Supplier Awards 2012
The fourth annual instalment of Inside Asian Gaming’s gongs to the manufacturers who make possible the breakneck growth of Asia’s gaming industry
Inside Asian Gaming’s Supplier Awards 2012 marks the fourth annual instalment of our gongs to the manufacturers who make possible the breakneck growth of Asia’s gaming industry.
Our judges are all senior executives in the regional casino industry with detailed practical knowledge on what it takes to create successful products in the high-revenue, high-energy Asia-Pacific region.
We’re also publishing the criteria on which the awards have been based. In most cases, winning products received more than one nomination and similar score weightings from multiple judges, thus creating a majority winner. In cases of deadlock, the weightings were rated against the original judging criteria and the best performer under those criteria was declared the winner.
ELECTRONIC GAMES
The judging criteria for electronic games are:
* Revenue performance measured by average daily hold over period of installation (65% of the final assessment).
* Operator floor feedback based on software stability, quality of hardware build, ease of servicing (15% of the final assessment).
* Cost flexibility for operators based on the options made available (such as outright purchase/revenue participation/ management contract). This was weighted 15% of the final assessment.
* Crowd pulling appeal of the cabinet and overhead sign (5% of the final assessment).
The lesson of the past eight years is that if you give Chinese players in Macau the right product they are just as amenable to playing electronic games as their East Asian neighbours. In the 12 months to December 2011, slot gaming in Macau generated gross gaming revenues (GGR) of MOP11.43 billion (US$1.43 billion). That was a year-on-year growth of 32.6% on the MOP8.6 billion grossed by Macau slots in 2010. While most casino operators in North America and Europe would give their right arm for that kind of annual expansion, the contribution of Macau slots to the territory’s total GGR actually fell in 2011 to 4.3% of the total from 4.7% a year earlier. That appears to be mainly a function of the continued heady growth of live table baccarat in its VIP and mass market forms. Those activities grew respectively 44.6% and 39.4% year-on-year in GGR terms. The good news is that the rate of annual growth of Macau slot GGR (32.6%) actually rose marginally in 2011 compared to 2010, when it put on 32.5% year-on-year. The slot GGR growth last year also suggests the average net win per machine rose during 2011 compared to 2010 because the number of slots in the market by the fourth quarter of 2011 was 14.3% up on the equivalent quarter in 2010 (16,056 in 4Q 2011 compared to 14,050 in 4Q 2010). The opening of Galaxy Macau on Cotai half way through the second quarter of 2011 was mainly responsible for the surge in slot numbers during the year.
There’s a lot more to Asian electronic gaming than the admittedly impressive inventory in Macau’s casinos and slot parlours. In Singapore and the Philippines there are even higher levels of player acceptance for electronic games and generally higher levels of participation than in Macau. But arguably the performance of slots in Macau is a bellwether indicating how widely electronic games are likely to be accepted by Chinese players in years to come. The signs are encouraging.
Best Standalone Slot
Nominees:
Manufacturer | Title |
Aristocrat | 5 Dragons |
Aristocrat | 5 Dragons Legends |
Aruze | Raging Eruption |
Bally | Cash Spin |
IGT | Triple Fortune Dragon |
Weike | Qin Shi Huang |
Winner: Aristocrat – 5 Dragons Legends
In the Year of the Dragon it’s fitting that Aristocrat’s 5 Dragons Legends is chosen as Best Standalone Slot. The base game 5 Dragons was first launched in 2004, meeting the definition of a product with real ‘legs’ (and in this case wings and talons) in Asia.
The idea behind Aristocrat’s Legends series is that players can choose between a classic game and a deluxe updated version of it—all on the same cabinet. The 5 Dragons Deluxe option on 5 Dragons Legends has enhanced graphics providing an immersive experience for the player. Crucially, it also offers new excitement for players—higher win multipliers and a mystery feature option. The choices are either six free games with up to a x40 multiplier or a Mystery Choice in the form of a pink dragon, which randomly picks both free games and multiplier.
Honourable Mention: Weike – Qin Shi Huang
Qin Shi Huang is a 50-line game launched two years ago that has found a solid niche in a number of Asian markets—including strong performance in Singapore in particular. Weike plans to launch several new games over the next 12 months to build on that success.
Best Progressive Slot
Nominees:
Manufacturer | Title |
Aristocrat | 5 Dragons |
Aristocrat | FA FA FA |
Bally | Cash Wizard |
WMS | Jackpot Party Progressive |
Winner: Aristocrat – FA FA FA
FA FA FA continues to own the market for Asian-themed hyperlinks more than three years after its regional launch on Aristocrat’s Viridian cabinet in the autumn of 2008. Available games include three of Aristocrat’s strongest standalone performers in Asian markets—50 Dragons, 5 Dragons, Choy Sun Doa and Lucky 88.
Honourable Mention: Bally – Cash Wizard
Bally’s Cash Wizard is a five-reel, 30-line game with a 250-credit maximum bet that has been doing good business particularly in Macau. That’s probably thanks to a combination of low-denomination play with a top progressive award of one million credits times the denomination chosen by the player.
Best Slot Innovation
Nominees:
Manufacturer | Title |
Aruze | Lucky Big Wheel |
Aruze | Innovator |
Bally | Cash Wizard |
IGT | MegaBucks |
Winner: IGT – MegaBucks
International Game Technology’s MegaBucks offers Asia’s largest slot jackpot across Sands China’s three existing Macau properties. And that jackpot is likely to get even bigger if machines in Sands Cotai Central are added to the network when that property opens on Cotai in April.
MegaBucks first launched in Nevada nearly 30 years ago. Since then, Megabucks has spread to other US states and produced dozens of major winners with lifechanging jackpots ranging from just over US$1 million (when one million dollars was the system’s base jackpot—the current base is US$10 million) to the world record slot jackpot of more than US$39 million, won in March 2003 at the Excalibur Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
Honourable Mention: Aruze – Lucky Big Wheel
Aruze’s Lucky Big Wheel certainly stands out on a crowded mass-market gaming floor. It’s an innovative version of a table game already popular in some markets. As the name suggests, the product features an ultra-big wheel and automatic lever that gives players the opportunity to spin the wheel. It’s another example—like Aruze Lucky Sic Bo’s famous ‘bash button’—of the company’s talent for spotting interactive features that players love. A maximum of 50 stations can be linked to the host, and each station has a 22-inch wide, high-resolution LCD screen.
Best Multi-Terminal Product
Multi-terminals—a product category that used to generate much of its Asian sales growth in smaller casinos in secondary markets such as Indochina—have now become a sales success in primary markets such as Macau and Singapore. That’s thanks to their operational efficiencies and ability to offer lower minimum bets and more decisions per hour than most live table games.
Nominees:
Manufacturer | Title |
Alfastreet | SL-M3 |
Interblock | Organic Island |
LT Game | Live Table Multi-Game System |
Novomatic | Novo TouchBet Multiplayer |
Shuffle Master | Rapid Table Games |
Winner: LT Game – Live Table Multi-Game System
LT Game’s Live Table Multi-Game System provides high quality live table gaming in an electronic format. Crucially, LT Game says its Macau patent means Live Table Multi-Game System is the only product allowed to offer live dealer baccarat on a multi-game electronic platform. The option of live dealer baccarat on an electronic multi-game and multi-terminal product is considered crucial for player appeal in Macau and to a lesser extent Singapore.
Honourable Mention: Interblock – Organic Island
Interblock’s Organic Island has one of the highest quality overhead displays for game decisions of any multi-terminal in the market. The display on the roulette option is particularly effective, combining pin-sharp video of the wheel in action, as well as an easy-to-read graphical representation of popular winning numbers. Games connected to Organic Island can be placed individually on the floor or even in different venues, as well as in groups.
Best Multi-Terminal Innovation
Selection in this category was at the judges’ discretion and features any product or product area they felt had provided an outstanding contribution to the development of electronic gaming in the Asian casino industry in the last year.
Nominees:
Manufacturer | Title |
Alfastreet | SL-M3 |
Aruze | Lucky Sic Bo |
Inspired Gaming | Multi-Win Roulette Sabre |
Interblock | G4 Organic Live Pulse |
LT Game | Live Game Platform |
Winner: Interblock – G4 Organic Live Pulse
The newly launched arena-style version of Interblock’s Organic games platform can provide casino operators with anything from tens to hundreds of terminals served by only a handful of human dealers. It’s big news for casinos because it can produce more games per hour for more players at lower cost than traditional live dealer gaming. That’s especially useful in table games-focused, high turnover betting markets such as Macau and Singapore, with limited table space. G4 Organic Live Pulse also offers the high-quality, high visibility overhead display available with the Organic Island series.
Honourable Mention: LT Game – Live Game Platform
LT Game’s Live Game Platform supports multiple and concurrent table selection and betting. It can be connected by LAN (Local Area Network) or WAN (Wide Area Network).
ELECTRONIC GAMING PERIPHERALS
Digital technology has allowed slot peripherals such as printers and bill acceptors to become increasingly ‘smart’. It has also allowed them to become increasingly reliable, flexible and integrated with the operator’s floor. All these qualities help to maintain and build casino profitability by reducing machine down time and reducing revenue leakage from technical error or fraud. These capabilities also make for a better player experience because there are fewer frustrating ticketin-ticket-out (TITO) breakdowns or bill acceptance errors.
The judging criteria are:
* Operator floor feedback based on software stability, quality of hardware build, ease of servicing and upgrade, modularity (weighted at 60% of the final assessment).
* Player friendliness based on ease of use, robustness, level of intelligence, player interaction (weighted at 20% of the final assessment).
* Interoperability and integration based on ability to plug and play, linkage to operator’s back of house functions (weighted at 20% of the final assessment).
Best Electronic Gaming Peripherial – Bill Acceptor
Nominees:
Manufacturer | Title |
JCM | iVIZION |
MEI | CASHFLOW SC |
Winner: JCM – iVIZION
JCM describes the iVIZION bill validator as “the better, faster, smarter solution” for the gaming industry, changing the way the industry sees banknote validation by creating what the company calls “intelligent validation”. The industry appears to agree with JCM’s assessment.
Honourable Mention: MEI – CASHFLOW SC
CASHFLOW SC’s accurate and robust performance was praised along with its modular design. Customers can remove the head of CASHFLOW SC to upgrade to the next generation SC Advance rather than having to swap out the whole unit. MEI says CASHFLOW SC was specified as the preferred bill acceptor for all slot machines selected for the two Singapore casino properties.
Best Electronic Gaming Peripheral – Printer
Nominees:
Manufacturer | Title |
FutureLogic | GEN2 |
TranAct | Epic950 |
Winner: TranAct – Epic 950
High reliability, ease of integration, and the ability to swap the printer between one gaming device and another have been cited as reasons for the success of the Epic 950. Others include dual port capability allowing the product to be linked to a network and so enable property-wide or player-specific coupons to be printed. Strong sales and service support from the local TransAct team were also highlighted for praise.
Honourable Mention: FutureLogic – GEN2
The GEN2 printer, the second generation TITO printer by FutureLogic, builds on the success of its predecessor the PSA-66-ST, maintaining the latter’s robustness and reliability. The GEN2 printer offers improvements such as ITH (Intelligent Ticket Handling) technology, IntelligentBezel system, and ProColor printing.
Best Electronic Signage
Over time, casino signage has transformed itself from straightforward advertising and direction finding to become an integral part of casino marketing.
The judging criteria for best electronic game signage were:
* Crowd pulling appeal based on packaging and attractiveness (weighted at 50% of the final assessment).
* Daily operation judged by software stability, quality of hardware build, ease of servicing (25% of the final assessment).
* System integration based on ease of operation and ability to integrate into operator’s back office and marketing systems (weighted at 25% of the final assessment).
Nominees:
Manufacturer | Title |
Gaming Support | JackpotJunction XL/ Cast |
IGT | Batman Dark Knight signage |
MPEL | Dragon’s Treasure Floorwide Jackpot signage |
Paltronics | One Link 3E |
Winner: Gaming Support – JackpotJunction XL/ CastNET
Gaming Support’s JackpotJunction XL/CastNET has arguably helped to move the market for casino signage forward by offering a modular and serverbased system that integrates the management of all signs and sign functions across a whole floor. The system went live at the opening of Resorts World Sentosa in February 2010. It followed the successful introduction of the product at City of Dreams in Macau in 2009.
Honourable Mention: Paltronics – One Link 3E Media System
One Link’s web-based media editor turns even a relative computing novice into a media content provider for the casino floor.
TABLE GAMING SUPPLIES
Many of the benefits of digital technology and networking that have so transformed the slots and multiplayer segments are also having an impact on table gaming. The benefits of technology can be seen even in what appears on the surface to be a relatively low-tech, traditional casino supply product such as playing cards. Many casino grade cards now have highly complex manufacturing processes to reduce the risk of shoe malfunction or dealing errors.
Best Table Gaming Essential
This category covers cards and dice. In the table gaming-focused markets of Asia, it’s not surprising that operators unanimously chose playing cards as their nominated products in the Table Gaming Essential section.
Nominees:
Manufacturer | Title |
Angel Playing Cards | CASINO ANGEL pre-shuffled cards |
Gemaco | Gem Pro Casino playing cards |
United States Playing Card Company | KEM casino plastic cards |
Winner: CASINO ANGEL pre-shuffled cards
Last year was a testing time for Japanese companies with the triple blow of massive earthquake, destructive tsunami and subsequent nuclear accident at the Fukushima nuclear plant. Angel Playing Cards was able to maintain its supply chain to regional casinos thanks to a combination of good luck—its manufacturing plant is a long way from the affected areas—but also thanks to careful contingency planning. That’s important because in Asia, a large casino can use 10,000 card decks in a single day.
The accuracy of Angel’s pre-shuffled casino grade products makes the company the leader in the segment in Asia. Singapore’s two integrated resorts both exclusively chose Angel, and the company continues to dominate the Macau market.
Honourable Mention: United States Playing Card Company – KEM casino plastic cards
US Playing Card Company has resisted any temptation to compete on price with the multitude of Asian suppliers offering cheap playing cards. Instead, it has maintained a focus on quality, pursuing upmarket casinos in the region as customers and stressing the size of its back up operation. It’s part of the multibillion dollar US conglomerate the Jarden Corporation and has access to manufacturing facilities in Europe as well as the US.
Best Table Utility Product
This category includes shoes, shufflers and chippers.
Nominees:
Manufacturer | Title |
Angel | ANGEL EYE shoe |
LT Game | Eagle Eye Intelligent Card Shoe |
Shuffle Master | MD2 Shuffler |
Shuffle Master | MD3 Shuffler |
USPCC | Bee Electronic Baccarat Dealing Shoe |
Winner: Angel – ANGEL EYE Shoe
More than 5,000 ANGEL EYE systems have been sold globally—representing a 90% share of the market for electronics-based baccarat card shoes. In Macau and Australia in excess of 80% of all baccarat tables use the product, according to the company. A proprietary, unique code printed on each card minimises the possibility of foreign cards being introduced to the system.
Honourable Mention: MD3 Shuffler
The MD3 Shuffler has pulled off a rare achievement—improving on an already excellent product in the form of the MD2 Shuffler.
The MD3 can read and verify every card being shuffled, bringing an unprecedented level of security to multi-deck tables like blackjack and baccarat. Its patented platform and gripper system counts and shuffles up to eight decks of cards quickly and quietly, and alerts the dealer about missing or added cards.
Best Table Gaming Peripheral
Table peripherals include applications of sophisticated technology such as radio frequency identification (RFID) chips and plaques. They also include tableside displays that help players—especially Asian baccarat table players—follow one of their favourite pastimes: namely, trying to identify patterns in betting and outcomes.
Nominees:
Manufacturer | Title |
Abbiati Casino Equipment | New Security Chips |
Gaming Partners International | Bourgogne & Grasset American-Style Chips |
Matsui | RFID Chip System |
TCSJOHNHUXLEY | Omini Baccarat Display |
Winner: Gaming Partners International – Bourgogne & Grasset American-Style Chips
Gaming Partners International (GPI) is the dominant supplier of chips and plaques in the Macau and Singapore markets. The company’s recent acquisition of OMC, a high precision mould-making company located near GPI’s French headquarters in Beaune, means GPI is able to offer an even higher level of chip and plaque customization to casinos than previously.
Honourable Mention: Matsui – RFID Chip System
Matsui introduced its RFID chips and chips recognition system to the market in 2010. Since then it has refined the products to make them some of the most effective antifraud and cage support technologies available to casino operators.
Best Table Gaming Innovation
Selections for this category were made at the discretion of the judges, who were instructed to choose any product they felt had provided an outstanding contribution to the development of the Asian casino table gaming industry in the last year.
Nominees:
Manufacturer | Title |
Gaming Partners International | Portable Chip Reader |
Shuffle Master | i-Table |
TCSJOHNHUXLEY | Gaming Floor Live |
Walker Digital | Perfect Pay baccarat |
Winner: TCSJOHNHUXLEY – Gaming Floor Live
Gaming Floor Live is a real-time live table optimisation tool developed by TCSJOHNHUXLEY to maximise key performance areas and casino profitability. The roulette format was recently introduced to the Macau market after a successful multiple-table trial. The system automatically captures game data via sensors on the wheel and table, providing vital information to maximise turnover, maintain house advantage, reduce operating costs and allow operators to understand opportunity costs.
Honourable Mention: Gaming Partners International – Portable Chip Reader
GPI’s Portable Chip Reader gives casinos the ultimate flexibility in authenticating and validating RFID-enabled gaming chips, plaques and jetons. By enabling casino staff quickly and accurately to read, authenticate and count their RFID currency items from any location at any time, the Portable Chip Reader extends RFID currency protection from the cage or chip bank to the table, the pit podium or even to back-of-house counting areas.
SPECIAL AWARDS
The following two awards were made at the editor’s discretion, after consideration of industry developments and feedback from various operators, players and suppliers.
Best Asian Supplier
Winner: Weike Gaming Technology
Weike has been a trailblazer for Asia-based casino technology suppliers. Because it’s located in Singapore, Weike benefits from a skilled workforce comfortable at dealing with Western-managed casino operators, but with clear insight into the needs of Chinese and other Asian players. As well as developing quality slot products that have found clear niches in the Macau and Singapore markets, the company has also been building up its systems business. This development of the product catalogue has been complemented by operational insights gained from a subsidiary’s slot operations in Macau. Weike’s ability to build its market presence in the key gaming jurisdictions of Macau and Singapore through a combination of regulatory acumen and strategic partnership is what earns the company this award for the second year running.
Editor’s Pick
Winner: Shuffle Master – MD3 Shuffler
As mentioned, the MD3 Shuffler manages to improve on an already high-quality product, the MD2 Shuffler. The MD3 can read and verify every card being shuffled, bringing an unprecedented level of security to multi-deck tables like blackjack and baccarat. Its patented platform and gripper system counts and shuffles up to eight decks of cards quickly and quietly, and alerts the dealer about missing or added cards.
Honourable Mention: Bally – Cash Spin
Cash Spin utilises Bally’s U-Spin gesture-control play mechanic, which allows players to touch the screen and spin a virtual wheel, with a chance to win marketing dollars. That’s helped Cash Spin become the fastest selling premium game title in Bally’s history.