The Asia Amusement & Attractions Expo (or AAA 2024) in Guangzhou, China, has now wrapped up its second of three days. So, let’s take a look at more new arcade games that may be hitting the West soon.
Today’s post has a focus on UNIS, the other big Chinese amusement factory with many major links overseas. Like Wahlap they have appeared over a decade now in their own right at IAAPA, but their AAA lineup differs. As with companies in Japan, it has to fit the needs of their Eastern clientele.
UNIS do have a couple of new reveals here in video games, and of course plenty of redemption. We naturally look at that less on AH but there are also a few fresh videmption pieces to speak of.
Big thanks again to Shinichi Ogasawara from Sega Amusements for most of the photos and information you see below. If you missed our day one report from yesterday, where he provided us with a great deal on Wahlap’s booth, find that here.
UNIS
While wider recognition for Chinese arcade companies is still low among most out West, one of the slight exceptions is UNIS. Like Wahlap they have been around for a while now. They even own a decent direct presence by themselves in the US without much need for third-party distributors. UNIS also have some good connections to Japan, collaborating with Bandai Namco and Taito. Their biggest recent overseas deal though is the one they made with the Emoji company, which is reflected in one of their main booth displays:
Picture Book Land
Like Wahlap, one of UNIS’ biggest new reveals here is a four player trading card game made by them. But unlike their Kingdoms Fantasy card battler, this one is not in a similar 3D visual style to Minecraft Dungeons Arcade. It is instead rendered in 2D with a cartoonish Castle Crashers-like look, according to Oga. This is also a lot more kid-focused and not grounded in any sort of historical reality, as the Picture Book Land name seemingly suggests. It’s hard to define what it exactly is though, from what little we have to go off of here. Children’s fantasy storybook archetypes, perhaps? Or something else entirely?
Another thing that sets it apart from Minecraft Dungeons Arcade and Wahlap’s answer to it is the buttons. None are in the smaller, classic concave style and are instead fully those with lighting underneath them and function instructions. Slightly less comfortable for longer play, but I suppose they stick out more and help out kids or beginners with the controls:
There already appears to be three series of cards in different classes for it, making for 78 total. This is about the same as Wahlap, so at least they have the breadth of current content in common too. The QR code is for the game’s WeChat profile, so unless you want updates on it in Chinese, there’s not much reason to bother scanning this one:
Although still not a big license or anything, that ‘kidtainment’ aspect does give it a better chance outside of China than Wahlap’s new trading card game – in the event that UNIS does decide to bring it over here. As mentioned previously their Emoji stuff is being pushed hardest internationally as of right now, but the possibility remains of them trying this outside of China too.
Bigfoot Smash
The other new game UNIS showed off was a third release from them with the official Bigfoot license, which they seem to be making the most of at the moment. Bigfoot Smash serves as a mid-range three player option between the smaller Crush and bigger Mayhem. This idea of three steering wheels per cabinet also harks back to the likes of Super Sprint and Super Off-Road, albeit with a larger cabinet and seats. Those appear to have some motion, although this would be greatly scaled down from what Mayhem does. Someone at UNIS must be a fan of 2D or cel-shaded styles too, as according to Oga this employs the latter:
It goes without saying really, especially with the additional English cabinet already in the above photo. But this one looks destined for a Western release more than most. We’ll just have to see on how soon that is. It’ll most likely be one of the titles on UNIS’ IAAPA 2024 booth, at least.
Bigfoot Mayhem
UNIS also showed off their bigger Bigfoot game (for want of a better term) using the same two screen concept and part of the same hardware design as Raw Thrills’ Fast & Furious Arcade, which they distribute in China. At IAAPA 2023 they had these Super Deluxe units, but did not place them next to each other like here. This also has a wraparound marquee, which has no lighting but does the job:
Godzilla vs. Kong
With the Bigfoot games and their trading card battler aside, there isn’t any more video from UNIS. But there are a few more things of minor interest. Another recent licensed release at their booth that we’ve already seen, their Godzilla vs. Kong whack-a-mole can be seen in slightly different two player cabinets. The four player version was last at IAAPA 2023 as a non-playable prototype, but is available on their website.
Videmption
UNIS first and foremost sells redemption machines, and as a result always has a large range of videmption products too. Here there is some we’ve seen before (Ducky Splash, Raccoon Rampage, and just out of shot Lane Master Extreme). But at the back are three new examples: one only in Chinese, Scream Party, and Carnival. These all seem to be shooters of some description, and will likely be coming over soon:
Other
This section is going to be as brief as last time, since there still isn’t much out of the smaller companies officially or otherwise on most online platforms. But another one that has already posted some photos on Linkedin is HuoShi Chuan Yu Technology/Firestone Amusement/Gym & Fun. Excuse the several different names there, as these are all in use by them and they aren’t clear on which is definitive.
We’ve mentioned them once or twice before, but they are a newer name out of China, and are in large part responsible for the recent boom in shooting gallery videos. They made Top Gun, which came over to other countries in numerous guises. JET Games here in the US brought it out as Quick Shot, with other titles from both in the same mold and localized name following (Mega Shot, Big Shot etc).
One newer piece from them is a twin version of Top Gun. Acoording to Ted this should be coming to Europe soon as Skill Shooter II via Electrocoin (Skill Shooter being the name they released the original under, over there). It appears they are trying to branch out from that exact style now too, because as recently shown off at Amusement Expo by Amusement Source International, they are making Thunder Attack. This one was also already at GTI in China last year and went under our radar, but is also on show again at AAA.
That’s it for now. We’ll properly round up everyone else notable in arcades who attended (Ace Amusement, Playmore etc) and the machines that most interested Oga tomorrow, after the last day of the show is done and dusted. That way we should have enough to talk about for all of them.
In the meantime, which of the machines we’ve covered at AAA 2024 so far interest you most?
