Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | December 2011 16 getting good results on this product—the first link in the Equinox range. There are three games in that range currently and we’ll be adding further games. And we’re about to launch this month a new super tall top box game called Random Magic. That’s the first of the games that will come in the super tall top box. Can you explain more about these top boxes? It will be higher than other top boxes on the floor, with moulding around the sides that will relate to the theme and features of the game. The top box also has a number of features that relate between the top screen and the game. They are high impact and can be seen across the floor, with feature- rich games. The company has embarked on a plan to bring more Chinese-themed games to the market by employing software houses in China and using Chinese graphics packages and story books. It’s all about bringing more localised product to the market while still using robust, consistent maths packages— adding to features to enhance what we think the Asian players will be looking for. Are the new games volatile? One thing we believe is that there should be a range of volatility across a range of denominations. Typically the Macau market likes a bit more volatility. Then we find in some of the locals [local players’] venues the performance of some games is different than it is in some of the large casinos. Macau is unique in terms of local play versus outside play from China visitors. The customers from China are more occasional and are likely to be looking for more instant gratification. When we go to markets like the Philippines and Singapore we are finding that the popular games are the less volatile ones that keep the players at the game for a longer time. I think the rest of Southeast Asia is also like that—with perhaps the exception of some of the border casinos in Cambodia or Laos. As the big new casinos open in the Philippines it will be interesting to see whether they will have the ability to attract players from China and other places or rely on the Philippine players. VIP slot play is important as a proportion of total Macau slot play. Are you chasing down that segment of the market? I think everyone would like more of that part of the market. It’s been dominated up to now by Aristocrat. We’re a company that relaunched in the slot machines segment only last March. With the investment we’re putting in now with the launch of Equinox and with the more than 20 games we’re bringing to the Asian markets this year, it shows our commitment. Bear in mind the biggest companies only do twice that [amount of releases]. It’s a lot of investment from Shuffle Master; a diverse product company which has previously been thought of as a ‘small’ player in the slots market. I’m here to say we are very serious about driving higher Shuffle Master slot penetration and market share by delivering game performance. It’s performance that sells product and we clearly understand our customers’ needs. This desire to get the best from our maths is the constant focus of our dedicated product development people. They have developed their careers within the Shuffle Master family and they believe in our future. We’re in the process of learning what works and refining our offer in this area in the light of that experience. It’s about tweaking the games even further to get that real top end performance. Obviously one of the goals will be to get the products into the high-end market as well. What can we expect from Shuffle Master slots in the New Year? New cabinet configurations, and new link configurations. We’re looking at new link concepts coming next year. It’s about taking the success of those initial games and building on the success of those features in the games so we can improve the performance in each new game developed. We work hard on the games. Getting the right maths and the features that you think will work in the market is the science. Once the games are in the market you find out if you’ve got winning concepts and solid game bases to build on. Shuffle Master Next generation—Shuffle Master’s Pearl Fortunes Capturing players—Pirates Revenge™—a new slot link release from Shuffle Master