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LBX Collective
Sound Off #83 - Cinetainment expansion, AI eatertainment, and more!
Sponsored by Intercard!
Kevin Williams and Brandon Willey explore whether traditional gaming facilities can thrive in our new social entertainment landscape, arguing that the solitary nature of gambling contradicts the social experiences modern venues aim to create.
• Cinema chains like B&B Theatres, Evo, and Synergy are aggressively expanding into entertainment offerings with bowling, arcades, and other attractions
• New company NRG Adventure Parks plans to open 30 facilities in four years without first testing their concept
• Lucky Strike is investing $300 million to acquire 58 facilities to add to their 360-site portfolio
• Netflix is deepening its partnership with Sandbox VR, which will feature in all Netflix House locations
• The iconic Sega arcade in Akihabara, Tokyo is closing at the end of August despite its cultural significance
• AI is increasingly being employed in entertainment, from restaurant menu creation to game development at King the developers of Candy Crush
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Are you on the edge of your seat Because we're about to sound off with Kevin Williams covering today's latest trends in location-based entertainment, Brought to you by the LBX.
Speaker 2:Collective, your community, to connect, engage and inspire.
Speaker 1:All right, everyone, let's buckle up. Let's buckle up, all right. Well, welcome everybody to Sound Off with Kevin Williams for July 22nd 2025. So this is number 83. And, kevin, how are you doing?
Speaker 2:I'm doing well.
Speaker 1:thank you Another part of London, another hotel, all right, perfect. Well, I'm excited to learn a little bit about some of the places you've been visiting, but before we get into any of that, let's dive into some meantime. How are you going to change my mind?
Speaker 2:Well, it's a tricky one, but the question is a blast from the past Is there a room for the traditional gaming facility in our new social entertainment landscape?
Speaker 1:And I guess what we'll say is for any of you who are not familiar with the gaming term, this is the gambling component. So there's gaming machines that are in this space. So, just to be clear, we're talking about gaming machines, which you cannot see very well from this angle, this photo that's on here. But I don't. I don't, frankly. I don't think so. I don't think that traditional gaming has any place in social entertainment whatsoever. It is not typically something, at least when I walk through a casino, unless you're sitting around a table and there's a whole group of friends. Most people are really there lonely, smoking their cigarette, with a drink in the hand, pushing a button, watching things move up and down on a screen right Like this, is not a social component or a social element, and I don't think, anyway, that it has a place in what we would consider a traditional or not a traditional, but a newer. You know, the new version of social entertainment venues or not a traditional, but the new version of social entertainment venues.
Speaker 2:So the point is that the adult arcade market is a very popular part of the state's the US, gaming market. Adult arcades borrow from the amusement industry quite heavily. Many of the adult arcades include what we would recognize as video, and music is sitting next door to what I would call gaming machines. In this particular facility, for example, we have interactive darts, network dart systems sitting next door to retro arcade machines, next door to a bank of gaming machines, next door to a big buck hunter so, and pool tables, obviously. So I would argue that, even though I don't think it's a good match, it is a match that is already happening and, for anyone that has walked across the floors of the AEI show in Las Vegas will have tripped over many a booth that has a gaming machine being sold to the attendees to that amusement industry event.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and look, I'm not saying that gaming doesn't have a place where it's legal, which I think when we looked at the location of this particular place, it doesn't seem to be legal anyway. We talked a little bit about that in open and shut a couple of days ago on the LBX show. But you know, when it's in a place alongside other gaming. But I think if we're talking about social entertainment, you know, and again, the new this, this new kind of concept of competitive socializing with different games, like you know, augmented reality, darts or shuffleboard, or talk about social or shooting galleries or Sims I don't see the gaming component being a good partner alongside those more modern social entertainment venues.
Speaker 2:The direct point of this meme is talking specifically about the social entertainment component and from where I am sitting, I don't think it's good bedfellows to start incorporating that their wagering component and their prize tournament component at their facilities. And I think this is an argument that we're going to have to spend more time evaluating how much we do this, because if we don't come up with a formulated plan regarding how gaming and amusement and social gaming all fits together, then I know that our friends in the casino and gambling and gaming sector will Yep, Yep, All right.
Speaker 1:Well, coming up after the break, we're going to dive into the latest trends in the biz. 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 systems from Intercard increase customer spending, guest 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 their global family of customers, they hope you will become one soon. All right, let's dive in Well.
Speaker 2:Thank you, intercard. I'm looking at the trends in the biz, as it were, and we jump in with our friends. Really, this is a kind of a sin attainment rollout that we've been seeing across much of the biz. At the moment we are seeing the cinema sector now investing quite heavily I would say the peripheral chains of cinema venues that have doubled down now and started projects at least 24 months ago towards increasing the number of their facilities that have an entertainment component. Our friends at B&B theatres have already been establishing quite a large chain of entertainment venues that have a cinema component as well as amusement and attractions, and they've just announced that they're going to be opening quite a large new facility, 90,000 square in Texas, texas, texas, texas, and this is opening up in 2027. So we're at an early stage. But but, as I've commented before, a lot of these venues are now planting their flag in the ground saying we are opening a big facility coming in 24 months time, coming in 18 months time, just really to protect their real estate, their space, before they throw open their doors. But again, this is quite an interesting one. I look forward to reporting about that in 24 months or more.
Speaker 2:And then we have our friends at Evo. They have really been focusing on their relationships, their financing and their structure. They're actually going back now and looking at their already opened sites out there and putting money into it A million-dollar investment into their Santa Fe, new Mexico facility sorry into one of their facilities in Texas, columbus, texas. But they're also looking at rolling out a number of new facilities through a partnership with Columbus Capital. They have 19 sites at the moment which are a mixture, a direct mixture of cinema, even incorporating in some cases IMAX theatres, as well as their bowling, as well as their amusement.
Speaker 2:I always like to use the analogy that I see Evo as a kind of a main event glued to a cinema operation Very slick. They are looking also now at food halls and again, this is a positioning announcement about them really securing their space, about them really securing their space, especially in the light of what we were talking about a few open and shuts ago about Hooky, a competitive facility that actually was once going to be an Evo site and broke away. But this is one to watch and again, this new facility update won't be available until 2026.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So I mean, if you're doing a SWOT analysis, if you have a traditional FEC in a market that has other theater chains in your area and you're doing a SWOT analysis, one of the threats you absolutely need to put on there is that one of these theater chains is going to come in and renovate the facility, put in amusement, put in other attractions like bowling or like laser tag, in some cases even escape rooms we've seen go into these theater chains and you are going to have potentially competitors right down the street that you didn't think you had or you saw as a less competitive option when it was a movie theater chain on its own Every theater being built.
Speaker 1:Now I don't know of a brand that is typically it was a movie theater chain on its own Every theater being built. Now I don't know of a brand that is typically opening up a movie theater without adding other additional attractions. And now again we're seeing with Evo, we're seeing with other brands. Even a local brand like Harkins in the Arizona market is coming back in and putting in an FEC component or FEC attractions, traditional FEC attractions, as part of their overall attraction mix. So definitely something to be on the lookout for if you are in an area with other movie theater changes.
Speaker 2:From a SWOT analysis. At the top of the list, of course, would be the dangers of a Dave and Buster's opening up in your back of your door a dedicated FEC, the possibility that a local cinema chain will upgrade itself to become an entertainment competitor, or and this is the the bigger or someone will just directly come and compete alongside what business you're doing, because you're already in the water and this has seemed to be an interesting market. It's, you know, the type of stuff that I get involved with from a consultancy point of view of advising operations about these types of rollouts. The sin attainment sector is now at. Synergy uh have also uh plugged their flag into the ground and said that they will be opening up uh their latest facility, um, again in texas. This is going to be, you know, I I keep a very close eye on the texas uh business model at the moment because this is at saturation I would even argue beyond saturation and we're going to hit a tipping point soon regarding all of these entertainment sites that are opening up. The interesting thing about what Synergy is looking to do is that they also have quite an aggressive rollout, that they're looking at rebranding themselves or realigning their brands. They're looking at their entertainment offering. They're looking at a crossover with their movie business, so they have a very serious appraisal of how they're going to fight in the market and grow their operation. The growth of additional venues is going to play a very pivotal point because you're not just going to get this investment money to redevelop and open new facilities unless you have an aggressive business model and then another aggressive business model.
Speaker 2:This one really did catch me out.
Speaker 2:So when I'm doing my research and compiling our database, a press release comes or information from an investment house comes and I am told what do you know about NRG Adventure Parks?
Speaker 2:And I go to the database and it's not there website that is showing me at least 50 new facilities are planned and this website is unusual because they haven't opened a facility yet. They are about to open their first facility in Missouri, which is scheduled for over 18 months time that this is going to take place. But from the point of view of the company, they are focusing on a number of venues which they have claimed to have purchased property at, or they have buildings that they have secured the lease for and it is a very aggressive rollout for at least 15, with the media coverage saying that they're going to be going for 30. This is the kind of market that they're going to be going for 30. This is the kind of market that we're seeing being created now, with new players not just entering the market with a one or a two facility operation, but entering the market running with multiple facilities, and I don't expect this to be the only one that wants to grab their place in the sun.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but, like we've talked about before, this is one of the biggest issues that these types of quick rollout models run into, which is that they don't open up their first location, get a chance to see what works, what doesn't understand their attraction mix, make sure that the soft play is, you know, is actually good quality, that's going to last and hold up to the demands, but they immediately choose to roll out multiple locations back to back to back. We've seen this with social entertainment venues, we've seen this with trampoline parks, we've seen them with other adventure parks, we've seen them with multiple different types of brands and attraction mixes, and they all run into the same thing. Ultimately, one year, two years, three years down the line, they now have 20 locations open and they're seeing same venue sales decline year over year because they didn't take the measured approach of opening one location and even just giving it six months of operations to understand what works and what doesn't, and then go and do your mass rollout plan what works and what doesn't, and then go and do your mass rollout plan.
Speaker 2:Move fast and break things. These individuals have said that they're going to roll out 30 facilities in the next four years. They only need to be around for four years and then they can hopefully run and leave the mess of clearing up the disaster to someone else. I am sure that this wouldn't be the first time that really you hire a team around you that can open the facilities without really looking at the long-term scenario of will they be profitable once you've opened them, or leaving their trust in the hands of whoever comes after they've established their empire. It is going to be very telling, I think, not in four years' time, but in the next 24 months, if not less how many of these facilities that are seeing an EBITDA drop, that are seeing a same-site revenue drop, will A be allowed to continue as management and whoever comes in as replacement management has to come up with a plan of action to salvage the situation. It is going to be an interesting point in our industry's history the boom and then whatever follows after that. So again, more investment, more expansion.
Speaker 2:Our friends at Lucky Strikes have positioned themselves to expand, but they have also positioned themselves, very interestingly, to secure their foundation, to secure their position, to remove debts and to remove overheads, and it was revealed that they have decided to take control of 58 facilities, 58 out of their 360 sites already open. They are going to spend over $300 million to acquire these operations. To acquire these operations, taking them away from being sites that just offer rent and license fees to Lucky Strikes and taking full control what I would call a leverage acquisition. They are taking back control of what would be perceived as least or secondary owned operations that still are under the Lucky Strikes brand, remembering that Bolero had this kind of relationship with a number of venues previously and now rebranded as Lucky Strikes. Go in and clear up maybe some of the dead wood, take on board, remove the debt problem and the rental problem and just grab the bull by the horns, as it were, as well as announce that they are going to be rolling out new facilities and new acquisitions rolling out new facilities and new acquisitions.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm sorry, I have nothing to say. You know whatever and you can put lipstick on a pig and that's what I feel like Lucky Strikes is doing to all the Valero locations, so it's fine.
Speaker 2:We will wait and see if they can establish a a brand uh regarding this, and that will hopefully be helped by having some web pages. Uh, our friends at fun station uh have also gone through uh the process of announcing that they have a rollout of a major flagship for them uh, 23 000 square, this one is a considerable destination. They are going to be adding much more than just the bowling and the amusement component. They're going to have breakout rooms, escape rooms, they're going to have VR attractions, they're going to have a very high level F&B component to it and this will be their 14th facility 14th, 15th facility and this will be leading towards, again, an operation looking to reposition themselves.
Speaker 2:Their competitors, like Hollywood Bowl, have already gone through a renovation process across their chain of sites, and so keeping up with the Joneses, as it were, is essential to stay relevant in the market. So keeping up with the Joneses, as it were, is essential to stay relevant in the market. No-transcript is an indication of how popular their Netflix relationship has been for content. I'm looking forward to seeing some numbers on how many plays their Netflix content gets against their own self-created original game experiences, with the understanding that if you're rolling Netflix content in your facility. You are paying a licensing fee for the pleasure of that, but also understanding that our friends at Sandbox are quite deeply involved with Netflix regarding the rollout of the Netflix house concepts. All three of these sites will have a Sandbox VR component too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, this is a good get for Sandbox VR. I mean, we know that they've really tried to firm up their partnership with Netflix and doing multiple experiences with Netflix IP and the timing is perfect. So they're coming out with the Stranger Things experience right when Stranger Things is going to be hot again, coming into the fall. There's been not a specific release date yet announced for Stranger Things last final season, but it's going to get hot and I think they will actually see some foot traffic come in the door because of this IP that they've secured.
Speaker 2:I wonder how long it is before someone in the C-suite at Netflix thinks about acquiring Sandbox.
Speaker 1:Well, let's hope that they. I'm not sure that'd be a good move, but anyway.
Speaker 2:It would allow them to maximize the licensing position, and if they're going to be rolling out as many Netflix houses as we're expecting, then having a residence development resource may be a useful thing to have. This is one of those calculations that we have to be mindful of about in the long run. Is it better to have them in the tent or outside the tent when you're considering a 30-facility rollout of this kind? I touched upon this a couple of days ago in Open and Shut in our regular Genda moment. But this is an unusual regular Genda moment. This is a closure rather than an opening.
Speaker 2:The Akihabara facility that I'm very familiar with I used to visit it a lot when traveling backwards and forwards to Japan was used as a test facility by Sega. It's a mecca for the arcade and gaming community and it's closing down. Uh, this is the second time now after sega sold uh, their amusement operation division to gender. Uh, it's you know. The sega sign was pulled down to a great disappointment, and the uh getting the game Oasis logo was slapped up there. Though the spirit, the heart of the facility continued. It still had a wide selection of the latest amusement pieces, though downstairs then became populated with the Genda crane and capsule business, as would be expected.
Speaker 2:Now we learned that, for various reasons, though, it is being explained in the press release that the expiration of the facility's fixed-term building lease agreement to read off of the press release correctly is the reason for the closure of this site.
Speaker 2:I am interpreting this as the owners of the facility have the rent up and again, is not prepared to pay it, and so they're leaving. And surprise, surprise, we are led to believe that a new amusement operator will be going into the vacated space. We're not sure if the vacated space will be renovated before they go in. We don't know what the turnaround is, but we are now being informed here in July that at the end of August that this facility, an iconic facility in Tokyo, will be closing down, which is incredibly short notice for a decision that had been planned. This feels very much like a knee-jerk reaction to a situation beyond their control. That said, our friends at Genda have three other Geigo facilities within stone's throw of this site, so it's not really an abandonment, though I'm sure the consumer video games industry will be reporting this announcement as more doom and gloom. End of the amusement industry kind of features.
Speaker 1:The actual building owner decided that they could run an amusement, amusement space themselves and saw potentially how or at least assumed how profitable that that particular location was, again how iconic, and they decided to just not really renew the lease, or they increased the cost so high that it was just basically enough to push Genda and Geico this particular Geico location out and therefore you know them coming and doing it. Now we have no like. That was just another option, another thought that I had had. That I didn't talk about an open and shut, but it certainly seems plausible. We've seen this happen before where, especially when a particular location is distressed and they're not able to meet their rent payments, then a lot of times that landlord will come in, they'll push them out, they'll seize the assets and then, as part of their lease, and then they'll flip it and try to operate it themselves, typically unsuccessfully because they're not operators, they're landlords. But this does happen, and so I could see something like this also happening here.
Speaker 2:From the research I did into this after the press announcement was revealed, which was surprising because this wasn't leaked. You know, the first we knew about this situation was when the press release actually dropped a couple of days ago. The research is that the company that is proposing to drop in the new entertainment facility into the space is a known Japanese amusement operator. So again, there seems to be, excuse me, a lot more going on behind the scenes here and I'm sure once the dust settles and we get a better idea after the end of August, then we will be in a better position to actually explain this and once we have more details, obviously we'll come back and discuss that. Moving from the biz to the tech, and it's Genda again, well, on a more positive note, depending on your point, ofemark Cinetainment facilities, as it were, within their amusement spaces at their cinemas. At at least two locations we have now seen the Kiddleton self-operated crane systems, crane capsule machines, being installed and according to some reporting that has been revealed from Genda, they have been generating some interesting revenue in their new localities. So again, this is the first examples of the ownership by Genda Entertainment of Player One and how that is manifesting itself initially. I expect to see more manifestations of that relationship becoming more obvious in the coming months.
Speaker 2:Moving on and a little bit of blast from the past, a little bit of history worth talking about. And, of course, july marks the month that Donkey Kong came out, over 40 years ago now, and an interesting point in history. The game character, both Donkey Kong and Mario, are now world-renowned gaming icons and mascots. The calculation from the video games trade media is that Donkey Kong and all of its derivatives has generated about $4.4 billion in revenue since its inception in 1981. Again, that number I question because I don't think they're rolling in all of the applications of Donkey Kong and Mario and how that is all mushroomed. Pardon the pun, but that is something to you know, very sobering perception of how profitable the early video game industry has been for the wider video amusement as well as consumer entertainment sector.
Speaker 2:Name for this game that then, through fax error or translation error, got turned into Donkey Kong and the rest is history. We also have to be mindful that Nintendo in Japan were inspired, so we say, by the release of the King Kong film in the 1970s. That had been a great success for Universal History repeating itself. Universal actually sued Nintendo over the closeness of King Kong and Monkey Kong Donkey Kong, though in the end they lost that legal battle because it was proven that uh universal had already claimed in another legal case that uh, the game was public germane, though you know. Again, I'm sure a deal was done under the table just to clear the pitch. This was a phenomenally successful arcade game at the time. And then hold your breath and wait a couple of decades and Universal and Nintendo are bestest buddies, as we now have the Super Nintendo World rollout across all of the Universal parks, as well as, recently, the opening of the latest gate that has an attraction based upon the ape himself. Wait long enough and history repeats itself.
Speaker 1:Yeah, certainly. I mean, look, I don't. Of course Universal is going to try to protect their IP, but at the end of the day, you know, kong is just a generic term for gorilla in Japanese, and so this is there's. You know, king Kong maybe could be branded, but certainly not Kong, nor Monkey Kong or Donkey Kong, however that ended up happening. But you know, whatever you know they have to try. Is there a gorilla on the screen? And there's a gorilla on the screen? They're both called Kongs because that's the word, that's a Japanese word for gorilla. Sure, you know, one snatches planes out of the air, one throws barrels down some ramps. So you know, I guess there's some similarities there.
Speaker 2:So you, know, I guess there's some similarities there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the ambulance chasers, I'm sure, made their money Moving on. And we look at the retro classic and we now see the interest in retro modern, and I brought to my attention Switch and Shoot, which is a one-button game, looks very interesting, a Flappy Bird-esque kind of playing model that has quite a high level of skill, and I've been informed that this has been turned into an arcade game. It has been an arcade game for more than a year or so, though it hadn't been brought onto my radar, and now the only reason it was brought onto my radar is that a lot of social media players like this game and have ramped up quite high scores on it with Twitch videos. So again we're in the process of seeing a social media game or an amusement product in the social media gaining some popularity. I hope that that helps sales for our friends at DSM, but I also hope that it will force other operators to think about adding what I would call a more traditional kind of amusement product into the mix of their big cabinet redemption systems.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, it's always good to see an indie game like this, get some really good social media and press coverage and just awareness, and you know, I think there's something alluring. I know, though, we were talking about controls, but there's something alluring about a single-button game that you can walk right up to and understand and play pretty quickly and easily. Oh, I shouldn't say easily, but you can learn and you can. You can at least learn it easily, and then you know. Obviously, the game gets more complex as you go along, and that's why it's skill, but uh, anyway, I think there's something really alluring about a single button game that you just walk right up to as our friend uh nolan bushnell would say easy to play, difficult to master.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:Moving on and our friends at Sixes, the sports-tainment, social entertainment game system, they have doubled up and created a new game experience. So, along with playing Sixes as just a normal cricket the ball launched from the projection system and then being whacked by the cricket bat they've now gone for a slightly softer style of game play where you're fielding where the ball is launched and, rather than hitting it, you're catching it and then throwing it to one of the various targets that you're meant to it and then throwing it to one of the various targets that you're meant to hit the ball at with bats. This is an interesting derivation on the core concept. They are switching it up. I think there is a very important reason why sixes is trying to switch up the game experience. They're trying to broaden it from being just a one hit pardon the wonder and they're trying to also make it a little bit more attractive to different styles of play and players' interests. But again, it is important to understand this, especially as they're now up to 17 facilities and growing.
Speaker 1:You know I appreciate that they're at least trying to make somewhat more interesting, more accessible. You know this is uh, you know I appreciate that they're at least trying to make some it's somewhat, you know more interesting, more accessible. You know we can always talk about accessibility for these types of social entertainment things, and if you can't swing a bat or I don't, is it called a bat? I don't know what you call a cricket paddle it is a cricket bat cricket bat.
Speaker 1:Okay, see, that shows my ignorance in cricket and I apologize to all those who are fans, but most people can catch a ball, and if you can't, then you maybe shouldn't be at a sports entertainment venue anyway. But you can at least catch a ball, even if you can't swing and hit it. So I appreciate that they're trying to make some modifications to enhance their gameplay and accessibility.
Speaker 2:Make some modifications to enhance their gameplay and accessibility. Yes, the company's going through restructuring. They've taken on some new investment and so hopefully they've got a team in place now. That is, looking at the wider picture of dealing with those individuals that don't want to wheel a full-size bat all the time and giving them other game options. The same way as we've already touched upon, They've launched their moonshot baseball concept, and for those people that don't want to catch a full-size cricket ball excuse me or wield a bat or even a full-size golf club, there is the possibility of finger golf, A tabletop mini golf experience. It has been launched into the consumer sector and now we are seeing a number of entertainment facilities actually dropping this in as an alternative to having a full-size mini golf course set up in their facilities. I thought I would bring it to our audience's attention, though I raise an eyebrow to the concept.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh, my gosh, like fuck. You know, look, it's probably fun at home and it's a cool little novelty and you know, I think this will go the way. If anything, this will go the way of the large Jenga or the cornhole that's just thrown out there. It's like a yard game that's added just to kind of fill in space. This will probably go that way. If anybody tries to actually monetize this or put this as part of and create an actual attraction, then I think they're really misguided and going to struggle.
Speaker 2:I'm looking forward to the gamified version of this with the digital screens and the projection mapping and the display.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:From a toe in the water to proven success. And our friends at Step Revolution are celebrating their 5,270th sale of their rhythm music game machine, a very popular rhythm music amusement piece that has seen great success at facilities that run it. Though it is a hidden success, it doesn't get the publicity that maybe some of the other B-mania music game machines get. It goes up against the Pump it Up, it goes up against the Dance Dance Revolutions and I get the feeling that the success that it has seen in the marketplace, the stoic success, the continuous sales that it generates, steady but sure, is maybe part of the reason why our friends at Konami, japan, have decided that they want to jump into the North American market and throw their hat in the ring with their B-mania systems. Anyway, one of those areas of success that our friends at Step Revolution have been seeing has been at Dave Buster's. Though I'm not sure how many Dave Buster's in North America have the machine, it looks like every Dave Buster's in India is putting one of these units into their facilities, having seen strong success at the initial site that they placed it. Hopefully that will be the impetus for other operators to take their head out of their ass and have a look at this machine as a possibility to act at their retina Now, into the recurring trends that we have to talk about, trends that we have to talk about.
Speaker 2:How do you fancy having an AI system create your meal for you?
Speaker 2:Well, in Dubai, a facility has opened that has all of its meals ingredients selected by AI, which are then put together and cooked by a real chef. I call this a recipe book, but for the operators of this facility, I'm sure it's very trendy to claim that they have an AI creation or aberration creating your meals for you. They even have a slick avatar that was taking part in the press launch of their new chain. Um chef, a man? Uh. Well, either way, I am dismissive of this. The one thing that I was interested about is that they are utilizing a machine learning device to supply recipes for the semi-skilled individuals in the kitchen to create full meals from. So, where you would normally have a A-level chef supported by the work crew in the kitchen, now it will be the work crew that will be putting together these fantastic culinary experiences and the AI will be taking all the plaudits, or the staff will be taking all of the brickbats, depending on the quality of the food. Yet again slapping AI on something when really what you're doing is cutting corners.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, and this is I mean, there are lots of chefs that use AI and you know, behind the scenes, you know this is I mean, but there are, there are lots of chefs that use ai and you know behind the scenes.
Speaker 1:You know just, there are a lot. There are lots of every profession. Now that's using ai to help augment their uh, to help augment everything, and so look, if you want to do that, that's fine. But then also don't put a creepy, weird um like screen digital chef, that's like talking to you. Like it's just super. It's super weird with this weird goggles over its face. Um, it's just not a good looking experience uh well the food might be great, um, but the that's the proof is in the pudding.
Speaker 2:We need to taste the food to see if this AI device creates or selects very good meals. How is the selection process done? Who is making the selections? How are they basing it? So lots of questions. It was a slick PR piece to get this particular restaurant some notification and some recognition, and we will have to wait and see when we're next out in Dubai how good the meal is.
Speaker 2:Moving on and talking about Synergy again, and the guys there revealed that they are now using AI, a specific platform which they've called BirdEye, which collects data from their guests when they're filling in the information to reserve a space or when they're making a selection to visit the facility, and based upon that information, the AI package or AI-powered guest feedback platform I'm surprised someone hasn't come up with an abbreviation of that We'll give customer insight into the facility, create a experience for them in real time. This is really again where we've removed the chef from being inside the kitchen. We are removing the party planner from being involved in the selection process for group bookings is my cynical interpretation of what this particular system will do, though I am sure that it is very good at satisfying the questions and customer requirements, customer requirements. And then, finally, we're seeing the removal of developers following the latest layoffs that Microsoft enacted about 9,000 in the third part of their layoffs. We're finding out that some of those layoffs took place at King.
Speaker 2:King Software Studio is famous for creating the smart and mobile phone game app experiences, such as Candy Crush, hugely successful. Well, the future games now will be developed. Those departing developers, a lot of their work will now be undertaken by AI, it seems from internal reports in the company, Though I wonder if we will notice the difference, because if you've ever played the Candy Crush and some of the other King content, it is very generic to start with. Maybe AI, this is a perfect home for it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, I think it's these types of this, this type of game development, the kind of games that are just mindless, that you just play over and over, that's really addicting. This is the equivalent of just factory work, right? So line, you know, line assembly work or whatever in a factory that's been replaced by robots, et cetera. Like these are the type of games that can be created that are repetitive. That can you know, don. These are the type of games that can be created that are repetitive, that don't need a lot of innovation to keep the consumer hooked.
Speaker 2:That seems to be the case. The boring and repetitive products will be superseded by AI creation, where the more intricate and detailed experiences will still need a human in the loop for the moment being. So I suppose the moral of the story is make more detailed and compelling content rather than cookie cutter repetition, but that's a personal opinion. I'm sure the bottom line at Microsoft has already calculated what they need to do to make money. Anyway, that is the rundown of the developments and trends this week. Again, if you're not receiving your Stinger report through your mailbox or your latest copy of the Entertainment Social Arena, we have some new issues out. For both of those, please make sure that you've signed up and registered. Have I covered everything?
Speaker 1:Brad, I think so. Well, I mean everything. This week there's another vibrant sound off, so with that, I guess we'll see you on the next one.
Speaker 2:See you on the next one you.
