A Nice Problem to Have Multiple New Pinball Offerings Make Purchasing Decision Tough by Adam Pratt, Game Grid Arcade & ArcadeHeroes.com With every trade show there is always something that stands out to you above the other products and with Amusement Expo 2016, it was pinball. To be honest, I never played pinball until I opened my own arcade since finding a working machine locally was difficult. The FEC where I worked in the late ’90s didn’t have any pinballs either. I did recognize that it was important to have so I purchased a pair of Stern machines for my…
Author: RePlay Editor
How to Lose Money… And Make Your Accountant Happy By George McAuliffe, Chief FEC Strategist, Redemption Plus I struggled with the headline for this column. I didn’t want to insult all accountants, especially the great ones who understand that saving a dollar doesn’t necessarily mean that you made a dollar. It’s not just accountants, either. Plenty of operating managers miss the big picture by focusing too narrowly in certain areas. Sure it’s important to control redemption cost of sales, but it has to be done in the context of the overall guest experience, which takes place throughout a facility. Redemption…
Positive Vibes Education & Strong FEC Turnout Highlight Expo Q: At the Amusement Expo, you wore three hats – that of attendee, exhibitor and AAMA President. Looking at the show from those different viewpoints, what were your takeaways? A: From an exhibitor standpoint, we’ve been doing this show (as Amusement Expo, ASI or AMOA) since 2005 when I began working in this industry for MEI/CPI. We’ve had great experiences working with the Glasgow organization, with them getting exhibits onto the show floor, coordinating the space and getting everyone in there. I’d say that attendance this year felt really positive, though…
Passing Great Value to Operators Gaines Butler Reflects on Recent Expo Q: Most of AMOA’s members are street operators. How well do you think the recent show served their interests? A: I think this year’s Expo provided great value to route people. It always has, but in recent years, with the expansion of the education program and a greater focus on the FEC, bulk vending and laser tag segments, there is much more for traditional street operators to see and learn about. Simply put, it’s not your grandfather’s Expo anymore! The show has changed and evolved, especially since the new spring…
Editorial The mid-March Amusement Expo in Las Vegas was the 53rd consecutive “AMOA” show I’ve attended during my time on Earth. As many know, the national operator association, formerly called “MOA,” co-owns that trade show today along with the manufacturer group AAMA. The odd thing is that I can still remember those early MOA shows as if they were held yesterday. I can also remember the “culture” of the industry during those days, as well as the public “perception” of the products and the people in it. Simply put, it’s all very different today. Back then, the dominant machine was…
High-Flying JET! Jennison Bros. Soar Into 10th Anniversary of Designing Without Limits by Casey Minter, Editorial Assistant The ideas behind Justin and Kern Jennison’s games don’t come from where you’d expect. They take their Disney-inspired company motto to heart, believing, “If you can dream it, you can do it.” These words are written in the Jennison Entertainment Technologies office in Daytona Beach, Fla., and in their factory in China; they serve as a reminder that the idea for the company’s next big game can come from anywhere and everywhere. Whether a desktop snow globe inspires their next game ––…
The Indie Game Craze Dedicated Independent Developers Delve Into the Arcade World With Renewed Creativity by Casey Minter One look at the most successful equipment that was released last year will show you a lot of familiar faces. Pac-Man and Galaga made massive comebacks with upgraded reinterpretations of their classic cabinets. Sonic and Mario sprinted back onto the field in a new Olympic-themed game and a host of other new machines from Sega. Even Angry Birds, Plants vs. Zombies and other huge franchises that made their names on tiny smart phone screens have expanded into full size arcade games. Manufacturers…
Editorial Way “back in the day,” I attended AMOA’s very first Notre Dame conference in South Bend, Ind. One of my takeaways was something an instructor told us about employee motivation. He said the human race principally looks to fill two social needs: the desire for variety and the desire for recognition. Variety and recognition. “Give your people an interesting place to work and pat them on the back when they do a good job,” he advised. I also remember something the late and great pool table salesman Len Schneller saw happen at the windup to one of his 6-pocket…
Social Cues Helping Our Young Party Hosts Handle Difficult Situations Successfully By Beth Standlee, CEO, TrainerTainment We ask a lot of ourselves and our teams. Think about it: We put 16-20 year olds in charge of the most important day of a child’s life. Holy cow, when you think of it like that, it’s easy to wonder if we know what we are doing. These young people are bright. They are informed. They know how to get any answer to any question with a click of a button. What they might not know is all the complexities of human communication. They…
Quite the Big Shot! Snapshot 2 Excitement at LAI As Studio & Portable Join Its Photo Booth Team In recent years, LAI Games has become an active member of the photo booth manufacturing community. Now their Snapshot 2 (which won the coveted AMOA Innovator Award in 2015) has been joined by two more booths, the Snapshot 2 Studio and the Snapshot 2 Portable. All were on stage at last month’s Amusement Expo in Las Vegas. “With Snapshot 2 Portable and Snapshot 2 Studio joining our original model, there’s now a Snapshot unit that suits everyone,” advised Mindy Rosenfelder, LAI’s R&D…