What do you get when you mix a mobile shooter game with real-life toys? An awesome prospect. And that’s what the good guys at Jumo have in “Infinite Arms,” a new “games-to-life” title that mixes real action figures and mobile gaming for a fun experience.
Jumo is a game company created and led by CEO Keiichi Yano, chief creative officer Chris Esaki and chief strategy officer Akio Fujii, reports Polygon. And while people might think that the concept of a "games-to-life" genre might be quite unheard of, it’s because it’s new. "We wanted to create this new reality in gaming, so we coined the term 'games to life'," said Yano.
Those names aren’t small in the gaming world. Yano had “Elite Beat Agents” and “Gitaroo,” Esaki worked on “Gears of War,” and Fujii is the former president of then Namco Entertainment, which made “Tekken.” All three of them love action figures and want to see a marriage between toys and video games; thus, “Infinite Arms” was born.
Yano said that “Infinite Arms” is a free-to-play mobile game that features single player campaigns and multiplayer modes as well. While the game is free, it is monetized by a very special feature that collectors of action figures will like -- the game offers customization options by selling real-life action figures and parts to players.
Don’t worry, though, as the toys look fantastic, says Kotaku. The toys are customizable awesome-looking action figures made by Yasuo Takahama, whose credits include “Transformers” and “Tamagotchi.”
A player connects an action figure (either the massive Skorpos or the centaur-like Ixion, to start) to a mobile phone via bluetooth, and unlike Nintendo’s amiibo that only unlock content, these toys ultimately appear inside the game. More than that, when a player attaches a new weapon or item to the action figure, the game updates your in-game character to include the attached weapon.
“Infinite Arms” is planned to have a summer release for both iOS and Android devices. Stay tuned for more updates.
