Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | January 2009 10 Supplier Awards Honourable Mention: Interblock – Megastar Roulette Interblock, yet another Slovenia success story, has justifiably been referred to in some quarters as the Ferrari of the multi-seat, multi-playermarket.Thecompany’sproducts may not be the cheapest on the market, but operators know they’re getting quality. Megastar Roulette and its product siblings such as Dicestar in its sic-bo configuration, are popular with players and with gaming operators, and they perform well, especially in Macau. Megastar Roulette, one of Interblock’s best-selling products, is available with either American or European virtual roulette wheels and can serve anywhere between five and ten roulette players at once. Interblock ascribes its success to high quality technical research and development; careful market research; awareness of compliance issues, and a customer-driven approach to sales, service and product support. Winner: Atronic – Dragonboat Atronic’s recently-released Chinese- themed Dragonboat is powered by the successful Tournamania slot tournament concept. Dragonboat has been leading the way in nurturing Asia’s growing love affair with slot tournaments. The dragon boat is a powerful sporting concept in Asia. The real-life boat, used in races on rivers and in coastal areas, requires a combination of close cooperation between fellow crewmembers and fierce competition with rival teams. MGM Grand Macau was one of the first operators to spot the potential of Atronic’s Dragonboat, powered by the Tournamania slot concept. The casino used the equipment in its first slot tournament in mid-May, with a quick follow up in July. Dragonboat offers the flexibility to run tournaments in a variety of formats at random or preset times for a predefined period. Among the possible structures are: • The Classic Tournament: During the preset duration, players have to accumulate as many score points as possible by using their own funds. The player ranked first at the conclusion of the tournament wins the prize and a special win animation celebrates the victory. • The Special Event Tournament: During the preset duration, players play with pre- loaded credits and have to accumulate as many score points as quickly as possible. Multiple heats are played to determine the top-ranking players who will qualify for the finals. The prizes (usually cash prizes) are funded from participation fees. • ‘All Winners’ Tournament: During the configured period, all players are winners: Either players collect wins through the base game, or they are awarded Dragonboat prizes. Minimum play activity is required. The ranking of the players is continually displayed on the upper TFT-screen of Atronic’s e² cabinet. At the end, the ‘first’ ranked player (with the largest loss during the tournament) wins the consolation prize. Honourable Mention: Aristocrat Technologies – 50 Dragons and 5 Dragons Aristocrat is an expert at building on a winning formula in incremental ways. The company’s 50 Dragons video slot game continues in that vein, taking the excitement and game style of the company’s successful 50 Lions, which was first seen on the market in 2003, and enhancing it for an Asian audience. 50 Dragons’ five-reel, 50-line product is a low volatility, high excitement video game mounted on Aristocrat’s MKVI hardware platform. It includes a ‘feature within feature’ element during free game play. 50 Dragons is also related in its medieval Chinese theme to 5Dragons, a five-reel video slot machine first launched by Aristocrat in 2004. Winner: WMS Gaming – MONOPOLY Big Event WMS definitely passed go with the Asia launch of its community gaming-focused MONOPOLY Big Event series, based on the popular property board game. Chinese players in particular, already familiar with communal board games such as mahjong and definitely familiar with capitalism after 30 years of reform, love the mixture of personal competition and group wins offered by the series. When the Big Event bonus triggers, all qualifying players enter the bonus round and win together. A Big Event multiplier, determined by the player’s bet and speed of play, is also awarded in the bonus round. WMS says the table-game-like camaraderie, never seen before in a slot, creates a hotspot on the slot floor. Honourable Mention: Stargames – Pink Panther “I Ching” Quality products don’t happen by magic. They require excellence in the research and manufacturing process. Shuffle Master restructured Stargames’ product development team in Sydney Australia after acquiring the company in 2006, with the aim of building on Stargames’ already strong reputation. Shuffle Master/Stargames’ Pink Panther progressive link, and its accompanying titles, including I Ching, use a top quality PC-based platform that was diligently developed over five years. Best Asian Themed Slot Game Nominees: Manufacturer Title Aristocrat 50 Dragons Aristocrat 5 Dragons Atronic Dragonboat Bally Chinese Kitchen IGT Red Hot Jackpots/ Super Lucky RedWins Weiki Gaming King of Prosperity Best New Slot Game Nominees: Manufacturer Title Aristocrat Lucky 88 Bally Technologies S9E Stepper Quick Hits IGT WildWolf Stargames Pink Panther “I Ching” WMS Monopoly Big Event Aristocrat’s 50 Dragons and 5 Dragons—two honourable mentions for Best Asian Themed Slot Game