Bandai Namco continues growing its range of prizes and plush, with IAAPA 2018 being a high watermark for the games company’s focus on this division. Bandai Namco sells a host of leading licenses, including many of their own favorite characters! “We showed everything from Pac-Man in extended plush and prize ranges, through to the new Minecraft movie range,” said Darrell Simmonds, EMEA Sales Manager. “The DC Comics, Pac-Man and Halo branded merchandise are especially effective when combined with the games and customers could really see the potential.” The company’s USA distributor for prizes is Sure Shot Redemption, while Toy Factory…
Author: Casey Minter
Emile at C2C’s prize department is now selling licensed plush figures from the world-reknown homevid super-hit Minecraft, including the well-known horse, zombie, pigman, skeleton, wolf, sheep and ocelot. A special offer combines 30% Minecraft jumbo plush with 70% generic jumbo plush and freight is on the house. The classic home game took the world by storm nearly a decade ago and has built a following for its engaging, creativity-sparking, Lego-like gameplay. For more info on what C2C is offering, go to their website at www.coasttocoastcranes.com.
A new blog post on Betson’s website discusses the potential impact of marketing your new games as something more akin to an attraction than just a new machine in your arcade. Big, impressive investments like Halo: Fireteam Raven or Sega’s new House of the Dead can draw crowds on their own, the blog post says, and operators shouldn’t short on lavishing their new games with marketing attention. Author Jonathan Betti (VP of Sales and Business Development) suggests operators take a look at several things and evaluate how best to utilize the flashiness and size of some of today’s games. Using space efficiently is always…
Cambridge, Ontario, is in for a brand-new way to have fun as Kingpin Cambridge and Lasertron team up. The bowling/entertainment center is adding Lasertron’s LT-12.5 game system along with an interactive LED arena. The new facility is now open to the public and features an upscale bowling lounge, Lasertron’s arena, a multilevel play structure, games, redemption, prizes and a VR system. “Working with owner Mark Bingeman and general manager Michelle Playfair, has been a pleasure,” said Ann Kessler of Lasertron. “We met with Mark several times after IAAPA last year to work out the design of the arena.” For more…
Stephen McDannell Hillenburg, creator of SpongeBob SquarePants, passed away yesterday at the age of 57. He was without a doubt responsible for the laughter of millions of children and adults alike, and that laughter will echo on beyond his life. On top of that, Hillenburg unintentionally made a huge impact on our own industry with multiple successful SpongeBob-themed games and literally tons of SpongeBob-licensed merchandise won by players. “Hillenburg’s characters are truly special to the amusement industry. Reflecting on my many years in the industry, I can’t think of any other licensed character that has inspired as many arcade games…
Andamiro recently announced that it has gained the exclusive sales and marketing rights to Jiuyou’s Crazy Capsule Toys vending machine, which will now be known as The Prize Aquarium. The machine debuted at this year’s IAAPA and under the agreement’s terms, Andamiro will be the only authorized seller in the U.S. We are honored that Jiuyou has awarded Andamiro the responsibility to market its product,” said CS Lee, the game maker’s chairman and chief executive. “This is a responsibility we take very seriously.” In the self-contained, instant-win game, players test their timing and reflexes in hopes of winning prizes using…
Tony “O” Orozco, Betson salesman out on the west coast, gathered his handsome family for a cruise on a charted yacht out of Newport, Calif., back in October. The occasion was to celebrate wife Gwen’s 60th birthday, as well as earning her PhD in Nursing Philosophy. “She decided to return to school after six of our seven kids had moved out on their own,” said Tony O. of his bride of 37 years. Their seventh offspring just began high school this year. Tony himself says he’s logged in 44 years “playing games!”
The ATM association (ATMIA) has created a new award to recognize outstanding marketing efforts in the industry. Called the ATMmys, the competition is open to all ATM industry participants; winners will be announced at the 2019 ATMIA U.S. Conference scheduled for Feb. 19 through 21, in Orlando, Florida. Rebecca Hellmann, chairperson of their International Marketing Forum (IMF) and director of marketing at FCTI, said: “The IMF was designed to help our industry better promote itself by providing information and education about changing technology and strategies for reaching and communicating with our desired audiences. The ATMmys are an extension of this…
The Video Game Museum is looking to acquire a full collection of RePlay Magazines in hopes of preserving it in perpetuity. We do have readers who’ve been with us since day one back in Oct. 1975 and ask anyone with a significant collection of RePlays to consider contacting Walter Day ([email protected]) if they’re interested in contributing to the museum’s preservation efforts. The collection would be shared by the Video Game Museum and the International Video Game Hall of Fame. “RePlay Magazine is one of the greatest treasure-troves of coin-op history. Its legacy is without equal. We feel that it is…
Embed has a new cloud-based reservation system called “Bookings,” which they debuted at last week’s IAAPA show. They say it gives customers a “streamlined event reservation” experience, taking them from online booking to the in-store check-in. It allows operators to accept online reservations of any size 24/7, and reduces double-handling of data since it can be accessed and edited from multiple devices in real time. PJ Lahey, owner of Lahey’s Family Fun Center, said, “Bookings has helped us acquire new customers who prefer to do their research and shopping online. The Embed staff has been amazing to work with.” Cindy…