With Amusement Expo 2024 now well in our rear view mirror, it’s time to talk a little more about what was there. I’ve been busy editing and uploading videos to YouTube, so subscribe there if you want to see this stuff before I get around to a post. Still, it’s important to keep things going on the blog here, so let’s jump to it with some booth tours.
Note that these are not all of the booths that I filmed. I’ll follow-up with a second booth post once the rest are complete. If you are just here for pinball, jump to the bottom of the post.
Team Play Inc.
I’m going to start with this one, which might seem odd, as there is no video nor photos to share from their booth. This was due to a terrible situation that is every manufacturer’s nightmare. The semi that was transporting all of Team Play’s equipment to the show had an accident and thus their space was vacant. In speaking with Brian of Team Play, the company lost a substantial amount of money due to this incident – not just from the damages to the games, but to the lost sales opportunities.
Fortunately, Replay Magazine recently ran a front page article about what was supposed to be at the show. They were going to debut Gen 4 of their popular Pixel Pix photo booth, along with the latest version of their Photo Motion interactive kiddie ride. You can read up on that here. If you operate a location and have any interest in photo booths, please give Team Play a look. [No, I was not paid/compensated to say this – I just want to help them out due to what happened.]
Raw Thrills
Raw Thrills had a strong presence at the show and debuted three new pieces that weren’t at IAAPA: T-Rex VR Safari, Marvel: Contest of Champions, and Minecraft Dungeons Arcade 2-player. I’m still working on a video and post for T-Rex, hang tight there.
It should also be noted that from the AAMA awards that were held at the end of the first day of the show, Raw Thrills won Manufacturer of the Year. Congrats to them on the achievement!
Bandai Namco Amusements
While none of the games we’ve seen on test came to the show (Goldstorm Pirates, Bike Dash Delivery, Taiko No Tatsujin), Namco did have plenty of new pieces to show off. This was a little stronger on redemption, including the renamed TataTower Island, Lolly Crush, and Crab Rush. For video, they are bringing Animal Kaiser back with Animal Kaiser Plus. They also had the new Class of 1981 version for Pac-Man’s Pixel Bash along with a charity version of that game.
Stay tuned for a post on Animal Kaiser Plus, but until then, there’s this video.
Sega Amusements/Kaizen Entertainment
Sega on the other hand did a smaller repeat of their IAAPA booth. This allowed them to focus on the pieces that they really want to push. In talking very briefly with Marty at Sega, he said that they are still seeing record breaking sales.
As mentioned, I was disappointed to find that the Apex Rebels had not been updated to the latest, production version of the software. If you’re curious as to what that added, check out my post on the Motorland Sakura track.
LAI Games
LAI’s booth was configured in a different way than they’ve been doing for a long time now. For several years, they’ve had large brick façade walls along an edge or two of the space. This time, those were gone in favor of your more traditional booth setup. The game mix was similar to IAAPA with one exception – their new off-roading combat racer, SMASH. You can find a more detailed video of that one, here.
Stern Pinball
Stern’s configuration was also a little bit different than they usually do – it was kind of a Tetris-piece shape(not counting the private office room). They had a really cool arch fixture at the desk though. JAWS was the highlight of the booth, joined by Venom, Foo Fighters, James Bond 007, Avengers: IQ, and Stranger Things. The JAWS video is coming soon.
American Pinball
American didn’t have any walls setup at their booth (I imagine a giant bald eagle statue or a huge American flag would do the trick), but they did have most of their games – everything except for Oktoberfest. The highlight of course was the brand new Barry O’s Barbeque Challenge, of which there were four limited editions that you could play. I suppose it would have made sense for them to have a few grills setup as props too, but they were on a hectic show schedule due to the Texas Pinball Festival the week prior. This was also an opportunity to check out the unique Signature Edition of Galactic Tank Force, although every time I walked by their booth, it was being played. I’ll have a video of that up this next week(hopefully).
That’s a wrap – for now. Stay tuned to the social media and video channels for more!
The post Amusement Expo 2024: Booth Tours #1 [Team Play, Raw Thrills, Bandai Namco, Sega, Pinball] appeared first on Arcade Heroes.
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1 Comment
I am beyond excited for Amusement Expo 2024! The lineup of booth tours featuring Team Play, Raw Thrills, Bandai Namco, Sega, and Pinball has me counting down the days until I can experience all the latest and greatest in arcade gaming. I can’t wait to see what new games and innovations these powerhouse companies have in store for us. It’s going to be a gaming paradise, and I’m ready to dive in headfirst! Let the countdown to booth tours #1 begin!