Inside Asian Gaming

inside asian gaming May 2014 54 high-volatility formula that is working so well for it in North America with Buffalo. “It’s incredibly popular over there,” Mr Aubrey says. “It’s one of those funny things about differences in tastes, I guess. We haven’t to date been able to get the Buffalo brand or the math model to work in Asia, but it’s a model that we are confident in, and we just feel we probably haven’t put the right theme or the right mechanic around it.” The company also sees a wide berth for new titles in standalone progressives. It’s a sector that’s drawn a lot of Aristocrat’s most innovative thinking with series like Jackpot Streak, where players continue to win games as they ascend to the big prize. A new Jackpot Streak game will be shown, Sparkling Royal, it’s called. Two new titles will be shown (Choy Sun Jackpots and White Tiger) in Jackpot Reel Power, where the top prize can be won randomly and free games are awarded with three or more symbols on a line. There will also be a new Quick Fire title (Golden Peach) and a new title in the Gold Pays series (Golden Festival). “In Asia particularly we feel it’s quite an underutilized category,” says Mr Aubrey, “and we feel that we’ve got a whole depth of product to be able to capitalize on that.” In a similar vein the company will use the show to take the wraps off its new Players Choice multi-game platform, VIP Deluxe, which unites four of its best-performing titles in the region within a single box: Choy Sun Doa, 50 Lions and the Deluxe versions of 5 Dragons and 5 Koi. “So if a player is playing 5 Dragons and goes into the feature and then decides they want to play 50 Lions they can do that,” Mr Aubrey explains. “It improves utilization. If you’ve got a constrained space like a VIP room you can have a greater amount of games in there.” Topping off the exhibit is a newHyperlink, Good Fortune, featuring the return of Choy Sun Doa, the Chinese god of wealth whose beaming, well-fed smile in FA FA FA became synonymous with the linked progressive in Macau. Exclusive versions of 5 Dragons 5 Frogs’ high-volatility Super Feature randomly adds free games and can also remove the two lowest multipliers from any selection. and a game called Dragons of the East sit underneath, both uniquely integrated into the five jackpot levels with stacked wilds on any spin and each functioning independently with its own standalone jackpot on offer within the link. “It’s our next big Asian-themed Hyperlink product that we’re really excited to show,” says Mr Aubrey. Certainly it exemplifies how Aristocrat continues to embrace the challenges presented by its dominance in Macau to seek out ways to translate those challenges into opportunities. A year into a new job in an entirely new industry, certainly Mark Aubrey gets it. “Our traditional strength has always been the core gambler-style product,” he says, “and while that will continue to remain a key focus for us, this is a market that is maturing, it’s a market that is evolving, and as the leader in it, if we want to maintain our position in this space, we need to continue to innovate and evolve as well.” The experience he brings from the wider world of entertainment suggests Aristocrat is looking at regional expansion in new ways as well. “I think if the right license presented itself—and it was an Asian license—we would absolutely be open to bringing more of that content in. … Mega Manny Jackpots was a Manny Pacquiao-themed link, a mystery link that we did last year, clearly built for the Philippines. But, you know, Manny’s a superstar right across Asia. So it had an appeal in broader markets as well. So we will try and capitalize on individual opportunities in key markets, and wherever possible we will try and add or evolve those products or innovate around those products to make them resonate more broadly across Asia.” Visit Aristocrat at Stand #524 Choy Sun Doa returns in Good Fortune, a new Hyperlink progressive with separate standalone jackpots in base games. Feature