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Print Edition StoriesFriday, September 11, 2009
Robonica aims to shift former board game hub to robotic games
By Jackie Noblett
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It’s been nearly two decades since the North Shore was churning out Monopoly and other Parker Brothers board games, but a new Beverly company hopes to revive that legacy by mixing traditional game play with emerging robotics technology.
Robonica Ltd. on Sept. 28 will launch its first robotic entertainment game, Roboni-i Action Games, which includes a two-wheeled robot, accessories and six action games. The idea is to use the robot’s sensors and radio frequency protocol to make the robot respond to its environment and enable it to interact with other robots in real life and in virtual online games.
“Toy robots, they’ve been exciting products initially, but they haven’t had a sustaining game play model,” said Robonica President Tom Dusenberry. “What we want to do is take the best of robotic gaming and interactive gameplay to develop games that last a long time and games that users want to come back to again and again.”
The company was launched in January 2006 by South African technology entrepreneur Johan Poolman, who was frustrated that there were few toy robots or remote-controlled devices that had structured games around them. He founded the company in Centurion, South Africa, where the company still houses its research and development offices.
Robonica is backed by South African investment funds Industrial Development Corp. and DST-Innovation Fund. The company wouldn’t disclose funding.
Looking for an executive with insight into the toy and game industry, the company brought on Dusenberry as a director and adviser, managing the company’s global marketing and corporate strategy. A longtime North Shore resident, he established Robonica’s sales, marketing and commercial operations in Beverly’s Cummings Center. The company employs seven people full time in sales and marketing functions and has five freelancers working on creative aspects of the game
Dusenberry is well known in the New England game industry, helping Pawtucket, R.I., toy maker Hasbro Inc. launch its interactive unit in 1995 and leading its release of early products such as computer versions of Monopoly, Risk and Battleship.
Robonicas’ product was unveiled at the New York Toy Fair in February 2008 and hoped to launch last September, but issues surfaced in game testing extended the launch date.
While Massachusetts is known for its blossoming robotics industry, the focus has been for the most part on defense and other commercial uses. Yet as the engineering and software behind the machines becomes widely accessible and inexpensive, local leaders say that could change.
“Massachusetts has a long history of being in the industrial space, but we’re seeing a much broader story here,” said Tom Hopcroft, executive director of the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council, which monitors the area robotics cluster.
New York research firm ABI Research estimates that the worldwide personal robotics market will reach $12 billion by 2015, with entertainment robots generating about 51 percent of sales.
Robonica’s game pack will initially be available through online retailers Amazon.com as well as the Web sites of Barnes and Noble and Toys “R” Us. Buyers can also get the $250 packs directly from Robonica.
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