Under unusually stormy skies and flash flood warnings, hundreds of bowling aficionados met this week in Las Vegas for the International Bowling Expo. The event ran throughout from June 26-30 and played host to everything from pro bowlers to Bowling Proprietors’ Association of America meetings, from Super Bowl champ Peyton Manning to a trade show floor full of incredible innovations.  Many things were different at this year’s Expo, but Kelly Parker, Director of Meetings and Events at the BPAA, highlighted a few, including a new Sponsor Pavillion which brought industry partners and attendees into the same room for one-on-one education…

Betson’s Carlstadt, N.J. staff hosted a group of Skee-Ball alumni to a “thanks for the machines and memories” lunch one recent afternoon. It was a nice way to salute Joe Sladek’s Pennsy manufacturer for the many, many years they’d done business together (the company was acquired by Wisconsin’s Bay Tek earlier in the year). “Skee-Ball has long been a strategic partner and we wanted to express our sincere gratitude towards them,” said Bob Boals, Betson’s veteran exec VP. “We couldn’t be where we are today without all the members of the Skee-Ball team. Thank you guys,” Bob added. Betson’s branch…

The June Asian Attractions Expo concluded with high marks. Produced by the IAAPA and staged at Shanghai’s New International Expo Centre, organizers said over 8,000 buyers from 79 countries and regions attended. An impressive 414 product and service suppliers took exhibit space, covering a record amount of real estate for this show. Next year’s outing will move to Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands from June 13-16. Heading west, this year’s IAAPA Euro Attractions Show will take place in Barcelona Sept. 18-22. 

A new update from Face Place Photo Booths has given operators new art and graphics in the form of updated borders for the 4th of July holiday that the company says will help “more than double their cashbox.” The company’s creative department has been working to give all Apple Industries customers new options for the upcoming holiday weekend, and this promotional campaign is automatic and free for all Face Place operators. According to CEO Allen Weisberg, holiday earnings spikes are nothing new: During past holiday weekends, promotional campaigns have brought in earnings as much as 110 percent higher than a…

Starting on July 4, TouchTunes ran a special, patriotic promotion for their jukeboxes. Bar patrons nationwide celebrated the United States’ independence (the original Brexit) to songs like Lynard Skynyrd’s Red White and Blue, Toby Keith’s Made in America, and Billy Joel’s We Didn’t Start The Fire.  In addition to that, July 1 brought about the start of a special photo booth promotion. Customers in locations with a TouchTunes juke that has a photo booth were able to add a special July 4th holiday frame to commemorate the day. For more information, visit www.TouchTunes.com.

It’s not unusual for an arcade/FEC customer to walk up to the player card station and put another $10 or $20 on his game card using his Visa credit card as payment. Use of credit cards on vending machines, of course, is even more common these days. Overall, people are using their cards rather than cash more and more often, even for tiny purchases like a cup of coffee.  In the jargon of the credit card business, coin machine operators are “merchants,” and like card merchants everywhere these days, they’re sometimes victims of fraud committed by customers using stolen or…

The Minnesota Operators of Music and Amusements met for their annual summer conference from June 15-17 at Ruttger’s Bay Lake Lodge in the state’s northern Brainerd Lakes Area. The conference was well attended by operators from Minnesota and the Dakotas, and AMOA’s President, Gaines Butler aka “The Waffle King,” attended along with many manufacturer reps.  Pool and dart league coordinators met up on the 15th to discuss past tournaments and prepare for a January 2017 event at Canterbury Park in Shakopee. Attendees were able to choose from several different recreational activities, including golf, fishing and a lake cruise. Thursday brought…

The Illinois Gaming Machine Operators Assn. and the Illinois Coin Machine Operators Assn. held their combined annual meeting and trade show on June 22 in Bloomingdale, Ill., this year. Around 175 people attended the get together, which focused heavily on the continuing effort to push video gaming terminals throughout the state, and featured seminars, a silent auction, a trade show attended by 15 manufactures and a host of qualified speakers. The groups kicked the day off with a closed board meeting that led into an open annual meeting; lunch brought about the start of their silent auction (money raised went…

Bandai Namco has announced that pre-orders have begun on their new Star Wars: Battle Pod upgrade kit. The update lets players relive the excitement of the newest Star Wars movie’s battle of Takodana, flying an X-wing alongside the Poe Dameron and other Resistance fighters to defeat the evil First Order. The kit includes this brand-new level, as well as cabinet graphics to highlight the content from the new movie, The Force Awakens.  The kit is in limited supply and is currently only available for the standard dome edition Star Wars: Battle Pod. Contact your distributor to pre-order to ensure you…

Elaut NV and its American subsidiary Elaut USA sued S&B Candy & Toy on June 27, 2016, alleging infringement of Elaut’s color-changing LED light system (U.S. patent #8,251,369). The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court in N.J., also named S&B’s St. Louis Game Co. sales affiliate, and the Tommy Bear Co. which made the S&B machines in Taiwan. A second lawsuit was filed by Elaut in the same court for “unfair competition” in the form of S&B’s ‘Lucky Ducky’ crane which Elaut alleges is a violation of its intellectual property rights in its ‘Plucky Ducky’ trademark used on their…