London 2007 Trail Blazer

London 2007 Trail Blazer

The UK amusement sector gathered in London for Preview'07, the harbinger to the January ATEI event and 2007 season, an event that proved some home truths about operational difficulties, but also demonstrated an underlying resilience in the market.

The event clashed with the ‘Visitor Attraction Conference' (VAC) in London, and with the ‘Dream Toys 2006'. The latter being the equivalent 'preview' for toy trade and media to the Christmas build-up and an instructive comparison with a healthier sector. Another clash of dates was with the ATE-Clarion event ‘European i-gaming Congress and Expo' in Barcelona. This double booking proved suspicious to some who felt that ATE may have allowed this to happen as Preview'07 had its own gaming conference session on the Tuesday arranged by InterGame.

The ground floor revealed Deith Group distribution continuing to support the market following their merger with PHI, and with some very interesting developments. Along with their new driver cab version of ‘Wasteland Racer', TrioTech Amusement presented ‘Jett Rider' (PC Hardware).

A very nattily designed production prototype two-rider system mixing the worlds of the ride movie motion seat set-up seen with the company's Mad Wave, but in a package for the 4-14 age group kiddie ride sector. The Jett Rider film offering a mixture of three adventures to experience (and one bonus level), the ride film was originally developed as a XD experience for a theme park opportunity, but when this was shelved it become the first of the films from TrioTech's 3D animation studios to be released for amusement.

Building on know-how that Deith and the kiddy ride sister operation Jolly Roger brings to the table, TrioTech are sure to benefit, a production version expected for ATEI. TrioTech have continued to build up their range of titles with a gun game in the works for 2007 marking a growth in development.

Continuing on the ground floor: Merit Entertainment through their UK wing Games Warehouse showed their ‘Megatouch ION' touchscreen - one of a few such systems at Preview, one of only two touchscreen companies at Preview, an example of sector changes. While the success of the SWP sector was illustrated by GW's ‘Paragon3' connected platform and a growing stable of titles.

The first European viewing of 'Aliens: Extermination' (PC Hardware), the Play Mechanix-developed mounted shooter reminiscent of LA Machinegunners. Testing highly positively on site in the UK, the game offered a big brand package. Observations on the current system looked at the fast-moving action and multi-functional weapon. Representatives on the CVA booth revealed that along with the demonstrated standard cabinet the company had big plans for the game. GVR have a busy Q4 scheduled with a third new release ‘Far Cry' (Proprietary Hardware) to be shown at IAAPA'06 – one of three new titles that will straddle 2006/2007.

Also on booth was ‘Need for Speed: Underground DX' (PC Hardware), the motion deluxe cabinet created for GVR by Tsunami. Similar to the Betson Fast and the Furious motion platform launched in 2004, this version includes a big screen all offered at a lower price point building on GVR's closer involvement with Tsunami - the completion of the merger expected 2006. How Betson will handle selling a nearly identical motion driver to their own was the subject of some conversation during AMOA.

At CVA's booth the latest golf upgrade was presented. ‘EA Sports PGA Tour Golf: Team Challenge' (PC Hardware) offered new course and game features in this update with the team challenge element.

An aspect of the Global VR presence at Preview'07 that may have been missed by some observers was the appearance of the ‘Plus Points' player loyalty scheme that is run with connected machines. From the operator's point of view all they have to do is plug in their machines, but what GVR are running is an online loyalty scheme with prizes to be redeemed for the more the player plays – with gift certificates to major brands.

The last of the GVR titles on the booth was ‘UltraPin' (PC Hardware). Promoted since ATEI'06, the production machine offered all the aspiration of the first prototype, but now graced a nearly identical pin table cabinet with back-glass and LED display. A perfect companion for bar and club application - the first table selection of 12 classic pinball tables housed on the hardware to be announced soon. The divesting of UltraCade assets to GVR means that ElectroCoin will not be presenting this system as suggested at ATEI initially.

The big SEGA Amusement booth was located upstairs this year with their all-encompassing lineup. The first European appearance of ‘Let's Go Jungle: Lost on the Island of the Spice' (LindBergh) was a pleasant surprise for those attending - the holiday island mutant insects (and frogs and plant) blaster showed a level of polish not seen previously from SEGA blasters since Ghost Squad. Reminiscent in cabinet interior of Ocean Hunter (but with a better gun interface), the game offers players a mixture of frantic button pounding, wild shooting and fast-paced chases.

Breaking Stinger News – After Preview'07; the Stinger speculation on the changes to the Namco European amusement structure took place – obviously we had jumped the gun considerably, and obviously the changes were not what was previously deduced. In the official announcement Namco Europe confirmed the appointment of its own Managing Director of coin-op distribution division. The new autonomous group having Brent Sales and Electronics reporting directly to it - all this will now be covered under the umbrella group of Namco Bandai Holding UK Limited.

Stinger sources in Japan when referring to the European and UK operation using the term ‘Namco Bandai Games Europe' – this may be a mistaken mix-up of the consumer division and amusement, as the announcement referred to Namco Europe Limited (with no inclusion of the Bandai name). However, remembering that the Namco booth at ATEI'06 had the ‘Namco Bandai Games' name clearly displayed; it will obviously take some time before the real shape of these changes becomes clear to all involved with more ‘restructuring' sure to take place as the group expands.

Their booth at Preview'07 saw the big earner ‘Time Crisis 4' (Super System 258) had deluxe and standard representation on stand, while one of the other Namco video releases shown was the previously released ‘Soul Calibur III AC' (System 246). A surprising absence of new NBG released compared to a vast selection from SEGA.

The NBGE booth suffered from a number of absences from the planned appearances and debuts. The company had promised distributors to show on their booth ‘Mario Kart Arcade GP 2', and Taito's ‘Half Life 2 Survivor' - the latter an interesting proposal as this would have sidelined the relationship with Deith in favor of the Taito Brent relationship for a game that will be a difficult DX system to place in the changeable amusement scene; the empty spaces on the booth speaking of the difficulty of this move.

The NBG USA developed ‘Rockin' Bowl-o-Rama' (PC Hardware) was the last NBG title on booth duty at Preview - aspirations that the 50's styling retro pedestal track-bowler' would be a perfect shoo-in for the hospitality sector growing in the UK, so favored by Merit, PhotoPlay and TAB. Going head-to-head with the Electrocoin / Incredible Technologies bowler. The game was shown in a non-connected version, though hopes are that the tournament-enabled system will find a place in the territory.

The second sport shooter on the floor, Betson's 'Big Buck Hunter Pro' (PC Hardware) due popular appeal, though its popularity as an earner may be tempered as it was revealed that these big game sports gun games are banned from all UK pubs and bars. Looking for clarity on the position the Stinger was told that it was pub chain pressure to not support gun games in their facilities, more to do with distancing themselves from liability in family pubs, than previously claimed avoidance to shooting cute animals in the country of pet lovers.

Continuing the big Betson appearance at Preview, Brent had one ‘The Fast and the Furious' (PC Hardware) supported by four ‘The Fast and the Furious Super Bikes' (PC Hardware) - another major coin box earner in the Brent Sales summer season. Sources alluded to a new Raw Thrills driver for 2007 that will build on the bike racer. ICE also made an appearance on the Brent booth with their ‘Striker Pro' (PC Hardware) Kick-it clone adjacent to the REALSoccer system, and continuing promotion of the GVR system – claims and counter claims still flying.

Another of the dedicated systems on the booth was one of the four motion simulators at Preview. Brent showed the new Taiwanese company IMOtion who brought a production prototype of their 'iGO' (PC Hardware) single seat interactive unit. The 2.5 DoF enclosed motion system offers a unique screen system, impressively sliding down on entrance and out of the way when the ride has ended. The IMON had two experiences running on it, a racing game was sidelined for a WWII tank battle PC game called 'Panzer Elite Action' by developer JoWood released at E3'05.

News Story with thanks to Kevin Williams, please visit www.thestingerreport.com for the full story and others.