| Vegas Connection: Casino Kara Ai wo Komete | |
|---|---|
Title screen |
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| Developer(s) | Sigma Entertainment[1] |
| Publisher(s) | Sigma Entertainment[2] |
| Distributor(s) | Nintendo |
| Platform(s) | Family Computer[2] |
| Release date(s) | |
| Genre(s) | Adventure Casino[2] |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Rating(s) |
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| Media/distribution | 2-megabit + 64 kilobit RAM cartridge[3] |
Vegas Connection: Casino Kara Ai wo Komete (ベガスコネクション カジノより愛をこめて, "Las Vegas Connection: Call from the Casino")[4] is a 1989 Nintendo Family Computer video game that were released exclusively in Japan.
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In this video game, there is both an adventure element and a casino element that can be chosen from the main menu. The original manufacturer's suggested retail price of the game was ¥9,600 (approximately $70 USD).[5] The player-controlled character (who is playing a male character according to his honorific of Mr.) is staying in Las Vegas with his girlfriend in a motel room on a romantic vacation. He is summoned to the motel clerk to pay his hotel bill only to discover that his girlfriend was brutally murdered by a mysterious person. Will the killer get away or will American justice be served? Those who are fluent in the Japanese language can play and follow along with the story.
The general idea of the game is that the player is in Las Vegas; he has to solve a major crime that has occurred some place in the city. There is also an option to skip the crime fighting and go straight to the gambling games of blackjack, slot machines, and roulette instead. Most of the adventure component of the game is to find the killer and apprehend him; there are no opportunities to gain "levels" or earn "experience points" unlike a role-playing game. Key aspects of the game include searching everywhere, playing some gambling games to improve the financial situation, and grabbing clues in order to solve the mystery.
A female dealer with brownish hair and a black bow tie officiates the table games; she smiles when the player loses and frowns when the player wins. Winning a game always replaces the default background music with some brief happy notes while the default sound continues to play if the player loses. Like all respectable dealers, she represents the "house" in the game. No literacy skills in the Japanese language are necessary to play the standalone games as all the options are clearly in English. However, the main story requires strong literacy skills due to the mature content of the game.
Up to $10,000,000 can be earned in the game. It is uncertain whether the game ends after acquiring ten million dollars or it simply continues with the game not recognizing any more winnings after the ten millionth dollar. Money is tallied up in coins for small amounts of money and in dollar bills for larger amounts of money (which eventually become larger forms of carrying money around).
About twenty "coin units" are automatically exchanged to become a single "dollar unit" (representing $1000). A certain amount of "dollar units" becomes a single "money bag unit" (representing $10000) after eighty dollar units are gathered together. After collecting ten money bag units, a "suitcase unit" (reprenting $100000) appears on the winnings screen. Ten suitcases eventually become one "treasure chest unit" (representing $1000000) once the player reaches one million dollars. It is assumed that ten treasure chest units is the maximum that a player can earn in a single game (as there is simply no more space for extra "treasure chest units" and the game doesn't provide a bigger "money unit.") Players can continue the game after winning more than $9,999,999 in casino winngs. However, the game won't recognize any new winnings.
If the player runs out of money, the game instantly ends with some brief somber music followed by complete silence (meaning that the game has been lost). This would be followed by a reminder in Japanese for the player to reset the game in order for the gambling to resume. If the emulator or game console was not given at least a soft reset, the player could not progress back into the title screen where his fortunes will be completely recovered for the next play-through.