games? Why not heal your gaming heart with some of the best retro games of all time? Check out the link below and reminisce about the good old days.

Best Retro Games

You know, it’s always fun uncovering the strange and bizarre in the world of gaming. It keeps us on our toes and serves as a reminder that even our favorite pastime has its fair share of weirdness. Have you ever come across a game that made you scratch your head in disbelief? Share your stories in the comments below, and let’s entertain each other with tales of gaming adventures gone awry.

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