BANDAI NAMCO Amusement Europe used the EAG show to display the strength of its many areas of expertise including, manufacturing, distributing, VR, prizes, operations, management solutions, project development and spares and aftersales support.
BNAE also kicked off this year’s EAG in style with an event at The O2 on the Monday evening hosted at the Hollywood Bowl.
“This was an opportunity to invite our strategic partners from all over the world, including manufacturing partners, distributors, customers and suppliers to view the latest innovations in terms of Virtual Reality at the VR Zone Portal within the location, to scare them silly with the attraction Hospital Escape Terror, entertain them with Argyle Shift and generally thank them for their support,” said commercial and sales director James Anderson.
VR also made a big impact on the BNAE stand with the WePlayVR product from AiSolve drawing big crowds. The attraction is now available with two games; Mayan Adventure and Alien Adventure and future titles were previewed at the show. It joined a hit line-up of amusement machine products from the BNAE stable, as well as those of key manufacturers, including Raw Thrills, Adrenaline Amusements, Andamiro, Apple Industries and Triotech. This year’s new releases on stand 620 featured some of the world’s biggest licences: including DC Comics, Rabbids, Mario, SpongeBob and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
“For us, the new Nam-Gear products Projector and Robot Hoover were a great success, as was the I Bomb Bluetooth speaker and ear buds,” said Darrell Simmonds, EMEA sales manager. “The Early Man range of plush also received repeat orders two weeks before movie release with stock selling fast. This year we feel we have once again listened to customer feedback and expanded the range to suit all.” In addition, the DC Comics Villains Mix and the My Little Pony New Movie Mix also received a great response at the show. On the gifts side, customers were very interested in the expanded Harry Potter range, as well as the newly added Call of Duty and Assassin’s Creed, Pac-Man and DC Comics gift lines.
“The quality of enquiries we took regarding the Embed cashless options and the Red Pro stock management system kept us busy throughout the show,” said Steve Short, general manager, BNAE management solutions.
“We are seeing a definite trend towards a cashless industry, which is in line with the way wider society increasingly deals with day-to-day payments. We introduced Tool Kit, which is the latest software package for the UK market, following extensive testing within the Embed development department,” he adds. “All systems we roll out will come with this installed but as an ongoing commitment, we are also finalising a strategy to upgrade our long-term customer base using Cashless or Red Pro and will contact them in due course.” Chris Bell, general manager, services division concurred: “I found the exhibition very good from a ‘services’ point of view and I am busy chasing up on leads from the show with one new location already confirmed. EAG provides the perfect platform for us to show customers the might of the brand and the variety of the solutions we can offer and we will plan around it even more in years to come.”
