Amusement and Entertainment Industries Look Toward Portabilty at Amusement Show

Portable attractions quickly catching on while saving the industry millions as demonstrated at the Amusement Show.

Coin-op and revenue generating amusements and attractions are quickly becoming more compact and portable.  While rides and attractions have become more portable and mobilized in recent years, they are usually associated with fairs and traveling carnivals. 

One company, Agex Technologies, is changing at least part of that ideology very quickly.  A diversified company originally known for its portable video surveillance systems, Agex  displayed and demonstrated the ease of use and set-up of their new portable Laser Maze as well as their Laser Bumper Cars.

"the winners were the ones who challenged the constants and changed mindsets."

Jeff Fowling, Director of Exhibits

Laser mazes have been all the buzz in the past few years at both the Amusement Expo as well as the IAAPA Attractions Expo.  Mazes have been available to family entertainment centers as a static attraction which would take days of work if they wanted to move it.  There are also mazes for select mobile entertainers, but they required a purchase upwards of $30,000 and required a full-sized cargo trailer or RV to be transported from place to place and stored when not in use.

Enter Agex Inc Technologies, winner of the best innovation, who has essentially changed the laser maze industry by introducing a patent pending portable laser maze that can fit into the back of just about anyone's car, and can be set-up in less than 30 minutes in any room, garage, school, gym, or even outdoor settings.  After watching the demonstration in a room which was set-up as a make-shift garage, it was apparent that the experience was much the same from a participant's standpoint as a permanently installed maze in a room or trailer.  All to the tune of over $20,000 in savings!

Another company, Andamiro USA who manufactures arcade style games also won an award for their Baseball Pro game and their Speed of Light game which are new takes on old games and have also been made portable in order to facilitate more sales to family entertainment centers who are increasingly feeling pressure to find more units taking less precious floor space. 

"It seems the constant theme this year has been the design of new games and attractions to make them more appealing than just the large amusement parks by increasing portability and affordability," said Jeff Fowling, director of exhibits at this year's show.  "While many cut back on the size of their footprint, the winners were the ones who challenged the constants and changed mindsets."

At the upcoming IAAPA spring forum in Castelnuevo, Italy , an entire day has been sectioned off to talk about portability of new attractions in amusement parks, which apparently means that the new mindset doesn't stop at mobile entertainers and family entertainment centers.

The next amusement trade shows in the U.S. aren't until the Fall/Winter with the mega-show, IAAPA Attractions Expo in November.  By then, we will see an apparent progression towards portability in various sectors of the amusement and attractions industry.