IAAPA Games Review

Here’s the Ticket

The AEM Team counted more than 150 new games shown at IAAPA. It is nearly impossible to go through them all but what is important is to pay attention to new concepts and determine what affects these new ideas might have on your current game mix and future game purchases. TRR lists the games (in no particular order) that were impressive and why:

TRR’s Top 3 Games 

Ticket Monster (Bay-Tek)- A wolf in sheep’s clothing- No, it’s an updated version of Big Bass Wheel with a more friendly and universal theme- with the same monstrous earnings. Ticket Monster has a built-in jackpot bonus because the patent on this has expired and Bay-Tek can now incorporate this feature into a single game unit. Check out the Test Games Report and Top 67 Games Earnings List and see that Ticket Monster at #4 is a top earner even when there are two Big Bass Wheel’s linked with jackpot bonus in the same location. Bay-Tek has 3 games in the Top 4.

Snow Down 2 Pl (Jennison Entertainment Technologies)-AEM has been testing the original prototype 2 player unit and assisting with upgrades and programming modifications for several months and the earnings are terrific.  The depiction of the snow theme is by itself an attraction. However, our test results have shown that the game play equals the strong aesthetic attraction- which is the winning combination for an avalanche of strong earnings. This game also received the best new game award at IAAPA. Jennison now has 2 games in the Top 10.

Pirate’s Hook 4 Pl (UNIS)- The two player has been a consistently good earner and TRR strongly believes that the 4 player is one of the best values in the industry and doesn’t take up much more floor space than the 2 player model. The colors on the screens and game cabinet are just awesome, the best on the show floor of the video-redemption (videmption) games.   The allure of this game does not discriminate.  It is an equal opportunity earner attracting every possible demographic.

Games that showed promise:

Sponge Bob Square Pants Hit the Beat (Andamiro) – A whacking game with a new twist and a strong theme.  In this interactive music game, you are whacking a drum in sync with a song that has been chosen by the player.  The animated graphics are superb, the sounds effects are captivating, and with over twenty children based songs, the kids are guaranteed to play this over and over again.

Blaster (Benchmark) –  A single player modern skill version of the traditional baseball themed games of the past. The player aims and shoots small cannon balls at lit targets trying to put eleven lights out with 10 shots to win the jackpot.  With excellent LED lighting, this game has a fantastic glow, which will certainly draw players to it.  This game plays well and is priced to sell.

Coin Flip 4 Pl (Benchmark) – Coming this spring, this game is the first of what the factory calls their next generation of Wheel Deal products. The game challenges players to walk the coin down the rotating playfield towards one of eight notches. If the player times the coin drop right, the coin will literally flip into the notch.  Flipping a coin into the jackpot bonus will trigger a secondary community bonus where all players in action also receive the bonus tickets. This adds a new dimension of play where it is advantageous to play this game with 4 players and to try to play when a skilled player is playing. TRR sees this concept being applied to future multiple player redemption games and even multi player linked merchandise dispensing games.   

Spin Drome (Benchmark) – Coming next summer, this skill game is an intergalactic-themed spinner with an attractive presentation and one to three target arrows to choose from. The player can pay for 1 arrow or pay again and receive 3 target arrows. This new pricing/bonus idea brings a whole new dimension to redemption play and TRR sees this trend being incorporated into future redemption games. Note that this is not the same as providing additional plays of a game but rather provides more ways to win with higher ticket payouts.  Benchmark has improved and made the game simpler to play and understand from the original prototype model.  Players grab the play handle to give the wheel a spin for big ticket values.

Rail Rush (Coastal) – The latest app game converted to coin op.  If the game earns as well as it looks, this game will be a huge hit.  This game does not rest on its laurels alone, 37 million downloads and over 400 million game sessions played could do that.  The prominent cabinet and dazzling LED lighting will catch the eye of that Rail Rush follower and draw them to the full size rendition of this game.

Crazy Curves (Skee-ball) – A fantastic looking game with great eye appeal. The bright LED lights naturally attract people to this game. This unit is the sister game to Spin N Win and should earn big time numbers. The small footprint of this game will allow it to be placed in areas in your facility that you couldn’t do with the Deluxe Spin N Win.  This unit is also 100% skill based.  Do we see a theme starting to develop- LED lighting, small footprint, totally skill based.  Yes, we do and this game has it all.

Fruit Ninja FX2 (Adrenaline)-This is game is being offered as a dedicated unit and also as a kit upgrade for Fruit Ninja which has been a top earning game for a long time.  The kit costs approximately $2000 and for a limited time includes 36 game related figurines that are worth $9 each. The figurines can be used as redemption prizes to bring an added dimension to game play. Also note that AEM will be testing Monster Factory and Sky Landers, two new games from Adrenaline that IAAPA visitors liked. 

Color Block (Andamiro) -What attracted TRR to this game is a new concept where a new player starts at the progressive level the previous player ended at. Actually it isn’t a new idea because in a crane game or a pusher game (and some other coin play games) the next player faces a playfield that the previous player ended with. TRR likes the idea of this concept in a videmption game, but there could be some drawbacks. A novice player unknowingly starts play at a higher level and loses very quickly and has a bad experience. A skilled player doesn’t wish to start at a high level but would rather wait until a novice ends at a very low level and then show off his skills.  TRR would like to see the player have the ‘option’ of starting out at the beginning level or starting at the level the last player left off at. The important thing to note is that this concept can be adapted to add new dimensions to redemption and merchandise dispensing games.

What these new concepts could mean.  TRR predicts that merchandise dispensing games of the future will continue to have a small footprint, incorporate videmption, the ability for the player to start at different play levels and multiple pricing levels, and the ability to continue playing and accumulating points to ‘redeem’ a prize that is automatically dispensed.  In essence, each merchandise dispensing game could be designed as a micro-mini automatic redemption prize center. This may not be necessary for FEC’s with a redemption prize center or a Prize Hub, but it will be important for street operators and these new games can comply with the prize limit/play laws. No one said this will be easy, but the ideas and the technology are available and hopefully manufacturers will use their creativity to make it happen. For redemption, combining all of the above new concepts, could lead to new categories of redemption games with infinite possibilities. These concepts can also apply to video games that can have options to become videmption games.

“We chose AEM because we wanted a third-party evaluation that we knew would be objective,” said Crane. “AEM brought credibility to the table, especially when we started looking for financing.”

Nathan Crane, Owner
FlipSide Fun Center

View Play Meter’s article “Arizona FLIPS Over Newest FEC” by visiting our Resource Library/Articles.

“It took over nine months to find a lender and get a deal that was agreeable. Having an experienced third-party industry consultant working with us became very instrumental in obtaining funding,” said Zelickson. “Jerry provided us with an iron clad, investment-grade financial package to present to the investors and lenders, which clearly made a difference in the outcome. I don’t think the results would have been the same without AEM and Jerry as a resource,” explained Zelickson. “Having had no history in the industry, it was important to have someone with knowledge and years of experience to verify what we could only assume up to that point.”

“We bid several companies and spent a good deal of time deciding on a game vendor” said Zelickson. “We chose Alpha-Omega Sales in conjunction with Alpha-BET Entertainment because of their financial approach to the process. Their evaluation of games was based on the concept ‘if this is the number you want to reach (in sales), these are the games you need’ – it wasn’t about buying the newest or trendiest games. It was about buying the one’s that would provide us with the best ROI.”

“At the end of the day, it was the way AEM and Alpha-Omega Sales stepped up and met the many challenges along the way that impressed me most,” said Zelickson. “No matter what you plan or how much you plan, things are going to change. You can deal with it in a negative or positive fashion. Jerry, Joseph and the Alpha-Omega team approached everything in a positive fashion asking how can we solve it and how do we move forward. They were a great partner and were as invested as we were in getting this done.”

Barry Zelickson, Co-Owner
Big Thrill Factory

View Play Meter’s article “Solid Planning Produces Solid Results” by visiting our Resource Library/Articles.