Inside Asian Gaming

May 2008 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 49 Feature “Given the results we’ve had with Hot Shot, we decided to launch different versions. High sales “It’s about maximising business opportunities with a successful formula. It’s not about only marketing the new title and forgetting about existing ones,” explains Mr Lai. “Blazing 7s Hot Shot Progressive is still the number one game from Bally. We still want to maximise the series’ potential,” he adds. The company says that for new customers it makes sense to familiarise their patrons with the Classic version and introduce them to the complementary products later. 
 “With some customers we already have Blazing 7s Hot Shot or Winning Times Hot Shot on their casino floor. If they also want to put in a bank of All About Money, we would definitely do that. Stages “For a brand new customer, we would probably say to them ‘We know you like All About Money, and the graphics, but start with the number one game first.’ “Although we show new products on an individual basis to our existing operators, we find we always get some new customers attending G2E and they are delighted to have the chance of a demonstration,” says Mr Lai. Hot Kitchen Another Bally Technologies game that will be seen at G2E Asia is Chinese Kitchen™, the first one developed by the company’s Indian development centre. Bally now has 100 game developerslocatedinIndia,whichhas a reputation for producing world- class information and media technology professionals. For Chinese Kitchen the Indian R&D team asked for advice from the Asia Pacific region staff on what kind of features and games to use. Customised “They came to us to ask what kind of features and colours to use on the game. We suggested red and gold colours, free games features and bonuses features, and they put it all in the same game,” says Matthew Lai. “We’ve just had approval for the region for Chinese Kitchen. We are also getting audio software and sound blasters, so you’ll be seeing the new product on casino floors very soon, starting with The Venetian Macao.” Ways to win Mega Winners™ , offering horizontal wins plus vertical winning lines, was exhibited at G2E last November in Las Vegas and got a good reception from customers, says Mr Lai. “This game plays a little differently. It’s a 16-reel game. It takes five scatter MegaWinners symbols to trigger the bonus feature,”he explains. “This is a brand new product and I think a new concept for the region,” adds Mr Lai. Distinctive “We really think this MegaWinners product is very different fromanything we have seen in the market. I talked to a couple of customers here in the region and they say they’ve never seen anything similar to this game. “Itplaysdifferentlyfromwhatwe’ve seen on the casino floor so far.We look forward to seeing great performance as well as good sales with it.” Bally says that in launching Fortune 8’s™ it is the first company to develop a seven-reel video product. “It’s a 50-line game. It pays you from left to right and right to left,” says Mr Lai. Flexible platform “We have four different game themes on this platform including Fortune 8’s. The other three are Double Dragon Two-Way Frenzy, Super Fireball Frenzy and also Bonus Frenzy Free Games. You can see those at TheVenetianMacao and elsewhere in the region.” Fortune8’s,whichwas approved by regional regulators in March, has a bonus feature on the eighth number—eight being of course a lucky number in Chinese culture. Bally Technologies will display its latest products for theAsiaPacific Region at G2E Asia 2008, June 3-4 in The Cotai Strip Convention and Exhibition Center at The Venetian Macao.