In an effort to help its members adjust to recent Department of Labor-issued overtime regulations, the AMOA has joined with the Partnership to Protect Workplace Opportunity (PPWO). New regulations were passed in May and include a 100-percent increase to the minimum salary threshold for paying overtime to exempt employees. The PPWO is made up of a diverse group of associations and businesses that employ millions across the country in an assortment of industries. The Partnership believes its members are best served by a system that promotes flexibility in structuring employee schedules and hours while simultaneously promoting career advancement opportunities for…
Author: Casey Minter
The Billiard and Home Leisure Expo wrapped up last week (July 13-15) in Chicago, bringing in business owners, billiards fans and plenty of exhibitors, including Barron Games which showed off its World Tour Foosball. “World Tour Foosball premiered in Chicago this week at the Billiard Home & Leisure Expo” said Alyssa Chawgo, Barron Games’ Domestic Sales Manager. “The Billiard Congress of America (BCA) presented the Junior National 9-ball Championship and the competition really brought in the crowds. We saw a lot of our coin-op industry friends and made some new ones in the billiard scene. Overall, it was a great…
In a recent email from Creative Works, the company reached out to attendees of this year’s Bowl Expo to thank them for making laser tag a priority. Whether attendees were there to look for new pinsetters, updated software or a new attraction like laser tag, Creative Works was happy to provide the pieces to help improve bowling centers from around the world. Many of those pieces are showcased on Creative Works website and the diverse lineup includes laser mazes, touch-based games like Atomic RUSH or Color CRUSH, traditional laser tag and custom theming. Creative Works also wanted to encourage any…
You may have seen this “Small Bite” in our last issue, but it’s only in our e-news that we can share the video. A new game – Pool Nation VR by Cherry Pop Games – has been released through Steam for the HTC Vive VR headset, giving the player the chance to visit a pool hall with another friend, interact with the surroundings and play a game of pool, all from the comforts of home. The game lets players try out some advanced physics and play what seems to be close to a real game of pool. You can also…
Customers at the Water Park of America in Bloomington, Minn., can safely and easily store their goods in new Locker Network bins after the company finished an installation of 303 lockers. These electronic, keyless lockers were installed as replacement for the old mechanical keyed lockers the park had previously been using, and are spread throughout seven banks across the park. “Installing these lockers eliminates the need for park staff to take key deposits, replace lost keys, and repair broken locks. This total hands-off locker solution allows us to focus on our core business without distraction.” said Steve Pastor, GM of…
If you operate cranes, you have to take a peek at a YouTube site discussing the strength of claws. Pop www.clawstruck.com onto your computer and check out a site headlined: “Your premier source of all things claw science, fixed strength gaming and payout machines.” It supposedly has almost 40,000 subscribers. Founded by Jeremy Hambly back in Nov. 2014, it appears he’s been bitten so hard by the crane bug, that he bought four machines for his home examination. That’s why the producers of NBC’s Today Show called on him to help with their “Is It Rigged” segment which aired July…
Stern Pinball has announced a new pinball built in collaboration with the Pabst Brewing Company called Can Crusher. The pin will debut at the San Diego Comic-Con International from July 21 to 24, and features a retro design that captures the iconic nature of the classic brew. Artist and pinball phenomenon Dirty Donny created the art for the machine, and heavy metal band Red Fang provided original music. Stern and PBR plan on continuing the debut of Can Crusher beyond Comic-Con, bringing the machine to concerts, bar arcades, high profile events and community activities around the country. Pabst CMO Dan…
Celebrating the MLB All-Star Game, the unofficial midway marker for the baseball season, Face Place had a number of their photo booths set up at Petco Park in San Diego. (Apple Industries secured the license with MLB back in 2013 making theirs the only officially licensed photo booth of the league and All-Star Game.) Attendees had plenty of opportunities to use a Face Place photo booth before, during and after the game and related events. Face Place also announced that they’ve manufactured several custom photo booths for individual teams that are featured in their respective ballparks across the country. For…
For the third year in a row, the AMOA-NDA Junior Tournament saw record-breaking attendance. This year’s contest in Bloomington, Minn., held June 24-26, drew 150 NDA-sanctioned players ages 20 and younger to 314 events. According to the AMOA-NDA, junior leagues have been on the rise since the start of the tournament three years ago. The young dart throwers came from across seven states and fought for the title in Singles Cricket, Doubles Cricket, Mixed Triples Combo and Doubles ’01. The Mixed Triples contests allowed for a NDA-sanctioned adult player to join, providing an opportunity for family-inclusive fun. Next year’s tournament…
Two recent articles put out by Fortune and the Wall Street Journal seem to show a less than exuberant market for virtual reality devices that mainly hit the market this year. These articles, as with many others, focus almost solely on the home market, and any data concerning coin-op’s flirtation with this new technology is not included. HTC’s Vive headset was released in March this year, and sales data has slowly been leaking out while the market seems to hesitantly adopt this tech. Over 100,000 Vive headsets have been sold since then, each at $800 a pop (which doesn’t include the high-end…