#1223 – IAAPA 2024 Trade Show Bonanza – Part 3

This third part of our four-part coverage of the at IAAPA (International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions) Orlando 2024 – and we focus on the social entertainment mini-golf scene, and on amusement applications revealed.

AI Constructed Brief

Part Three – At IAAPA Orlando 2024, the focus was heavily on the burgeoning social entertainment sector, particularly through innovative mini-golf applications and interactive amusement solutions. Companies like Greenspan introduced tech-infused platforms such as ‘Puttify,’ enhancing traditional mini-golf with digital scoring and social interaction capabilities, showcased notably through their partnership with Topgolf’s new facility. Numerous exhibitors demonstrated advanced interactive systems, from AR-enabled games to gamified experiences like ‘Neon Bowling’ and ‘PlayBox.’ Recognizing the shift towards competitive socializing, traditional amusement manufacturers like ICE and Jersey Jack Pinball unveiled products designed to attract a more social audience. The event signalled a pivot within the amusement industry towards integrating technology, competitive play, and social interaction into their offerings, with established brands like SEGA and BANDAI NAMCO also updating their portfolios in response to evolving consumer preferences. Investors should note the increasing trend of traditional manufacturers adapting to this fast-growing segment, particularly with innovative concepts in competitive gaming and interactive experiences.

Full Stinger Report

Social Entertainment

Across the aisles and mini-golf continued to grow from exhibitor Greenspan and their ‘Puttify’ platform, their tech-infused application. This promotes robust embedded tech in their unique courses – with scoring and supporting social entertainment implementation in venues. The company is seeing the first installation, using the nine-hole course configuration of the platform, at ‘Revel & Roll West’ in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

The deployment of mini-golf as a secondary attraction to established social entertainment offerings was best illustrated with the announcement that the new $26m Topgolf facility in Jackson, Mississippi, will include a mini-golf course, developed in this case by Greenspan. This is a complete circle on the previous Topgolf executive board’s position on adding mini-golf as a compliment to the golf shooting range brand. The previous management unhappiness with the idea caused the original founders of the Topgolf concept to leave the board and go and start the Puttshack concept. An embarrassing admission of missing the boat sees the company now pivot to including their own mini-golf offering. With Topgolf being cut from Calaway Golf to become intendant, reversal on previous thinking can be expected as the company must achieve better revenue to survive in a crowded ecosystem.

More traditional mini-golf development was on offer from exhibitors such as Castle Golf, with their innovative design – now incorporating scoring and digital elements via their ‘Smart Scoring’ technology and employed in the ‘Putters’ tech-infused platform. Exhibitor PuttBrothers also took space to promote their 20-years of developing the ultimate mini-golf experiences with unique themeing.  Holovis was present in force at the IAAPA’24 event, presenting their ‘360Golf’ platform – the tech-infused mini-golf system comprises scoring and interactive elements across the mini-game course, and has actively started to be rolled out across several venues. Meanwhile, RemarkaBall announced that AGS (Adventure Golf & Sport) would be the exclusive North American sales agent for the property.

The more conventional interactive floor- and wall-based tracked entertainment system was seeing a major resurgence in the market, with numerous examples across the Orlando convention site. Examples included Time Mission and their ‘Mission Box’ – a dedicated enclosure for their highly active entertainment platform. The company operates its own stores as well as providing licenses to third-party operators – of their multiple interactive skill games, for up-to-five players. These are run as standalone attractions at some five locations. The company was also promoting ‘Dart City’ – a gamified darts system with automatic scoring, also looking at a social entertainment perspective.

Providers of interactive floor systems abounded – on the Battle Company booth, the ‘Flash Pads’ interactive floor system was being put through its paces. The company was also showing a new smaller variation of the system (‘Temple Escape: Arcade’) with smaller screen and ticket jackpot and card swipe pedestal. While Pixel Games also had their illuminated game floor system being actively demonstrated. These were also included on the Korean Pavilion, organized by the Korean Creative Content Agency (KOCCA) booths, and DIDIM came with their projection floor game and fitness platform, offering a selection of compelling experiences. The growth of floor project platforms in fitness, playground, and exercise applications is a growing trend.

Editors’ Notes – Some sources reported from the show that heated discussions between exhibitors and show organizers were held over claimed patent infringements by one of the interactive floor companies. Detail on these allegations proved difficult to nail down, as well as confirmation if one exhibitor was forced to shutter their booth – we will continue to investigate this story.

PLAYMIND – had a strong presence with their ‘PlayBox’ multiplayer ball-throwing LED screen game, supported by the large version and the amusement focused variant. The company was also discussing its new attraction, based on its screen technology, called ‘PlayBooth’ – an immersive enclosure experience, offering the form-factor that The Stinger Report has been discussing as a growing genre. The company also promoted its other new concept of ‘YouPlay’ – a fighting game experience with tracked player body movement and big screen audience appeal. We hope to report more on this concept, which reminded us of the early Holoplex ‘Combatica’ body tracked combat game from 1999.

The fitness and exergaming aspects of the sector were demonstrated by exhibitor CSE Entertainment and their range of fun and compelling active entertainment systems. These ranged from the ‘iWall’ motion tracked system, placing the players in the game, to the ‘CycloBeat’ and ‘RunBeat’ active game platforms. The players use their peddle and running stamina to power their onscreen characters and can steer their progress. This is a fun application of the active entertainment experience. Edutainment and playground application of digital projection experiences was also presented from Breeze Creative, with their AR sandpit platform and their interactive projected floor and wall systems.

It was interesting to see the number of amusement manufacturers who have now pivoted to social entertainment configuration for new and existing releases. We will speak on SAI and their representation of the 501 Entertainment brand, but other exhibitors also had their offerings. Darts in its social entertainment configuration was presented by Dartsee – the gamification extending to a tournament automatic scoring capability. The built-in camera and selfie profile creator is offering a hospitality and entertainment venue option.

Jersey Jack Pinball – away from their new pinball releases, one of the most compelling competitive socializing releases presented at the Orlando show came from the pinball manufacturer. ‘Pinball XP’ is a five-pinball table enclosure, comprising a live camera, picking up the table’s playing field and repeating the action on 65’’ screens mounted above. Along with the scores being recorded on the screen, the XP machine includes a live tournament feature, with top scores awarded tickets to be entered into a live draw – all the machines use card activation to record player details. The system was developed working in partnership with Creative Works (the framework of the system) and Diverted River (creating the firmware and content).

While a video camera pointed at the playing field of a pinball table is not a new idea, seen employed in championship matches, the concept addresses the needs of “Barcades” and “Social Entertainment” sites to run pinball and still be accessible to an audience, not having to fight to look over players’ shoulders, while also offering a competition element. This simple presentation of pinball as a competitive socializing platform singled this product out as concept of the show for The Stinger sources. So popular a concept by those who saw the system, the show demonstrator was sold off the booth to ‘Full Tilt Arcade & Pinball’ in Indiana – even though the production version of the machine is set to be available in February 2025.

Another amusement product breaking the mould of competitive socializing investment – Incredible Technologies exhibited at IAAPA’24 and revealed the latest update to their ‘Golden Tee Golf’ and ‘Silver Strike’ properties. The company revealed plans towards expanding its competitive league business. The hospitality sector has invested heavily into the popular tournament game platform. The platform is also associated with “National Golden Tee Tour” and “World Championship” (with its $175,000 prize port) – organized in partnership with Power Events. IT revealed they have between 18,000 to 20,000 active Golden Tee machines in North America. The company has now signed competitive gaming agreements with amusement operators such as Dave & Buster’s and Buffalo Wild Wings, as they expand their investment in competitive play. IT is looking to grow its league and championship business with the proto-eSports competition platform.

One of the most surprising new releases with a focus on social entertainment was from veteran amusement and redemption house Innovative Concepts in Entertainment (ICE) – along with a raft of new redemption and videmption pieces, the company gave pride of place to ‘Neon Bowling’, a string-bowler game system, configured for deployment as a social entertainment attraction, even with seating elements combined into the design. It is able to support up-to-four players per lane, with network capability – a major departure from the more traditional amusement styling. It is seen by many as marking the beginning of a pivot by the traditional amusement trade to try and carve out a place in the emerging competitive socializing sector they have so long neglected.

As seen at the European IAAPA gathering, a major representation of bowling machines and manufacturers attended the IAAPA Florida event. The likes of US Bowling, Qubica AMF, Brunswick and the BPAA all took space and entertainment interested attendees. The growth in boutique bowling in social entertainment is playing a major factor in crossover development.

Another company that has pivoted heavily into the social entertainment scene with much success is Lasertron – the company exhibited both its AR-enabled ‘Krazy Axe Throwing Experience’ (using a projected target and scoring) and its ‘Krazy Darts’ experience – both incorporating the special enclosure, seating and scoring, along with projection mapping to offer a fully gamified experience.  Exhibitor Champ Throw Interactive presented at the show their AR axe throwing enclosure system, with live automated scoring and a selection of projection target games for social entertainment – all run off touchscreen kiosks. The company is working on a darts-based system, and a version using Velcro toy axes.

Amusement Contingent

Exhibitor SEGA Amusement International (SAI), presented by Kaizen Entertainment, had yet another crowded booth, with the latest in entertainment pieces from prize, redemption and video amusement. The big reveal for the company was ‘Alpha Ops VR Strike’, co-developed with partner studio 3MindWave. The game follows on from the mounted gun and viewer concept. This latest version now includes a motion ride element, along with the shooting vision. It was later revealed that the game on the show floor was a production prototype, with the game only 70-percent complete (preview software), missing the end boss battle and other elements, but offering a good representation of the final release which will be seen at EAG’25.

The unique hand-held VR viewer approach was mirrored across numerous booths during the show. Chinese developers included Yuto Games, and outside manufacturer Oculeap – who showed their unique design ‘Zombie Frenzy’, with upright cabinets with the VR viewer-gun approach. SAI also had representation into the competitive socializing scene with 501 Entertainment and their ‘Augmented Reality Darts’. The platform has taken the social entertainment landscape by storm, with numerous operations running the system.

Speaking of SEGA, and before IAAPA’24, the Japanese amusement trade held their Amusement Expo Tokyo event – the rebranded JAEPO trade gathering moved from February to November. The event saw the first presentation of the new SEGA Fave operation, the combination of the SEGA amusement and toy divisions.

While not given a prominent space, SEGA Fave launched the new ‘Virtua Fight eSports’ piece – launched for their All.Net platform. While also marking the anniversary of the UFO Catcher property.

Returning to IAAPA, and a little confusion was caused with the holding of the Licensing Hall in the North Hall. The “Attendees Lounge – Sonic Chill Zone” was to promote licensing and IP application in the sector and was sponsored by SEGA – but not SEGA Amusement International, but the SEGA Corporation (owners of the brand, but not connected to the amusement division). Many perplexed visitors to the show caught up with The Stinger Report representatives, asking them what was going on between the two SEGAs – especially as both denied any knowledge of the other’s attendance, adding to the confusion.

BANDAI NAMCO Amusement America (BNAA) – the American satellite of the Japanese amusement, toy and video game giant offered a heavily populated booth space. Amongst many of the previously seen releases, we also saw the long-awaited, and much rumored ‘Gold Storm Pirates’ environmental cabinet experience – with motion bench seating and mounted gun action, as with the previous 2009 ‘Deadstorm Pirates’ prequel. Unusually, the enclosed environmental cabinet had been cannibalized for a “soft-top” approach – a more open design, while still including the motion bench seats for two players and the mounted gun and action wheel.

Another video that was much rumored to be in development for Western application made landfall at the Florida show. BNAA revealed ‘Taiko no Tatsuiin’ – the popular Japanese drum game, comprising some 800 songs to play, and supported by online connectivity for competition mode. There was some confusion from information offered from some sources on the BNAA booth, regarding if the machine would be receiving a full or limited release – and if the game would be launched with a monthly subscription for access to the online service. We hope to be able to get definitive answers to these points during EAG’25 – where the game will be revealed to the UK trade.

This marks an important point for rhythm and music game resurgence in the Western market – long overlooked and a bone of contention with many distributors. IAAPA’24 marked a serious turning point for music games in amusement, with examples from Andamiro USA and their popular ‘Pump It Up – Phoenix 2024’ series, the evergreen Step Revolution ‘Step Mania’ system, which was seen at the show in a new deluxe cabinet. And now, BNAA is throwing their hat into the ring with the Taiko series. Are we about to see the return to popularity of the music game series? Many will have seen, in our IAAPA EMEA 2024 coverage, that the Electrocoin booth also had the KONAMI ‘Dance Dance Revolution’ platform on display, hinting that KONAMI was looking again at Western appearance. Now dependant on licensed music, social media support and online connectivity, the amusement trade will have to man up if they are to grasp this opportunity.

In another major showing by Betson Sales representing the Raw Thrills product line at IAAPA Orlando, parent company Betson Enterprises celebrated 90 years in business and 20 years of partnership with Raw Thrills. And marking this successful partnership was the competed (full chapter versions) of ‘Godzilla Kaju War VR’ and ‘King Kong VR II’ – the tethered two-player VR ride simulators have ploughed a successful path and, with the updated game content, have cemented their repeat play aspects. One source suggested that the Godzilla VR experience was one of the most profitable amusement revenue generators in the market currently, proof that VR “done right” is a strong earner.

LAI Games – the rumors were confirmed on the show floor following hints during IAAPA EMEA, and the company represented the Environmental Cabinet shooter with ‘Kaiju Rampage’. The two-player mounted shooter, now rebranded from the original ‘Monster Hunter 3’ title, enters a crowded Environmental Cabinet market. The booth had the new version of ‘Virtual Rabbids – Ultra HD’ that may have been overlooked by many of the hurried attendees to the show, but this game represented the updated version of the game, now comprising the DPVR headset system, removing the point of failure issues with the previous provider. A new lease of life to a stalwart earner. This was one of two VR products on the LAI booth, although the company was linked to rumors of working on another new VR title to be revealed in the coming weeks. The other VR game on display, and in another example of the close affiliation with WAHLAP, was the VR version of ‘Asphalts 9’.

WAHLAP is celebrating its 35th anniversary in the sector. The Chinese manufacturer and developer was exhibiting at the show on its own booth and included the VR racer and Environmental Cabinet – along with a range of other previously-released titles. ACE Amusement was fresh from a compelling presentation at the IAAPA-EMEA event, with the company showing off the range of their new videos and Videmptions. No new surprises from those who were seen in Amsterdam – wowing the North American attendance and cementing their position as growing players in the amusement scene.

UNIS Technologies – rocking a two-booth approach at this year’s show, and both were filled to the brim with new investment. The company entered the crowded kiddie kart scene with their ‘Monster Kart’ racer, configured for younger players – with a four-player network version of the colorful racer on show. This was supported by Videmption, with products like ‘Carnival Shot’ – mixing prize payout with video shooting action. The big video release from the company was front-and-center with ‘Salor Quest 2’ – the latest version of the ride simulator VR experience that originated the mounted shooting VR approach. The system was using the DPVR headsets. The action was like the original but offering new bosses and locations to explore. It will be interesting to see how this goes up against the other offerings in these genera. These ride VR simulators and Environmental Cabinets are vying for the same real estate.

Also in the new video releases, although seen briefly in our previous Chinese show coverage – ‘Dino Storm’ offered paddling video game action, in a game reminiscent of the 1997 NAMCO’s ‘Rapid River’. A repeated observation from many of the Chinese manufacturers, offering new reinterpretations of popular 1990s video amusement genres. exA-Arcadia, developer of the arcade cabinet platform, representing some 30 titles, took a space at the Orlando show and, along with their conventional Western cabinet styling, the operation revealed their new Candy Cab styled cabinet (the ‘ARC-32’). The new units feature the player configuration and ability to swap the screen from portrait and landscape to accommodate the selection of games.