New game for waterparks
MagiQuest, a live-action interactive game powered by sophisticated technology and played with a magic wand, will expand into at least five new locations in 2009, as well as being available to waterpark for the very first time in the form of AquaQuest.
The new installations installations are scheduled for Tokyo, Hawaii, Concord, North Carolina; Xanadu in New Jersey and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. At its existing locations the game has encouraged high retail sales and repeat visits. Players can return to the same game at any time or location thanks as the magic wand remembers everything players do and stores it in a global database.
After three years of rapid expansion, Creative Kingdoms, the creator of MagiQuest, continues to strive to keep the game fresh by adding new adventures, characters and storylines. The game’s first live action villain, Xavier, was recently introduced, allowing the MagiQuest player to be a real live “hero” in their own story.
Adaptable to any language, culture or theme, MagiQuest immerses guests into a world of fantasy, but inside a real world environment, and is perfect for today’s computer game-playing generation.
With a tourism base comprised predominantly of Japanese and American visitors, MagiQuest Hawaii will be the first location to offer multiple languages. The game will be integrated into landscape of Oahu’s Hilton Hawaiian Village.
The Japanese market, perhaps because of its game-playing heritage, has already embraced the concept. The country’s first MagiQuest installation opened to enthusiastic crowds last year at Lagunasia Park in central Japan and the second is destined for the heart of the capital, opening in the Tokyo Dome in the spring. Several potential clients from the Middle East have also expressed an interest.
One of the first operators to endorse MagiQuest was Great Wolf Resorts in the United States, which will incorporate the game into its new Great Wolf Lodge resort in Concorde when it opens this April. Also in the US this coming year, the Funplex FEC chain opens a new outlet featuring a MagiQuest at the Xanadu Mall in New Jersey. The largest standalone facility featuring the game, however, will be at Quest 4 Long Island, where 20 units featuring seven adventures will be available to daytrippers from nearby New York City.
The next step in the game’s evolution is MagiQuest 2.0, which will debut in summer 2009. This upgraded version will allow players to change the outcome and storyline of their character. Taking the sophistication of video gaming and combining it with interactive technology, it will create a live experience never before seen. Meanwhile a new version of the game is now available for waterparks, called AquaQuest (see panel).
By spring 2009 there will be 14 MagiQuest locations around the world.
AquaQuest
Creative Kingdoms, the creator of MagiQuest, has formed a new subsidiary for waterparks called Aqua Kingdoms. Industry veteran Carin Brown will serve as president of the new offshoot, which is charged with developing innovative and interactive water play experiences. One key product, AquaQuest, is an adaptation of the MagiQuest game technology to suit the aquatic environment. Using an “AquaGlove,” instead of the usual magic wand, guests will complete challenges, activate water effects and score points as they explore the waterpark on an adventure through various attractions. The game can be seamlessly integrated into any existing waterpark.
