Main REPORT:
Continuing the amusement summer gatherings, The Stinger reports on the second big Open Day event in the UK:

Deith Sales Open Day
At the other end of the month and the industry made the trek to South London, previous years of storm and rain were banished – the Deith event was bathed by summer sunshine and good company. Deith are moving forward following their merger with Photo Me International; the operation was heavily on displays of an AWP and SWP (Sector 12/21) presence, but video still played a part in the line-up.

The gem in Deith’s crown at their event was ‘AfterBurner Climax’ (LindBergh). One of the only international preview systems was literally unloaded and plugged in straight from the plane, first viewed at the event. The game marks a resurgence in the development of amusement experiences that build on past glories.

The first look of ABC was a good one. The game takes the original and adds the lessons learned from the re-make of OutRun 2. The appearance at this event was used as an evaluation of minor modifications that will have to be made to the production systems for the European market – even though running a 98 per cent complete game, there was still the possibility of tweaking before full deployment later in the year.

Concerning the game, fundamentally the player has all the high-speed jet fighter level based action from the original, but now in a graphically rich environment thanks to the LindBergh architecture. Graphics that clearly surpassed current console performance and so earmarked the game for attention. The unusual name (that will ensure some Spam filters jitters about this e-Newsletter), denotes the ‘Climax Mode’ in the game that brings a bullet-time-esque feature to the game, players building up the bar that offers a limited amount of multiple target-blasting mode.

Along with three jet fighters to select from, multiple camouflage paintjobs and most importantly the use of the OutRun 2 style branching of the levels allowing different play combinations and levels (some with hidden challenges) offers a game that shows stronger legs. Among those who saw the game, hopes were high that ABC would prove a big winner in the cashbox. Some of the excitement at the recent SEGA Summer Private Show, where the game was first presented, rubbed off at the South London event. This is hoped to grow with the addition to the ABC line-up of a twin player competition cabinet enclosure.

This appearance overshadowed the inclusion of ‘House of the Dead 4’ (LindBergh) at the event. The Deith / SEGA distribution agreement seemed to still be strongly in place even though PMI had suggested that gaming would play a larger part of their business.

Deith was also showing another one of their prominent relationships with a Japanese amusement factory. Announced last year Taito had decided to choose Deith to present their driver, and the first fruits of this joining was at Open Day. ‘Battle Gear 4’ (TypeX+) version two, was showing in a twin cabinet line-up. The new version of the software, altered on request from Deith on customer feedback was still in development, as well as some comments made during the event for changes to the Japanese dedicated cabinet to suit the specific requirements of the UK. No comment was made on what other Taito videos may be considered by Deith.

The competition that the Taito driver will be going up against was adjacent to the BG4. CVA represented the event with their GVR hardware. A twin ‘Need for Speed: Underground’ (Proprietary Hardware) was connected with the ViP card tournament technology. The Stinger representative attending the event was able to sit down and intensively play the ‘Career’ mode of the game with his ViP card. The game offers a longer playing curve in this configuration, but it has taken a long and drawn-out process to get the machine to market (with a number of hurdles) and now the competition is stiff.

NfSU will be competing not just against the Taito game, but also see competition from SEGA’s ‘Ford Racing Full Blown’ (PC Hardware), and the imminent ‘OutRun 2 SP SDX’ (LindBergh). This will mean a considerable video market competition for the game – and will need extensive marketing from CVA to ram home the fact of the extended game life through its connectivity.

An equally strong selection of hospitality was proffered by Deith, with the signature sucking pig on the spit, music and bar. But the attendance was less than expected, the industry still finding it hard to address the befits of these events – too wrapped up on the changing market in the UK, which many were claiming to be in a sudden slump as sales seemed to stall.

What could this mean? :
The hot June weather and excellent hospitality of Electrocoin, UDC and Deith Sales offered a perfect medium too lubricate the interchange of behind the scenes information on the European market. A number of the ‘hot topics’ being discussed included:

- Magazine Shape-up
The backlash of the closure of Amusement Business in America seemed to be hitting the international sector as trade publications started a period of soul-searching and evaluation of their market worth. The Stinger was given information of one trade publication group that was actively looking for a buyer, though the search had proven longer than expected. The original founding executives looking to be able to hand on the reins to a new operation.

- Rumblings from Floatation
The floatation of Inspired Gaming Group plc (INGG) on the AIM listing, representing the new structure of Leisure Link Holding, went from success to questions in a few days during the sunny summer sun. Gathered round the BBQ at both events, information was shared in whispers of interesting development surrounding the floatation. As expected with INGG formed the liquidation of Leisure Link Holding would take place addressing some of the financial issues that had plagued the group. But a shortfall in investor share expectations seemed to offer a cloud over the celebrations – and later claims of a run on share sale seemed to point to more going on behind the scenes – The Stinger Report hopes to find out more soon.

- Photo-Me International suitors
The company having partnered with Jolly Roger, and Deith Sales itself was being hunted for possible acquisition of PMI itself. Much of the speculation is that a financial house was on the top of the list as new suitors made their interest known. On a side note, the thinking behind PMI’s merger with Deith was revealed, as it was stated that PMI was perceiving to buy a premier video amusement sales operation – now that Deith is moving more towards gaming it will be interesting to see how this restructuring will take shape.

- Sales Shake-up
The appearance of some impressive selection of company cars – in an industry that is claiming to be in the worst buying period of recent history, sparked some undercurrents; a number of prominent sales representatives at key distributors moving to new contracts, or ‘consultancy’ positions. Sources spoke off the record of expectations of a major thinning of sales staff across the board, especially as some manufacturers look towards emulating SEGA Europe and Americas current plan to operate their own machines in special revenue sharing agreements. News from the street saying that this initiative has proven highly successful and put a lie to the comment that the audience does not play arcade games – Watch this space.

- EU Ruling Questions
As stated previously, there was some concern that the EU restrictive electronic component regulations – that see the banning of certain materials to be used in electronics – was still not understood as the deadline (June 30th 2006) was reached. The lack of an official association statement, as well as manufacturer grumbling, added to the temperature at both events.

Breaking Stinger News – As covered previously (Stinger #483) the seminal London ‘SuperArcade’ location at the London Trocadero was to be victim of the sale and rebuilding of the venue earlier this year. Information on the project now purchased by Golfrate Holding was revealed; with a £145m redevelopment scheduled. The freehold for the site was brought by the company for £220m from Burford property group (owned by Lehman Brothers). Now in June the plans were leaked which saw a 600-room hotel taking up the space that once held the failed SEGAWorld site. But original specialization that amusement would be expunged from the Troc site was proven false with the leaked plans.

Golfrate has set aside the lower floors of the venue as a leisure-based area, with intensive external theming, including a ‘wall-of-lights’ that will cover the frontage of the building looking on one of Europe’s largest foot-traffic areas- The leisure component will comprise special retail, and yet un-revealed entertainment systems. The company planning a three-phase development of the property that will see some modification of the initial plans to suit market requirements. Where the arcade experience fits into all this is also up in the air.

Where the Troc stood as a unique venue in 1996 – 2006 finds the market crowded with auspicious mixed-use central London sites. The O2 Dome, Battersea PowerStation and new London-Project (licked to Olympic developments) will force the new lease owners to pull something special out of the hat. The movement in the O2 Dome project took a political turn at the same time as the Golfrate announcement. News media reported that the Deputy Prime Minister of England was linked to have had personal links with AEG chief executive (the owners of the Dome) while on tour, which resulted in requests for parliamentary investigations into possible improprieties arising from the DPM’s links to both the government, and also the selection process for the ‘SuperCasino’. All this is causing much concern in industry circles – a story The Stinger Report will be following closely.