People Are Not Disposable Steps Toward Cultivating Great Team Members By Beth Standlee, CEO, TrainerTainment Every week I hear someone say, “These kids today…” • Don’t need to work • Have zero work ethic • Display no common sense • (add your complaint here) Guess what? Our parents said the same thing about us, and their parents said the same thing about them, and so on and on and on. I believe if we are going to change the culture of the workplace today, we must start by changing our language. What if we said, “I love the fact that…
Author: RePlay Editor
Don’t Kill the Goose And Other Thoughts on Game Selection for the FEC By George McAuliffe, President, Pinnacle Entertainment Group This column could easily be titled “Here we go again!!!” referring to the recent introduction of certain games operated as gambling devices in our industry. They’ve gained early popularity given their high earnings. Let’s face it, gambling devices outperform skill-based redemption, at least when narrowly measured only by a single game’s weekly sales. I would submit that you need a wider lens to truly understand a given game’s impact on an arcade, a route and our industry. The title of…
Happy Spring! by Jack Guarnieri, Jersey Jack Pinball & PinballSales.com April showers bring May flowers, right? We’ve all heard that before, but have you ever stopped to think about what that really means? It does rain a lot in April but statistics say June is actually the wettest month in the U.S. Even so, the rain in April will bring the flowers of May and if you don’t believe me, there’s a song that Al Jolsen brought out in 1921 that says just that. Aside from nurturing the blooms of nature, you can look at it in another way: Sometimes…
StepManiaX Kyle Ward’s Experience & Passion Drives Dance Games Forward Step Revolution founder and CEO Kyle Ward has had a long career in dance games and put that experience into creating what he thinks is the best of its kind on the market – a dance stage to rival any other in the arcade. “I’ve actually focused on dance games now for 20 years,” he said. Ward was first hired as a freelancer by Roxor Games to help produce In the Groove, which is reportedly one of the highest-earning dance games in the U.S. He’s also worked with Fun in…
VR at IAAPA 2022 The Tech Offers a Value Proposition Distinct From Other Games by Bob Cooney IAAPA Orlando 2022 showcased the best display of virtual reality games and attractions yet. The VR marketplace exhibited some maturity and consolidation. More major amusement factories like SEGA joined the fray in 2022, and some, like LAI Games and Raw Thrills, showed previews of their second VR products. But there were two seismic developments at IAAPA that will change the landscape for operators for the next decade. And both featured the new HTC VIVE Focus 3 headset. The VIVE Focus 3 has emerged…
Over Four Decades of Innovation Smart Industries’ Game IQ Is Pretty Smart Indeed From its earliest days setting up traveling arcades in state fairs and running street operations, Smart Industries has kept its eye on trends and its efforts on innovation. Founded by the late Gordon Smart and now run by his son Jeff, who is not only its president but also the leader of the company’s R&D efforts, Smart Industries’ third generation – Jeff’s son Jason – is already well-entrenched, learning the ropes from the ground up as he runs the factory. Says Jeff Smart, the company’s success is…
PARTY! The Fourth & Final Installment of the 4 Ps of a Great Birthday Party Program By Beth Standlee, CEO, TrainerTainment Editor’s note: If you missed the other parts of this series, they are on this website under Columnists/Beth Standlee’s Party Professor. Welcome to part 4 and our final “P” for implementing a great birthday party program! As a recap, in the three previous installments of this series, we talked about: PACKAGE – First, we developed the best birthday packages with high perceived value and priced those parties for profit. PROCESS – Second, we implemented a selling system that teaches…
Happy Birthday, Chexx! ICE Celebrates 40th Anny of the Game that Put them on the Map Innovative Concepts in Entertainment certainly lived up to its name 40 years ago with the revolutionary Chexx Bubble Hockey game. Now, ICE Games is celebrating with a 40th-anniversary edition of the classic machine. ICE is offering a limited production run on the game, featuring the original blue base and red grips along with new and improved electronics, jumbotron scoring and animation, a skated ice surface, underneath cabinet LED lighting and LED lighting incorporated into the base itself. Each ice surface will also be numbered…
Downturns and Preparedness Moves to Consider While Revenues Are Still High by Howard McAuliffe, Partner, Pinnacle Entertainment Group Interest rates are the highest they have been in 15 years, supply chain issues continue to affect nearly everyone, inflation is high, and yet business is still booming. As 2022 came to an end, we expected to see sales in FECs decline starting in January, believing consumers would cut back on discretionary spending. That has not happened. Wages are up, unemployment is low, and Americans are still spending, but, there are some indications this may start to change. While people significantly increased…
Tips on Tipping by Jack Guarnieri, Jersey Jack Pinball & PinballSales.com Want a tip? Don’t bet the races! Alright, that’s an old and bad joke, but more seriously, many workers count on tips to make ends meet. Being from Brooklyn as a native New Yorker, I learned early the value of tipping. My usual is 20% of the check, perhaps more if things were exceptional. If I’m parking in NYC at a garage, I tip first, especially if a sign says the lot is full. A $20 bill usually gets my car parked in the front so that after the…