The third year of the Italian amusement machine show, the Family Entertainment Expo, yielded a trebled attendance over the 2024 event.
The show, staged in Bergamo from February 25-27, was ‘"ike the old days of the Italian amusement shows," said John Stergides of Electrocoin, who attended.
“The second day was very busy, with operators trying out all the new games.
"The show was purely for amusement and redemption equipment and there was plenty of innovation to be seen.”
He added: “I spent much of my time on the Elmac and Faroplay stands which were very busy – it was like the old days of the amusements-only Enada show that trade associaiton SAPAR used to run but which are now mainly gambling in nature.
“Those association members who were not in the gambling part of the business were unhappy that the Enada shows in Rome and Rimini had been taken over by the gaming sector, so they decided to run their own show – and FEE has been the result.”
This year saw some major participants, including Electrocoin, Sega, Namco, BayTek, ICE, Elaut, Unis, Harry Levy, Magic Play, Kalkomat and many others.
John added: “This show has the possibility of becoming one of the major amusement shows in Europe and if the Italian government has the sense to remove the draconian restrictions on the video and other skill games with prizes sector, then the Italian market will expand rapidly.
"It would mean new locations opening up, creating jobs and helping to restart the Italian manufacturing sector.
"Italy was once a centre for amusement machine innovation.”
