March 6, 2023

January 2023 – The Arcade Blogger

I thought I’d share a few pictures this week of a recent visit I made to an amusement trade show here in the UK.

EAG (Entertainment, Attractions & Gaming International Expo) has been around for a few years now, since 2009 in fact, and is the first in a year-long calendar of similar events across Europe.

I visited back in 2020 and Covid disrupted the last two years – but if you want to check out what was new back then, click here.

EAG covers a wide variety of amusement attractions, so not everything was of interest to me, but a good bunch of new video game and pinball released caught my eye on the show’s floor:

Racing games were all the rage this year. This garish twin cabinet pit players against each other in the Fast & Furious franchise
A take on the Need for Speed franchise here.
Dead Heat Unleashed was probably the pic of the bunch. Up to four players can race against each other. Camera technology allowed the player’s image to feature in the game
The MotoGP franchise marches on (does it ever end?) this time with the addition of VR. The effect was incredible to be fair. I always wonder how long those headsets would last in an arcade….
This game was popular amongst attendees. Sega’s ATV Slam puts you on a quadbike racing against AI opponents.
Another bike sim. Storm Rider is a futuristic two-wheeled racer. The neon effects on the cabinet were pretty cool
Good on Sega for exploring new ideas. Drone Racing Genesis allows players to experience the thrill of racing drones against each other. I didn’t get a chance to play it, but from what I saw it looks like a lot of fun.
I mentioned that 2020’s show was full of VR cabinets. It was the new kid on the block and looked to be the future for arcade games. VR Agent is a next gen VR game that really does put the player into the heart of the action
VR Agent’s control system was an innovative design that had the headset mounted to the gun itself. The effect was impressive
But it wasn’t all new stuff. There was still a nod to the classics. Pac-Man of course continues to endure, and Namco were on hand still delivering the goods here with Pac-Man’s Pixel Bash – a multicade of sorts
A sequel here to the original Pac-Man Battle Royale – Chompionship. Namco’s marketing department clearly came up with this title after a long Friday lunch
Designed by MC-G Games, Hole In One is clearly a modern day version of ice Cold Beer – Taito’s electro mechanical hit from the 80s. It played pretty well too
Players control a vertical bar to guide a ball bearing up through the playfield to drop the ball into specific holes
Not a videogame obviously, but interesting that manufacturers see fit to attach a licence from the 80s to draw players in. In this case Mr Do & the Space Rocks
Let’s talk pinball: Electrocoin came armed with the latest Stern pinball releases, offering showgoers the opportunity to rent tables rather than buy them outright
Godzilla was a great pin with an interesting ruleset. Two James Bond pins were on display – Dr No and You Only Live Twice
Here’s my buddy Oliver getting to grips with Godzilla. The cream of the crop here
This on the other hand was awful. Super Loop by Bitronic didn’t play well at all, and both tables broke down pretty early on during the time I was there
The ever present owner of Stern Pinball Gary Stern himself was walking the floor, and was happy to take time out of his day to say hello to us collectors at the show. Pictured here with UK collector Oliver
I thought this was interesting. Qube is an enclosed interactive multiplayer videogame experience that houses up to four players. it reminded me a lot of Galaxian 3 theatres of the 90s.
Games appeared to be interchangeable. They were all on rails, but were pretty immersive
Eugene Jarvis’ Raw Thrills company exhibited a few cabs. highlight was this extension to the popular Big Buck Hunter franchise: Big Buck Hunter Reloaded
Everyone remembers the board game Hungry Hippos right?
Well, it finally made it to the arcade!
A bunch of us met up at EAG this year. I bumped into fellow UK videogame Guinness World Record Holder Matthew Garrett. Matthew holds the current world record on classic 80s title Gorf! (Excuse my attire – I had to get back to work after my visit!)

Well that’s all the cabinets that I thought worth sharing. EAG is an interesting afternoon. Probably the highlight is catching up with other collectors over here in the UK and seeing what’s new and trying out some of the games.

Here’s a decent walkthrough video that highlights the variety of amusement cabinets on show this year:

A walkthrough of EAG Expo 2023

And that’s your lot.

Thanks as always for checking in this week!

Tony

Original article