Sega Amusements Europe used this year's EAG Expo to push forward with its Sonic Allstars brand, coinciding with Sonic's 20th anniversary celebrations later in the year.
Show highlights included the Sonic Series Allstars Racing driver, which is now in production, a reel-based ticket redemption game developed in cooperation with Empire Games and Sonic Sports Quad Air, which proved really popular with visitors and will go into production in April.
"This is the first time we’ve shown the current Sonic Series range of products in full and they have had a great reaction from the visitors," said Sega’s Justin Burke. "Operators are beginning to understand that they can buy two or three products from the range and create a whole new branded area within their location without any hassle. We will continue to grow the brand, adding new games to the mix all the time."
The Sega Prize Europe division introduced its Victoria Cupcakes range of plush at the show, which features six different cupcakes, each with their own name and persona, with more variations planned.
Sega’s Trevor Clarke told InterGame: "We’re always looking at current trends and cupcakes are really popular at the moment and are something we felt would work well as a plush range. They stole the show for us at EAG and we took some advanced orders ready for when they become available in April. We’re in discussions with our distributor in Spain to see them go into this market and will continue to speak with distributors in other European markets."
SPE also launched the Super Monkey Ball range of plush and redemption items at the show, which are due for a summer release, as well as the With’it range and Hello Kitty fairy range. Also new for SPE is the ‘The Dog and Friends’ licence, a lifestyle range featuring plush characters dog, cat, pig, duck, hamster and rabbit.
Commenting on the EAG Expo itself, Burke said: "We’ve seen a good mix of customers from all over - Russia, eastern Europe and in particular the UK, which could be a sign that things are beginning to improve. The first day of the show was certainly one of the busiest and Game Gate featuring the Kinect system drew in the crowds - it’s a great family game and good for the family restaurants, pubs and FECs.
"The EAG Expo has grown up over the past 12 months and there was certainly a better vibe - it felt more natural compared with the first year show. I think last year people were curious and perhaps trying to take in the other show as well out of habit. People felt more relaxed and confident about being there and our sales team had back-to-back meetings with customers for the full three days, something that’s not happened in years. There was a good international feel to the show as well and the first night party was a great opportunity for people in the industry to network, which is important for business.
"I have no doubt that the show will continue to grow for next year and the new association with BALPPA is great news as it will bring in a new wave of exhibitors and visitors for 2012."
Commenting on market conditions in general and Sega’s plans moving forward in 2011, Burke told InterGame: "We’re still on target for a good year and we’ve got some great products from manufacturers which are prepared to be innovative. We’re preparing product to go across to the US for the Amusement Expo, Enada in Rimini, the show in Russia and Turkey as well as Ireland."
