Helen Fletcher looks at how simulators can help an operator take on the in-home entertainment sector and win

Consumers are demanding more from their out-of-home entertainment experience. The cost of living is continuing to increase for the majority of people, thanks to soaring inflation and low pay rises, meaning the amount of disposable income an average family has to spend on leisure is falling all the time.

In the UK, for example, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research, the average British family will have £910 less to spend this year than they did in 2009. The CEBR has calculated that household disposable income in the UK will fall by two per cent this year, more than double last year’s fall of 0.8 per cent and the biggest drop since the post-First World War recession from 1919 to 1921. It also forecasts inflation will average 3.9 per cent in 2011, the highest since 1992 thanks to January’s increase in VAT to 20 per cent, along with the rising cost of oil and other commodities. At the same time, salaries will rise just 1.9 per cent as unemployment remains high and the public sector makes cut-backs. And this is just in the UK; families in Spain are also still suffering the effects of the recession with unemployment levels currently hovering around the 20 per cent mark, while the US slowly edges its way along the road to recovery, showing some small signs of improvement but not much - the average US household currently spends about five per cent of its annual income on entertainment.

Couple this with an ever-improving in-home entertainment experience, which has seen the home console sector really up the ante with its product offering, taking it from a one or two-player experience to a pastime that the whole family can enjoy together, along with the introduction of 3D televisions and multi-entertainment television packages and you have a situation where the out-of-home leisure and entertainment industry has to really fight for that small percentage of disposable income and offer an experience unobtainable at home.

Thankfully, simulators (along with redemption games) are able to live up to these high consumer demands. While you may be able to race, fight or shoot against your friends from the comfort of your own home, the experience of a simulator is not something you can get from your television set - well not yet anyway!

“Due to the rise in popularity of console systems such as the Wii, operators need to offer players an experience they cannot enjoy at home,” Cynthia Lai of Taiwanese manufacturer InJoy Motion, told InterGame. “Simulators are suited to a broad range of locations from hotels, bowling centres, shopping malls and education centres to tourist spots, FECs and arcades as they can be enjoyed by people of all ages - there are no restrictions.”

While the home console market has enjoyed improvements in technology, so has the simulator sector. Special effects that could once only be enjoyed in multi-million dollar domes located in theme parks have been transported to smaller sized simulators, allowing easier access for the general public to cutting edge technology.

“The leisure industry needs to incorporate simulators with high end technologies,” continued Lai. “The most significant advancement in the technology used is interactive motion where the player controls which direction the machine will move, making each ride a unique experience. This brings a completely new experience as historically simulators have been a passive experience where the public just sit down and go through a pre-programmed ride.”

Stronger and faster computers have also been able to increase the dynamism of the movements to create a better simulation than ever before, benefitting the end user, which hopefully has them coming back to a location again and again. “Having a dynamic moving ride in an arcade is becoming more common,” said Alan Flemming, of UK-based FX Simulation.

“Given the distractions at home and the level of home entertainment, gaming consoles and even the latest phones, it is important to have something better in the arcade. I don’t think anyone has a simulator in their living room yet so it is a thrill they can’t get at home.”

For Flemming, while 3D and 4D elements help to immerse the rider into the simulation, they aren’t as important as the motion. “They are as important as everything else, but on their own or combined with limited or poor motion they won’t completely immerse the rider. Dynamic motion and complete immersion are key elements to a good simulator. The immersion comes from having a totally enclosed capsule with no distractions; this is imperative to the success of the simulation and directly relates to repeat use.”

Incorporating rider interaction into a simulator is an area that is being looked at more and more and for Sega Amusements’ Justin Burke the sector is making significant advancements, pushing the product forward all of the time. “As we represent Canadian manufacturer TrioTech, along with Simuline, we are seeing that the theatre style attraction has really started to explode over the past few years, with more and more popping up in locations all the time. People are beginning to realise that there is growth with the product.”

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Dark Ride XD Theatre is the latest product to come to market from TrioTech, taking the original XD Theatre into a new product. “Significant advancements have been made with this latest product,” continued Burke. “Most simulators are passive as the rider sits there and watches the film;
this is very interactive and really pushes the sector forward.

“Improvements in technology have really brought with it a better experience for the end user. 3D and 4D elements are the next big thing generally, so using them for a simulator makes players take notice of the machine and want to play it. Good movement remains the core of a good simulation product though.”

Simuline’s Steven Kim reiterates this point, telling InterGame: “The world of 3D is one of the biggest trends of the moment. Commercial movies such as Avatar and 3D televisions and equipment have provided a major boost to the sector and we have seen a big shift towards using 3D technologies in simulators.

“At Simuline we have utilised innovative features such as 4D special effects to simulate wind and snow blizzards to improve the quality of the ride experiences. These 3D/4D motion theatres were developed for larger venues and theme parks but we have developed a four and eight-seater compact, transportable and maintainable motion ride theatre.”

Simulators, whether they come as a large theatre style set-up or as a smaller two-seater coin-op version, do, however, require investment from the operator and this is something which not everyone has the resources to do at the moment. For every operator out there willing to take a risk and try something new, there are three that aren’t quite as brave and need a little more convincing of a machine’s benefits and it all comes down to return on investment. Anything from 26 weeks to 52 weeks ROI tends to be the norm, with Sega reporting 26, InJoy reporting anything between 26 and 52 and FX Simulation reporting 52 weeks (or less in most circumstances).

“A 26-week ROI is still achievable for simulators in a good location,” said Burke. “They have a longer shelf life compared with other coin-op amusements and with simulators such as the Mini Rider and Madwave there is the possibility of updating the films; the more operators do this the more they stand a chance of increasing footfall and potential income.”

FX Simulations’ Flemming reiterates Sega’s point, telling InterGame: “While ROI is important, for us the most important factor is the sustainability of the income,” he said. “With eight rides we ensure that the simulator can sustain a high level of income for many years to come. The ability to change rides means the simulator can go on to generate a strong income for much longer than most arcade equipment.”

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While simulators are popular worldwide, the Middle East is currently proving to be a massive market for the larger, showpiece simulators. Not known for shying away from investment, the operators have the space and resources to really make the most of the product. Having said that, Sega has also reported high sales numbers of the smaller simulators into bowling locations and FECS. Covering a smaller footprint, meaning they can easily fit through doors and be moved around, they provide an opportunity to have simulation in your location but on a smaller budget.

Now is the time to invest. The industry may still be suffering at the hands of the recession but sitting still and doing nothing is not going to turn your fortunes around. Simulators can still provide consumers with that out-of-home excitement they crave. No one wants to spend all of their time at home no matter how good their home entertainment set-up is, so if they can get entertainment that gives perceived value for money, they are more likely to step outside their front door and into an arcade. In the meantime, manufacturers will continue to push their product forward, working towards the ever-increasing demands of the consumer.

“Right now we are working on the development of a motion theatre system and a smaller two-seat arcade simulator, as well as a children’s ride simulator,” said Flemming. “Having moved production of our X2 simulator from China back to Scotland, we have also hired new staff to handle the production and work on the development of our new products. Meanwhile, we are always developing new rides for our existing customers, while strengthening our support network with the implementation of a new stock control and servicing software package."