Industry Awards Announced at Amusement Expo
AAMA Lifetime Achievement Award -Al Kress, Benchmark Games owner/co-founder and past AAMA chairman, received the AAMA Lifetime Achievement Award. Kress has been involved at all industry levels (game operator, distributor, and manufacturer). Benchmark Games has produced and continues to produce many of our industry’s top earning redemption games as well as cranes, merchandisers, sports and automatic prize dispensers.
Excellence in Family Enterainment Center Awards – Tourist Attractions & Parks and Foundations Entertainment University presented two awards this year recognizing family/leisure entertainment centers. The Funplex (East Hanover, NJ) won for Best Renovated FEC and Edison’s Entertainment Complex (Edwardsville, IL) won for Best New FEC.
Play Meter Operator of the Year – Mary Lavine of Bullseye Inc. in Madison, Wis., received the award during the opening ceremonies for Amusement Expo. Lavine’s career in coin-op began 30 years ago with 13 dart boards. Along the way she added jukeboxes and other coin-op equipment and built a business of pool and dart leagues and tournaments.
Play Meter Operator Choice Awards – Play Meter presented its Operators’ Choice Awards in seven categories voted by operators who fill out the annual State of the Industry Survey. Winners for 2012 are: Best Video Game: Big Buck Hunter HD, Raw Thrills/Play Mechanix; Best Pinball Game: AC/DC, Stern Pinball; Best Touch Screen Countertop: ML-1 Megatouch Live, AMI Entertainment Network; Best Redemption Game: Key Master, Sega Amusements; Best Table Game: Valley-Dynamo, ZD8; Best Jukebox: Virtuo, TouchTunes Interactive Networks; Best Bulk Vending Machine: Beaver Machine Corp.
Best of Show Arcade Machine Award (BOSA) – BMI Worldwide presented the 2013 BOSA Award for Best Redemption Category to Balloon Buster by LAI Games.
AMOA Innovator Award – This year’s single Innovator Award recognizing ‘products and technology that makes meaningful contributions to locations and operators, and convert investments into long-term profits’ was presented to Adrenaline Amusements for Black Out, which comes in two different models: a skill-based video merchandiser and a videmption game that uses a transparent touch screen LCD.
