Every March, the amusement industry holds a tradeshow that is sponsored by the AAMA and the AMOA. While a smaller event than what we see at IAAPA every November, this gives us a chance to see the newest arcade games running the most recent software. The March show also tends to have a surprise or two.
I will be there tomorrow to get a rundown of the show but in the mean time, here is what to expect along with some guesses on our part to fill in the blanks. Note that we are focusing on companies with known video games or videmption titles around. You can see a floor plan of the show by clicking here.
Adrenaline Amusements
This company tends to announce games prior to shows and I haven’t heard anything from them yet. My assumption in that case is we’ll see a redux of IAAPA on a smaller scale with Crazy Tower and Crossy Road Arcade on hand. They did show off a Disney-fied verision of Crossy Road at EAG a short time ago so perhaps that will be there. We’ll also get to see if Shooty Skies will be hitting the manufacturing line or not.
Andamiro
They will be showcasing the shipping build for Pump It Up Prime 2 while introducing a new licensed redemption game called Paw Patrol. This is based on a popular kids show on Nickelodeon. Not sure if we’ll see that new TMNT redemption game or not.
Bandai Namco
I have not come across a show preview from Namco yet and I did reach out to confirm that both Maximum Tune 5 and their 4-player pusher machine DC Super Heroes will be there. 1 other new product will also be unveiled for the first time but they are holding that for a surprise – all I know is that it is something licensed. My guess is a redemption/videmption piece.
Barron Games
The first show that this company appeared at was the March show way back in 2008. At the time they were focused on air hockey but they are currently diversified by getting into other genres. They will show off some of their latest videmption, sports and kids titles (Fly O’Clock, World Tour Foosball, Dolphin Star, etc) along something new. Whether this is for two or four players, we’ll know soon enough:
Bay Tek
A few years ago, Bay Tek introduced a Battleship videmption game at the March event but after one other appearance, the game disappeared into the prototype ether. We can assume that Dallas will feature a downsized version of their IAAPA booth but there could be a new surprise or two. They have tested out various videmption games that we haven’t seen apart from random social media sightings so perhaps we’ll see one of those or something entirely new.
Coastal Amusements
I haven’t heard of anything new from Coastal so expect to give their Atari Breakout game that launched last year a spin. They will also likely have a few of their other videmption games on hand like Subway Surfers
Incredible Technologies
It tends to use this show for holding worldwide championships on titles like Golden Tee so I expect to see that with GT2017. They also tend to have the most recent editions of Silver Strike Bowling or one of their new videmption pieces. They haven’t introduced a new video game in a while now so I don’t have any expectations there but you never know.
Raw Thrills
This will be similar to the IAAPA booth, assuming fewer cabinets to take up a little less floor space. Per this Facebook post, expect to find Cruis’n Blast, The Walking Dead, Space Invaders Frenzy and MotoGP on hand. I reached out to RT for comment as to whether or not some additional surprise might be there but as of this writing, nothing to share.
I do hope that we’ll get our chance to see the new Splash! game that was playable at EAG 2017 (pictured). I won’t place bets on that hope however as I also assumed that we would see Killer Queen Arcade in Vegas last year and it could only be found off-site. Perhaps we’ll also see the Choppy Wood videmption game which was shown at EAG too.
Sega Amusements
Sega has sent out a few emails touting their video line-up which will naturally include: Daytona Championship USA; Let’s Go Island Dream Edition & Target Bravo: Operation GHOST. We can assume that some of their redemption/videmption product will be on hand too.
I’m hearing through the grapevine that Daytona will MSRP for $9000 per unit (not including tax, shipping). Not sure if that includes a 4-speed shifter or if that will be an option. I’ll be sure to ask tomorrow. In the mean time, I got my hands on the new flyer for the game but it appears to be using the IAAPA version cabinet – unless they have decided to change the dashboard back to grey (it was red at EAG 2017).
Stern Pinball
Stern had a pretty elaborate booth for CES 2017…here’s hoping that they reuse that set for a more impressive display than usual. Batman was nowhere to be seen at IAAPA 2016 so perhaps it will show up here. Otherwise I imagine that Aerosmith will be there and a couple of Stern’s other titles that are still being manufactured (such as Ghostbusters).
Team Play
I expect to see a booth showcasing their new Launch Code videmption title along with the latest version of their photobooths. A March show or two ago they unveiled an upgrade to their popular Fishbowl Frenzy game so perhaps something like that will happen again.
Unit-e Technologies
Unit-E had a very nice booth for IAAPA and I expect their Dallas setup to follow the same pattern. Barring any surprise game announcement, expect to see NEON FM and World’s Fastest Drummer.
Universal Space (UNIS)
UNIS has become a fixture at trade shows over the past few years and per usual, I expect that their selection will be primarily focused on their latest redemption/videmption games. I’ve not seen an announcement of what to expect from them so just going off past experience where their March show selections had few if any video titles to check out. If a new video game does show up, it would likely be Ultra Race that we saw at IAAPA or maybe they will bring a smaller version of the Omni Arena VR.
Zero Latency VR
I was surprised to see this company on the floor plan. VR is something expected at IAAPA but I do not recall seeing any VR companies setting up shop in Vegas last year. It is a small booth however so don’t expect an arena to play in.
Anything Else?
Unless I overlooked them, I don’t expect GlobalVR to be there. I’m convinced they are closed for business at this point as they last time we saw anything from them was the end of 2015. I do not see Jersey Jack Pinball or Heighway Pinball on the floor map which is a shame. That doesn’t mean that they will be completely absent – sometimes a company will team up with someone else. But it does seem unlikely that either will be there to show off their latest pinball machines. Heighway is at a show in Italy with Alien, so I guess that is taking up their interest for the day.
After giving the floor map one last look, I caught a small booth for Whirlwind VR on there so that means a little more VR will be had.
Apart from that, we’ll see some stuff for laser tag, redemption and other amusement industry services. What are you hoping to see there?
