One of the first big stories that Arcade Heroes had ran shortly after the site had launched was about a big trade show that takes place in London every January. At the time it was known as ATEI; these days it is called EAG. Thanks to some of our great readers out there, here is an extensive look at what was at this year’s EAG event. It is very similar to what we saw just a couple of months ago at IAAPA 2015 but there are some differences to find.
Checking Out EAG 2016
First up, a quick behind the scenes tweet from Sega Amusements during booth setup – cool to see stuff like this:
Oliver Moazzezi and Sarj Shah of the TenPence Arcade Podcast sent most of these my way to share, others are mentioned with the appropriate credit. Sarj included some video in his sharing, here is the longest video which shows an overview of the Bandai Namco booth:
Here you go with photos and commentary.
Spider-Man Pinball Vault Edition (Stern Pinball) – Showing that no time was wasted between the announcement and the release, the new re-theme of Stern Pinball’s Spider-Man was found at the show with distributors taking orders for interested parties.
Speaking of pinball, the guys from the Tenpence Podcast wanted to share their scores that they had earned on Stern’s Game of Thrones Pinball which was at the show:
Player 1 was James (Olly’s Friend)
Player 2 was Olly (Alpha1)
Player 3 was Sarj
Player 4 was (unknown)
Crossy Road Arcade Transparent Version (Adrenaline Amusements) – Finding another use for their transparent display technology, Adrenaline was seen showing off their new Crossy Road Arcade in this cabinet. Here the game would control via swipe as that is a touchscreen. The standard version was also found at the show.
Point Blank X (Bandai Namco)- According to Toby Nakahorn of the Las Vegas Arcade in London, it did not have the enormous target reticules that were seen in the IAAPA version. The cabinet art seen here is a dramatic change to reflect something a little brighter and family-friendly. The speakers you see on top of the monitor there were in the IAAPA version but they were black or dark blue so they were not as noticeable. 1st pic below by Tenpence Podcast. This also shows a new game called Pac-Man Zingy where it states you can win 50 cash… could be that it will be limited to the European market.
Photo below: Toby Nakhorn:
Mario & Sonic At the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Arcade Edition (Sega) – This upcoming title was there in the 4 player configuration, which features the overhead TVs and cameras to showcase the players. The 2 player version will not have the marquee but the game is otherwise the same.
World’s Largest Pac-Man & Friends (Raw Thrills / Bandai Namco) – This giant game was on-hand at EAG with a slight upgrade to the software, now sporting “advertising opportunities during attract mode”. The example on-hand was showing off the Pac-Man LED clock that is on Amazon; this also shows the versatility of the LED display, showing us that other more modern games can work on it too. Here’s hoping that more games will be made available for this one, given the price point that variety seems like it would help replayability (in addition to the promised co-op play for both Pac-Man and Galaga).
Galaga Assault (Raw Thrills / Bandai Namco) – Speaking of Galaga, the new Galaga Assault was there, set to redemption mode. If you haven’t seen how this plays in Amusement Mode, check out our video here.
Ace Angler (Bandai Namco) – Also on the videmption roster at IAAPA 2015, this up-and-coming fishing game for six players has proven popular where ever it has been placed. The realistic fishing reels certainly help.
MotoGP (Play Mechanix/Raw Thrills) – 4 units of Raw Thrills’ latest motorbike racer were on hand, this game has been shipping since last month.
Sonic Dash Extreme (Sega) – No changes are apparent with this one.
Ghostbusters (Play Mechanix / ICE Games) – The hype for the new Ghostbusters movie is slowly building and while this new game doesn’t contain anything from that film, it has the name which is generally all that is needed. Sega Amusements will be distributing the game in the UK, as they do with other ICE product.
Star Wars Battle Pod Flat Screen Edition (Bandai Namco) – Striking while the iron is hot on the most popular movie in the world…no word yet on new Episode VII content for this yet so here’s hoping that something is in the works.
Pac-Man Feast (Bandai Namco) – Here is a Pac-Man redemption game that I don’t recall seeing at IAAPA but it could have just been overlooked.
Pac-Man Alley Ball (Bandai Namco) – This was at IAAPA 2015 but I missed getting a picture of it. It’s a Pac-Man twist on on the old alley roller (skee ball) concept. When you hit one of the ghosts with a ball the metal piece falls over to reveal the “scared” ghost.
Pac-Man Air Hockey (Bandai Namco) – Another look at the Pac-Man Air Hockey that was first shown at IAAPA 2015:
Time Crisis 5 (Bandai Namco) – Time Crisis 5’s big reveal happened at EAG last year but it still was getting some nice play from the video I have seen of this year’s event. Granted, this version did have the Mastermind Edition software installed which has six levels instead of 3.
Teratoma: The Last Rebellion (IGS/Wahlap/UNIS) – (photo via Toby Nakhorn) – This is the first time I recall seeing this game in Europe although it is certainly possible that it has been there before. Sci-fi mounted gun shooting game that is a solid game that sells for a competitive price. I do not know how many Western outlets have picked one up however (if any). Here is the game in action from IAAPA 2014.
Game Room Carpet by Antrim Carpets – Come to think of it, if carpet providers do show up to amusement trade shows, it is rare…or I am not paying attention (probably a good chunk of the latter). For EAG at least, here was something different to give a game room a gaming type option instead of your typical carpet dealer or hardware store.
That’s all we have for now, thank you for reading and the next trade show event we except to cover is JAEPO, being held in Tokyo, Japan a few weeks from now.
was luigies mansion and wmmt 5 there at the show?
I wonder given how popular Star Wars is that namco might add some levels at a later date from the other films.
By the reports, those two games were not there. So at this point, WMMT5 will by Amusement Expo, unless Namco changes their minds.
Wow! Really?! I can see that wmmt 5 is a little too early to say but I wonder why luigies mansion wasn’t there? Wouldn’t care but it was at the last show in November. Hope Europe doesn’t miss out on the game.
Great write up!