Toylets

From Sega Retro

To do

  • Replace Manneken Pis image with the title screen.
  • Create a proper Toylet icon template page.
  • Create Toylet omni.
  • Create section about cost, Free Play mode, and the 10 yen coin box.
  • Create section about hardware design, how it mostly conceals the downward-facing sensor, why that's important for this kind of product. And how they undid a lot of that concealment with the front-facing infrared "user detector" sensor.
  • Create section about interactive urinals, brief history of the idea, and that while virtually all previous attempts were art projects/very limited release, the Toylet was really the first that was an actual sold product for installation anywhere, and with customer support for over a decade.
  • Create individual game pages and convert this system to a proper systembob.
  • Research game distribution method (USB sticks?) and what OS the system actually runs and is most equivalent to for comparison.
  • Research the degree of balance which Toylet's games actually have. Many appear to be simple "push harder for bigger number" games, but I'm curious as to whether AM1 went in and gave significant consideration to the intricacies of the gameplay balance... does it get harder in "higher levels"?
  • Research how many games could be played on a Toylet at once, and if the system even offered the ability to change between games.
  • Tag all Toylet-related images with relevant tags.
  • Games were about $125, system was about $1750.
  • Looks like there was a 10 yen coin box attachment.
  • There was an additional piece of the system I'm seeing, just a variation on the screen that houses it in a clean frosted-glass enclosure (see here and here for examples).
  • Sales ended in May 2016 (both main unit and software), maintenance ended in March 2021. ref.
  • The official website lists a total of 180 installed locations in Japan. The real count is likely much higher than that, both depending on when they stopped updating that page and the amount of non-listed, private, or second-hand installations.
  • So I'm seeing NOTHING for Graffiti Eraser. No promos, no ads, no press releases. We have- almost one screenshot (its cropped), some off-camera footage, and a few mentions from news articles around its trade show appearances/launch. Which is curious, because its easily the most interactive and game-like experience, but even I ended up writing a thing about how its the game which could cause the most "spills". Is there any correlation here? Did Sega have this great idea on paper (and its a honkin great idea imo), but then in implementation realized people were whipping their- "handheld interfaces" back and forth and getting urine outside of the basin? And then reeled it out of most promotional material? I don't know, maybe it's just not popping up much, but there really needs to be verification of any correlation between gameplay and decreased bathroom cleanliness here.
  • A dedicated section on Toylet's less as an upgrade to an existing installed toilet and more as an investment in a promotable attraction. I touched on this previously but the more I do research, people were installing Toylets left and right for their notoriety. To such an extent that the official website lists a section of reviews/thoughts from venue owners post-installation, and the majority are saying that their customers are specifically coming in to experience the Toylets. One even called it a "show/event in the bathroom". Which isn't far off. Hey if I was anywhere and someone told me theyve got a toilet game, I'll whip my - "handheld interface" out right then and there and start Erasing some Graffiti.
  • Owners are saying it reduces both maintenance AND mischief/vandalism/etc in bathrooms. Which I can totally see. Most bathrooms are solid concrete indestructible things, but then you walk into a Toylet-equipped restroom and its suddenly like oh there's a dedicated system here and there are wires and electronics everywhere, and I feel like all of that kinda contributes to a slight "no broken windows" thing.

CartridgeCulture (talk) 01:52, 3 November 2021 (EDT)

Product codes

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