onitama.tv/gamemachine/ar… the Game Machines Archive just added issues from 1987-1988
I was eagerly awaiting the 1988 issues because I wanted to see how Raimais was advertised and promoted. Puzzlingly... there's almost no material about it.
The game released around April-June 1988 from what I can tell, but there's really nothing about it in Game Machines around that time. It starts to appear in the popularity rankings in mid-June but isn't discussed much.
This is puzzling to me because Raimais's spiritual predecessor, Arkanoid, was a HUGE success. Like, "take out full page ads advising people not to buy bootlegs because we're still having trouble meeting demand" success
Yet there's no advertisement for it in this arcade operator-focused magazine. Why is that? Did Taito not have confidence in it?
Meanwhile, Bemaga, a more "hardcore" gamer publication, ran a very elaborate feature on it.
Meanwhile, Bemaga, a more "hardcore" gamer publication, ran a very elaborate feature on it.
Were they focused on trying to sell it to hardcore gamers, who in turn would ask operators about it? If so, why didn't they push for more coverage in Gamest, too? Now I have so many questions. Anyway that's my current excuse to talk more about Raimais on Twitter
