{"id":189757,"date":"2025-04-17T22:50:10","date_gmt":"2025-04-17T22:50:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/arcade-game\/arcade-heroes-interview-behind-the-scenes-at-bandai-namco-amusement-europe-with-steph-jones\/"},"modified":"2025-04-17T22:50:10","modified_gmt":"2025-04-17T22:50:10","slug":"arcade-heroes-interview-behind-the-scenes-at-bandai-namco-amusement-europe-with-steph-jones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=189757","title":{"rendered":"Arcade Heroes Interview: Behind The Scenes At Bandai Namco Amusement Europe With Steph Jones"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

Take a stroll around any FEC or venue offering amusement and entertainment these days, and you will encounter a vibrant mix of colors, lights, and sounds from a plethora of machines that promise fun and excitement, and perhaps the chance of a well-deserved prize to take home.<\/p>\n

The customer journey in 2025 is as significant as ever, and with the term \u201cexperience\u201d attached to nearly everything you can choose for amusements. To compliment that journey, and being people back for more, design has become a vital aspect of providing equipment and the plush items and prizes that drive the earnings behind most out-of-home entertainment venues.<\/p>\n

In an exclusive interview, Steph Jones, Digital Design Manager at Bandai Namco Amusement Europe<\/a> (BNAE), provides a behind-the-scenes look at the design process that fuels the company\u2019s success. The experience creator explains more about the intricacies of developing engaging amusement machines that light up locations across the globe. This crosses over a little into Bandai Namco\u2019s prize\/redemption games, however, although the main focus is on their PAC-MAN \u201cStreet Range\u201d, which I also think of as sports titles first, redemption second (since the latter is optional). We\u2019d also like to thank Dan Snook at Square In The Air for his significant contributions on this post.<\/p>\n

More Than Just Fun: The Strategic Design of Bandai Namco Amusement Europe\u2019s Success<\/h2>\n

AH:<\/strong>\u00a0There is a strategic importance to the design process behind product development, which is more careful and considered than outsiders might assume. They also might not know how it\u2019s a key driver of business growth and market leadership. Do you believe this is reflected in the status of designers and design departments?<\/p>\n

SJ:<\/strong>\u00a0It often doesn\u2019t feel that way! There is a definite misconception that the design process is short, simple, and straightforward, which isn\u2019t true. A tremendous amount of hard work and talent goes into creating everything we produce, from machines to plush toys and prizes. For these creations to align with Bandai Namco\u2019s esteemed history, reputation, and industry standing, it is not a part of the creation journey that can be rushed. Of course, achieving a balance between quality assurance and meeting tight deadlines to ensure a consistent supply of new and continually improved products is challenging, but our track record of delivery speaks for itself.\"Steph<\/p>\n

AH:<\/strong> Do the products you work on come from operator requests, or is Bandai Namco identifying industry trends and brainstorming products to match them?<\/p>\n

SJ<\/strong>: It\u2019s truly a blend of several factors. PAC-MAN Roller, one of our current best-sellers, arose from our recognition that the existing roller market was somewhat dated and could benefit from more valuable, fresh-looking products.<\/p>\n

Around that time, legislation regarding bars in the Middle East changed, paving the way for street locations; this shift was another impetus for our PAC-MAN Street range, including Roller, Baller, and Slider.<\/p>\n

All three were developed for the expanding global arcade bar market, proving that good ideas can indeed emerge from the bottom of a beer glass! We collaborated with our manufacturing partners to source suitable basic machines and thus began the design journey, eventually creating the products that people know and love worldwide.<\/p>\n

The process doesn\u2019t just stop there. Once a machine is shipped to operators, we frequently receive requests to accommodate further bespoke requirements, such as LED strips that embellish the sides of the playfield and display animations as the ball rolls up to neon headers spanning the banks of multiple machines.<\/p>\n

AH<\/strong>: One of the most significant elements of a machine\u2019s success is its overall design. A name or license attached to it can be important, but the design has to be equally eye-catching in a location to get customers to play. That is even more of a challenge given that every machine has to compete with a bevy of others, sometimes of a similar nature. How do you ensure that your products stand out amongst such competition?<\/p>\n

SJ:<\/strong> One of our primary resources for creating proprietary products using our top-selling PAC-MAN licence is our range of Bandai Namco style guides. Our head office in Japan supplies us with a collection of branding guidelines, which, in total, number over 50 different themes. Within each is a variety of assets, including typefaces, colour palettes, patterns and samples of these on rendered products to inspire the creation of our machines, plush and prizes. The guides are not only a tremendously valuable tool for us to create with, but they also streamline the approval process, which would otherwise be lengthy.<\/p>\n

AH:<\/strong> Ah yes, consistency in design creates a brand \u201cvoice\u201d that allows people to recognize who made a product, sometimes without even seeing the brand logo.<\/p>\n

SJ:<\/strong> Exactly. The standard design for PAC-MAN is \u2018Classic\u2019, which is the one that most people will recognize. The entire collection contains various themes that we can use, including seasonal styles like Halloween and Summer. It serves as a mine of resources that design teams worldwide can access and draw inspiration from for their projects.<\/p>\n

One notable design journey was for our PAC-MAN Baller basketball product. Our Sales team felt a new version of our tried, tested and successful PAC-MAN Basket product would be a hit with their customers, so the task of developing a successor was undertaken.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

\t\t\t