The 38th Annual MOMA State Pool Tournament was held Jan. 24-28, 2018 at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minn. Pool participants from across the state played in eight- and nine-ball events of all levels. Singles, doubles, and team competition provided a great opportunity for players to play against their peers and have a chance to win prize money and awards. The 33rd Annual MOMA State Dart Tournament was held Jan. 25-28 at the same location. Darters played in cricket and 501 events of all levels, with singles, doubles, and team competition giving players the chance to win prize money and awards.…
Author: Casey Minter
Ten Pin Alley, Columbus, Ohio’s first boutique bowling center, recently celebrated a grand re-opening after completing a renovation which saw the addition of a full restaurant, bar and patio, two bocce courts, arcade, two-story laser tag arena and a new eight-lane addition named The Brooklyn Side. Shaffer Distributing worked with the location to select 40+ games that fit its targeted demographic and have proven to be popular with corporate events, birthday parties and walk-in play. Shaffer staff assisted with the installation, arrangement and training of Ten Pin Alley’s expanded staff as well. Shaffer execs say Ten Pin Alley has created…
RePlay just learned that passed away on April 13, 2016, after a long illness and a long absence from the arcade game manufacturing scene. He was 77. Skip’s Doyle & Associates, headquartered in Sarasota, Fla., built basketball cages, baseball games and other items like attractions for youngsters back in the early ’90s when redemption games began their rise in trade favor. He was also a pioneer in recognizing the growing family entertainment center faction back before these places were called FECs. According to an obituary in the Herald Tribune, Skip was born in Portland, Maine, but lived in Sarasota for 40 years.…
By: Hank Schlesinger In the latest round of testimony regarding Operation Choke Point and the issue of unwarranted bank closures, Timothy Baxter, a leader in the ATM business, spoke on Feb. 15 before the U.S. House of Representatives’ Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit. Baxter, president of SwypCo ATM Solutions and a National ATM Council (NAC) board member, was invited by the subcommittee to testify regarding account closures. Despite the Department of Justice led Choke Point program ending in August 2017, some banks have continued to close accounts belonging to ATM and amusement operators. Baxter’s testimony before the subcommittee…
IAAPA President and CEO Paul Noland (pictured at right) has resigned to take a new executive position elsewhere in the attractions industry, the organization announced yesterday (2/15). Current CFO Hal McEvoy (below) will lead IAAPA as interim president and CEO during the transition while the board of directors conducts its global search for a permanent replacement. Noland has served as president and CEO since January 2013 and prior to joining IAAPA, was a theme park consultant and a member of the IAAPA board. “Paul has led IAAPA through some of the most successful years in the association’s 100-year history,” said…
The 6th Japan Amusement Expo (JAEPO) took place Feb. 9-11, and RePlay contributor Kevin Williams told us that a smaller attendance still revealed interest in new games, with Sega, Bandai Namco, Square ENIX, Konami and more releasing new titles. Sega hyped the crowd with its latest: House of the Dead: Scarlet Dawn. The game will be an arcade exclusive at first, with some talk to port it to home video consoles underway. It began location testing in Japan at the start of the year (check the video below to see some gameplay.) www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iRn83PPFGY Bandai Namco revealed a new racer, Midnight…
Torrance, California’s Del Amo Mall debuted the first Survios VR arcade this weekend with grand opening celebrations running Friday, Saturday and Sunday (Feb. 9, 10 and 11) showing off the eight-bay game center. Offering free play to first timers, a DJ and other entertainment, the Survios crew walked eager players through their VR adventure. Through the smiles, laughter, wows and post-experience interviews with those that gave it a go, the venture looks promising. One dad stepped out laughing heartily, saying, “That was really cool!” In the Survios VR arcade, spectators are able to watch the action through the custom player…
Arachnid’s BullShooter Tour made three stops in January and one in February, bringing the vaunted darts tourney to Texas, Indiana, Tennessee and Pennsylvania. A lot of top players competed in 11 main events for over $12,000, plaques and a Qualifying Card to the BullShooter Finals, taking place May 24-28 at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare in Rosemont, Ill. The Texas BullShooter Regional was held Jan. 5-7 at the Crown Plaza Northwest in Houston. AVS Companies co-sponsored the event. Players came from Oklahoma, Mississippi, Kentucky, Alabama, Texas and, impressively, Canada! To the right are the Texas Women’s Doubles Champions Ratonda Irby and Dawn Washington.…
The ICE Totally Gaming show, reportedly the largest gambling industry conference in the world, wrapped up yesterday amid a heated debate about the use of “booth girls” and the sexism they represent. Sarah Harrison, outgoing CEO of the U.K.’s Gambling Commission, used the last days of her tenure to criticize the common practice of using scantily clad women at exhibit booths as a marketing tool. “This is an industry where we have a number of talented, powerful and successful women,” Harrison said at a speech preceding the show. “Yet, from walking around the exhibition, you wouldn’t know this. Instead you…
RePlay got a call last week from Coast to Coast’s Gary Balaban who says he and the others in the Elaut Group of companies are busy getting ready for their big, combined Amusement Expo booth (#927, listed under “The Elaut Group” in the February issue’s early peek at the exhibitor list). Elaut leads the way at the shared exhibit where Benchmark and Coast to Coast will also have two booth spaces of their own. Among the new products will be Elaut’s Willy Wonka, Coast to Coast’s Lollipop Lane and Benchmark’s updated Fireball (see the Spotlight Feature in the upcoming March…