GTI Asia China Expo 2023 Review

The first major amusement-related trade show since the International Bowl Expo has just wrapped up and while I was not able to attend the GTI Asia China Expo, we’re able to gather some info together to pass along to you as a review of what was there and a preview of some products that might find their way to Western shores.

It was held in Guangzhou, China but with the attendees, some of these companies might not sound familiar to you. Big thanks to Ted on the AH Discord and Oga Shi on Twitter for much of the info here. I’ll start off with Wahlap since they are advertisers on the site, then go from there:

Wahlap Technology

They had quite a large booth to show off a number of new products, including Japanese licenses for China like Taiko No Tatsujin, Chunithum, and InitialD. A tournament was even held for the latter on that list. Here’s a highlight reel; There’s this one too that shows a few more titles but it’s in vertical mode:

The newest video game is one I discussed in this post, Asphalt Moto Blitz DX:

Ace Amusements

This company has seen a lot of their games get official representation in Europe and the States through different distributors. They will have a large 30×20′ booth which might replicate their GTI booth.

Jet Ski Madness

A new video game debut that looks intended for the West that brings back a type of game that isn’t super common in the biz, the personal watercraft racer. The last time we saw such a game was Jet Blaster by Wahlap & Sega. This one has the player standing instead of sitting down, however. Source for the pic:

Arccer Amusement

Here’s another MaiMai clone, called Dance Cube 4. Arccer ran a tournament for it, as pictured here:

They also had a Dance Rush clone called Dance Battle:

Attending the 15th GTI AISA CHINA EXPO（Sep 11th-13th） pic.twitter.com/x35Edwg0zp

— Nicole Toyamor (@softoysupplier) September 12, 2023

Playmore

I’m not familiar with this company but UK distributor UDC was there and will be importing their games to the UK – or at least the redemption game pictured in the photo.

Yuto Games

This company has been getting better at producing original creations, although there is still work for them to do in that regard. They brought a mix of video amusement & redemption pieces to the show; I also forgot until seeing some games in the background of their booth that they now own all of the InJoy Motion product and still produce some of those titles under different names. There were two racers at their booth (Showtime and Volt) I haven’t seen before but I can’t find any info on them and don’t know if they are rebadged games or original. They will also be at IAAPA 2023.

Unsure

Since I can’t read Chinese and there is no identification on some of these games or who made them, they’ll go here:

Here’s a new video pinball game called Mini Pinball. This a pinball machine (although from this photo I can’t see the flippers), ticket redemption and prize merchandizer all in one. With the machine on the right it seems that they are hoping to target it for the Western market but it depends on who it is that’s making it (possibly UNIS – who was at the show but I haven’t seen anything from them as to what was there)

チケットペイアウトのミニピンボール。ピンボールはスキル性がめっちゃ高いので、リデンプション系には不向きだと思うのだが、まあ俺は好きだからいいよ！ pic.twitter.com/GLlkMzzpC7

— oga (@oga_gicho) September 11, 2023

Here’s a gun game although it appears to be fully wireless. Hard to tell what it’s about, other than a shooter.

レーザーガンも含め、やたらデザインがガチである。 pic.twitter.com/bsR8esFabn

— oga (@oga_gicho) September 12, 2023

It’s taken a while but following up on Taito’s OnPoint airsoft/BB gun game, there were a few BB firing pieces at the show; Here’s a link to another.

オガさんの広州アミューズメント機レポート

中国ではBB弾ゲーム機がなぜかやたら目につくようになったのだが(おそらくタイトー製のガンアリーナが火をつけた)、軍がある国で独自発展してしまっているのだ。 pic.twitter.com/BDMfl2txFJ

— oga (@oga_gicho) September 12, 2023

Here’s a boxing/punching game although it doesn’t appear to have any video component to it; This is quite the presentation for it though:

やり過ぎだと言いたくなる、パンチングマシンのディスプレイ。 pic.twitter.com/4Co4YYXCzW

— oga (@oga_gicho) September 11, 2023

Along with that Jet Ski game that Oga Shi posted about above, he included this fire fighting game which takes some inspiration from Sega’s old Brave Firefighters (Oga Shi was the producer for many of Sega’s arcade shooters, although not for BF). I’m not sure if this was a part of Ace Amusement’s line-up or not; It’s not listed on their website and AA doesn’t have much of a social media presence:

Here’s a motion simulator that per the translation has a Sega Galaxy Force vibe to it, although that isn’t clear from the brief video

現代版ギャラクシーフォースヽ(=´▽`=)ﾉ。 pic.twitter.com/2aAYZoqqRB

— 熊　蔵 (@kumazou7) September 11, 2023

A new racer that’s a sequel, although I can’t recall seeing Furious Speed before. It looks like someone is using AI to do the promo art in the marquee and the booth – perhaps they did so in some of the game development too? Source.

Here are some generic cabs that one can put anything into, although as Oga Shi mentions in his tweet, the software included is questionable:

That’s all I was able to find – if there’s something I missed, please let me know and I’ll add it here.

Do any of these games interest you?