Kevin Williams

Following on from the first part of our coverage of this aspect of the market, we continue to investigate the crossover between venue-based entertainment and hospitality. Never has the location-based entertainment industry seen such a multitude of new venue openings, seeming to reflect a spike in social entertainment interest from an audience hungry for local-entertainment. In this second part, we look at the wider international dimension, as well as the trends and issues shaping the deployment of technology, along with innovation in this sphere of the market.  US Eatertainment Consuming the Players The amusement and FEC sector saw a major shot in the arm over 2022, with many of the leading entertainment venue chains reporting strong numbers. Dave & Busters’, the “Eatertainment” venue chain, reported store sales rising to 13-percent, slightly lower than expected, but still strong, and with the […]

The continued momentum of changes in the international entertainment scene was reflected in two major trade gatherings during February. Along with the ICE London convention, the amusement industry held one of Japan’s leading trade events – revealing a changing landscape for an industry in transition.  Japan’s Amusement Returns All eyes turned to the Japan Amusement Expo (JAEPO) held in Tokyo in the first weeks of February. After a hiatus of some three years, the Shinky Zhang Messe International Exhibition Center Exhibition Hall 9/10 played host to the JAEPO event organized by the Japan Amusement Industry Association (JAIA). This was a pivotal point for the future of the trade and its supporting association. On the JAEPO’23 show floor there were 41 companies able to attend, and here is a rundown of the key players. SEGA Corporation – The Japanese amusement scene […]

Just one month into the New Year, and the ramifications of tectonic change are reverberating round the tech industry landscape. Major restructuring across all the leading social media, tech and entertainment corporations, with a new focus on how best to apply this technology into the commercial, entertainment and enterprise landscape, are underway. Microsoft Restructures XR Position Now some five-years since the ‘Microsoft 2018 LBE Summit’, held in San Francisco at the Microsoft Reactor venue, and the news greets us that, following the momentous layoff of some 10,000 Microsoft employees, much of the infrastructure purported to be focused on supporting the emerging VR LBE scene undertaken by ‘Windows Mixed Reality’ (WinMR) has been shuttered. The reality of the situation is still be played out, but the sacking of the complete development team at Microsoft’s ‘Mixed Reality ToolKit’ (MRTK) operation, has also […]

The need for the traditional amusement and entertainment operator and manufacturer scene to comprehend the buying needs of their Gen Z and Millennial customers has never been so vital. Looking at the launch of new “Social Entertainment” venues, and the looming growth is now forcing many traditionalists to take notice.   As reported in our EAG’23 coverage of the amusement trade event, several US execs from leading entertainment venue brands had made the trip to London – not merely to see the new amusement on offer, but also to visit the latest crop of Social Entertainment venues. Defined by some as “Competitive Socializing” sites, or Next-Gen “Eatertainment” venues, it is clear that the UK has become a launchpad for this unique new concept that is popularising Social Entertainment and hospitality with a brand-new mix. The Stinger Report has covered Social […]

We start the 2023 coverage in full, after completing our extensive IAAPA’22 reportage. Now we look at the first inklings of how the technology and entertainment scene will be developing in this new year of expected advancements, as we cover another mammoth trade convention. The premium event for all things to do with consumer electronics and technology in general, rang in the New Year as always and seemed to highlight the battle lines for the year ahead. The Consumer Electronics Show 2023 (CES’23), organized by the Consumer Technology Association, took multiple spaces across hotel and convention centers in Las Vegas, attracting an estimated 113,000 visitors. The importance of the event to be an arbiter of the coming market in troubled conditions was a vibe felt across the show. VR was one of those trends that seemed to be attempting to […]

The amusement and attraction trade regroups and restructures to start the 2023 season with a bang, and a purpose. The industry may have a calendar of events scheduled for the year, but the developments and trends on the various show floors are very much more than planned, with many new developments pointing to the new future for the industry internationally.  The first trade event of the 2023 season started with Entertainment, Amusement & Gaming International Expo 2023 (EAG’23), affectionately known in the trade as “The London Show”. Organized by bacta UK trade association for the amusement and FEC sector, it was held at the ExCel Conference Center and totalled some 70 exhibitors (17 of which were making their EAG debut), occupying 78 stands across 8,000 sqm of space. This was the first return to the traditional timing for the show […]

This marks the Seventh and final-part of this comprehensive International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA’22) convention coverage. The importance of licensing in the amusement mix was also underscored by Apple Industries, holding their 9th annual Keynote Breakfast that they have held to bring operators and show attendees up to speed on the latest developments from the photo capture specialists. The company revealed an exclusive licensing agreement with NASCAR auto racing entertainment brand – the licensing agreement coinciding with the 75th anniversary in 2023, of one of the most popular supported sports in the world. The company developing specialist livery photobooths, based on their platform incorporating the franchise, (one such example on the show booth), complimenting their already established Disney and Marvel Comics property machines. At the same time the Faceplace range saw the entry of a new platform […]

This marks the sixth part of our International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA’22) convention coverage. The crossover between traditional amusement and the interest in immersive technology saw “Immersive Amusement” products appear from many quarters. For example, as seen from LAI Games – the amusement powerhouse, with a major presence in the deployment of VR into amusement. Along with their amusement releases, the company launched the continuation of their partnership with HTC, employing their VR technology. The innovation ushered in by ‘Virtual Rabbids: The Big Ride’ cannot be underestimated in the amusement scene. Celebrating some five-years since its launch, and over 1,000 sales for the system, the latest update to the platform was shown to European attendees at IAAPA-EMA’22 with ‘Virtual Rabbids: Ultra HD’. As reported on during our IBE’22 coverage, the updated platform includes the new HTC VIVE […]

This marks the second part of our International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA’22) convention coverage. Moving into the increased innovation in entertainment and attractions, and the latest investment in “Simulators” and “SimRacing” was on display. The continued popularity of simulators in the amusement scene was reflected from two camps – for example, veteran manufacturer Maxflight presented their ‘VR2002’ range of systems, with their unique 360° motion envelope that still offers a compelling game experience.  Meanwhile, on the other side of the simulation and racing scene, we saw several leading SimRacing seats with motion, building on the popularity of the eSports and tournament racing scene. One of the larger attraction developers to embrace this scene was Brogent Technologies – known for their simulator attractions, the company came to IAAPA’22 with a selection of their immersive experiences. The first was […]

This marks the third part of our International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA’22) convention coverage. What was clearly a major trend on display at IAAPA’22 was the deployment of “Immersive Enclosures”. We would place them in the MR category, with their immersive screen technology, and there has been a growing trend in immersive display enclosures using projection and flat display technology. The enclosure systems using immersive displays were represented from several developers. One of the familiar exhibitors was Axiom Holographics with their ‘AXIOM’ platform, which we have reported on from IAAPA-EMEA’22 and many years of appearance. This is the holographic immersive display company that has seen its platform deployed in Australia.  One of the latest developments was the inclusion of “Computer Vision” to the experience, so able to track the player, and even place their representation into the […]