The London EAG exhibition proved to be a worthy showplace for BANDAI NAMCO Amusement Europe Ltd, which occupied a central location with one of the strongest and widest ranges of product ever shown.
Perhaps it was not surprising that Star Wars™: Battle Pod™ / Standard Edition in a stylish flat screen version attracted a great deal of attention. Adored by legions of fans around the world, the Star Wars franchise is faithfully reproduced in this game.
This edition features a 42-inch LCD monitor rendered with Unreal Engine™, ensuring cutting-edge graphics technology. It will also be possible to connect two units together to allow friends to play in Co-op mode.The screen and seat is also tilted 20° to give players the feeling of piloting for greater immersion.
MotoGP™ simulator with authentic MotoGP™ motorcycles on a stunning HD 42” LCD Screen with front facing camera, also drew the crowds.
Up to 8 units can be linked together and online head-to-head, real-time racing will be revealed shortly. “MotoGP™ was a real showstopper and looks to be a contender for the hit title of 2016,” says BANDAI NAMCO’s Kjeld Erichsen.
Redemption hit Crossy Road from Adrenaline Amusements is proving to be massive for BANDAI NAMCO. Based on the hit App, Crossy Road requires players to navigate super highways and waterways in order to win tickets. Another retro phone game making the transition to redemption hit is Adrenaline’s Snaky Tickets, which also proved itself at the EAG.
“Crossy Road has been a huge hit in the UK. The strength of the brand is unbelievable” says John Crompton UK regional sales manager. “We have very high expectations of Snaky Tickets as well, which is the probably the first game any of us had on our Nokia mobile phones back in the day!”
SpongeBob Squarepants Pineapple Arcade from Andamiro proved to be a popular choice with visitors. It is a closed loop pusher, housed in a beautifully styled cabinet. It features collectible cards around the playfield with the player having to try to knock the cards off the tray. Players must skilfully time the release of a token through moving targets to drop tokens, win free plays, bonus tokens and score cards that fall over the edge.
Jennison’s Blizzard Blast was a real attention grabber at EAG. Five high powered motors blow the snowfall into a veritable blizzard and players must fill their hod to make it to the top in order to win big tickets.
Other highlights included Point Blank X a new title from BANDAI NAMCO – it is an updated version of a previous classic two-player shooting gallery style game with a novel kids’ mode. The game will be redeveloped into a western cabinet with ticket redemption.
“The original game was a classic of its time and now we have brought it back for a new audience with a ticket redemption feature,” says Julian Goicoa, International Business Development Manager at BANDAI NAMCO.
According to the Guinness Book of Records, PAC-MAN is the most recognizable video game character in the world and he continues to dominate the amusement machine offering from BANDAI NAMCO. The latest PAC-MAN themed hits include four-player PAC-MAN Air Hockey a stunning future classic with a backlit play field, which nostalgically resembles the original game screen.
Big PAC-MAN and Friends is the world’s largest ever PAC-MAN, developed by Raw Thrills and BANDAI NAMCO Amusements. The current version sports original PAC-MAN and Galaga in one and the final release will support co-op play. “This game seems likely to be a hit with environments outside of the core market, as well, such as bars,’ says Geoff Spencer Regional Sales Manager, BANDAI NAMCO Amusement Europe. “The 2m high LCD dot matrix screen is a real scene stealer and it can also be used to feature advertising via an USB plug-in.”
Brent Electronic was extremely pleased with the reaction to the Apple Industries Photo Studio Deluxe, which allows groups to take photos together. “We are testing this at the moment and the interest is very high,” says Steve Short. “This is not so much a photo booth as an interactive attraction.”
BANDAI NAMCO Prize Division launched its range of DC Comics plush at EAG, which manages to combine retail quality with leisure price. The release is timed to coincide with the new movie being released in March. Also on show were a new range of electronic goods and gift lines for both DC Comics and Star Wars. “I was pleasantly surprised at the high level of interest in the Star Wars prizes and the reaction to the DC Comics range was everything we hoped for,” says Darrell Simmonds, EMEA Sales Manager.
“We had an extremely good EAG, despite the earlier date,” says James Anderson, Sales & Commercial Director. “We had some very strong new titles such as MotoGP™ however Jurassic Park is still the number one earning video title in the market and continues to go from strength to strength. 2016 has certainly got off to an excellent start.”