ARCADE WATCH
Keeping an eye on the coin-op gaming scene
Game PenlaLive
Manufacturer Bandai Namco
If you’ve ever watched ground marshalls at an airport waving their illuminated batons and thought that there might be some kind of game in it, well, here we are. Except PenlaLive has nothing to do with air traffic, and its controllers, as the game name suggests, are actually based on Japanese idol penlights. The action is all about the sensors built into their base, which must be placed onto a halfpipe-shaped recess on the cabinet in time with the markers approaching on the screen. Aimed at a wide audience, it’s not intended to be the most technical rhythm game, but the addition of some waggling of the controllers (whose hue you can choose yourself) gives it added appeal for players who really want to put on a show. We’ll be over there by that dusty old R-Type.