AMUSEMENT SHOWCASE INTERNATIONAL
Big Games in Las Vegas
March 27-29, 2008
Las Vegas Convention Center - South Hall Lower Level
Total Pictures: 27
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Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
BIGGEST ARCADE EVENT HITS VEGAS AND OPENS DOORS TO PUBLIC, HUNDREDS ATTEND INDUSTRY-FIRST INVITATION
Amusement Showcase International Invites Families, Friends and Gamers-at-Heart to Interact with New and Nostalgic Favorites, and Enjoy Competitive Public and Celebrity Tournaments
Elk Grove, Ill. – This year, for the first time in its more than 25-year history, Amusement Showcase International (ASI) invited the public to attend the last day of its three-day, coin-operated trade show, Saturday, March 29 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Public attendees were able to preview and experience some of the newest amusement, music and video games before they appear in local entertainment centers. In addition to the nearly 140 exhibitors on hand, including Namco, SEGA, Valley Dynamo and Stern Pinball, almost 300 people attended Saturday’s event.
“We were thrilled to give the public this first-time opportunity to interact and experience the hundreds of coin-operated games that were being exhibited,” said Mike Rudowicz, president of American Amusement Machine Association (AAMA), the organization that owns and sponsors ASI. “It provided an affordable and fun way for families, friends and game enthusiasts to connect, compete and interact with each other and the games. Plus, the consumers’ opinions are integral to the game manufacturers and buyers who attend the show.”
Coin-Op Celebrity and Public Competitions
The day’s activities also included two tournaments, one for the public, the Coin-Op Olympics, which included plush prizes for winners, and one for celebrities. The celebrity tournament positioned three local Las Vegas stars against each other to compete for their favorite charities for first ($5,000), second ($2,500) and third ($1,000) place. The competitors for the highest score played on several games, such as Global VR’s EA Sports™ NASCAR® and Skee-Ball Classic Alley, and winners included:
First place, Ronn Lucas ventriloquist at the Luxor Hotel, playing for The Variety Club Children’s Charities
Second place, Frank Marino, star of An Evening at La Cage, playing for The Q Foundation
Charly Kayle, co-host of the TKO Morning Show on Classic Hits 96.3 KKLZ, playing for Best Friends Animal Sanctuary
The opening of the Amusement Showcase International (ASI) at the Las Vegas Convention Center (March 27-29) brought 134 exhibitors occupying 431 booths and 2,694 attendees, including 1022 buyers, to see "what‟s hot" in the amusement industry. The show opened to the public for the first time in its history, and approximately 275 people visited the show on Saturday from 12-4 p.m.
"The 2008 ASI show looked beautiful. Bill Glasgow Sr. and his team did a great job creating and setting up an excellent presentation for this year's show," Mike Rudowicz, president of AAMA, said. "There were some great new products on display by many of the exhibitors. Having had the opportunity to talk to several of the larger exhibitors, they seemed to have a fairly good show, saying they sold quite a bit of merchandise.
"The old adage, „Quality, not quantity is what matters,‟ certainly rang true at this year's show," he continued. "The only downside to the show was that we did not have the volume of operator attendance that we had anticipated. Despite their absence, however, many exhibitors still said that they had a good show, especially in light of the current economic climate."
Allen Weisberg, President of Apple Industries, praised the quality of the attendee at the show. "Even though attendance was lower than in previous years, the attendees who came to the show were serious buyers, which more than made up for the lower attendance."
The two-night Big Bar & Happy Hour on the Show Floor was a huge success. More than 1,000 attendees visited on Thursday, the first night of the Big Bar, and almost 800 attendees on Friday. There were nine exhibitors who sponsored the Big Bar on the Show Floor:
American Amusement Machines Association
Betson Imperial Parts and Service
Firestone Financial Corp.
JVL Corporation
Medalist Marketing
Namco America, Inc.
Pace-O-Matic
Team Ecast
TouchTunes Music Corp.
The Name That Tune event was held during the Big Bar on both nights. Operators were chosen randomly to compete for prize money. The largest prize was $400.
The Seminar Program was well received this year with robust attendance at seminars. Speakers Sam Westgate, Michael Getlan, Alan Ramsay, Dorothy Lewis and Ray Holdren drew a combined attendance of 226 attendees and received very positive evaluations.
Awards were given to the Best Exhibit Design in three different sized categories (1-3 booths, 4-8 booths and more than 9 booths). They were judged on functionality, attractiveness, originality, technology and extra flair.
Winners this year were as follows:
The annual AAMCF Raffle was held on Saturday, March 30 with prizes including a highly coveted Apple iPhone, a Global VR Racing game cabinet and a Panasonic Home Entertainment System.
Raffle Winners:
The Amusement Showcase International will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center March 11-13, 2009, in conjunction with Fun Expo for the first time. Fun Expo will be moving from the fall to collocate with ASI. "We are very excited that Fun Expo will be joining us next spring," Rudowicz said. "The collocation of these two shows will bring everything the buyer needs
About Amusement Showcase International
The American Amusement Machine Association (AAMA) sponsors Amusement Showcase International (ASI), an annual spring trade-show event that attracts more than 4,000 distributors, operators, manufacturers and suppliers of coin-operated amusements, music and video games. For more information, please visit www.asi-show.com
About AAMA
The American Amusement Machine Association (AAMA) is an international non-profit trade organization representing the manufacturers, distributors and part suppliers of the coin-operated amusement industry. AAMA was founded in 1981 by a small group of amusement coin-operated machine manufacturers concerned with the future of their industry. A Board of Directors, selected by its members, governs the AAMA. Committees work with the Association staff to develop programs to promote and protect the industry. Members donate their time, effort and expertise on a voluntary basis.
For more than 20 years, the AAMA has served its membership through legislative efforts, promotional arenas, foreign business development and much more. It serves as the voice for these segments of the coin-operated interactive amusement machine industry. For more information, please visit www.coin-op.org