Sound Off #112 - Rave Bingo, Kiddleton Brand Takeover, XR Trends, & More!

Sponsored by Intercard!
Sponsored by Alan-1!

On this week's show we argue for commercial‑grade re-creations of classic arcade machines while unpacking how tariffs, hardware shortages, and shaky forecasts are reshaping costs, timelines, and expo show floors. From sportstainment pivots and mega‑FEC reinvestments to rave bingo, 3D‑printed redemption prizes, and Genda’s data engine, the through‑line is owning your mix with smarter design and better information.

• why rugged retro recreations beat fragile home cabinets
• tariff and shipping impacts on pricing, parts, and ETAs
• RAM and hard drive shortages constraining PC‑based amusements
• park realities at Six Flags versus Tomorrowland renewal in Tokyo
• gen‑2 sports simulators balancing coaching and casual play
• Cinergy, 810 Billiards, and Scene75 rebalancing F&B and attractions
• IP‑driven venues versus Netflix House, and stadiumtainment growth
• rave bingo as rotating nightlife anchor for repeat visits
• custom merch via 3D printer farms to control supply and brand
• XR trends: shorter runs, higher throughput, VR karting tests
• brand shifts: Player One to Kiddleton and IAAPA’s MENA move
• Genda’s digital transformation: CV heatmaps and ML‑guided ops
• actionable takeaways on mix, inclusivity, and instrumentation

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Transcript

Kicking Off Q1 And Retro Revival

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Are you on the edge of your seat? Because we're about to stay with Elizabeth, covering today's latest trends in location-based entertainment. Brought to you by the LBX Collective, your community to collect a spider. All right, everyone. Let's buckle up.

SPEAKER_01 0:26

All right. Well, welcome everybody to Setup of Kevin Williams. For March 3rd, we are officially into the end of Q1 of 2026. So things are just moving along, and we are only a few weeks away from Amusement Expo International as well. So how are you doing, Kevin?

SPEAKER_03 0:46

I'm doing well, except for the time travel. This is this is speedy stuff. You know, Q1 went past, and there were a lot of things that were meant to happen in Q1 that didn't happen. So I need to go back and check the list. Indeed.

Rebuilding Classic Arcade Machines

SPEAKER_01 1:00

All right. Well, so how do we we want to kick things off with Change My Mind? How are you going to do it this time?

SPEAKER_03 1:06

Well, um, we've touched upon the number of retro arcade facilities that are opening up. We've touched upon how retro machines are still popular. Uh, you know, our friends at uh arcade one up uh didn't just go to the war, they got acquired, uh, or their key assets got acquired. But from our point of view, as operators of amusement entertainment, we also find that there's a strong interest in playing classic retro arcade machines. You know, just look at uh our last uh sound off talking about what's going on at Logan uh airport. So the question is, where do you get these machines from? You know, they're not making them anymore. These are retro antique machines, and I feel we're at that stage now where the amusement industry is going to have to bite the bullet and say we're gonna have to make modern recreations of these machines suitable to be placed uh into uh location-based entertainment application, not trying to join our friends at Stern and uh you know arcade one up and trade machines that can also sit in a rec room. These are going to have to be ruggedized, they're going to have to have uh you know payment holders. I would say uh coin doors, but that is a thing of the past. Though some you know some players may feel comfortable putting their swipe card unit near uh where the coin box used to be. Either way, we have to use modern equipment for this kind of approach of a proven entertainment formula.

SPEAKER_01 2:47

Yeah, I mean, this is I think if if it isn't filled by our you know, by by our industry, you will see uh you know, you will see arcade one-ups uh start to. We've already seen it in some of these retro arcades. So like the little home hole in the wall, little homey ones. I'm not talking about the the bigger official ones with like you know 50 or 60 or 70 cabinets, but you see these little ones that have console gaming, and then they also have the arcade one-up versions of these in there for play, and then they charge$10 or whatever an hour. And again, I'm not saying that that is a good business model. We've talked about that ad nauseum. However, we are seeing that the are there are consumers and there are guests who want to play these retro games, and they can't get access to those necessarily in the ways that they should be able to in a location-based entertainment venue with high quality, with durability, and uh you know that that that you just can't get from a play from an arcade one-up cabinet.

SPEAKER_03 3:44

Right now, every facility that opens a retro arcade component to its site wants to have a Space Invaders machine. I can tell you now, there aren't any Space Invader machines out there in a condition suitable to be deployed in a location-based entertainment site. If they're of mint condition, then they're worth more to be sold into the collector's market. And if they're not of uh suitable quality, then they're not going to last particularly long being dumped into a public space entertainment. It is time now to start thinking about this, though, as you say, nature apples a vacuum. And if our amusement industry hasn't got the cohenas to uh actually go away and have to go through the complication of the licensing, the manufacturer, and the branding of these types of machines, there will be someone that will come along and do it for them.

SPEAKER_01 4:39

Absolutely. I mean, we you have seen to some extent something like that with Alan One and the Atari, some of the Atari uh you know games. Obviously, though, they're taking a different approach, they're not just you know repackaging the original game, they're doing a recharged version of those um, you know, those those games, which I think is good. I mean, the game plan is fine, but people also want to play the originals. Um, and so I think we really need to think about how we're going to make that happen uh going forward.

SPEAKER_03 5:06

We always were surprised that when they did the world's largest Put Man and the World's Largest Space Invaders from our friends at Raw Thrills, that they just didn't do a dip switch at the back where it would play the bog standard exact recreation of the game. Led to believe uh during further conversation that there's a lot of marketing and IP issues regarding that. Those problems are going to have to be sorted out.

Ad Break And Cashless Systems

SPEAKER_01 5:31

Yeah. All right. Well, coming up after the quick break, we'll continue diving into the trends. Intercard is the only cashless system designed, developed, and manufactured all under one roof. They introduced cashless technology to the amusement industry and have been leading the way for over 30 years. Cashless system from InterCard increase customer spending, get satisfaction, and boost revenues by up to 30%. Intercard is so proud to be serving the amusement industry. And if you aren't already part of a global family of customers, they hope you will become one soon.

SPEAKER_03 6:08

Thank you, Intercard, and straight into the uh impacts of the economy. And you know, we're still feeling the fallout from the uh decision by the Supreme Court and then the counter-decision by the White House to impose uh a 10% tariff, uh, with accusations that it's going to be a 50% tariff going down the path. Whatever the politics involved in this, from an operator and a manufacturer's point of view, confusion is not a good state uh to be in regarding products that you have shipping, and especially with the build-up to uh chaos and confusion of uh EAI, it it is going to be difficult for some uh exhibitors to give a guaranteed number and delivery date uh on uh certain of the products and spare parts and components, prizes and plush, uh that uh they will be exhibiting at the show. This is a very difficult situation. I I haven't seen a situation like this since the uh the late 1980s, where there was a financial situation that was causing confusion. At that point, it was the fuel prices that was impacting. What we have to understand here is that we've got a double whammy. There is uh taxes uh or call them tariffs being imposed on uh products that are being uh imported into the US as well as being exported out of the US. And sometimes there are container ships that have made a delivery schedule that feel that it may be a good idea to hang around outside of harbor for a couple of days uh while they wait for the dust to settle or for clarification to be made. That has a ripple or a domino's effect, and we need to be mindful of the hidden additional uh costs that are being applied to the products that we're thinking that we'd already ordered and paid for uh back in an IALPA last year.

SPEAKER_01 8:08

Yeah, I mean I think you've covered it all very well. I have nothing to add to this giant clusterfuck.

AI Hardware Shortages Hit Amusements

SPEAKER_03 8:16

Yes. And uh another addition to the cluster, as it were, is uh the problems that we're having, uh, courtesy of lack of RAM uh due to the AI explosion, and now we have a lack of hard drives, everything that is needed in the modern immersive entertainment platform. That said, every component of the out-of-home entertainment industry is touched by computer. Uh as someone once said, it's all computer, it really is. And we are faced with the situation that if we don't have hard drives, then we don't have PCs, and if we don't have PCs, we don't have amusement machines, be that a redemption, uh, unless we're all going to start using static memory and uh uh using Raspberry Pis to uh power all the machines. This may be a good thing. This this may be the kick in the pants for innovation, uh, as shortage usually is, but it's also something that will just add to those prices that I was talking about previously.

SPEAKER_01 9:23

Yeah, I mean, I'm I'm shocked actually that uh we're having the same issue with hard drives. I mean, I understand the RAM uh scenario, you know, the GPUs obviously, but uh but the the hard drives is actually really remarkable. And obviously, we're talking about Western digital, but it's certainly something to keep in mind because of it's likely due to issues with the components that go into the hard drives and not the hard drives themselves. That's limiting potentially their supply.

Six Flags Woes And Park Upkeep

SPEAKER_03 9:51

Before uh our readers, so our listeners and our watches say, oh, it's only one company, that's 70% of the hard drive market. So tells you how consolidated that particular aspect of the business has become. Into the biz that directly impacts us. And uh, you know, if you're a six flags investor, you've been really enjoying a roller coaster, and I don't mean you've been visiting the parks. The situation at uh one of the uh investor reporting for the sorry at the uh investor call for the uh uh year end. Uh uh just the statement that was made just boggles belief that they were turning around and saying that uh you know their business hadn't really achieved the uh uh the expected uh footfall and that they were seeing a shrinkage in their audience. Uh, but they promised that that shortfall will be uh met by uh new investments and new endeavors. You know, we have to think that the CEO of Six Flags has only been parachuted into the job for a matter of months now. Uh and you know he's dealing with some serious issues of a lack of faith from the people who paid their wages, the uh the audience that they saw that kind of drop-off in business is concerning. And then that was doubly hit by uh the news that uh one of the key investors uh in the Six Flags group, now the conjoined group, had decided to dump uh you know a large percentage of their holdings within the company to uh to utilize it to raise capital. Never a good sign. And we're kind of waiting for the next shoe to drop regarding what Six Flags Entertainment is going to do to address the situation.

SPEAKER_01 11:45

Yeah, this is this is not a good situation for Six Flags. And I think this this comment will be specifically related to the actual branded Six Flags parks and not the Cedar Fair parks. Uh so I'm gonna make this comment here about the fact that you know, Six Flags, while I appreciate that they continue to invest into new attractions, new roller coasters, etc., they really need to reinvest in buckets of paint and and some and some hoses and some other things to just clean up their parks and bring them up to up to par and make sure that guests feel like they're having a an elevated experience and not just having to get over like basically be okay with you know sit going in and standing in queues that are dirty and tired and run down just so they can go on a roller coaster.

Tokyo Disney Tomorrowland Overhaul

SPEAKER_03 12:38

The merger of the two entities was hoped to create a cash cow, and none of the C-suites that were involved in that merger really thought about the entertainment offering that they were presenting at that time. Now, under the cold hard light of reality, we see that not all the parks under you know under this umbrella are glowing examples of entertainment facilities. Some of them are tired, some of them need investment, and that wasn't the story that was sold to those that jumped on board looking at this as a major entity uh going up with the likes of Disney and Universal. It is a surprise, and there's two things you can do when you have a surprise of this nature, uh, and uh the rumors are that we're going to see one example of that in a matter of weeks. But I'm not gonna get ahead of ourselves. I'm not gonna not gonna do that just yet. From needing to put some money in to putting one of the largest piles of money in, and uh our friends at Tokyo Disney have uh decided that they are going to totally redevelop tomorrow land at the uh Tokyo Disney Resorts facility, and that this will be a record investment. They're going to be putting in over$400 million into the creation of what will be an amazing uh development from dealing with uh in previous life with the Tokyo Disney guys, they I would argue uh held some of the uh imagination and innovation that uh certain individuals uh at Imagineering claimed that they had. Um they are a special group, and as they're the guys that created the Tron experience and other examples of successful uh Disney projects that then suddenly got hijacked by the uh uh North American group uh as being their design. I am wondering that a lot of what we're going to see going into uh the new reimagined Tomorrowland won't in, shall we say, eight years' time, maybe ten years' time, find itself turning up on its Western alternative.

SPEAKER_01 14:56

I mean, it certainly needs to, uh at least as far as uh I mean the Tomorrowland hasn't been updated really significantly in in nearly two decades, uh if not more than that at this point.

SPEAKER_03 15:06

More, more 1980s was the last major investment. 1980s, 1990s was the last major investment.

SPEAKER_01 15:12

Yeah. So you know, one of my issues though, in general, when you have something that's tomorrowland, is that you know, as soon as it's built in a few years, tomorrow is here, right? So I'm hoping that they are taking learnings from the last 50 years of Tomorrowlands around the world, and that they make this something that is easier to re-theme, re-redevelop, and you know, swap out attractions, etc. You know, to make it feel like it it can continue to stay focused on tomorrow and into the future, then rather than something that looks back at wistfully what we thought the future was going to be in the 50s and 60s.

SPEAKER_03 15:51

There's a there's an argument for um retrofuturism. Uh there is a cute pastiche uh going around uh a well-maintained tomorrow land and seeing what the 1950s idea of what the uh the year 1990 was going to look like. Um I would argue that there needs to be some serious thought about how much you're creating an entertainment environment rather than a dystopian, realistic, futuristic environment populated with robots and drones. Um again, uh the uh the team at Dis uh Tokyo Disney are the ones that I will bet on coming up with some really interesting ideas.

SPEAKER_02 16:36

Yep.

Sportainment Tech And Batfast Pivot

SPEAKER_03 16:38

Moving on away from the theme park side and towards the sports taintment market. You've heard us talk a lot about sport tainment and mainly the projection, ball tracked, uh, ball launching systems that you know we've seen with the Sixes, uh, and we've seen with the Tocker Socials, and we've seen with uh the uh the X-Golf X-suite facilities. Behind all of the technology, sorry, behind all of the location-based entertainment facilities and competitive socializing facilities, there is the technology, and most of that technology comes from uh what I would call sports training and coaching companies. They developed these uh ball tracking and body tracking systems to help improve athletes uh and uh fitness individuals improve their game or move better, and then these were suddenly turned into golf simulators for prosumers, and then these golf simulators and cricket simulators, baseball simulators, and even American football simulators were then turned into entertainment systems. One of those companies behind that type of technology is Batfast, and they have decided to change their management structure uh and pivot heavily into not just their sports side of their technology, but also to increase their investment into the competitive socializing market. Batfast was very involved, linked to Sixes, which we've talked about, has gone through some major changes, but it's also Batfast systems that find its way into uh the Gravity Max facilities, into the ROX, and even into the center parks as golf simulators. So this is interesting that Nick has come on board. Nick actually is uh an Olympian uh as well as uh uh uh a well-known uh cricketer from the Australian sector. So um he he brings both the knowledge of the sports and the training sector, but also the drive now to look towards uh the competitive socializing business model.

Gen‑2 Sports Simulators And Topgolf

SPEAKER_01 18:50

Yeah, I mean, let's let's uh we have they they've been used and utilized in a lot of places. I mean, we were even just on on open and shut just a few days ago talking about another location that had uh Batfast installed. So um they're uh they're certainly utilized. I I'm you know, again, struggle with the accessibility of their uh of their attraction given the high-speed nature of the pitches that come at you, um, and uh you know how that can really fit into a family-friendly environment in a location-based entertainment, uh, and even not family friendly, but just uh, you know, even if you're a bunch of 20-somethings and two of you really like baseball and can hit the ball, and then four of you can't, uh, how you know exciting really is it? And so I think that is my one struggle with Batfast itself. Um they have a great technology, a great platform, and in the right applications, it can be amazing. It depends really where it's being deployed in order to uh you know get the right type of traction.

Synergy’s Expansion And Home Run Dugout

SPEAKER_03 19:45

Right horses for the right courses as I keep on going on. About it needs to be the right system. The concept may be good, but if it isn't the right system, then it you know you're wasting your time. Batfast is uh you know an exhibitor at IALPA. I was on their booth speaking to their then team. I'm not sure how much uh the new C-suite coming on board will change uh the structure of that team, uh, and maybe hopefully some reflection about where their product fits in the market. Another company that uh produces uh those sports simulation systems, mainly for the golf side, but also for uh other sports activities, is a company called Sports Coach Simulation. Uh you know, simulators. The name kind of tells you where their background comes from. They have focused on the training and attributes, though their machines over a period of time have started to be used more and more in those golf suites, golf entertainment lounges, and uh the company has decided to go for a restructuring and a rebranding, and the first thing to be dropped was the coach from their name, and they've now been rebranded Sports Simulator. I wish there was an EDS at the end of that. But anyway, the issues uh here is that they're looking at the next generation of the technology as well as the application of where their market is. And from some research that I've had to do for another project, it is clear that some big advances have been done in the ball tracking and uh human skeletal tracking uh systems. So a new level of engagement is achievable from uh sports simulators. So we say that this is a point where we're seeing the end of the generation one coaching simulators used in entertainment, uh, and maybe the beginning of Gen 2 systems starting to make an impact in our market.

SPEAKER_01 21:43

Yeah. Well, this is interesting too, because I'll really be curious to see what Dave McKillops over at Top Golf and obviously their Top Tracer uh system, um, what they how they intend to respond to the developments here in these Gen 2 systems and where they'll take their Technology.

SPEAKER_03 22:01

It's a it's a hard ship to steer. Do you focus on the port of sports simulators? Uh do you focus on those individuals that come to your top golf or other facilities to get improvements on their sports game, or do you focus on the entertainment uh applications uh and the needs for a frictionless experience? Very interesting market to keep an eye on, especially uh seeing how much sport tamement has a part to play in uh the competitive socializing scene. And a company that kind of illustrates the deployment of sports tainment into their entertainment mix. Uh, Synergy, uh, they have uh a facility in Texas, we have a multiple of facilities in Texas, but they have decided uh that their Midland site is going to get expanded, they're dropping in an$11 million reinvestment uh in the coming months. They're going to be dropping in uh mini golf, they're going to be dropping in uh more amusement, uh, they're even going to do some hospitality and competitive socializing elements indoors and outdoors. So, really, you know, really turning this into a mule with a cinema cinema backbone. But the big surprise is that they're going to be dropping in the latest of the home run dugout systems. And that kind of alludes to what Brandon was talking about previously of creating a uh a correct mix, or should we say, uh, judging how much entertainment against how much simulator that you're trying to do. And the home run dugout suite that they're going to be deploying in this facility will be heavily focused around their hospitality entertainment aspects.

Pinstripes Fallout And 810’s Remix

SPEAKER_01 23:48

Yeah. I'm actually uh really glad to see that they are using the home run dugout uh suites in this particular case. I think it's a better fit, better mix with their Synergy, with everything else that's part of Synergy Entertainment. Um, I am a little bit surprised actually, though, that they are doing them all indoors, given the fact that they are doing some of the additional development outdoors. And it may just be a land issue, but the fact they're going doing outdoor mini golf, uh, they're also doing the outdoor fire pits, outdoor seating. In some of the home run dugout instantiations, we've seen a mix of this sort of like indoor-outdoor where you're indoors, but you also have you know the the roll-up doors that open up, and so you get that outdoor feeling as well. Um, so I'm a little bit surprised to see that they haven't done something to that extent with the home run dugout bays. But uh, you know, good to see still that they're adding development uh here.

SPEAKER_03 24:37

For this information to drop now and for it to be in such an early stage, uh, with 11 million, you should be able to come up with a good design. I would also argue that having a strong competitive socializing component to the Synergy Entertainment brand may be something that they can uh expand upon. So maybe that explains the uh the limitations of indoors outdoors. We will see though. We touched upon this in open and shut. Obviously, uh a couple of months ago we were talking about Pinstripes opening uh their facility in Illinois. Uh, and then you know, a couple of months passed, and we heard of all the problems that was uh uh impacting pinstripes, and then suddenly um you know they fall into their bankruptcy position, uh bankruptcy protection position, and people cherry-picked leading sites from their operation to be taken over and uh reap uh reappraised and redeveloped. And one of those, one of the first out of the gate to do that was our friends at 810 Entertainment. And you know what a difference a couple of months makes. You go from the pinstripes uh to the uh 810 entertainment facility, and the biggest changes we've seen have been in the entertainment offering inside the new site. Uh, I haven't had a chance to walk around this. Uh, would love to uh try and do that sometime soon. But one of the interesting additions to their entertainment mix here is the inclusion of the augmented reality versus immersive uh system that has been deployed in there, offering uh an immersive attraction or edutainment, uh, exo gaming uh experience. And that utilizes some of the dead space that Pinstripes uh had left with uh their approach to the market.

Scene75 Rebrand And Mega FEC Arms Race

SPEAKER_01 26:33

Hmm. Yeah, I mean I I touched a little bit on this. Um, yeah, I think that the 80 Entertainment actually fell on some really great opportunities by being able to come in and scoop up some beautiful facilities. I've always said I've appreciated pinstripes and how well appointed they are inside. Uh, they're they're they're always very well done. Um, but as we talked about before in the past, uh completely overbuilt for F and B. And so good to see that 810 Entertainment is beginning to bring in and reutilize some of that space for attractions. Surprised to see them putting in a verse immersive. Um but uh that that I think is probably the most surprising thing, but uh versus you know other VR or other AR type experiences, um, or just XR experiences in general. But uh good to see at least that they are uh re reusing or like readjusting the overall mix and space uh use space usage.

Malibu Jack Roots And MAI Launch

SPEAKER_03 27:29

We're gonna see a term from the uh 1990s reappear, which is versatile space. And that means that your facility will have to have a certain part of its operation that can be quickly changed to try out new attractions, uh kind of a showroom for a concept. And I get the feeling that 810 has gone for dropping into their flexible space uh versus immersive to see what their audience thinks of it. You know, they have double whammy to think about, they have to attract uh an audience to this facility, they have to get their uh approach nailed down, and they also have to keep it fresh. And we wish them the best on that. And we also hope soon to have more knowledge of what's going on with the remainder of the pinstripes facilities. You know, when you say that you're going to be opening one of the largest uh FECs in the USA, you know, we're talking numbers, and 200,000, sorry, 200,000 square feet of facility is quite the shake, you know, over a hundred and over 200 video amusement pieces, you know, karting, golf, mini golf, everything. You know, you're you're doing the spaghetti. This is a mix-use leisure entertainment facility. Uh, as we touched on uh and Brandon made clear uh during the sound-off discussion briefly on this, this site existed and has been redeveloped. We've seen you know a considerable amount of money. I would argue where we've seen uh 11 million uh going into one company's uh development of uh their expanded entertainment uh offering. We see here with uh scene 75 them dropping 15 million to uh keep up with the Joneses, as it were, in Ohio. And now we have this facility open. It will be interesting to see if they uh that investment is going to bear fruit to the level needed.

SPEAKER_01 29:35

The other thing I'll say here is I'm I'm glad to see the rebrand. Uh so not to say that the scene 75 old brand was bad, it was just uh this it just needed a refresh to really bring the brand up to I would say the 2020s, the 2020s, really. The old brand was definitely something very early 20s, early 2000s, early aughts, even maybe in the 90s, it kind of had that feel to it. So uh obviously there's gonna be a long, the long tail there. I mean, obviously, you see the one of the pictures, like their their carts have an old scene 75 logo on it. So there's gonna be a lot of things are gonna have to go and and change along the way, so it will take time. But I think they've done a great job with their new brand. Um, the 75 Ways to Play is actually a really interesting play on their name, and I think that was also a great move. Um, I am curious where they're getting this 75 Ways to Play number, unless they're just assuming that uh part of those ways to play is in their arcade where they have 150 amusement machines, um, and that's and maybe that's or 215 now. Uh, they haven't updated their website yet. Um, and so maybe that's that's part of it. I don't know, but uh it is still a good tagline no matter what, even if it may be a little bit of a stretch.

SPEAKER_03 30:40

The press release and the announcement regarding all of this uh didn't wasn't matched by the website updating and a lot of the imagery that we had to use for this and other slides. Um it was clear that we were using older slides from the original facilities uh uh operation rather than the modern one. Hopefully, one of our listeners, uh uh watchers can wander around and take some vid for us. I'm waiting for that drone shot. If you've got 200,000 square to play with, then you should be able to get a drone flying around all the levels of the karting facility there.

SPEAKER_01 31:13

Absolutely.

China’s IP Spaces Vs Netflix House

Stadiumtainment And Competitive Social hubs

SPEAKER_03 31:15

A blast from the past. Uh, many of you will be uh familiar with the Malubu Jack uh brand of uh Family Entertainment Center, and uh you know the guys behind this, the family behind this, um, have been through some changes, some restructuring, they've been repositioning themselves in the market. You know, they they're still associated with their chain of parks uh or chain of entertainment facilities, they're more FECs. And then suddenly we get uh MAI uh appear as a brand and now as confirmation that uh a hundred and nine thousand square is going to be taken over by this new interpretation. So they've taken a lot of the lessons that they learn from uh the Malibu Jack uh entertainment facility approach, and they're going to redevelop this to create a new level of uh entertainment. It'll be opening in late spring, so not a million miles off now uh in Kentucky. My my interest is, you know, they they've been able to share some of the work in progress uh pictures. I always find it hilarious when someone drops an attraction in when they're still uh still uh uh hanging drywall. Uh you know, the dust problem from dry, I speak from very long experience in this sector. You try not to have many attractions in that space, or else you have to wrap them up, as you can see, with the uh Triotech Dark Rider system in the corner there. Uh, either way, it'll have everything within this space. This is yet again another mule, a mixed-use leisure entertainment site. And this again also builds upon previous experience. We're gonna see a lot of this kind of go large or go home approach to establishing uh brands in the market. The Andretti's, the Evo's, you know, all of these guys are now going to be vying, and it's not easy to run big facilities. So there's the double whammy of you may have a very good idea that works with 50 or even 20,000 square, but as soon as you get to a hundred or plus, then you you find that there is cracks in the entertainment experience and the pricing model. So these are all very interesting things to keep an eye on.

SPEAKER_01 33:36

Yeah. So interesting that the family behind Malubu Jack had in which had been sold, uh, gosh, I mean, many, many, many, many years back now at this point. Many people five-star. It was one of actually the first acquisitions of five-star attractions made was the Malibu Jack Entertainment Chain. Um, but I find it interesting that they've still really like the fact that they call themselves an indoor theme park. Malubu Jacks called themselves an indoor theme park as well. And I just really struggle with that and with that as a concept. They are not a theme park, they are a family entertainment center, they are maybe at the most an amusement park. Um, but when we call things something a theme park, just because they happen to have a few palm trees and some painting on the wall doesn't make you a theme park. Uh, so just be careful of the use of that. I've always struggled that with that with Malibu Jack. If anybody's familiar with that tired concept, um, it is uh anything as far from a theme park as you can get. Um, so anyway, that's that's my only comment.

Player One Rebrands To Kiddleton

SPEAKER_03 34:33

During the period of the heyday of Malibu Jack before the acquisitions and uh the mergers and the and all of the problems that surrounded uh that brand and the other brands that were associated with that, it was easier to explain to your audience of the 1990s and noughties that you were uh indoor think par. Now, with a sophisticated audience, I think they're taking a bit of a risk if they try and oversell themselves without developing the brand. And I notice from the uh Maui uh trade brand, it is very cool and very businesslike. I'm looking forward to seeing which direction they're gonna go with their femaleity. Uh thank you to uh one of our Asian uh listeners for giving some detail on the actual size uh uh of uh Aki Land. Uh uh he still didn't help me with my pronunciation of it, but anyway, we won't we won't go on there. For those of you watching, uh, you can see all of the stats there for those listening. We now uh know that it's uh 10,000 square meters uh for the internal space and 20,000 square meters uh for the sorry, uh for the indoor spaces 20,000 and 10,000 uh for externals. Um, you know, they're hoping to have um, you know, the company who is still relatively new to location-based entertainment, but has been rolling out pop-up entertainment versions uh of their IP uh across China. They're envisaging that this facility is going to attract about 300,000 uh visitors each year. So this is theme park numbers or resort numbers. It's going to have a very high throughput and it puts in a little bit more perspective of what the difference is between this uh approach to uh transmedia entertainment and what our friends at Netflix House are trying to achieve.

SPEAKER_01 36:37

Yeah, I mean this seems like they are going right after uh Netflix House, uh, you know, hopefully what you know learning a little bit from what they've uh they've observed from Netflix House and their successes and struggles. And so, yeah, this is basically right in that wheelhouse.

IAAPA’s MENA Move And Trade Show Chess

SPEAKER_03 36:53

The numbers, the numbers quite marry up uh quite closely. I I know meters to feed, but you know, uh the Netflix house is falling into the hundred thousand square foot uh uh compact, which this these numbers suggest. Though uh obviously Netflix house doesn't have a large outside component. Correct. So horses for courses, large facilities looking at location-based entertainment and the stadium market. If you haven't come across Stadiatainment, I didn't come up with that one for a change, someone else did. Um, you know, the stadium entertainment market now is they want to make uh your visits to a sports stadium much more. You've seen the addition of uh F1 Live being dropped in as a karting experience within a race course. Uh you've uh you know you've seen a number of uh um home run dugouts popping up uh in uh existing sports stadium and uh the UK uh in Bristol, uh where our uh aeronautics industry used to be big in this in the 60s and the 70s. There are a lot of hangars that are being pulled down uh and regenerated in the area, and one of those regenerations sees uh the YTL arena being developed, vast capacity, 20,000 uh seating uh accommodation, and they have now confirmed that they're gonna have a very large competitive socializing component to this. I wouldn't also be surprised if they drop in an indoor theme park uh kind of approach to the space that they have available.

SPEAKER_01 38:29

I think we're gonna continue to see this uh happen more and more. I mean, in most in and around so many stadiums, there's already retailtainment districts. So, you know, lots of retail, lots of FB, a little bit of entertainment. But I think you're gonna see more and more stadiums taking advantage of the fact that they want to control that entertainment experience and that FB experience, not just from a control standpoint, but capitalizing on the additional revenue uh and the dwell time and the per cap they can get from having the guests come to the sports game, then spending money and time on their properties playing their entertainment versus going to the nearby retailtainment districts where they just lose them.

Rave Bingo And Always‑New Nights

SPEAKER_03 39:05

I had a heart attack during a uh recent meeting where you know even an investor was using the phrase dwell type. So you know, this is now appearing as a major focus if you're going to drop in something rather than just having the latest shiny, shiny, you need to also have something that's going to generate revenue. The big news. Um, just as we were compiling uh this latest sound off, I suddenly had to run to the laundry to grab my I told you so t-shirt. So uh our friends at Player One Amusement, um, the US and Canadian distribution entertainment facility operator, uh you know, and also a company that invests in the manufacturing of certain amusement products. So, you know, they have a finger in every pie, and they were a very smart Gender acquisition. Now, as we've been talking about, Gender has been going through its restructuring, which we will touch upon briefly at the end of this session. But fundamentally, Gender has restructured Gender uh Entertainment USA. Um, yeah, they've they've actually rebranded uh what is Gender Entertainment USA, but with that, they've also gone up to player one and said you can get rid of that name for a start, and it's going to be Kiddleton uh USA and Kiddleton Canada. And already we have the Kiddleton FECs uh or mini locations, as they like to call them, uh, within retail, uh, not that many standalones, mainly mall and retail uh locations, and uh we will be seeing a lot more of the Kiddleton name dotted around the amusement industry. I'm taking bets. Do you think by the time we get to AEI that the uh player one booth will be decked out in the orange and white?

SPEAKER_01 41:07

Yeah, I was gonna ask the same question of you. Um, I actually would say it is probably too soon. Uh, I think that they they're unless they knew internally that this was going to be happening many months in advance. Player one has been exhibiting at Amusement Expo for many, many years. They have their booth, they have all their collateral, they have everything that is already pre-branded Player One Amusing Group. So I don't think that we'll see it. I think if anything, you'll maybe see their sales reps wearing Kittleton shirts uh with Kittleton logo because it's pretty easy to just quickly get phones and business cards. Uh, but I think otherwise we'll see a player one branded booth at AEI. Um, the one thing I'll just say here is this is a little bit of a head scratcher for me, primarily because player one has historically been distributor and partly manufacturer, but very but but no public-facing brand as far as you know, they maybe uh they had been an operator as well of locations, but you didn't see uh player one branded locations. Here we have Kittleton, and now you're blurring this brand and this brand between um actual operating locations and a distributor on the back end and manufacturer. So I think this is where it is a little bit of a cross-branded thing that doesn't really separate the commercial side as well as the um consumer side.

Custom Merch And 3D Printer Farms

SPEAKER_03 42:24

A little bit of secret uh baseball for those of you that uh aren't familiar, you know, player one was actually created uh by our friends at uh Cinemark II in Canada uh as a means to supply amusement machines to their cinema and amusement uh interests in Canada and then expanding into the US. And they actually acquired uh a US distributor, a small distributor group uh to then pull them into the fold, um, and uh the rest is history. We are now left with the remnants of player one. Player one is a difficult brand. Um, no matter what people say in the amusement industry, player one is difficult because of its association with Ready Player One, and you know, while it may work for the trade, if you're going to make that a public facing, you have something called brand confusion. Are they part of uh the book? Uh, you know, is this linked to the uh Ready Player One video game? You know, all of these problems. Now, uh, from Gender's point of view, they can clear the uh the decks now that they've consolidated, and we'll touch upon that in a minute. One of the other I told you so's this has been burning a hole in my back since IALPA. You know, uh a very close friend of mine tapped me on the shoulder and let slip that uh ILPA was in discussions to uh to partner with the Middle East uh Trade Association for Amusement Parks uh and leisure.

unknown 43:59

Now that

XR Check‑In: Shorter, Higher Throughput

SPEAKER_03 44:00

Type of information, you know, as an ex-executive, we know that that will be covered under NDA, so we all keep mum, we don't write about it in the Stinger report, but it is filed away in the this will be interesting when it breaks. And it broke uh a couple of uh days ago, uh week ago from the recording of this. It is momentous. It is now uh, you know, if you're not familiar with MILAC, they were very instrumental in the formation of the deal show. Uh, they were also very instrumental in policing and encouraging investment within the uh Middle East and North African uh amusement and leisure sector. And for IALPA to partner and now create IALPA Middle East North Africa uh operation with offices uh in the region kind of tells us, you know, as it says on the tin, that everybody is looking at this particular area of the world as being the fastest growing uh market for tourism, leisure, and entertainment. Disney wouldn't be building a or partnering to build a theme park in this region, and some of the new parks and social entertainment facilities being announced shows that there's still a strong interest in investment. And this is just that 20-pound gorilla of Ialpa ensuring uh that they have a very strong foothold in this, or foundation to be honest, in this sector, benefiting from the contacts that uh Menelac has uh established. And I would take bets on how long our friends at deal with their exhibition have uh before an announcement comes along. Uh I'm I'm uh uh one of my other chocolate flavored hats can be put on the uh line there if uh if I think that that won't be something we'll be hearing about as another shoe dropping in the establishment.

SPEAKER_01 45:57

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, just to be covered in last week's sound off, their uh deal was just transferred ownership to a new group. Um, and it's only, I think, a matter of time before that group uh realizes that they are really fighting against the 800-pound gorilla um in the space. I also do question then what will happen with SEA, which is um or S S A E, I mean, excuse me. Um the C show. Yeah, the C show.

SPEAKER_03 46:26

Well, that we will know in May. Uh at the end of that, we will take a sounding, uh, and I think we will find that that show is in equally the same uh difficult position as Deal. And knowing how well the uh team at IALPA work, I am sure that they will sit down and bring all the heads together uh over a very large amount of alcohol uh and they will work something out because this is a region that cannot survive in confusion. It needs stability. For those of you that are keeping tabs, there is the uh Taurus of Pain showing where some of these companies fit in that mix. It's not as clear cut, but we're talking about a lot of regional entertainment and theme parks as well as companies that are splitting their investment. I'm interested where Kiddleton sits on that Taurus because I would like to move that a lot more, and I'll go into detail in a minute why.

SPEAKER_01 47:26

Perfect. All right, well, coming up at the break, we'll dig into that detail. Power up your game floor with arcades by Allen One. Whether it's perfectly pouring drinks in Dr. Pepper's topic land, having official light something's fleshies, or defending cities from attack and missile command reach cards. Alan One has something to every venue in arcade floor that will delight your guests. Each game is also enhanced with Major H4s. Free app that attracts player top scores and brings guests back to your venue for more. Visit Allendax1.com to learn more. That's AlanDash1.com.

VR Karting Experiments And Closures

SPEAKER_03 47:58

Thank you, Alan One. One of those retro arcade machines we were talking about. Straight into the tech and uh a brand new trend uh has uh popped up. Um I I lost a bet here. I thought the bingo industry was going to just continue along its path and avoid being gamified or added to the competitive socializing mix. For those of you not familiar with uh bingo in the UK, it is you know usually seen as a working class entertainment for uh women of a certain age. Over the years it has improved its appeal, being more raunchy, more alcohol-filled, and the bingo clubs still exist, though that they have updated their game to feel a little bit more like a casino with a bingo component to them. Well, now we have the uh appearance of Rave Bingo as a pop-up concept, and this is the mixing of hospitality, high-end hospitality, live stage performance, uh, as well as uh the utilization of smart technology and a lot of social media. You know, this is a FOMO, fear of missing out opportunity. And we have a number of companies that have been running quite raunchy, adult-aimed uh bingo events where the rave bingo is more about the entertainment, the drinks, and being seen to be having a good time than it is about the uh actual uh bingo itself. Uh and we're due to see a number of large professional corporations jumping in and taking the beginnings of rave bingo and now applying them to the metrics of uh the competitive socializing model.

Xbox Leadership Shakeup And AI Direction

SPEAKER_01 49:43

Yeah, I mean, this is as you can see on the video that we've been playing here, just in the background on loop. Um, it is really truly just a giant party. Um, and they say oh, it is. I mean, it's a rave, it's it's but it's a rave, it's a stave show, it's a it's a DJ. I mean, like there it's obviously some bingo. Um somewhere, somewhere there's bingo. I mean, it's funny. I mean, even the they've even turned the mouse into uh an eggplant. Um the mouse to an eggplant here, but uh so but one of the things I think they call what I think is interesting to call out here is that stop spending your weekends scrolling, uh wishing you could wear that fancy effort, buy it, and then come and spill per seco all over it, right? So about coming in there, but the idea is that they'll never have the same night with us twice. And so I think that's what they're also trying to say is like, hey, come here every night, come here once a week, come here once a month, but you're never going to have the same experience. And I think this is where you have to, you know, this is where other venues that don't have this entertainment um and uh spontaneous experience have to really think about what they're doing in order to drive people back in on a regular basis and provide an experience that they're maybe not going to have, like have a unique experience every time they come back in.

SPEAKER_03 50:58

Without going into too much details, all I will say to those individuals that are developing location-based entertainment facilities, thinking of uh an older audience to try and attract their competitive socializing, you may have to change the design of your karaoke booth to be able to support this type of experience. Moving on and customization, have it your way, never the same thing twice, experiential, all of these things are now being applied across the uh brand. And I just wanted to take one example, uh, some research that we're doing looking at customization of uh everyday products that you could vend or offer at a facility. Think of this concept. You're you turn up, and the birthday party has taken the uh rave karaoke room, and in front of you isn't a slice of cake, uh isn't a uh glass of champagne, but it is a personalized bar of chocolate, or it is a personalized food item, or it is a personalized can of Coke. We've already seen the ability to name the can of Coke machines, and now the uh confectioner market is looking at uh the ability through either online purchases or special vending purchases to customize your chocolate bar. This is important, this is how memories are made and customization and unique experiences, never the same experience twice as Brandon was saying just a minute ago. That also applies to the food and the drink and the entertainment.

SPEAKER_01 52:33

Indeed. And uh love Tony's, so uh excited to uh customize my own bar. Bit expensive though.

Smart Glass Backlash And Policy Lines

SPEAKER_03 52:41

Yeah, but quality does come at a price, as they say. Uh told you so. The the uh told you so t-shirt was removed again from the washing machine. Um we talked about this as a change my mind possibility, a few sound-offs, and now we actually see it in practice. Uh, our friends at PlayPlanet Toys, who support the um the redemption and amusement market, uh, gave us a sneak peek into uh one part of their warehouse where they have a 3D printer file. And all of those printers aren't creating uh prototypes, those printers are creating merch. And so they have created their own 3D files for unique merch that are found in their particular offerings of their claw and crane machines and their price areas. So rather than that generic rubber pencil eraser, um, they can offer something that is unique and customizable to that facility, and they can print it in scale, and they don't have to worry about uh ships being turned away from China, and they don't have to worry about uh just in time, they just have to be worried about just in build. And this won't be the last uh time you will see a 3D printer farm in plastic, in metal, and in other materials being important to the future of our industry.

SPEAKER_01 54:09

Yeah, yeah, this is uh this is very insightful and uh you know forward forward thinking. And so you know interesting to see Play Planet Toys being the one to hop on to this. Um uh you know, I you know I know the gentleman behind Play Planet Toys, and so um he's uh you know innovative fellow, to say the least.

Genda’s DX Playbook And Data Advantage

SPEAKER_03 54:29

To say the least, and there are other companies doing this, but it was kind of them to share this particular snapshot of the future. And now we jump really to a quick rundown of uh what's happening in XR related to our sector. Um I'm gonna keep this very brief uh and just very focused because I think we will be talking about at the end of uh Amusement uh Expo the real reality of where VR, AR, and MR fit in the future of our innovation going forwards. I use this picture a lot and I'm tempted to use it in my presentation in a couple of weeks' time. The the picture of the uh 1800s uh kennescope, the predecessor to the cinema. Um this kinescope was an arcade, you know, what the butler saw kind of approach, go up to one of the machines, stick your head in the viewing system, drop your coin, and you know, turn the crank. Um, that was the early arcades that then migrated into a much more feasible and business-oriented approach, which became cinema. The technology improved, and so we ended up with cinemas where you could get the business to work, you could have large audiences watching one film rather than multiple films. Jump forward uh to 2025, and we have rather than one person using a VR headset, we now have groups, audiences of individuals using uh VR headsets in 20, 30, 40 minute experiences, and that has driven us to the point where we are now, where the business model looks like it's getting to a point where it's less about the hype and more about the business opportunities. We have companies out there that are now vying for the ownership uh of the what I like to call the immersive uh adventure uh or the VR experience markets. There are other phrases for this, but it is an audience, ticket, high ticket price, larger audience, uh edutainment as well as entertainment uh experience offering. Not every facility can have groups of 45 wandering around them. Some of these are purpose-built or specially developed spaces for them, and there's a brand that I haven't included in that lineup, which is FIVA, because our friends at Fever look at this particular application of uh immersive entertainment as uh a strong opportunity going forwards. Anything to add to that, Brandon, just before I jump onto the other tech?

SPEAKER_01 57:07

Yeah, I think what what I'll add here is you know, when we talk about the original Edison kinetophone that you you'd referenced, it is uh, you know, the standard experience back then, uh early ones were you know 20 to 40 seconds, but they ended up around six minutes. And the idea here is the high throughput. I think that's what you're trying to pull pull through. And so I think one of the things about these immersive adventures that are beginning to pop up, we talked, we touched on this briefly at Open and Shut a few days ago, is that they are shorter and shorter experiences. They're 30 minutes, they're maybe 25 minutes versus the longer experiences that were 45 to an hour originally. And I think it serves a couple of purposes. One, it doesn't have the same level of wear uh and tear on the actual user's head going through the experience, uh, you know, like and the neck muscles and everything else uh for the longer experience. Um, but also it has throughput. Um, and so the idea here is you can get you know twice as many people through one of these shorter experiences, have a better experience for both the guest as well as then obviously for the operator, having a higher uh revenue per hour going through that uh you know, that immersive venue.

AEI Preview And Closing Notes

SPEAKER_03 58:14

Agreed. Kind of going uh juxtaposition uh against a large throughput. You can't really have a large throughput if everybody's sitting on a uh cart, but one of the technologies that we touched upon in Open and Shut that's been given a showroom now, its second showroom, is the virtual reality pedal-powered carting system. And you know, I hope to uh jump on board uh one of these systems when I'm next in Madrid uh to uh to give a uh a more accurate feedback, though it is interesting that this technology has not uh disappeared compared to, so we say 2024, when I was talking a lot about it sound of companies promoting uh their uh approach to VR carting. There's a facility in uh in France that we've talked about that already operates VR carting systems, and now I think the pedal-powered approach may be uh a little bit more advantageous towards what they're trying to achieve, but again, the proof is in the pudding, we'll need to see it. The other side of the coin, as it were, of VR is uh the the highs and the lows, and one of those high-level projects that got a lot of PR at the time was the travelling uh Army of the Dead Netflix experience. It came here to London, it went to New York, it went to other cities around the world. It was a VR experience for six players, six, seven, eight players, uh using at that point top of the range technology and a lot of themality, all based around the IP from Netflix of uh Arby of the Dead. Uh and after it became a pop-up attraction, it was then given a permanent home at Area 15 in 2021, where it was the key VR experience, even though it was outside of the Area 15 facility, it had its own dedicated building. Well, you know, someone pointed out to me, you know, here am I talking about opens and closings uh in opens and shuts, and uh, why hadn't I pointed out that Army of the Dead had closed? And to be honest, it had passed me by. You know, openings are big hurrah, and closings are brushed under the carpet. And really, I think this is a victim of number one, it's been going a long time, uh, and so a lot of the luster had gone from it. You know, the Army of the Dead IP has, you know, it's uh an ancient memory now. Number two is using aged technology compared to the modern technology, it wasn't arena-based. But the big one is that Netflix has tied its horse to the next application of VR within its own Netflix house facilities, and I'm sure that they didn't really want this um aged attraction around their neck any longer.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:12

Yeah, I mean, it was probably partly that, and also potentially partly the needing Area 15's need to reappropriate the space as well.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:21

Yeah. All double whammies. Uh, I wish it had been given a little bit more fanfare because it was a success. Uh and you know, I am concerned that some embarrassment by some corporations to move on quickly means that lessons aren't learned uh from uh successes as well as failure. Part of what I like to do privately regarding the research we do is to archive how we got here as much as where we're going. Talk about where we're going and you know, an amazing tenure within Microsoft. Um, the consumer side of the entertainment sector is seeing as much shake up of uh C-suites, uh, even more in some cases than we're seeing in the location-based entertainment. And Phil Spencer, um, you know, the head of uh the Microsoft Games Group and also a steering force behind the Xbox Games division, announced his retirement after 38 years with Microsoft. Amazing. You're never going to see that kind of longevity of a C-suite executive on one particular operation for that length, for good or ill. Uh, many people have views that he may have stayed on too long. Uh, whatever the case is, he's decided to move on or has been encouraged to think about making the move now, uh, because at the same time his successor um has also announced that she will be leaving Microsoft and that a total new room uh and a new C-suite are going to be parachuted into the steerage of Microsoft Games uh and the Xbox uh division. And the reason why I bring this up is because this is could be the beginning of the loss of the physical console. You know, uh Microsoft has been thinking for some time that they've plowed a lot of money into the Xbox platform, and though it's been great success in selling content, it has been a trouble mistress uh to be in the console market, and they are now way down number three in that market. And uh they've moved towards a more Xbox everywhere approach where you can play Xbox games on your PCs and your laptops and on your mobile phones. Our friends at Meta, of course, had their partnership with uh Microsoft, uh a troubled partnership. Phil didn't believe in VR, and I think it has been proven correct that maybe VR wasn't something Microsoft needed to wet their teeth in. Uh and now we're at that point where uh the you know the MetaQuest platform is in question on how much my uh uh Facebook is investing in it. So there are a whole load of people out there that brought uh MetaQuest headsets that were supported as Xbox editions that may be finding that that relationship has only lasted under 12 months. Anyway, my biggest takeaway from the change in the C-suite on their games division is that the new head comes directly from their AI division.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:27

Well, I think that is actually the most interesting thing here. I mean, you know, uh congratulations to Phil for his retirement, but uh yeah, I didn't know him, but you know, good for him. Uh, but really interested to see that the uh that they're bringing in the Microsoft Games group bringing in somebody from their AI division. Um I think that signals what they're at least at the at the upper levels thinking about uh you know as they're moving down the games path.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:52

Yeah, with uh an error parent already anointed to then throw her aside uh with this retirement kind of tells you that the the top echelon at Microsoft who are in major damage limitation mode at the moment over the debacle over Windows 11 and uh public uh outcry, they're really now looking at trying to find a clear path for AI within their business model. As many companies are, I had a great conversation with Charlie Fink, who is a guru in both uh immersive technology uh as well as uh writes a very interesting uh piece uh or newsletter covering AI application in movie, and he teaches that as well. And he he was sort of pointing out some of the things that we need to be mindful of of how AI, no matter what we think, is going to impact the periphery, if not the generality, of uh uh entertainment development going forward. Talking about AI and talking about meta and talking about how to Really make a fool of yourself. Um, so uh many of you may know that Meta is embroiled at the moment in California in a legal dispute about uh what their uh social media platform does uh to its users, its impact on society, uh, and also if there's possible claims for uh damages by certain individuals that have been uh adversely affected by social media platform uh and the algorithm uh uh support that drives uh Facebook and all of the other Meta platforms. That said, uh while the legal case was uh taking place, uh the head of uh Meta founder uh took to the uh the box to uh give his statements uh to the judge, and he turned up along with his entourage in the in court wearing their Meta AI glasses on full record. It was pointed out by the bailiff to the judge what was happening, and she lost it big time, demanding that the headsets were taken off all individuals, that they were turned off, sealed in a bag, and taken out of her court. And then she spent a couple of minutes to point out to the founder of uh Facebook uh and Meta that it wasn't a good look to do something like that, and that it was kind of a really bad look to be so blasé about the dangers of this technology and hoping to get advantage through recording of the proceedings and such like. This is the flip side of the uh you can't stop uh the smart glass usage. Yes, you can. And uh we've seen theme parks now defining where and when you can and can't use your smart glasses, and we're now seeing the legal industry in America as well as in other countries making it clear that they're not going to accept that kind of uh system being deployed within the uh uh legal profile that they have to deal with, especially as we don't allow cameras. You know, we have an artist's impression of uh the co-founder of Meta. We don't have a photograph for the very reason that she was making extremely clear. This isn't the last time you're going to hear about the backlash against AI glasses, especially regarding a piece of news that will hopefully be breaking in a couple of weeks' time.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:42

I've got nothing else to say, it's just stupid.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:46

Ill-advised. Quickly now, uh the talking point, and it's that Genda moment. We were lucky enough uh to get a lift up of the curtain of the thinking behind Gender uh and how they're applying technology uh to restructuring their business. As we pointed out earlier, that they're going through a major, you know, they have made over 60 acquisitions over the last two to three years. They have made that turn themselves overnight, literally, into a powerhouse in the international amusement uh and entertainment sector. They have partnered with IP, toy brands, they own a very large network of entertainment facilities. And now they have focused on not just having a large empire, not just rebranding it, not just putting it under one umbrella, but using the latest technology to uh establish and hold on to their growth plans. And a phrase has now appeared into the lexicon: digital transformation DX. And to be a little bit clearer, this means the application of machine learning, AI, and smart tracking of guest experiences within facilities, uh, as well as within purchase habits, as well as within the general expectation from uh what they want out of the Gender and Gaigo and other brands. And when we talk about machine learning in a facility, uh, we've been talking about this for a long time. It is technology that kind of has been applied in the grocery, in the supermarket sector. Uh corporations such as Walmart secretly utilize uh camera tracking technology to watch people's movements through their stores, see which uh how long they spend at the chocolate bar aisle, uh, see uh how popular the uh the liquor aisle is compare in comparison to other aisles, move the food around, meat around, social, especially seasonal, so they don't just move everything out for seasonal, they place the Christmas or the Thanksgiving in the correct location. That technology started off in the 60s and 70s, is done by paper and video, early video. Uh, there's even a Columbo episode uh uh I was watching that uh actually has uh the villain uh or murderer uh being one of those individuals that tracks uh movements within uh supermarkets and buying habits. Well, now that is done automatically through cameras. Every Gaigo facility or every one of their key Gaigo facilities that's been updated now has these camera trackings, not just for security, not just uh uh for the uh checking of uh patron safety in the facility, but also to track their movement. And all we care about is their age and where they're moving, and that can be done through uh the camera technology, through the machine learning. As you can see there, a partway is created so you can see the heat map of where they spent a lot of time playing or where they didn't. You look at this on a larger number of individuals, then you suddenly work out that a machine is in the wrong place, or more importantly, the AI tells you that the machine that was full of the Marvel stuff compared to the machine that's full of the uh frozen merch isn't doing as well, and so you can do that evening a swap out of merchandising to stay on the ball. This type of AI DX technology is essential in the retail and hospitality sector, it is essential in the groceries uh uh sector, and it is now going to become essential in our sector because if you ignore this kind of approach, then you're going to find yourself left behind, and that Gender monster is going to get a little bit bigger. And then finally, just uh you know, the the picture of all of those operations that fall under now the the Gender retinue, all of those operations now will be looking to find at some level an application of DX. And that means AI will be employed, smart tracking of audiences, smart tracking of licenses and IP and merch, but also looking towards the next generation of entertainment that falls within the requirements of the audience that they have been collecting data on. And when I say collecting data on playing habits, we don't care about their credit card, we care that they use their credit card to pay for their experiences. We don't care about their address, we care about their social media so we can contact them about deals and discounts and encourage them to come back. It's the right utilization of the data that we all have access to, but some of us just leave on the table.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:53

And I'll say one thing here just to close out. The one of the biggest advantages that Genda, Gaigo, etc., we'll call it Genda at this point, really has, is the fact that they have so many locations. We know that AI is more powerful the larger the data set that it can work off of. And Genda at this point has one of, if not the largest, data set to be able to pull from, given their move into this type of given their early move into digital transformation, capturing all this player data, uh guest data, etc. And so it's only going to give them more power and more strength within the industry to be able to make quick and relevant changes across all of our different brands to help drive even more player engagement and therefore and therefore provide more cash flow to allow them to be able to buy more companies and continue to expand and really become what I believe will be the largest uh again, the the thing that nobody's really talking about the largest amusement monopoly in the world.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:59

And all of those people that will try and say to me, Oh, they're using specialist technology. No, they're using technology that's off the shelf. It's just that they have an initiative to apply it, where others are prepared to wait for um the boulder to roll over them rather than to get out of the way. Uh we are going to be hearing a lot more about uh digital transformation as you know from my lips, along with transmedia, uh along with a lot of other aspects, that if we just don't get on this roller coaster, we're going to be left way out, and other people will just eat our lunch. Anyway, uh we're only a matter of weeks away from uh the joys and thrills of uh AEI. Uh I'm presenting on the 16th, uh, and I will try and go into a little bit more detail on the broader picture of how uh social entertainment uh is impacting the amusement sector. So rather than just talking about the applications, we will also talk about the opportunities. So our uh educational audience will get something out of it rather than just beaten up by me saying you should know some more. Uh, we also have uh AWE, where again you get access to the latest uh actual immersive entertainment technology that is generating revenue and facilities. Less hype, more reality should be the watchwords going forwards now, especially under the current financial climate. And we're lucky enough uh to have some of the bigger players in that sector. You know, PICO is one of the leading headsets uh providers in that sector. We have news of other companies jumping into that market. Anyway, another long one. We've taken enough of your time. You can wake up now and go home. The issues are if you need to pass on more information to me that I've missed or correct me, please via our LinkedIn or go to our Facebook forum group, the Friends at Stinger Report, or just send me an email. If I'm available, I'll answer it. We have Stinger Report, new Stinger Reports out there. We have entertainment social arenas out there, and we also have uh an interesting uh vision arena um uh looking a little bit away from entertainment, but still talking about the application of technology in uh the educational sector. Uh and you know, it was an eye-opener towards how this has an impact of what we're doing in edutainment. Anyway, that's uh way more uh way more than I can fit into one session. So, Brandon, hopefully you're still away.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:38

Yeah, been right along with you the whole time. So another great sound off, Kevin, and we will see you next week for number one hundred and thirteen.