See The Games Shown At GTI Asia China Expo 2017

It is almost October and that means we are nearing trade show season – for the amusement industry anyways. Various trade shows were pushed back this year, probably to give developers more time to bring their games closer to a complete state.

The most recent arcade-related event took place in Guangzhou, China from September 13-15th. Known as the Game Time International Asia China Expo (GTI Asia China for short), this is one expo that we tend to cover vicariously through others that make it there as opposed to me flying out there to experience it. As such, it has taken a little bit of time for media to trickle into my hands. For previous coverage we’ve run of GTI events, click here.

One thing I have noticed from the pictures I’ve received/found, there is a lack of amusement VR content. While I’m certain there was some A/VR there, this is a change from what we saw last year when it was the hottest ticket in town.

Let’s take a look at this year’s offerings:

Universal Space (UNIS)

Chinese game maker UNIS sent out a press release about their successful set up at the show. They did show off new products, mainly of the redemption/videmption variety. One that we saw at IAAPA last year was Lane Master, their new bowling game that we have covered before but they also brought along a new version of their Kid-Tainment title Wildlife Pics:

We did see this game previously although some changes have been made to it since then. The primary change involves replacing the steering wheel with another camera so that both players can enjoy ‘snapping pictures’ of the animals they come across.

There are two versions of the game – a ticket dispenser or a card vending version.

For a pure redemption piece, they showed off Dizzy Lizzy. This is a ball launching game that can link 3 units together. Both of these games will be at IAAPA 2017.

A very low-resolution picture shows Cruis’n Blast motion in the background (first pic on this page) as well as Pin Setter, a bowling-themed redemption game where you attempt to set a bowling pin up straight on a moving platform. Don’t expect Cruis’n motion to show up here but we’ll see for sure what UNIS has in store for the West soon enough.

I have not found any info on what Andamiro might have taken as they were one of the exhibitors; I also don’t see Namco, Sega, or InJoy Motion on the list. They all have exhibited at this show in the past.

GTI Asia China Assorted Oddities

One challenge with Chinese-based shows is identifying who is making the product. It is often unclear when said manufacturer has never shown up to something like IAAPA or they are simply copying something else.

A big thanks to Greg Bacorn of Barron Games for sending most of these pictures my way.

Remember Ice Man? While I am unsure of who the Chinese developer to this game is, they have a Super edition of the game out there too. This features three guns instead of too and new side barriers. Guess we’ll see if Coastal brings this one out West too.

Also among water gun games (they’re so hot right now, in China) is one called Zombie Outbreak. The first pic is fairly small so it’s hard to see detail although it looks like this one might feature red zombie blood instead of green.

I’m sure Bay Tek would be interested to see this piece since it’s a pretty direct rip-off of their Dizzy Chicken game, just with a sea theme. Unless of course, BT licensed the concept out…but then I imagine it would still be Dizzy Chicken and not this: Bay Tek isn’t alone in having their concepts unofficially reused, here’s Star Meow (or Meow Star, whatever). It’s a rotary game that looks an awful lot like Zombie Snatcher by ICE:

Speaking of ICE, here’s a table that has the AirFX artwork on the surface but the cabinet is a little different. I’m also unsure of why the legs aren’t on although this could have been snapped during the setup or tear down phase. Now for something a little different (hurray), Greg mentioned that people were going crazy for ‘carnival’ style games at this show, so it looks like this particular game was a big part of it. Perhaps all of the excitement that had been surrounding VR was transferred here. At first, I thought this game was ten-target whack-a-mole but on closer inspection, I noticed that the chickens/ducks/bird things are set up to have rings tossed on them.

Further down the aisle were these bowling pusher games – not exactly sure of the proper name as I don’t see them very often. It reminds me of shuffleboard but with a bowling ball.

Here’s a table tennis concept where it appears you are supposed to hit the lit targets. A player cutout moves from side to side to offer some extra challenge. Beyond that, we’d need to see it in action to have a better idea of more features & functionality.

One vendor also drew attention to themselves with a showgirl/pole dancer – something we’ve seen photobooth makers do here at one of the Vegas shows before.

Beyond what Mr. Bacorn gave us, I did a little poking around and found a couple of other items of interest. While I couldn’t find any media of their GTI 2017 booth, we can assume that one of the latest items on their websites was there to play.

Sealy Game is a company that I’ve seen at IAAPA a few times (there was Flashlight of the Evil; Chaos Generation) but I can’t remember if they were at IAAPA 2016 or not. Sealy was a part of the 2016 VR craze from the last time I recall visiting their website, now they seem to be moving away from that and focusing more on Mixed Reality (MXR) devices such as interactive walls, floors, pool tables, and even trampolines. This isn’t a surprise as MXR & AR are ultimately more versatile in what you can do with it in the amusement business than wearable tech.

Another company by the name of Arccer has a 14 player fishing game that uses an enormous screen. Now that’s taking fish-demption seriously:

While I couldn’t find a picture of their booth at the show, this company known as Xin Xing Ya Game is big on balloon amusement games. One of their latest items involves stepping on balloons in a small pen

That’s all I was able to scrounge together from the GTI Asia China Expo this year but I know that there was much more to be found at the show.

Stay tuned for next week when the AAMA Gala takes place in Illinois. The Gala is happening a bit later than usual but I know for sure that we’ll be getting some of our first previews of product that will be at IAAPA, including a revision of Catch The Light Frenzy, possibly a new shooting game by Sega, and more.