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Loading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player... The first month of 2024 passed and developments abound in the reshaping and restructuring of the entertainment offering in the market. This is supported by a spate of Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) and the continued restructuring of business strategies towards the changed landscape of the market – in both commercial entertainment and consumer gaming. Acquisitions and Mergers Continue In the LBE operation scene, the latest acquisition was revealed with news that Ten Entertainment, operator of some 52 venues in the UK, comprising lasertag, bowling, escape rooms and amusement sites, was the target of a £287m takeover by US-based Trive Capital, an investment house with an interest in this sector. This represents one of the largest UK acquisitions for the year, and a continuing trend in the acquisition of obvious opportunities, as the market prepares for […]

Loading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player... Following on from the largest consumer electronics event which started the year and, a few weeks after, London would play host to the first of the major amusement entertainment trade events, charting the trends and expectations from the trade for 2024. London's Big Coin-Op Blowout The European Amusement & Gaming Expo (EAG’24) has become a landmark gathering for the UK trade and a smattering of European attendees from the amusement and gaming scene. Organized by bacta, the UK trade association, the event has charted the changing conditions of the UK amusement scene from its ATEI predecessor to the current show format. These year’s show, however, offered a positive snapshot of the state of the industry, and the opportunities that lie ahead for the sector. London’s premier amusement trade gathering acted as the starting pistol to […]

As we start 2024, the entertainment and technology landscape is front and center with developments from the largest of the consumer electronic events, along with developments in the scene targeting this major media event. The Stinger Report is one of the few from the sector with a presence at the event, to collect the trending developments related to our industry. Consumer Electronic's New Year Blowout The year starts with a gaggle of entertainment and technology events, one of the pivotal being the Consumer Electronic Show (CES). Owned and produced by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), the event saw some 3,500 exhibitors filling the Las Vegas west hall and numerous hotel suites, attracting an expected 130,000 attendees. The event offers consumer electronics, automotive and new technology trends, and has become a barometer of the year ahead. The drive to establish a believable business model for […]

For those who attended the show floor, the majority were wedded to their respective booths, or only able to gather a snapshot of trends spread over a handful of booths over the four days of hectic conference, show floor, and partying. Luckily, The Stinger Report, supported by our affiliates, was able to gather its usual detailed and exclusive rundown of key trends and developments on and off the Orlando trade floor. In this sixth and final part, we conclude looking at the news and developments the show threw up for the industry. XR Driving the Next Phase It would be impossible to circumnavigate the IAAPA’23 show floor without being struck with the reality that XR has defined the future of the business. Be it Gamification, Immersive Attractions, or the deployment of VR, the Extreme Reality landscape is driving the latest […]

For those who attended the show floor, the majority were wedded to their respective booths, or only able to gather a snapshot of trends spread over a handful of booths over the four days of hectic conference, show floor, and partying. Luckily, The Stinger Report, supported by our affiliates, was able to gather its usual detailed and exclusive rundown of key trends and developments on and off the Orlando trade floor. In the fifth part, we conclude the new amusement releases, and then look at the new developments the show threw up for the industry. Continuing New Amusement Opportunities Turning to Andamiro USA – as come to be expected, a slew of IP laden prize and redemption properties. New releases included ‘SuperStar2’ – a new prize merchandizer machine, the latest in a trend for amusement vending (Vendortainment), with a proven formula in […]

For those who attended the show floor, the majority were wedded to their respective booths, or only able to gather a snapshot of trends spread over a handful of booths over the four days of hectic conference, show floor, and partying. Luckily, The Stinger Report, supported by our affiliates, was able to gather its usual detailed and exclusive rundown of key trends and developments on and off the Orlando trade floor. In this fourth part, we look at Sim Racing, and the Race Center scene’s impact on the industry, and the first part of new Amusement business revealed at the show. Start Your Engines An aspect of the competitive social element is that of competition between players in tournaments and championships. One of those aspects of the eSports scene that has seen the greatest growth has been that of digital […]

For those who attended the show floor, the majority were wedded to their respective booths, or only able to gather a snapshot of trends spread over a handful of booths over the four days of hectic conference, show floor, and partying.  Luckily, The Stinger Report, supported by our affiliates, was able to gather its usual detailed and exclusive rundown of key trends and developments on and off the Orlando trade floor. In this third part, we look at Active Play, AR and Robots, as well as the new trends presented to the business, as with Social Entertainment. Let’s Get Physical The other major trend in the technology sphere seen at IAAPA’23 was a strong show of “Active Gaming” providers. Many of the Immersive enclosures could be described as active, and supporting this was exhibitor Valo Motion celebrating a wholly active […]

For those who attended the show floor, the majority were wedded to their respective booths, or only able to gather a snapshot of trends spread over a handful of booths over the four days of hectic conference, show floor, and partying.  Luckily, The Stinger Report, supported by our affiliates, was able to gather its usual detailed and exclusive rundown of key trends and developments on and off the Orlando trade floor. In this second part, we look at VR and the mix of Arena systems presented to the business. All the Fun of the Arena One of the popular presentations at the show was from Creative Works, once again creating a great buzz on their spiralling booth (which some nicknamed “candyland”), as the company presented a wide variety of VR, amusement, and LBE attractions. The big focus was ‘Limitless VR’ […]

The need to gain an idea of the impact on the industry that new trends and investments are having can be best achieved on the show floor of the big conventions. And nothing is bigger than this November trade event. We evaluate the highs and lows with a detailed six-part report. Show of Shows! The amazing 105th anniversary of the International Association of Amusement Park and Attractions European Expo (IAAPA’23), saw the Orlando County Convention Center (OCCC) play host to some 1,147 exhibitors – representing what some reported as over nine miles of aisles to traverse. All this, as well as a record number of conference sessions. The event was in support of the IAAPA trade association of some 6,000 memberships of executives, designers, consultants, and operators across the international parks, resort, attraction, amusement, and entertainment facility landscape. It was […]

Just before we are inundated by exclusive coverage of the trends and developments from the Orlando show floor with IAAPA 2023 – and we turn to developments in the consumer VR and IP scene with serious ramifications to the amusement and attraction scene.  Consumer VR Reality While we ready for IAAPA’23, and a show floor populated with successful commercial VR, we consider the following question: what about home VR, and its possible impact?  It has been reported by numerous sources that expectations for sales of consumer VR headsets have not been met. The reality of the high expectations of millions upon millions of sales of the current phase of VR headsets have not materialized – many are now feeling they were overly optimistic, if not delusional.  The highest selling consumer VR headset has been seen as the Meta Quest 2 […]