Most piggy banks don't reward savers with entertainment. The Space Invaders Game Bank rewards coin-droppers with a thrilling (sorta) shoot 'em up. Players who insert a 100-yen coin in the coin slot will get to play a round of Space Invaders that's fairly faithful to the original from the sounds to the shields to the included color cellophane overlay. The game bank measures W200 x H105 x D95mm (7.87 x 4.13 x 3.74") in area and is listed as 1/6 scale on Takara's product sheet.

A 100-yen coin measures 2.26cm in diameter so the closest approximation that we have here in the USA is a nickel which spans 2.12cm. The nickel is slightly thicker at 1.95mm versus 1.75mm for the 100-yen coin but it's perfectly sized for the coin slot. Note that a quarter is too large but dimes and pennies may also be inserted into the slot for your personal savings. A little red trigger in the coin slot is activated whenever a nickel passes through. All preorders have shipped as of yesterday; new orders welcome.

Operation
The setup process for the Space Invaders Coin Bank is unfriendly. Instead of a simple hatch underneath the unit where the batteries are stored, you'll have to detach the legs of the table and then unscrew two screws to remove the bottom portion of the bank. Therein lies the battery compartment which takes 3 AA batteries (not included). Once the batteries are installed, replace the bottom, re-attach the legs and you're ready to start saving. The coin bank stores 80 coins that are the size of a 100-yen coin or a nickel and the bank keeps track of how many coins have been inserted by registering them on the screen. When the bank is full, you can elect to remove the coins from the storage compartment and the bank will automatically reset the coin counter.

Game
The recreation of the classic Space Invaders game is not a 1:1 rendition. For one, the Invaders rain downwards in a 7 x 3 regiment instead of the 11 x 5 battalion of the original Space Invaders game. There's also only 3 barriers on the bottom of the screen to hide behind instead of the 4 barriers in the arcade original. Other than these differences however, the game is pretty much the classic Space Invaders down to the sound effects and the simple side-to-side-and-shoot operation of the cannon.

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Jan Code: 4904810330349

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