Inside Asian Gaming

December 2011 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 21 Aruze up not only of video/stepper slots, but also multi-station products such as sic bo and craps, and even slot machine accounting and monitoring systems with peripherals. Gaming technology has changed a lot since the 1980s. Would you say the company has changed its approach to the casino business in that time? The technology that has made us successful today was born out of the approach to technology we began in the 1980s. The 1980s was a dramatic and innovative period among the slot machine manufacturers. It brought in computerisation, random number generation, electronic motors for stepper wheels and the concept of variable volatility on the maths of games. UDN always made sure it was at the centre of those innovations. So, I would say that Aruze Gaming has UDN’s ‘DNA’ flowing through it in terms of its track record for innovation and meeting challenges in this industry. Fortune Festival—Aruze’s new link looking to wow Asian markets Do you design products specifically for the Asian market? Our R&D [research and development] is located in Japan, Australia and the Philippines. The Japan R&D team is developing new concept products such as Paradise Fishing as well as stepper reel and big top box games. With the video slots such as Lucky Samurai and Best Fortune, we’re working with True Blue Gaming in Australia. Philippines R&D is mainly compiling software to let them run on our platform. These development teams are focusing on not only Asia, but also the USA, Australia and other regions. How soon are we going to see your latest products in Asia? We exhibited 80% of them at G2E Asia. So we can deliver more than 50% of the products on display at G2E in Las Vegas before the end of this year.We have launched Shoot to Win Craps, Roulette Angels, and Lucky Big Wheel in Macau as well as Great Eruption, Wheel of Pharaoh, Chinese Queen