Jack Siefert, our friend and the sales guru at AVS, the classy game distributor with offices in Chicago and New Jersey http://www.americanvending.com/, was kind enough to share the following on two new ICE games shown last week at the EAG show in London and scheduled for a March release. They are notable because they continue a trend to video redemption. Rok n Bloks utilizes video as display for a typical redemption format. Robin Hood DK, on the other hand, appears to be a more traditional video format, the shooting game, adapted for redemption. Here's what Jack tells us:

Rok-n-Bloks, video, skill redemption, 42” LCD( mounted vertical ), Play mechanics software, the game is: using the interactive tray controller, players try to catch dropping blocks, and stack to various win levels, till they get to the top, or drop 3 blocks. Retail Price is $8,395.00

Robin Hood, video, skill redemption, 32” LCD ( mounted horizontal ), Gamewax software, the game play is using the cross bow, players shoot various moving targets, and treasure chests to win tickets, then are asked to choose either take your ticket winnings, or try for the bonus, by shooting the apple target off a head. If you miss, you still win ½ of your tickets. This is great FAST game play that promotes repeat play. Retail Price is $6,595.00

Both games start shipping the first week of March.

ICE http://www.icegame.com/has been utilizing video displays or even video redemption for years, primarily in its kiddie game lineup, more recently in the well received Photo Finish and Go Ballistic titles. Robin Hood DK looks like a major step beyond incorporating a video display into a redemption game. While I haven't played it or seen it in person it looks like a major innovation in creating a hybrid video- redemption game. While adapting video games with ticket dispensers has been done as far back as the 1980's, without success, I'm excited about these developments for two reasons. First, this is ICE, an industry leader with a very high batting average in developing games that make money. Second, today's populace is extremely video centric, by which I mean they are attracted by video and receptive to video screens. You might not know it by video game performance, but this could be a new animal. While you can only drive a race track or shoot em up so many times, a good redemption skill game format displayed in video with a ticket reward could be a game changer. I'm hoping it is. With a March release the players will be voting soon.