The Tail Wagging the Dog …and How That Phrase Applies to the Amusement Industry By George McAuliffe, President, Pinnacle Entertainment Group Although the origin of that phrase is lost to time, the meaning isn’t. The tail wags the dog when the less important or “subsidiary” factor, person, or thing dominates a situation. In other words, when a minor or secondary part of something controls or dominates the whole or the main part. Think about that. Obviously, the dog represents the main thing; its tail is an appendage, just a small part of the main thing. The dog can survive without…
Author: RePlay Editor
Barron Taps Into Skill/Competition Combo Four-Player Reflex-Testing Tap That Combines Proven Concepts Once in a while a game comes along that ingests traditionally successful concepts only to spit out something radically new. That’s the case with Barron Games’ new Tap That game, which lives in a unique space of heart-pumping, competitive gameplay and ticket redemption rewards. The four-player speed and reflex game asks players to compete head to head in an attempt to see who can tap as many lit buttons in the allotted time. Seven buttons are laid out in front of each player and, looking like a quartet of…
Coastal Amusements Lenny Dean & Sal Mirando Celebrate Their Company’s Three Decades This Month The traditional gift for a 30th anniversary is pearls, but in the case of Coastal Amusements, it should be quarters…bags and bags of them! There’s no question that the games Coastal has produced over its three decades have earned a lot of revenue for operators, as well as created a lot of fun for players across the globe. Co-founders Sal Mirando and Lenny Dean have been working and growing their Lakewood, N.J., company, through the industry’s ups and downs, for 30 years now (and have been…
When Was the Last Time You Played? Reconnecting With My Games, My Family and My Players by Adam Pratt, Game Grid Arcade & ArcadeHeroes.com With summer almost upon us, I found myself experiencing a little bit of writers block for this month’s article. Much like the guy who ran out of ideas for new fortunes to write for fortune cookies, there are times when it feels like I’ve written all I can about the subject of arcades and business. Despite such a feeling, sometimes all you need is a little inspiration to get the old creative juices flowing. For me,…
Editorial As I write this, it’s spring break for my two boys. Since they don’t have to go to bed on time during vacation, I took my younger son James to my bowling night. As some of you know, I bowl every Wednesday. I grew up around the corner from a bowling alley, which taught me two skills: 1. bowling, and 2. being able to lug a ball half a mile to get to the lanes from my house! Back to bowling night… I’d hoped my youngest son James would have come to root for my team, but all he…
Fair Play Pledge Update Fall Deadline for Members to Sign the FPP Means It’s Go Time at AAMA When AAMA members gather for its annual Gala this October, a new requirement will be in place: that they sign and abide by the association’s Fair Play Pledge. This requires that for the U.S. market, member companies only build and operate games that give players a fair chance of winning. RePlay spoke with AAMA President Holly Hampton about the FPP, whether member companies have begun signing the pledge and ensuring their compliance, and how the AAMA plans to regulate and enforce…
Cashless Challenges AMOA Topper Sees Payment Options as Key Q: If, as president, you could only focus on one single issue facing street operators, what would it be? A: Stepping into the AMOA presidential role, you quickly learn the many areas AMOA touches on a day-to-day basis on behalf of its members. If I had to choose just one single issue to focus on though, without a doubt it would be “cashless.” Several years back, AMOA leadership recognized the fact that cashless technology was quickly evolving, and the association created a focus group to begin studying how the association…
TouchTunes’ Angelina New Jukebox Was Built With Beauty Outside, Brains Inside Plus Personal Story Behind It It’s rare to see a company strike the perfect balance between emotional impact and utilitarianism and unite them in a single product, but TouchTunes has done just that. The company’s newest product, the Angelina, features an all-new lighting experience, time saving snap-in components and dozens of other innovations, and was named in honor of the late daughter of long-time customer Lou Miele. The wall-mounted, technologically advanced machine comes from the hearts and minds of the company’s team. “This is more than just a new…
A Return to Expo Walk Around Upbeat Show Leads to Discovery of Cool Card System by Jack Guarnieri, Jersey Jack Pinball & PinballSales.com This is the first time in a few years that I’ve exhibited at the Amusement Expo International show. I was prodded a bit by organizer Brian Glasgow and distributor Rich Babich (Game Exchange of Colorado) and while I like Las Vegas, we had to fit it into our otherwise busy show schedule. I remember going to the 2001 show in Vegas just after 9-11 and the mood was somber and measured. In contrast, this show was happy…
Editorial It’s unusual for RePlay to get subscriber calls or emails praising or complaining about something they saw in the magazine. Other than the note from the guy who likes the way his interview comes out, or the blunt critique from another who disagrees with something he reads, this is not an industry that talks back to its media. That’s why I want (once again) to talk about the skill vs. chance issue. As you can guess, we got more than one complaint about a feature in last month’s issue written by Bob Cooney saying that some redemption games make…