The battle over gaming in Pennsylvania is nearing a close, with casino advocates facing down operators and others in favor of video gaming terminals (VGTs). According to Lou Larson, V.P. of Gaming Relations at Universal Gaming Group, Pa., the legislature is nearing a final decision on the budget, but the inclusion of law allowing the operation of VGTs is unsure. “The casino industry, through an outfit called Pennsylvanians for Responsible Government (funded by Sands), is pouring anti-VGT information into the print and TV media,” Larson said. “Meanwhile the vendors, tavern association, clubs, and local governments are pounding the phones in…
Author: Casey Minter
The laser maze is getting a seasonal makeover! Funovation, the company behind the Laser Maze Challenge and Beam Buster, is making things a bit spooky for the coming holiday, giving customers the option to update their laser maze with a Halloween themed pack. The pack includes props, updated game play, music and sound effects and seasonal backgrounds for check-in monitors. The update will be available throughout the month of October, and is the first in a series of planned updates to be rolled out by Funovation during different holidays. To see what’s coming next, click here.
For the eighth year in a row, operators from up and down the west coast have the chance to preview some of the hottest new games and merchandise without the need to travel across the country. Betson, after buying up Specialty Coin earlier this year, is hosting the Northwest Amusement Showcase in Vancouver, Wash., on Oct. 7. The show, free to friends and family of the industry, provides a sneak peek at what operators will be talking about after the larger IAAPA show in Orlando and AAMA Gala in Chicago. Over 35 vendors are bringing equipment and merchandise to the…
Widgets Family Fun, a FEC in Manhattan, Kansas, is collaborating with the pros at Creative Works to co-conceive multiple immersive attractions. The Midwest location features a steampunk/aviation-themed laser tag arena, with murals lining the arcade and party room walls to further immerse guests into the theme. Additionally, the FEC installed a Lazer Frenzy laser maze. Identical twins and managers of Widgets, Lacy (Hull) Brown and Stacey (Hull) Niedfeldt, began work developing the family-owned facility in 2016. Creative Works collaborated with the twins from initial contact until completion, doing its best to bring the owners’ unique vision to life. This work…
After about a year’s worth of work, Creative Works excitedly announced a newly completed collaboration with Whipples Fun Center in Phoenix. Owner Jeff Carl called Creative Works for a jungle-themed laser tag arena, as well as a Lazer Frenzy laser maze. “I had my own idea of what I wanted,” explained Carl. “So, I talked with my sales rep, and re-picked and highlighted elements out of multiple themes to put my theme together. Essentially, I picked and chose things that I liked from different options that Creative Works had and we kind of built it from scratch from there.” The…
VR is slowly infiltrating mainstream society in very real ways and a VR franchise tradeshow is hoping to help thousands of entrepreneurs, business owners and potential franchisees embrace the new tech by introducing VR as a business research tool. The tradeshow will be held at the Schaumburg Convention Center this weekend (Sept. 30 to Oct. 1) out in the Chicago burbs. The event, hosted by The Franchise Consulting Company (TFCC), invites attendees to step into more than 60 franchise businesses and tour multiple locations, all while under one roof. By utilizing VR headsets, organizers say attendees will get realistic impressions…
The New Jersey Amusement Association (NJAA) recently announced its rescheduled annual golf outing has a new tee time: Oct. 19. The group had to cancel the originally scheduled Fritz Rolle Legacy Golf Outing due to inclement weather; it was meant to be held on Sept.18. The golf get-together is an annual event held by the Jersey operators group to honor the industry and raise money for Give Kids the World, a non-profit organization focused on supporting children with life-threatening diseases. NJAA began the event in 1997, headed by the tournament’s namesake Fritz Rolle. Rolle oversaw over $100,000 worth of money…
This year’s Pinball Expo, which will celebrate 33 years of the annual celebration and sharing of pinball culture, is set to shine from Oct. 11 to 15 at the Westin Chicago North Shore in pinball city itself, Chicago. Attendees get the chance to see everything and anything pinball, participate in pro and recreational tournaments, play over 200 games on free play and learn from a variety of seminars and guest speakers. Organizers are also offering a deal to those who own their own arcade games and want to save a bit on admission: every game you bring gets you a…
Revel & Roll West, a Kalamazoo, Mich., FEC with bowling, arcade, billiards and more, recently added to their offerings with a 30-player Helios Laser Tag system and a Creative Works laser tag arena. The location also features a restaurant and pub, and added laser tag to continue appealing to families and groups of all ages. “Laser tag has been getting more and more popular so we wanted to capitalize on this market and bring the best laser tag experience we could for our guests,” said Jon Klementowski, General Manager of Revel & Roll West. When asked why he chose Zone…
IAAPA recently released its annual FEC Benchmark Report, based on data from FY 2016. The study breaks down details like admissions, attractions information, guest demographics, pricing and even parking data. As expected, it depicts a diverse marketplace with multiple models showing success. According to the report, 42 percent surveyed were pay-as-you-go FECs, 41 percent a mix of pay-as-you-go and ticketed attractions with the leftover respondents pay-one-price. Another interesting finding is that only 45 percent of respondents were single FECs, showing that many FECs are a part of a larger company. The average number of facilities owned by respondents was 4.5.…