Inside Asian Gaming

38 WMS Powerball Power Seat™ Spot the Difference Innovation and a flexible approach to players and operators give WMS an edge in Asia and beyond “E njoy your slot game!” booms out a voice on WMS’s Powerball Power Seat™ slot product. The voice has a point. Industry insiders can talk about product differentiation, steppers, reels and game packs until they’re blue in the face, but the ultimate test of success is whether players enjoy the game and spend money on it. In that context, WMS believes it has a significant edge over its rivals. If the company has a motto written on the walls of its research and development facilities around the world, it must say something like: ‘Details count’. If you can pick out the sound of a WMS slot machine even on a crowded casino floor, there’s a reason. The manufacturer says it has a dedicated teamof six flesh and blood musicians based at its Chicago headquarters just to produce the music and sounds for WMS slot products. Distinctive “The strength of the creative team is one of the reasons for WMS’success in the face of the challenging economic conditions facing the industry,” says Stuart Gribble, Sales Manager, South-East Asia. “Take, for example, the music and the sound of our machines. Not only do we have the best hardware for our sound systems, but we also have six full time musicians back in Chicago that do the soundtracks. We use real soundtracks. It’s not just an engineer pressing buttons on a computer keyboard. We’re very proud of that.” Mr Gribble says creativity is a key element in defining WMS slot products. This extends to its relationship with operators as well as with the players. “The casinos are as interested in product differentiation as we are,” he states. “They want to know: ‘What’s different about my casino? What am I going to get people to come and see in my property that they can’t get somewhere else?’ “It’s not that we’re doing a lot of exclusive deals, it’s just that we’ve got so much new product coming in all the time, that it’s a question of grabbing something when it comes in order to be the first [operator to have that product].” Competitive edge “If you have an opportunity to grab some really good, innovative stuff fromWMS, then for some period of time you’re going to gain a competitive edge,” explains Mr Gribble. The pursuit of incremental changes to existing hit games is an established practice among slot makers across the world. WMS is not afraid to also innovate. It’s not, however, change for the sake of change, but carefully managed and researched innovation, helping both to broaden the company’s catalogue and to take players to new areas of entertainment they might not have