Event
Amusement industry takes centre stage at London show
Our sister publication Global Amusements & Play took a trip to the capital during this year’s EAG International and Visitor Attraction Expo, presented by Bacta, where a wealth of exhibitors and enthusiasts had gathered to check out what’s on the cutting edge of the amusements industry. Hannah Hart reports
T
he show, celebrating its tenth anniversary, returned to ExCel (15-17 January 2019) boasting a different look and feel from
previous years – a variety of different sized stalls peppered the halls, and the addition of technology business brought a new dimension to the offerings. “The EAG was once again a fantastic showcase
for the industry,” commented Bacta chief executive John White. “With new products and reinvented concepts, the amusement machine and entertainment sector demonstrated that inexpensive fun was, is and will be, available for our customers in high quality venues up and down the UK.”
The must-see stands VR maintained a strong presence at the show, drawing continued attention from across the sector as the technology involved grows more nuanced and impressive. Sacoa brought a full line-up of products to the
show, and also confirmed its presence for 2020 – though noted that the UK market may not be yet prepared to migrate into a debit card system. “Operators have diverse cash management
requirements. With our back-office cash handling solutions and our excellent brands, such as CashComplete, SCAN COIN and Comestero, we are able to serve this market segment successfully,” said Norman Ridall sales manager for Suzohapp in the UK and Ireland. Suzohapp also introduced the E-PRL electronic
40
reprogrammable lock, a new, patented high-tech locking system which offers more than 10 billion possible combinations, developed by Giussani Techniques. SB Machines had a variety of children’s rides on
exhibit, and when asked which in particular were catching the eyes of the crowd, managing director Paolo Sidoli said: “No doubt our Hot Air Balloon, Funcopter and Train Carousel Rides that are aesthetically appealing, up-to-date from a technical point of view, and well proven in the market place.” John Stergides, Electrocoin, likewise stated that its
redemption machines – and the pinball machines in particular – were a resounding hit, with the Beatles pinball machine, as well as the new Konami closed loop pusher, Marble Carnival, stealing the spotlight. Other new announcements included UNIS’
Coconut Shy. The game is a carnival-style test of skill, accompanied by an LED display. Ian Eason (Instance Automatics) says that he expects the game will be a best-seller throughout 2019 and into 2020, and Callum Wright from Clacton Pavillion at Clacton on the Sea agreed. “Coconut Shy is popular with all age groups
and is easy for young children & adults to enjoy” he said, and considers it the number one game of its kind, looking forward to the possibility of adding a two-player machine. Lester Travasso, sales and marketing executive,
Sega, likewise had a busy three days in London, telling Global Amusements & Play that he’d seen visitors queuing to play House of the Dead – 100
units of which have already been sold in the USA. Making its debut at EAG was ATV Slam, a next-
level All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) racing game that boasts its own life-size quadbike mounted on a custom developed motion platform. There were plenty of new redemption titles for
operators to check out – such as ICE’s reinvented classic ‘whacker’ game, Whack A Clown, Super Kixx Pro, and Waterfuls, bringing the Tomy classic kids’ game to the arcade featuring virtual water.. “There have been nine successful years of EAG
and this is shaping up to be the tenth,” Travasso surmised. “Along with existing clients, there’s always new customers and we’ve seen people from all across Europe; Turkey, Germany and France, and even the Middle East.
Education programme January 17th saw the Foundations Entertainment University one-Day Program attended by 37 attendees from the UK, UAE, Spain, Belgium, Greece, Italy, and the U.S. These visitors gathered to learn how to grow their games and family attractions businesses. Nine Foundations University sponsors also presented short sessions (Platinum Sponsors EMBED, US Bowling, Betson and Gold Sponsors Creative Works and Galaxy Multi Rides), whilst speakers Kevin Williams and Frank Price tackled the major topics. EAG International & VAE will return to ExCel London on 14th-16th January 2020.
FEBRUARY 2019
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80
