Finally, a game that lets you actually throw Pokeballs

I captured my first Pidgey nearly two decades ago (holy crap), but the simple thrill of tossing a Pokeball and hoping it comes back filled with a new ally remains just as powerful today. Now a new arcade game from Bandai Namco will let you test out your capturing arm, challenging players to lob Pokeballs at a screen to snag as many Pokemon as possible.

You do pick one of three helper Pokemon before heading into battle, but there's no need to beat your quarry near unconsciousness before capturing them: just pick up balls and start tossing (and no, tapping the B button still doesn't help). Here's a video of the sea stage in action, via Siliconera:

Finish a game and you'll receive one of 24 collectible cards for your efforts. Unfortunately, it will probably be pretty tough to find one of these cabinets outside of Japan. And is it just me, or would it be super tempting to pilfer the physical Pokeballs out of the machine? I mean, I wouldn't do it, but I would think about it. You could probably just substitute some baseballs or something if it ran out.

Update: Here's a picture of the cabinet from GR+'s own Ashley Reed, who encountered one while prowling Japanese arcades over her holiday break.

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