{"id":10849,"date":"2018-01-19T14:09:32","date_gmt":"2018-01-19T14:09:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pinballnews.com\/site\/?p=10849"},"modified":"2018-01-19T17:22:57","modified_gmt":"2018-01-19T17:22:57","slug":"eag-international-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pinballnews.com\/site\/2018\/01\/19\/eag-international-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"EAG INTERNATIONAL 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

We’ve had rain – lots of rain – and snow on our visits to the EAG International show in London’s East End in previous years. but this time it was a clear, bright morning when we visited for the second day of the event.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The ExCel London Exhibition Centre<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The ExCel sits alongside the Galleons Point Marina, part of the River Thames and a historic part of the old London docks which has now been largely redeveloped into modern industrial units, hotels and housing.<\/p>\n

\"Memorials<\/a>
Memorials to the area’s former use<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The EAG International show has been held at Excel London ever since it left Earl’s Court Exhibition Centre for the 2010 show.\u00a0 Before that, amusement coin-op had been part of the larger ATEI show which also encompassed gaming, casinos and fairground rides.\u00a0 The coin-op side became marginalised and separated to form, initially, EAG Expo and now EAG International<\/a>.\u00a0 The gaming part has its own show – ICE Totally Gaming<\/a> – which is also held at ExCel London from 6th to 8th February.<\/p>\n

There was good news for visitors to EAG this year.\u00a0 The show has grown slightly and managed to fill all the available the space in halls N1 – N6.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
An overview of the show<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"An<\/a>
An overview of the show<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"An<\/a>
An overview of the show<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As you can see from the pictures, the hall wasn’t exactly packed with visitors, but for pinball fans this year proved to be a treat with eleven pinballs from five different manufacturers on show.<\/p>\n

Pinball Heaven’s<\/a> stand featured more than half of them, with Jersey Jack Pinball showing their new Pirates of the Caribbean<\/em> game alongside their Dialed In!<\/em> and The Hobbit<\/em> titles.\u00a0 JJP’s Jack Guarnieri was there to talk to visitors, game owners and potential European distributors for his company’s titles.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Pinball Heaven stand<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pirates of the Caribbean<\/em> is not yet in production, so this was a sample machine.\u00a0 Even so, it didn’t exhibit any problems and seemed to be enjoyed by everyone who got to play it.<\/p>\n

\"Jersey<\/a>
Jersey Jack Pinball’s Pirates of the Caribbean<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Dialed<\/a>
Dialed In!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The Hobbit<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pinball Heaven were also showing titles from Chicago Gaming and Dutch Pinball.\u00a0 Doug Skor from Chicago Gaming was there with his Medieval Madness<\/em> and Attack from Mars<\/em> remakes, while Jaap Nauta and Barry Driessen from Dutch Pinball brought their The Big Lebowski<\/em> game along.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Pinball Heaven line-up of machines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Medieval<\/a>
Medieval Madness Remake<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Attack<\/a>
Attack from Mars Remake<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Dutch<\/a>
Dutch Pinball’s The Big Lebowski<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Dutch<\/a>
Dutch Pinball also had their TBL banner at the back of the hall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Not far away, Electrocoin<\/a> – Stern Pinball’s UK distributor – featured four of the company’s recent titles on their stand, including their newest, Guardians of the Galaxy<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"Part<\/a>
Part of the Electrocoin stand<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The four Stern Pinball games<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Stern<\/a>
Stern Pinball’s new Guardians of the Galaxy Pro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Despite some talk of the game being a little lacklustre, we greatly enjoyed playing it and the artwork is a riot of colour both inside and out.<\/p>\n

\"Stern<\/a>
Stern Pinball’s new Guardians of the Galaxy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The Groot head on Guardians of the Galaxy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There was a problem with the drop target mechanism refusing to drop as a result of an incorrectly-manufactured part.\u00a0 Stern know about this, have fixed it, and are sending out replacement parts to those affected.\u00a0 The drop target was disabled at the show to avoid repeated ball searches.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The drop target not releasing the ball<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Stern Pinball apparently had a team of five at the show, with Gary Stern, George Gomez, Dave Peterson, John Buscallia and Jim Belt all making the trip across the Atlantic.\u00a0 We only saw Gary there briefly, but George was keeping an eye on the games, chatting to visitors and signing flyers for much of the day.<\/p>\n

\"Batman<\/a>
Batman 66 Premium<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Star<\/a>
Star Wars Pro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Ghostbusters<\/a>
Ghostbusters Pro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The final pinball was to be found on the Home Leisure Direct<\/a> stand.<\/p>\n

\"Home<\/a>
Home Leisure Direct’s stand<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Home Leisure Direct had an Alien<\/em> pinball from Heighway Pinball for visitors to play.<\/p>\n

\"Heighway<\/a>
Heighway Pinball’s Alien<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The backbox beacons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The upper flipper was sticking when we played it early in the morning, but it appeared to have been fixed when we called back later in the day.<\/p>\n

So those are the eleven pinballs at the show, but there were a few other things which caught our attention.<\/p>\n

\"Gizmo<\/a>
Gizmo Games’ All Star Baseball<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Texas-based\u00a0Valley Dynamo<\/a> makes the All Star Baseball pitch-and-bat game (and the Zombie League version) designed by Dennis Nordman’s Gizmo Game Design.\u00a0 There was a machine set up on the Valley Dynamo stand, although the backbox running man unit didn’t appear to be working when we played it.<\/p>\n

\"All<\/a>
All Star Baseball by Gizmo Game Design and marketed by Valley Dynamo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pinball popped up in a number of different ways across the show.\u00a0 Here are a few we spotted.<\/p>\n

Pinball-style capsule dispensers are as popular as ever, appearing on several stands.<\/p>\n

\"Miniature<\/a>
Miniature pinball dispensers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"...and<\/a>
…and another<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"...and<\/a>
…and another<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pinball also cropped up as a toy prize.<\/p>\n

\"OK,<\/a>
OK, well not really pinball, but…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This oversized pinball ball was plunged to hit a row of ping pong balls, knocking them into ticket-winning holes.<\/p>\n

\"It's<\/a>
It’s got a shooter rod, so it must be pinball, right?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It was especially interesting because it features an under-playfield electromagnet.\u00a0 Usually these magnets are only energised at certain points during the game, but this one is used to grab the steel ball and hold it away from the shooter rod in-between games, meaning it is energised most of the time.<\/p>\n

We are familiar with various video pinball games, but Car Mechanic Flipper<\/a><\/em>\u00a0from Pixel Flipper is a twist on the genre.<\/p>\n

\"Car<\/a>
Car Mechanic Flipper<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Not only is it an upright design, it’s also Lego-style in its deliberately blocky graphics.\u00a0 Rather than a ball, you flip a car around a playfield town, destroying assorted targets, buildings and people, before steering the car as it crashes through parks and along roads.\u00a0 It’s a fast, crazy game and lots of fun to play.<\/p>\n

As in previous years, the coin-op industry tries to provide entertainment not available at home, and usually that involves making bigger and bigger fully-immersive games.\u00a0 That trend continued this year, but virtual reality is also a growth area.<\/p>\n

Eugene Jarvis’s Raw Thrills company had their latest big screen games.<\/p>\n

\"Injustice<\/a>
Injustice Arcade from Raw Thrills<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Snowboarder<\/a>
Snowboarder and The Walking Dead, also from Raw Thrills<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Multi-player<\/a>
Multi-player big-screen shooting games were popular but this one added water to the mix<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Chickens<\/a>
Chickens vs Foxes looked like another crowd-pleaser<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"As<\/a>
As we’re in London, you’ve got to have one of these<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Even<\/a>
Even after all these years, Monopoly still seems to be a hugely popular licence in coin-op, appearing all over the place<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Can't<\/a>
But if you can’t afford a licence? There’s always a way around these problems…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Combining a large physical sit-on game with virtual reality made this Tron-style light cycle game both popular and very enjoyable, with the monitor showing the in-game graphics pulling in people.<\/p>\n

\"Immotion<\/a>
Immotion VR drew a lot of attention with their light cycle ride<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It even temped one or two well-know pinball people to try it.<\/p>\n

\"Jaap<\/a>
Jaap and Barry from Dutch Pinball took the bike for a ride<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While the light cycle VR is for a single rider, there was a twin VR\u00a0 – that’s ‘VR’ as in Virtual Rabbids<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"VR<\/a>
VR rollercoaster simulator<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Still want more?\u00a0 Then here’s a multi-player VR shoot ’em up from Hologate<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Hologate's<\/a>
Hologate’s multi-player VR system<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Although there are monitors to follow the view the players get, it’s still not hugely engaging for the audience.<\/p>\n

\"Fun<\/a>
Fun to play, not so fun to watch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While everyone is looking for the next great game, perhaps the newest hit could also be one of the oldest?<\/p>\n

\"Atari's<\/a>
Atari’s Pong<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Yes, Pong is back.\u00a0 The original video tennis-style video game has been brought back by Atari, but in the ultimate retro turnaround what started the video game craze now returns in mechanical form.<\/p>\n

That’s right, the two bats and the ball are all physical white blocks which slide around a smooth playfield thanks to magnets below the surface.\u00a0 An LED display keeps score, and some colour is added by RGB LEDs around the outer edge of the playing arena.\u00a0 Playable as a one- or two-player game, this cocktail-table format is likely to appear at a bar or arcade near you soon.<\/p>\n

\"Atari's<\/a>
Atari’s Pong<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/div>\n

However, not every product is destined to take the world by storm.<\/p>\n

\"Poopy<\/a>
Poopy Palz, with that lovely chocolate scent<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And that concludes our report from the show floor.<\/p>\n

\"Games<\/a>
Games at EAG International<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Finally, here’s our signature in-depth look around the whole EAG International show in our Thirty-Two Minute Tour.\u00a0 We hope you enjoy it and will join us for our next show report which will be coming soon.<\/p>\n