The AAE may not be familiar to many, but it is the American Amusement Expo and it opened its doors on Wednesday for a three-day run at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Nevada, US.
The show is the newly combined one of the AMOA (the operators’ association) and the AAMA (the manufacturers’ association). This year it combined with the NBVA (vending).
It co-habited with two other shows, the Pizza Expo and the Bars and Nightclubs Show, also in the Convention Center, but despite an obvious overlap, the shows did not recognise each others’ badges.
One hundred and thirty eight companies were represented on the floor, but few with big booths. However, the attendance was very strong on day one, according to our reporter (ours was the only international publication to send its own staff to the show).
Pinball is reported to be up and healthy, there were some big new video games on the floor and the redemption companies – now undeniably showing the most important sector for the amusement industry – is again over ‘oversized’ with its novelties.
A full report on the show will appear in our April issue.
