IAAPA 2016 Pre-Game Show

Things are about to get busy around here as we finally hit IAAPA 2016, the biggest trade show for the arcade industry that there is every year.

But First, Some Quick Headlines

Sega’s MaiMai Pink is testing in California – I reached out to Sega for comment on this but I have not received a response yet. If it’s at IAAPA 2016, that would definitely be something.

DisneyQuest To Remain Open in 2017 (via Arcade Hunters) – Good news… for now

The Apple Face Place “Election” Photo Booths Results – Trump won with 55.5%…

Pics and Video of the Densha De GO!! Location Test via Arcade Belgium

IAAPA 2016 Preview

I had been working on a video for this but ran into an issue with the editing program as well as time so we’ll just rely on good ol’ writing instead.

I will be arriving in Orlando tomorrow morning where I’ll get to enjoy wandering around like a zombie thanks to the early morning flight. Stay tuned to the Arcade Heroes Twitter feed for any quick peeks at the show floor as that will be the easiest method for me to share; likely other updates will happen in the late afternoon/ evening depending on my internet access. Note that the show opens on Tuesday so that is when most news will really happen.

For those unfamiliar with IAAPA, it’s an organization that holds trade shows around the world. The event that they hold in Orlando, FL every year the week before Thanksgiving is their largest and features much more than just arcade games. The latest ideas to be found in theme parks (including roller coasters) also tend to debut here. To give you an idea of some of the “other” things one sees:

Video Arcade Games

The types of games that we all know and love. Here is what we know will be there as far as brand new games go, listed alphabetically:

Cruis’n Blast (Raw Thrills) – The latest racing game from Raw Thrills that brings the Cruis’n name back to arcades. I wonder how it will compare to the likes of Super Cars in play.

Daytona 3 Championship USA (Sega Amusements) – The revival of Sega’s most successful racing game for arcades. I haven’t played the original Daytona in a long time but I am curious to see how the integrated original physics/A.I. works in a new graphics engine.

Golden Tee 2017 (Incredible Technologies) – It has been out for a couple of months already but the latest release of Golden Tee will be on hand to play.

Let’s Go Island: Dream Edition (Sega) – Let’s Go Island is back with motion & wind effects, in the cabinet that Dream Raiders originally used. Would be nice to see additional content as well.

Pump It Up Prime 2 (Andamiro) – The latest entry into the popular dancing series that directly competes with DDR. The latest trailer shows you what to expect; new features are covered starting at 3:25 into the video:

Target Bravo: Operations Ghost (Sega) – Much like Let’s Go Island above, this appears to be a rerelease, this time in a new cabinet. Also hoping to find at least some graphical improvements and new content:

The Walking Dead (Play Mechanix / Raw Thrills) – The latest zombie shooter to the arcade market using the biggest name in zombie entertainment. Look forward to seeing how the crossbow control works:

Ultra Race (UNIS/IGS) – A new racing game from UNIS and IGS. Looks like it will be nice graphically, hope it handles well.

Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 5 (Bandai Namco) – The long awaited return of MaxiTune to the States. With more technical handling, a card system and online features, it is also a racing game to watch.

World’s Fastest Drummer (WFD / Unit-E Technologies) – I was surprised to learn recently that a game we saw several years ago at IAAPA 2010 is coming back (see below). To add to the surprise, it is doing so with the help of NEON FM developer Unit-E Technologies. The new version of this game will be found there. I believe we can expect a new hardware/software package so this is one to watch if you’re looking for something different.

Namco confirmed that they will have something new besides MaxiTube too, but we have to wait and see what that is.

I can tell you one game that probably won’t be there – Dance Central 3. This was initially seen on test with Cruis’n Blast but Raw Thrills tells me that the game has been cancelled… for now. Seeing DDR A, a localized Gunslinger Stratos 3, MaiMai or Magician’s Dead would also be neat but I won’t hold my breath.

Pinball

After Pinball Expo 2016, we saw that pinball is more alive and kicking than it has been this century. At least two new games are sure to be there:

Batman 66 (Stern Pinball) – The latest table from Stern revitalizes the 2009 Batman pin and adds a full color LCD screen to the mix.

Dialed In! (Jersey Jack Pinball) – Pat Lawlor’s newest design saw a lot of traffic on the blog here, we look forward to seeing how this packed and unique theme plays.

I hope to see Alien Pinball at the show but have been unable to confirm that so far.

Videmption

The wonderful world of video redemption games continues to find new releases. A few of which will be on hand:

Breakout (Coastal Amusements) – the Atari logo returns to the arcade with one of their more iconic games, Breakout.

Choppy Wood (Raw Thrills) – This is a two player ‘answer’ to the lumberjack game Timberman (Barron).

Crazy Tower (Adrenaline Amusements) – I’m really curious to see how this puzzle game works with an apparently holographic projector/true volumetric display.

Fly O’Clock (Barron Games) – Another App-to-arcade port that involves quick one-button play for up to two players.

Lane Master (UNIS) – New bowling game concept that blends an alley roller with a video game.

Launch Code (Team Play) – New AR game from the makers of Fishbowl Frenzy that has an alien/sci-fi theme:

Pump The Balloon (Sega) – New balloon pumping action for one or two players:

Pop The Lock (Bay Tek) – App-to-arcade port that isn’t too far off from Fly O’Clock from what I have seen.

Shooty Skies Arcade (Adrenaline Amusements) – This one wasn’t officially announced but it’s been seen on test at a few places so I’d say it’s going to be there with 99% certainty.

Space Invaders Frenzy (Raw Thrills) – Ok, this is more in the “maybe” category but if it is there, the return of Space Invaders to the arcade. Also has an amusement mode confirmed.

Another “maybe” that could show up is Q*Bert by Raw Thrills. If so, I wouldn’t be surprised if it shows up to the ICE Booth…they always have something new but their IAAPA unveil so far has just confirmed games they launched last year.

I also expect to see more from Bay Tek as they have been testing out a lot of videmption games but we’ll have to wait and see.

VR Amusements

We’ve been seeing VR amusement applications at IAAPA for the past few years, particularly last year with Finger Coaster and several others. This year I expect to see more VR than ever with Cesys, MediaMation, Universal Space, VRStudios, Zero Latency and others showing off new concepts.

I’ve been invited to attend a special demo for Zero Latency on Thursday; they also recently announced that they are teaming up with Main Event to open a warehouse sized VR base in Orlando. So I’ll let you know how that goes.

We also expect to see a number of motion simulator applications as usual so my camera will be on the prowl for those.

That’s it for now – thanks for reading and stay tuned for more from IAAPA 2016 this week!