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| ■Strong Business Orientation for the 38th AM Show |
| Attendance of 34,000 Although Show Coincides with Olympic Games
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| The 38th Amusement Machine Show, the last of the twentieth century, was held for three days from September 21 (Thurs.) to 23 (Sat./national holiday) at Tokyo International Exhibition Center(Tokyo Big Sight) with wide-ranging exhibits under one roof, from the latest amusement machines to peripheral equipment. Taking as its theme, Rich Heart Born of Fun, it was hosted by the Japan Amusement Machinery Manufacturers Association (JAMMA) and Japan Amusement Park Equipment Association (JAPEA). Eighty companies participated in the show in 1,088 booths. Excluding components, there were approximately 2,100 machine types, slightly up over the previous year. Compared with the previous year, attendance declined on the two business days to sub-total 22,910, but participants stated that they were highly satisfied with the strong business orientation of the show. According to the feedback, the business days gave them time to talk business and examine and use the machines themselves. Public days were cut back to one day, but attendance was up over the previous year as daily average to 11,553. Considering the Tokyo show for game machines for home use starting on September 22 coincided with the Sydney Olympic Games, this would seem to be a rather good performance. Video Games Decline as Medal Prize Games Gain Exhibits in this show tended to focus on light users, and displayed a wide variation of machine types that aimed to expand new demand. Video games that have catered to traditional core users in the past declined sharply. In contrast, medal games that can be easily played by anyone and cater to female users and the family increased about 60%. Visitors were especially interested in the prize machines for multiple players and crane games for family entertainment set up in AM centers to promote communication among people. As the last show of the twentieth century, an exhibition of the history of arcade games was held in the organizers, theme zone. This exhibition was particularly popular with young visitors who had no real-time knowledge of the legendary machines that set the pace for an entire generation, and there were long lines in front of the machines that could actually be played. The section on future game trends featured demonstrations of network entertainment. This showed that links to remote sites over optical fiber networks create new possibilities for play and communication. |
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