IAAPA 2023: Previewing The Sega Amusements Line-Up

A week from today marks the opening of the show floor at IAAPA 2023, and to that end, I have more previews to share of the new arcade games that will be there. Next up is Sega Amusements, a name not unfamiliar to any of you readers – I presume. If you will be there, you can find them at booth #1006. If you won’t be there, then don’t worry – I will film their booth along with individual games so you can see how they operate.

Here’s their booth from last year. Note that the Augmented Reality darts system that debuted last time will be there again, I believe with a new game or game mode included.

Apex Rebels

As mentioned on the site here the other day, Sega Amusements and 3MindWave have joined forces once again to bring us an original and exclusive arcade title. Apex Rebels combines the power of an arcade cabinet with a motion base and Unreal Engine 5 graphics, although we’ve yet to see it in action in the form of a video. Hang tight… that will all be coming soon enough.

For an update, we do now have a trailer for Apex:

Hyper Cross

We’ve been talking about this game for a bit and now it is finally here, joining Apex Rebels as a racing game – but with snowmobiles instead of cars. Developed by the Taiwan-based IGS and Baohui, Hyper Cross comes in a twin configuration as you see here, the game priding itself by offering a huge array of character adjustments that you can decorate them with. There aren’t any other snowmobile games on the market right now so this could carve out a nice space:

Also note that in the release detailing their booth, they mention both Storm Rider 2 and VR Agent, but not Crazy Rafting nor Drone Racing Genesis. That doesn’t mean that the latter two won’t appear, but when you’re debuting a lot of new stuff, you only have so much space…

We also now have a Hyper Cross trailer:

Zombies! Ready, Deady, Go!

We’ve heard rumors about this one but it has been elusive – until now. There’s an ad in both Intergame and RePlay Magazine which show the game, as you see here below. It is a videmption game, using “derby-style” play. More details on this one have now been posted here. 

I’ve noticed derby games in the past, which I believe have been popular over in parts of Europe, but I’ve never really played them. I believe it works by rolling a ball down the lane and trying to get it into particular holes at the end. Depending on what you land, it will move your zombie so far. Whoever crosses the finish line first wins, and wins the most tickets.

It’s a little surprising that they didn’t use House of the Dead styling with this one, as there was a more cutesy take on that IP with House of the Dead EX/Loving Deads many years ago. I suppose it’d be even more of a thematic departure to have the zombies from that no longer out for living brains and instead racing each other though.

Bop It! Battle

This game was not mentioned in any previews, but listed to the Sega Amusements website later was something that’s been seen on test at Dave & Busters recently – Bop It! Battle. This takes the concept launched last year and turns it into a 4-player game.

Allstars Air Hockey

A new air hockey table is joining the ranks of the Allstars series. You may recall that they did Allstars Basketball, which uses a video screen. For this, the release states: “The entire playfield comes to life with vivid animated lighting, while the edge lighting not only adds to the visual appeal but also elevates the overall gameplay”. Not sure if that means LEDs embedded into the polycarbonate playfield or some kind of projection from above. If the latter, it doesn’t sound like it’s Sega’s pricey Heat Up Hockey from an age past.

Redemption & Prizes

For venues who invest a lot into redemption (which is pretty much everyone in the industry except for myself and a handful of other stragglers), there will be quite a few new options on display including BallZania, Skill Fall Revolution, Pirate Captain, Sync Pong, and a few new options for their Capto Crane machines. One of those includes Capto Candy, a rebranded Capto Crane that’s for… candy. You can pick your jaw up from off the floor now 😛 Joking aside, it does look super sharp.

That just about wraps up this Sega Amusements preview – I will be there with my camera and apart from filming the booth, will also be looking at individual games. Stay tuned to here and the AH YouTube channel for more details!