AT: Pam Sherborne
HOUSTON, Texas — In March 2020, Anthony McAnelly, chief executive officer, TXVend Inc., traveled to New Orleans to the Amusement Expo International Tradeshow. He was taking the company’s brand new product, the Mega Blaster arcade vending machine. The new game was created by Alan Guridi, who had had successes with other games he had created.
“We barely made the show,” McAnelly said. “Our first unit wasn’t quite ready.”
But they made it. And not only made it, but also received second place in the category of Best Machine of the Year at the show.
The Mega Blaster creator and representative were excited and were ready to start rolling the Mega Blaster game out.
When they got home to Houston, Texas, the world had changed, being in the grips of a global pandemic. By late March, the U.S. had mostly shut down.
A March 2020 rollout was not going to happen. A 2020 rollout was not in the stars.
“We were forced to wait for more favorable market conditions,” McAnelly said. “This past year and a half, however, has given us the opportunity to make improvements and incorporate valuable features to the machine such as the addition of a bill collector, a more visible and enticing prize compartment, among others.”
Now, McAnelly said they believe that the Mega Blaster is better than ever.
“It is truly an efficient money maker like the industry has not seen before,” he said. “It is designed to provide an experience that keeps the customer engaged.
McAnelly said they have done one test market and had great success, with the machine averaging about $71 per day.
The game is designed to be a family game. Bouncy balls are shot from a launch plate by bungee cords in a slingshot method. The player tightens the cords from the outside. The bungee cords are rated for over 300,000 launches. The balls hit the prize dispenser at the top.
The Mega Blaster can operate by batteries alone, lasting for up to three months. If an electrical outlet is available, the battery turns on automatically in the event of a power failure.
It accepts $1, $2, $5 and $10 bills. For each dollar, one bouncy ball loads onto the launch plate. Customers can load up to 10 bouncy balls for all to be launched at one time by inserting $10. The more bouncy balls launched at one time, the better chance of winning a prize.
The prize dispenser section has multiple settings that allow the vendor to set how difficult it is to win prizes.
McAnelly said they are currently in discussion with several potential manufacturers.
“Until we have a minimum 200-machine order, we will wait to select our final manufacturer,” he said.
Guridi, the game’s inventor, has seen success with some of his other creations including Racket Power and a shuffleboard-type game, both of which were sold through the Billiard Factory in Houston, Texas.
This article appears in the NOVEMBER IAAPA EXPO 2021 issue of Amusement Today.
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