The hospitality sector is looking towards the development of new ways to address the changing audience attendance in many ways. These new concepts are to offer a compelling experience but also to bring the new Web Generation to the table!

Opened in October 2006, the flagship uWink Bistro facility (Woodland Hills, California) hopes to update and upgrade the previous Chuck E. Cheese mentality of Eater-Tainment to meet the new generation Y requirements. Visiting a number of more conventional venues for a coming Stinger Report feature, TSR representatives attended a weekend in April at the new uWink facility to gauge reaction.

- the name on the door

The facility is located in the Westfield Promenade shopping mall, within the coverage of the local movie theatre hoping to gather a wide mix of family, and teenage attendance. The site is clearly still in a Beta stage of development, though well attended. The site on visit in a lazy weekend afternoon was beginning to become crowded with a mix of family groups with children. The visitor arrives at the main registration and is allotted a table – a nice touch that the touchscreen terminal system greets the patrons at their table – with a text message.

All the tables at the facility have these Terminals that seem to owe much of their design inspiration to the original uWink ‘SNAP!’ and ‘Bar Buddy’ touchscreen game terminals from the company’s history. The bar also includes these systems surrounding the facility. The patron on being seated is instructed on the use of their Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) card (Passport) that represents their means of paying for services on the terminal.

- first level entrance at Westfield, close to the cinema

The user swiping the card on the right-hand side of the terminal to register payment; this was one of the first disconnects with the uWink experience felt by the Stinger representatives, wondering why the terminal could not be used for credit card payment, presently the guests have to tally up and then present their card back at reception. A member of staff claimed this disconnect was due to Californian law forcing all transactions over $30 to be done by staff – negating the card swipe on terminal and then typing in pin number – so forcing the arguing of who had what.

The terminal is the hub of the concept and the services are broken down as this:

All Things Media – The Beta status of the systems is more clearly illustrated with the game content. The players can select from free games, to games that have a minimal charge to charged games for prizes. The quality of the games comes from the ‘SNAP!’ library of uWink products, though there was a clear miss-match in some games regarding resolution.

- the RFID card in action

This is the aspect of the terminal that felt most let down by the limitations of the early installation. The promise of social gaming was not achieved, with inter-terminal-communication remaining a promise rather than a reality. Just the ability for the patron to compete in a simple game with those on the other side of his table (a simple Battleship game) was not implemented, aspects fundamental to the uWink promise.

Some thought had been made to the different audiences to cater for at the site. ‘After Dark’ adult game content was implemented after 9pm. But it was the lack of any online capability on the systems and more media than games, and some panoramic viewing, and minimal video trailers that caused concern.

- the e-menu system hoping to entice

All Things Food – The terminals offered a wide selection of the best So.Cal cuisine to try, the special feature of the uWink package offering the ability to select and then alter the standard selection to suit likes and dislikes. The special ability to load as much onto your order meant the ability to create the Thirty Dollar burger. Ordering proved professional with an average 15 minute wait between terminal and table.

All Adult and Non-Alcoholic Drinks – A wide selection of cocktails, beers and liquors are supported by non-alcoholic and hot beverages. This time a five-minute screen to bar duration showed that though at a higher than normal price the service was clean and fast, building on encouraging purchase.

- a crowded table full of food and fun

Other than this there are Services that can be activated by the terminal – ranging from refilling beverages and the clearing of table, the user can request assistance and also order merchandising from the selection available. The terminals had received some recent modification, taking up so much of the table space they now had an additional tray mounted on top for the storage of drinks and plates.

The exclusive aspects of the ‘Social Gaming’ component of the facility so much commented about in facility reviews is only represented by the six-player Game Stations in the facility. The site boasts only three of these systems, allowing six players to select from four cooperative experiences of a limited nature. The claims of inter-terminal connectivity and social gaming seemed to be one aspect waiting for the next installment of the venue’s development.

- the Game Station in operation for young and old

The site’s styling is supported by video projection on every wall. It is proposed in the future that the visitors will be able to download their own images to be projected on the walls, as well as when private parties take place they can also download appropriate images. The use of the projects has seen the holding Big Screen evenings at the site – one such event saw Monday nights screening the thriller television series ‘24’ on the projectors with corresponding trivia on the terminals.

Though this is an interesting use of the facility, TSR is curious to know if uWink has received presentation rights from Sky Television to publicly screen this and other content to their patrons? Development of the site has seen an outside patio section that was being developed, completed with 49 additional outside seats with terminals to help ease the space allocation of the facility, though no information if this area will allow smoking?

- work in progress outside

The Beta state of the facility was most evident in the terminals – an aspect that we thought would have been nailed down by now, four months into the site’s life. But the terminal TSR used crashed three times, one of which was so serious that the system had to be rebooted after reporting the crash to the staff (a difficult matter if you cannot use the terminal to call a member of staff).

In the corner of the facility a hard put-upon programmer feverishly bashed code into the facility’s sever on the time of the visit. It was revealed that the terminals are running twin Apples. It was scary that uWink had managed to make an Apple as reliable as a PC in the public space.

The work in progress (tbd) nature of the facility is also represented in what has not been implemented in the site. The lack of network gaming is a crime and a major missed revenue generation opportunity. It is not known how long it will be before the next software update takes place, but it must bring in tournament aspects to hope to be seen as more than just a novelty facility.

- hard at work making the software work

One aspect of the project that is a startling omission that has no obvious technical or legislation reason not to have been implemented is some kind of table audio system. No audio jack, sound cone or even site-wide selectable system; an obvious revenue stream that should have been a phase one application.

The fundamentals of using Apple-based technology and not being able to offer iTune music download and purchase seemed unusual. Sources revealed the commencement of uWink discussions on a digital jukebox system with prominent developers some six months late to the opportunity.

The lack of any Web-based services, from a company that when in touchscreen terminals had had over 1,000 connected tournament units, seems bizarre. The only prize game element had players competing for free deserts as winnings. Some form of network table game seems a necessity as the tables are dominated by the vast terminal screens - just a simple inter-table experience to build on that much-hyped social gaming aspect.

- the first site, and hopefully not the last

What Could this all Mean:

The facility founder and powerhouse Nolan Bushnell was met during TSR attendance at ASI, where he revealed that uWink was in a dark period while they worked on raising more funds. It will have to wait for more information on facility plans and the possibility of the next franchised site. But uWink are not the only developers of this style of experience.

Regarding the use of touchscreen terminals in American - as well as international – hospitality, the novelty value is limited. Back of house, bars, restaurants and even airline checking now use swipe, magnetic, or barcode accredited systems with interface elements and robust interfaces.

Why uWink would use unproven methodology, and why it has embraced the complicated and problematic RFID system, is a question for management, and to still be showing growing pains six months on from launch is an issue. The inroads made by the European market towards an automated service experience illustrates the thinking between restaurant industry and hospitality sector. Previously mentioned in the Stinger is the Russian Trans-Force themed-entertainment facility. The simulators and big display concept is complimented by an automated food and entertainment system.

The ‘Electronic Service System’ offers touchscreen video monitors on the table (reminiscent of what uWink have achieved); however the developers have been able to progress further with the social interaction – with communication between customer tables (once the ‘Sign of Courtesy’ icon has been activated). The terminals also run multimedia content including adverts, announcement and Musical Rating, linked to a guest Questionnaire service; the venue also using smart cards (of a more conventional design) for player payment.

The actual application of Automated Services by the customer is not altogether new. In the 1970’s the BOTS system was used at Chuck E. Cheese to order pizza, and the Stinger has reported on systems from Europe that use touchscreen for games and ordering, though with significant online capability.

What has to be considered about uWink Bistro is that Nolan’s visionary inspirations have illuminated a fascinating and compelling area of development. The happy faces at the Woodland Hills site more than papered over the cracks of poor implementation; the difficulties of any such venture into hospitality a factor of implementation. As this feature on uWink was going to the wire – it was reported in the Los Angeles Times that uWink Inc., had accumulated losses of $33.5million, with the interesting report from the LA newspaper that Bushnell had personally signed the lease on the facility; the need for additional finances proving how hard it is to develop in the sector.

Finally, the vulnerability of the establishment of a financial success can be best illustrated by Dave & Busters’ recent financial changes. The news that both founders had departed from the operation was greeted with some surprise as previous promises had been given that after James Corley’s departure in September 2006, his co-founder David Corriveau would have stayed on (only to depart in March)!

As with Chuck E. Cheese, it is most likely that once the original founders have left the company, harder minds and constitutions can take the lead and drive the operation towards a less fanciful and more hardnosed direction. Many forget that it was after Nolan departed Pizza Time Theatre and it had been bailed out of financial trouble was Chuck E. Cheese successful. This reflected in a recent national study of U.S. children and teenagers that saw Chuck E. Cheese placed as the third most popular restaurant of choice at 16.9% of the vote, next to 18.8% for second placed Subway – and the winner McDonald’s with 42.4% of the popular vote. This reflected in earnings growing in 2006 in Chuck E. Cheese by 6% - a hard act to follow, but one worth trying.

[Note – All images are the property of KWP Limited and used only with their permission]