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The Stinger Report #1253 - Entertainment Gathering Strong Showing!
Leading investors should note the growing integration of entertainment within retail real estate, exemplified by MAPIC 2025’s emphasis on “retailtainment” and social gaming as key mall anchors. Meanwhile, Japan’s amusement sector is evolving with increased Chinese imports, innovative attractions like immersive enclosures, and a focus on claw machines, reflecting shifting consumer tastes and international influences. Both markets highlight a strategic pivot toward experiential offerings—whether through social entertainment in malls or immersive amusements—indicating a significant trend toward combining leisure with retail, driven by changing audience engagement and international collaborations.
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This is the Stinger Report, issue number 1253, Entertainment Gathering Strong Showing by Kevin Williams, winding down towards the end of the year and the start of a brand new year of developments and activities. And we conclude with the first group of shows towards the major end-of-year blowout. We look at the European shopping mall sector and the continued redevelopment of the Japanese amusement landscape towards the trends to be seen in Orlando. Retail and mall fully embrace entertainment, surprising many with an early November calendar placement. Maypic 2025, Le Marché International Professional de l'Implantation Commerciale et de la Distribution, International Retail Leasing Hub took place before the Orlando Pandemonium in Cannes, in the south of France. The key gathering for property players and retail real estate industry entrepreneurs celebrating its 30th anniversary. The importance that location-based entertainment plays within the real estate industry cannot be overpromoted, and the MAPIC team has attempted to attract the entertainment sector to their event. This illustrated by the co-located Leisure Up component, part of the retail hub event and reflecting the sector's interest in embracing entertainment. The key aspects of MAPIC 2025 in Cannes is the influence that a social gathering of this kind has on the thinking of the business. Many venue operators and investors gathered to discuss the opportunity of addressing declining audience spend within their locations. The evaluation of adding a strong dwell-time opportunity within their mix was discussed. Entertainment, one aspect of this discussion, along with the emergence of competitive socializing, also known as social entertainment, the new anchor attraction for retail malls was a key driving point in many of these discussions. Establishing closer relationships with the key providers of these entertainment elements saw the event supported by the themed Entertainment Association, TEA. Leisure was a major part of the conference program, looking at trends shaping the retail mall and shopping center sector. This included presentations from TOCO Social and Lane 7 to name two, offering observations on how their unique entertainment mix has supported the mall landscape. Along with the conference program, there was the exhibition floor. Some of those that presented included the Social Gaming Group, known for their shoeful, fly by darts, and shoeful.tech, which we have reported on before in our sister publication, The Entertainment Social Arena. The show floor at Maypic 25 had several exhibitors that were promoting their entertainment component to support a new mix of hospitality and entertainment, a drive for sports statement, and the apparence of a new generation of entertainment space based on the mixed-use leisure entertainment model. In conclusion, the event hoped to attract some 4,000 participants to see the 160 exhibitors and attend the MAPIC Awards ceremony, all part of the 30th anniversary for the Retail Estate Hub event. Previous partnerships by MAPIC with other entertainment-based services were not as evident this year. Surprising as retailtainment has been heavily trending, especially after coverage of the sector in our sister publication, The Entertainment Social Arena, which will go into greater detail into what impacts this had generally on the market. Japan Amusement, a go go, jumping over to Tokyo and the new Japan Amusement Industry Association, JIA Trade Event, Amusement Expo 2025, Amuse XPJP 25, took place. This event and new time slot offered a smaller trade event for prime Japanese amusement factories, along with a selection of amusement service providers and operators, supported with a public stage event at the end. No real new developments presented that have a known Western window. Though the business being discussed on and off the show floor spoke of a change in the approach in amusement business from these key operations, even looking at wider international involvement against previous isolationism. Sega Fave presented more information to selected executives regarding their plan for their cloud-based gaming system, Sega Fog. A full reveal is now moved into the 2026 window, though many expected this to be a game changer announcement. This linked to plans in the retailtainment scene. The previous Japan Amusement Machine and Marketing Association, JAMA, following the combining of the Nihon Shopping Center Amusement Park Operators Association, NSA, and the Japan Amusement Park Equipment Association, JAPEA, has been recombined into the Japan Amusement Industry Association, JAIA, and restructuring of how the amusement factories move forward in the coming months is expected. The Sega Booth was heavily promoting their past success with the UFO Catcher Museum, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the series. This even included the operation of an UFO catcher immersive, a camera vision-based game experience that puts players in a virtual catcher machine trying to avoid a giant grabber. A game that was reminiscent of the Valor Arena platform. No word if Seeger intends a public role out of this experience. Regarding new amusement on the booth, the big push was Star Horse Party, a three-player horse racing game based on the popular format, but in a younger skew audience cabinet, along with a selection of their branded kiddie rides, creating a new curious George Carnival range of products, while Bandy and Namco Experience were showing their own major new releases at the show, with Wangan Midnight Speed Ignition release. The booth at Amuse XPJP25 having the new version of the four-player network Street Racer. Celebrating its 20th anniversary, the Wangan property had been prominent on the AAA 25 and GTI 25 WAHLAP technology booth, and the Chinese company revealed during the Asian Game Festival that they would be releasing the game across the territory in an exclusive agreement. The seventh installment in the popular Street Racer series will be supported by the Wangan Midnight online tournament service. This release was suggested to be implemented before the Japanese release of the game, which will mark a first for the series, embracing their Chinese player base. Also on the BNE booth at the Japanese event was the One Piece license punching game and a medal pusher based on the cartoon series. BE also presented their music game series, including the new Penla Live music rhythm wand-based game. There was hardly any new VR Amusement at the show, but one example was seen on the Bandai Namco Technica booth section with VR Strike. This being a rebadged version of the previously released Sega Amusement International title, Alpha Ops VR Strike, developed by 3 Mindwave. This was seen previewed at a recent BE distributor meet in Japan, and it seems now that the company will fully represent the VR mounted title in the Asian territory. A surprise move, as this was a SAI developed game, and many observers had taken it for granted that if it was to be given a Japanese airing, that would be through partners Sega Fave. Other third-party releases seen at the Bandai Namco Technica booth section included active entertainment releases along with a new digital screen hoops title called To Tharnet, which is a Unis technology release under license, and the Metal Gun shooting gallery title Top Shooting Plus from Chinese developer Leon Amusement. Overall, at the show there was a greater perfusion of Chinese imported amusement pieces, seeming to mark a trend for the Japanese amusement trade. The factory Taito came to amuse XPJP25 with a selection of their latest amusement and some surprises. One of the bigger showings on their booth was their Cube Immersive Attraction. The Immersive Enclosure System with wall projection has a new piece of content recently launching Welcome to the Death Game. The four-player horror shooter was running through a demo at the show. The company was also showing the latest range of their catch a machine series, including an example of their online crane platform, along with amusement for their facility operations with their latest prize and merch. This included the appearance of the Little Bull New Wave Crane Machine design, imported from the successful Taiwanese crane scene. The company was also promoting their classic content, launching a new in-the-series title called Bubble Bobble Sugar Dungeons, based on the corporate mascot. Taito also showed some new redemption prize style releases. As with last year, the company promoted investment into their facility business, including their X-Bar Tokyo, promoting on booth the self-service beer pour platform employed at the site. The closest that the Japanese scene has to the explosion of social entertainment in the Western market. Close to the Taito, Capcom took a booth at Amuse XPJP25, presenting the latest in their Street Fighter Brawler series for their amusement patrons. The latest Street Fighter VI type arcade was revealed in its latest cabinet and game colors, the arcade version differing slightly from the consumer release, including new characters. The booth also included a Capcom store, presenting the latest merge. Konami had a major showing at Amuse XPJP25 with the latest version of the music rhythm game Pop'n Music High Cheers, along with their other music game series Gaining Updates, Gitadora part of the Guitar Freak series, All This, and the latest Metal Pushers. The big video release was Super Punch Mania, a punch pad video based on the previous 2000 Fighting Mania release, now re-released as a dual player. The company also showed Gasha I An, a ball-throwing screen game, as well as showing their own licensed one piece video game. The second day of the show promoted the public event and music festival, Amusement Music Fares 2025, with a live stage and performances of the popular music from the leading game platforms, as well as some retro creations of popular scores. The public event seemed as well attended as in previous years, though the available hardware to play seemed to be down. In conclusion, the Amuse XP JP25 seemed well attended, even if new amusement needed more routing out to find, attracting some 50 exhibitors. The interesting trend on display was a perfusion greater than previously of claw machines. This was fueled in part by the 40th anniversary of the UFO Catcher series, as well as the impact of the fashion in crane and claw gaming seen internationally. Japan amusement factories attempted to define their position in leading this trend against the Chinese wave. Another interesting milestone marked during the show was the 30th anniversary of the photo sticker machine, illustrated by Furyu still going strong. All eyes will now turn in Japan to the Amusement and Leisure Expo, AMLEX, in January as the next major Japanese trade opportunity organized by the Japan Amusement Park Association. The Japanese amusement scene is in change mode, with new rising developer and operators and a replacing of the old guard. As reported, a symbol of this change was the Akihabara Arcade Center, seeing the removal of its recognizable red cladding for its new owners. As it prepares for the new Silk Hat Entertainment Venue installation, claims arcade was leaving the area proven wrong and seeming to indicate a restructuring of the amusement presence in Japanese culture and beyond.
