The time has arrived for the biggest arcade & amusement trade show of the year and as an advance of what you can be looking for in our coverage on AH over the next few days, here is the IAAPA 2013 preview. This is based on the best information we currently have, with some educated assumptions to make up some of the grey areas. This year is one of the largest selections of games we’ve seen and for those still proclaiming that arcades are dead, I have to ask, who are they making all of these games for then? Is it just for fun? Or just to fill up warehouses to collect dust? Seems like a huge waste of millions of dollars if that was the case. 😉
For more information on the IAAPA organization as well as the trade show, go here. For previous IAAPA coverage check out these links:
Also here is a compilation of Press Releases that have been sent out by a few of the companies we will cover to hype up the show
Betson/Raw Thrills (DOC File)
Namco (Offsite Link)
What WILL be there.
Thanks in part to the press releases above, here are some new products have already been confirmed to be making a showing at IAAPA. I am not going to include titles that will be there which are already available through distribution that have been seen at previous shows.
Video Only
Batman (Raw Thrills) – We have covered this game more than anyone else so you probably know about it. 😉 If not check here.
Aliens: Armageddon (Raw Thrills) – A prototype version of this game will be playable at IAAPA 2013. I’ve heard it will likely see a release around March of next year.
Transformers: Human Alliance (Sega) – Also covered extensively on the blog, including some cabinet shots unveiled last week, here’s the official Western debut of this title.
Mario Kart Arcade GP DX (Namco) – It wasn’t a surefire bet at first but when Namco Japan announced the development of the 3rd Mario Kart arcade game earlier this year, we had a pretty good hunch that this would make its way Stateside. It has been confirmed however that the game is at the show and in the new cabinet seen right here:
Mach Storm (Namco) – Seen earlier this year on a location test, this will mark the official debut of the famous “Gundam Pod” style cabinet overseas but with a different game. Mach Storm is based upon Namco’s popular Ace Combat jet fighter series found on home consoles. The cabinet alone will help this stand out.
Super Alpine Racer (Namco) – The return of Alpine Racer to arcades will be at IAAPA in prototype form. I caught something very interesting about this on Facebook when a Raw Thrills executive posted a link to a QR Code High Score list for this game but found on the Raw Thrills website. On Facebook the link called it “Super Alpine Racer” so that is where I am basing this name from. The marquee to this game looks just like the one used in the Pac-Man Chomp Mania game that Raw Thrills developed for Namco earlier this year – these combined news bytes seem to point at the new Alpine Racer being developed by Raw Thrills in some fashion. We’ll know for certain soon.
Dead Heat Riders (Namco) – Shown earlier this year at EAG and Amusement Expo, the final version of the game will be seen at IAAPA. The Dead Heat Facebook page released a video of the game in action and that says its available now. I find it disappointing that the game looks like a slightly spruced up version of Dead Heat swapping the cars with motorbikes. No new courses and the features appear to be the same. Probably won’t matter for a location without Dead Heat or for a place that would like a motorbike racing game that does look more up-to-date.
Dead Heat Riders As Seen In London back in January 2013
Allied Tank Attack (InJoy / Barron Games) – This title was unveiled earlier this year by InJoy Motion and as it will stand should be the only arcade tank game being actively sold on the market. While InJoy has had some logistics issues in the past with getting their games distributed outside of Taiwan, they have resolved that problem in North America thanks to a new relationship with US-based Barron Games.
Flashlight of the Evil (Sealy) – This Chinese manufacturer was at last year’s IAAPA with a variety of products, their 1-on-1 fighting game Chaos Generation capturing most of the attention at the time. This year they have an original theater cabinet game with a horror theme called Flashlight of the Evil. Using flashlight controllers you have to burn away evil creatures using light.
Storm Rider – Arcade Belgium has tweeted that Wahlap’s new motorcycle racing game will be at the Sega Amusements booth. That is a little strange since the Show Floor plan shows that Wahlap will have a booth (#1039)
Ster Trek Pinball – With a 200 sq. ft booth, Stern hasn’t set aside a lot of space so they probably will just focus on promoting Star Trek since that is their latest machine.
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Videmption – Video arcade games that do some sort of ticket/gift card/capsule payout. As this list shows, this segment of the market is exploding.
Plants Vs. Zombies (Sega) – The new chapter in the Plants Vs Zombies series will be found at the show, playable to the public for the first time minus any location tests they’ve done.
Pirate’s Hook 4-Player (UNIS) – This is a dual screen 4-player version of UNIS’ popular fishing game.
Frost Island – New game that is trying out the water gun/video mix again. I’ve seen a few of these at different shows and results are varied in terms of game quality. It’s a good concept so Frost Island certainly has a chance to nail it
Fun Fair Bash – Part of UNIS’ Carnival series which involves throwing balls at a screen.
Xtreme Cabinet 47″ – This new cabinet design covers a few of UNIS’ videmption titles such as Fruit Mania Extreme, Ring Em, Toss Up and Cast Off.
Jetpack Joyride Arcade (Adrenaline Amusements) – The arcade port of the Jatpack Joyride mobile game will be there at the Adrenaline Amusements booth. The cabinet features a large jetpack seat for some force feedback and a flight stick:
Skylanders Cloud Patrol – Adrenaline takes the popular Skylanders series to the big touch screen, in particular the FX models that Fruit Ninja and Infinity Blade were found on
Monster Factory (Adrenaline Amusements) – Also debuting by Adrenaline, Monster Factory. A game where you match up monster parts using the levers and a huge 65″ screen.
Barrel of Monkeys (Play Mechanix) – New videmption game based upon the popular Hasbro toys of the same name.
Rail Rush (Coastal Amusements) – Also based upon a popular mobile game, Coastal had released Temple Run at last years IAAPA and is following up with Rail Rush.
Hit The Beat (Andamiro) – A new rhythm game to replace the Pump It Up Jump games, this may prove easier to sell to kids since it involves drum sticks.
What MIGHT Be there.
One nice thing about a trade show of this magnitude (yes, cue Admiral Ackbar), is usually there are a number of products that were not hinted at in any release so they make for a nice surprise. The show is large enough that every facet of the Out-Of-Home Entertainment Industry is there so more products will be found than what we might cover on a weekly basis (such as new simulator rides)
I do need to emphasize that these will have to be rumors, based solely on some educated guesses or whisperings I’ve heard from industry circles 😉 But we will know for sure whether they are there or not within the next two days
K.O. Drive – First unveiled at the DEAL 2012 event in Dubai back in May 2012, this game keeps showing up at trade shows but still has not been released. So perhaps it will be there with a final software build – that or it will have been sent to the junkyard of forgotten prototypes.
ReRave Plus (New Cabinet) – Aside from the release version, we once saw a “Rosey” cabinet that went unreleased and I have heard about another new cabinet design that is aiming to tackle the costs side, breaching that barrier so more locations will be enticed to pick it up.
NeonFM – There is a chance that the new rhythm game NeonFM by Unit-E will make a big appearance at the show but I’ve not seen a confirmation of that yet so we’ll wait and see.
Groove Coaster Arcade – If Taito has any intention on bringing this one overseas then this event would be the one to do it with but for the past few shows they have only sent a representative or two and no product. I’ll say very low chance.
Ultra Super Street Fighter IV Arcade – It was announced today that Capcom will be testing the arcade version of this in the States starting the week of Thanksgiving so perhaps it will show up somewhere at IAAPA. However from the arcade side I don’t know if there is much to get excited about since Capcom has proven so far that they are happy to overcharge for the kits and pimp them out for photo-ops but not support operators after the fact. As such most operators just wait for them to release the super cheap console versions and charge for timed play instead of shelling out the cash for the official arcade version. Funny how that behavior seems to keep the game from becoming a blockbuster arcade hit at large.
Gunslinger Stratos – This is really just a wild guess but the game did show up at GDC’13 this year and sometimes a Chinese distributor at the show brings some Japanese games over to sell.
Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 4 or 5 – At just about every IAAPA I am asked if the latest version of Namco’s technical driving game series has made an appearance and each time I’ve had to say no. It does seem unlikely but if they don’t bring it then there is a small possibility that Chinese game maker Wahlap could as they have promoted WMMT4 on their website lately.
Top Star – This is a music rhythm game by Wahlap. Their booth is small so it won’t hold many games but if it isn’t one of these, probably titles we’ve seen before such as Storm Racer, Speed Driver 4 or Power Truck.
The Hobbit Pinball – Pinball makers generally like to unveil their products at pinball-centric events but you never know.
No matter what, stay tuned to Arcade Heroes for coverage throughout next week. As mentioned in a previous post, unfortunately this is the first year since 2009 that I will not personally be there. It’s really gutted me as I had planned on being there but it is out of my control this time around. Despite that I have made arrangements to get some info from the floor and hopefully it will work out as though I was there 😉
From Kevin Williams of The Stinger Report who is there covering to cover the show floor for AH, the King of Kong Arcade at the Orlando International Airport:
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