By KC
Pogs have made a comeback…sort of. Don’t worry, this is more than just some slammers with Pikachu’s face on it. Pokémon Battrio (Battle Trio) is a coin-op game—found in arcades, toy stores and shopping malls across Japan—that has become the latest hit for the series.
First released on April 11 of this year, Pokémon Battrio cost about 100 yen (about $1) to play. For that price, players get a pog-like disk with a pokémon’s picture and stats labeled on it. Players can then place up to three of their disks on a special grid that scans information stored inside them. The pokémon, as well as the formation the player placed them, is then transferred onto the game screen. The game lets players compete against the computer or a human opponent in battles that last approximately five minutes.
The rules are only in Japanese so far, but from the few English accounts we can gather, the position players place their team in can grant them certain bonuses, such as attack and defense boosts. Players can also give their team a bonus by using specific type combinations.
On each turn, the game cycles through your pokémon randomly until you press a button, hopefully stopping it on the one you want to go.
The pokémon disks that the game dispenses vary in strength and rarity. There are even super rare pucks to collect such as Darkrai.
To answer the question on everyone’s mind: No, there are no announced plans to bring this to the U.S. and there likely never will be.
