Inside Asian Gaming

November 2009 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 39 WMS Samurai Master ® experienced. An example is MONOPOLY Big Event™, the community slot game based on the world famous family board game from Hasbro. Just as with a game played on a home computer, players can change their ‘avatar’ or character in the game—for example, they can swap from the Boot to Scottie the dog if they feel it will give them a burst of good luck. “If you think Scottie is going to be the big winner, then you would get the extra multiplier [associated with that character],” explains Mr Gribble. “Cloning slot game play style and functions is not our thing. It’s about coming up with innovative designs,” he adds. “Some work in somemarkets.WMS is not afraid to try new things. We’ve got a close enough relationship with our customers that they know we’re going to stand behind them. Research “The fact that we’re willing to invest the money in R&D—more than US$100 million a year in game development. That money goes into a lot of different stuff. “We’re prepared to put something in [to the market] that’s a brand new concept, whether it be Money Burst™ or Cascading Reels™. They’re innovatively designed games that challenge [the industry status quo]. Those that stick, that’s great. Even if a game doesn’t perform as well as was initially hoped in a particular market, the customers [operators] know we will work with them to get something in that particular spot on the floor that works,” states Mr Gribble. The relationship between ethnic Chinese slotplayersandslotproductshascomealong way since the days of the early Noughties when slots were categorised in Macau’s Chinese-language media and popular culture as ‘Hungry Tigers’—products to be wary of in the gaming ‘jungle’. That anxiety was twofold: first there was the concern (nowadays discounted) that games were somehow ‘fixed’; and second there were fears that like a real life tiger, slots would somehow ‘hunt’ the player, swallowing first the player’s money then metaphorically the player himself or herself. “Back in 2004, when Sands [Macao] opened up, they [operators] thought: ‘Oh, Asian players are going to need those three- reel mechanicals because not many will trust the video [games]. They’re going to think it’s rigged and that the computer’s going to take their money because it’s scripted,’” says Mr Gribble. But “they quickly learned over at Sands that nobody’s interested in the three- reels,” he adds. “The mechanicals didn’t have anything to do with it. What the players are interested in is a high multiple of their bet as a possible win. They want to see 40-, 50-, 100-times their bet in a win—they want the high volatility.” Big win The phrase often used by Chinese people in this context is the game ‘gives them hope’. “It’s all about the possibility of the player experiencing a life changing event in terms of the size of their win,” agrees Mr Gribble. “ThemassmarketinMacauisdeveloping. It just needs time. I think it’s inevitable. “Look at the mature markets such as Philippines and Genting [in Malaysia], you see these guys have been in operation for decades and the players have matured. You see a much more broadly based entertainment market and not just 6% or 7% of casino revenue coming from slots [as in Macau]—you see 30% or 40%. WhileAsianplayers like theopportunities for high multiples on their original bet, they also often like value for money in the form of time on machine, says Mr Gribble. Value “You can also see, though, in places like [Melco Crown Entertainment’s local player focused] Mocha Clubs and in the grind market that people don’t want to see their stake money vanish in an instant.” Akeycomponentinthevalueproposition is free spins and free games, he adds. “Free spins are what they like here in Macau. Our game developers spend a lot of time in Asia, talking to the customers, observing their play,” adds Mr Gribble. “We have a good number of Mainland- born Chinese in our Sydney [Australia] design studio where we develop a good number of the Asian themed games. Back in Chicago, we develop a number of games there using Mainland-born Chinese. They’re tapped into the culture, they understand it very well, so the result is a lot of Asian themed games.” Thecompetitionbetweenmanufacturers for the Chinese player segment in particular is arguably helping to drive up standards across the industry. Language “One hot topic in the industry is: ‘Does the game need to be in Chinese?’” states Mr Gribble. “My answer is that an attractive, comfortable face to any game makes it more approachable and makes people more inclined to go up to say Samurai Master® and just try it out, because it looks familiar. If it doesn’t play right or doesn’t have the maths that you as a player are looking for, then you’re not going to stick around to play. “One of the great challenges for the slot managers in Macau is to justify their dollar per square foot per day—forget about win per machine per day,” asserts Mr Gribble. “If you’re looking at 6% to 8% revenue coming from slots in Macau, you want and need to broaden that. It’s clear that the profitability of a slot versus a table justifies it. “You just need toget enoughof your revenue from there to justify the very expensive