Take a stroll around any FEC or venue offering amusement and entertainment these days, and you will encounter a vibrant mix of colors, lights, and sounds from a plethora of machines that promise fun and excitement, and perhaps the chance of a well-deserved prize to take home.
The customer journey in 2025 is as significant as ever, and with the term “experience” attached to nearly everything you can choose for amusements. To compliment that journey, and being people back for more, design has become a vital aspect of providing equipment and the plush items and prizes that drive the earnings behind most out-of-home entertainment venues.
In an exclusive interview, Steph Jones, Digital Design Manager at Bandai Namco Amusement Europe (BNAE), provides a behind-the-scenes look at the design process that fuels the company’s success. The experience creator explains more about the intricacies of developing engaging amusement machines that light up locations across the globe. This crosses over a little into Bandai Namco’s prize/redemption games, however, although the main focus is on their PAC-MAN “Street Range”, which I also think of as sports titles first, redemption second (since the latter is optional). We’d also like to thank Dan Snook at Square In The Air for his significant contributions on this post.
More Than Just Fun: The Strategic Design of Bandai Namco Amusement Europe’s Success
AH: There is a strategic importance to the design process behind product development, which is more careful and considered than outsiders might assume. They also might not know how it’s a key driver of business growth and market leadership. Do you believe this is reflected in the status of designers and design departments?
SJ: It often doesn’t feel that way! There is a definite misconception that the design process is short, simple, and straightforward, which isn’t true. A tremendous amount of hard work and talent goes into creating everything we produce, from machines to plush toys and prizes. For these creations to align with Bandai Namco’s esteemed history, reputation, and industry standing, it is not a part of the creation journey that can be rushed. Of course, achieving a balance between quality assurance and meeting tight deadlines to ensure a consistent supply of new and continually improved products is challenging, but our track record of delivery speaks for itself.
AH: Do the products you work on come from operator requests, or is Bandai Namco identifying industry trends and brainstorming products to match them?
SJ: It’s truly a blend of several factors. PAC-MAN Roller, one of our current best-sellers, arose from our recognition that the existing roller market was somewhat dated and could benefit from more valuable, fresh-looking products.
Around that time, legislation regarding bars in the Middle East changed, paving the way for street locations; this shift was another impetus for our PAC-MAN Street range, including Roller, Baller, and Slider.
All three were developed for the expanding global arcade bar market, proving that good ideas can indeed emerge from the bottom of a beer glass! We collaborated with our manufacturing partners to source suitable basic machines and thus began the design journey, eventually creating the products that people know and love worldwide.
The process doesn’t just stop there. Once a machine is shipped to operators, we frequently receive requests to accommodate further bespoke requirements, such as LED strips that embellish the sides of the playfield and display animations as the ball rolls up to neon headers spanning the banks of multiple machines.
AH: One of the most significant elements of a machine’s success is its overall design. A name or license attached to it can be important, but the design has to be equally eye-catching in a location to get customers to play. That is even more of a challenge given that every machine has to compete with a bevy of others, sometimes of a similar nature. How do you ensure that your products stand out amongst such competition?
SJ: One of our primary resources for creating proprietary products using our top-selling PAC-MAN licence is our range of Bandai Namco style guides. Our head office in Japan supplies us with a collection of branding guidelines, which, in total, number over 50 different themes. Within each is a variety of assets, including typefaces, colour palettes, patterns and samples of these on rendered products to inspire the creation of our machines, plush and prizes. The guides are not only a tremendously valuable tool for us to create with, but they also streamline the approval process, which would otherwise be lengthy.
AH: Ah yes, consistency in design creates a brand “voice” that allows people to recognize who made a product, sometimes without even seeing the brand logo.
SJ: Exactly. The standard design for PAC-MAN is ‘Classic’, which is the one that most people will recognize. The entire collection contains various themes that we can use, including seasonal styles like Halloween and Summer. It serves as a mine of resources that design teams worldwide can access and draw inspiration from for their projects.
One notable design journey was for our PAC-MAN Baller basketball product. Our Sales team felt a new version of our tried, tested and successful PAC-MAN Basket product would be a hit with their customers, so the task of developing a successor was undertaken.
Initially, the Neon style guide was suggested, and a mock-up was created. At the time, I was working in design across other business areas, and upon seeing the sample using the Neon style guide, I felt it could be elevated further by using another guide called ‘Stickerbomb’.
I approached the team, pitched my idea and was given the nod to see what I could develop. The new design hit the sweet spot immediately, and I renamed it to PAC-MAN Baller to reflect its styling. It was such a success with operators that the same style guide was used to create the Street Range of machines, which now includes PAC-MAN Roller and PAC-MAN Slider (air hockey). The range is now a firm favourite for players and operators, some of whom are grouping them in a specific area of their location, creating an on-brand section that features all the player favourites.
The Street Range has also impacted the US home sales market, with private buyers wanting to have the entire collection in game rooms that are even decorated with our complimentary PAC-MAN decor.
AH: Strong customer relationships are also crucial to growth. How significant is the role that operator feedback plays in this?
SJ: It’s hugely important. A perfect example of that is when PAC-MAN Slider was in its prototype stage. We had an early version of it at the EAG show in 2023 with a different name.
That version used a black-and-white pattern on the table surface, and I initially set the opacity level at 80%. One of our established operator partners commented that the design at that point made the puck a little challenging to see, and reducing the opacity could potentially improve the players’ experience. We followed up on the feedback and made changes that proved to be wise during testing.
This illustrates perfectly why distributing prototype machines early at events is a key part of the development journey. It allows experienced industry professionals and experts to see them before they go into mass production.
Pac-Man Roller can be seen at 2:12 in this video above; Pac-Man Slider is at 4:48; Pac-Man Baller very quickly at 5:03
AH: Are there any plans for additional games to join the Street range?
SJ: Discussions are underway about which other machines may be appropriate for the incredible PAC-MAN brand. Bandai Namco is always looking to expand its product range with innovative, fun new machines that will engage players and drive revenue for
operators. Using this street styling, Bandai Namco may expand the range to coincide with PAC-MAN’s 45th anniversary in May 2025.
AH: That’s right around the corner! We’ll keep our eyes peeled. Is there a design project that stands out for you personally?
SJ: There are a few, but perhaps one of the most fulfilling is our online crane brand, Wincha® (currently only available in the UK). I led the design on this from the ground up and had complete artistic control over it, so seeing it come to life has been incredibly satisfying! I also collaborated closely with my colleagues in our Prize division, who developed the popular Wincha® plush, in response to customer requests for additional Wincha® branded merchandise. I was responsible for approving it, so it was a pleasant change to have that dynamic between us rather than with external departments or companies!
Another cool project was PAC-MAN Roller because I managed to shoehorn a bit of popular culture into the design. The phrase “Rollin’ with the ghosties” adorns the side of the cabinet and is a nod to the movie Clueless, which I love, where the wonderful Brittany Murphy famously sings Coolio’s “Rollin’ with my homies”. So that’s a really nice little personal element that always makes me smile when I see it!
Once again, our thanks to Steph Jones of Bandai Namco Amusement Europe and Dan Snook of Square In The Air for taking the time to chat with us again, following our previous GoldStorm Pirates Q&A. Have you played one of the PAC-MAN Street Range games? If you’re an operator, how have they performed for you?
