Gordon Ramsay and his daughter Tilly made a stop at F1 Arcade Las Vegas last week on Nov. 22 during Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend. “The two faced off during Head to Head, an intense and fast-paced competition on F1 Arcade’s full-motion simulators,” the company reported. “Gordon’s competitive spirit shined through as he raced against his daughter on some of the world’s most iconic tracks. Afterwards, the two posed for photos inside the brand-new entertainment and hospitality destination location within The Forum Shops at Caesars Palace.” F1 Arcade first opened in London in December 2022 followed by its…
Author: Matt Harding
LEXRA, the new Location-Based Entertainment Extended Reality (XR) Association, has launched LEXRA Huddle, a members-only discussion webinar. The first will be held Friday, Dec. 12, at 1 p.m. Eastern time and hosted by Brent Bushnell, the association’s co-vice president and founder of DreamPark. The association’s annual membership is $249 for individuals and starting at $490 for XR operators, venue owners, suppliers, manufacturers and the like. Click here or visit www.lexra.org to learn more about this event, membership and other aspects of the association.
Creative Works partnered with Amusement Foundry to debut an attraction called Detonate at this year’s IAAPA Expo. It’s described as a cross between an escape room and an arcade game and was designed for all types of location-based entertainment facilities. Detonate is a 10 minute or less escape room-inspired experience for 2-6 players. It has a smaller than 25-sq.-ft. footprint and every puzzle is self-resetting. “Escape rooms are fun, but a lot of venues don’t want the operational overhead that comes with a traditional room,” said Armando Lanuti, the president and owner of Creative Works. “Detonate provides the excitement and…
Embed nabbed a second place Brass Ring Award for their IAAPA Expo booth at the recent Orlando trade show. The company took home the award and beat out 54 finalists in the 600-1,200 sq. ft. booth category. “We are beyond thrilled to receive this award!” said chief marketing officer Sara Paz. “The Embed marketing team prides itself on being world-class in everything we do and how we do it, so this is a true recognition that resonated with every member of the team around the globe.” The award recognized Embed for “outstanding booth design, elevated meeting space, cleanliness, thoughtful spaces, branding, engaged team and…
Team Betson gathered together on Nov. 20 at Give Kids The World Village in Kissimmee, Florida, in support of the 19th Annual IAAPA Footprints from the Heart 5K Fun Run and 1 Mile Walk. This year, Betson raised more than $28,000 for the nonprofit, which provides cost-free vacations to critically ill children and their families. The company’s Joe Gumeny and Bob Dipipi were two of the top individual fundraisers for the entire event. Click here to learn more about the event (and see more fun pictures from the Betson group).
Semnox Solutions has partnered with The Pelican Group to implement Semnox Parafait RFID card systems across more than 400 Regal movie theater locations throughout the United States. Guests will now have tap-to-play transactions for arcade game play and seamless integration with existing Regal entertainment offerings, the companies stated. “At Regal, we are always looking for ways to elevate the guest experience,” said their chief commercial officer Adam Rymer. “Partnering with Semnox and The Pelican Group enables us to bring the latest innovations in entertainment technology directly to our customers.” Added Bepin Jose, president of Semnox: “This partnership with The Pelican…
The free-roam VR company Spawnpoint has linked up with Ubisoft to bring the company’s acclaimed PCVR escape games to venues around the world. The games were previously only available through Ubisoft’s own dedicated platform. “Ubisoft’s escape games set the benchmark for cinematic VR storytelling,” said Spawnpoint CEO Ben Woodford. “Being able to offer them through Spawnpoint is something we are genuinely proud of. We created Spawnpoint’s Effortless PCVR solution to remove the operational barriers that have held venues back from offering high end PC content. This partnership proves how simple it can be to deliver extraordinary VR experiences when the…
TouchTunes recently introduced Gifting Credits to all of their app users, which lets users gift credits to friends. The feature was previously exclusive to their Bar Rewards members. It allows people to not only gift credits to others, but they can also do so publicly or anonymously from different places in the app – like their profile page or the song queue quick action menu. Users can give up to 50 credits per day. “This new feature encourages both engagement and generosity among users, a fun way to keep the music playing and the energy high,” TouchTunes said. “Gifting Credits…
Chuck Cahill, who had been working at Oak Forest Bowl in Oak Forest, Illinois, since he was a mere 14-years-old, recently retired after some 55 years working his way up to be the alley’s general manager. Sadly, a fire destroyed the venue in 2023, though Cahill went on to manage Burr Oak Bowl in Blue Island, which was also owned by Keith Tadevich. “It’s been a good ride,” Cahill told Patch. “You work at a place all those years, and you have a bunch of friendships. Anything that ever mattered in our family was done there – bridal showers, baby showers, anniversaries and big birthdays.” Happy retirement, Mr. Oak…
The Florida-based FEC chain Elev8 Fun is expanding its array of attractions and venturing into more “active and immersive” experiences for its customers. Coming in 2026 is full-sized pickleball courts in some of its centers, courtesy of a deal with another Florida-based operator, Diadem Pickleball Centers. The first location to get a court will be Elev8 Fun’s Jensen Beach location – its latest to open. Others will follow soon after. “I wholeheartedly look forward to this new partnership with Diadem,” said David Goldfarb, managing partner of Elev8 Fun. “They have proven they are the best pickleball center operators in the…