Konami might be moving away from the console game business, all but abandoning franchises like Castlevania, Silent Hill, and Metal Gear, but the Japanese publisher still has a few new ways to utilize its most famous properties. Most recently, we’ve seen this in the form of Metal Gear and Castlevania-themed Pachinko machines, but Konami’s latest release, Frogger: Get Hoppin’, expects a little more of a commitment from players.
Available now in MGM Grand’s Level Up entertainment lounge in Las Vegas, Frogger: Get Hoppin’ is a “skill-based casino game” that tasks players with navigating Frogger across dangerous roads and rivers for a $2 wager — prizes include both skill-based rewards as well as “random cash awards.” The game premiered with a special event on February 18 and 19, as “hundreds” of players worked toward becoming the game’s first champion.
“Throughout the trail and competition event, an entire spectrum of player types have tried the game, but by far the largest audiences represented were those not traditionally engaged in gaming activities at the casino,” said Konami Gaming executive VP and chief commercial officer Tom Jingoli. As you can see from the above image, this version of Frogger appears to be significantly simplified, with only a few cars and a couple lanes of traffic stopping our favorite Frog from reaching freedom.
We can’t expect new full entries in Konami’s classic series anytime soon — or possibly ever — but there is one small piece of news that should get fans excited. Netflix is adapting Castlevania into a television series set to debut later this year, and the show’s first poster sets the stage for something appropriately spooky.
The series is expected to carry a darker, more mature tone, reminiscent of Game of Thrones. At this point, however, we’d probably settle for Frogger or Simon Belmont just appearing in commercials for other video games.
