Inside Asian Gaming

August 2008 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 39 Astro Corp these western games don’t have themes that relate to common stories in Chinese culture,” he adds. “Second, the players need to be able to understand quickly how the game works. If Chinese players see a game with a very familiar look, they will stop and watch. “I want to say that this idea that Chinese people don’t like to play video slots is not true. Chinese people love to play machines,” Mr Chang asserts. Happy returns “Video slots give players hope because the returns to player are positive. You can make a small bet and suddenly you can make very good returns—maybe a hundred or a thousand times return. Chinese players understand this. “We believe what they really need is a totally different game design to allow players to be more confident when playing the game. “Currently most of the western machines look pretty much the same. You look at the game and you see five reels, and multi-line games. You can’t always tell quickly just by looking at them how the game works. “Asian people like machines they can understand and that don’t look too complicated.” Clear and simple Unless a machine can project a simple and clear message, he says, then it will be hard to get Asian players to stick around and play in volume—volume being an important factor for profitability in a market such as Macau where returns to player are typically in the 90% plus range. “With somemachines you can seepeople will only feed a small amount of money in and play a few hands and then stop. That’s obviously not what you want,” explains Mr Chang. One of the slogans on Astro Corp.’s website is ‘Content is king’ and the company says it tries to live up to it. Asian content Although the Taiwan-listed company began operations in the early 1990s with games designed for western markets, today it’s ramping up its Asian content offer to coincide with the growth of the region’s gaming sector. Shortly before G2E Asia, Astro Corp. announced a deal to install 120 of its machines in the Cambodian market and the company’s range of Gaming Laboratories International-approved products continues to expand. In Macau, Astro Corp.has been working with Paradise Entertainment, the e-table and progressive baccarat system provider. “We think there will be more than ten years of continuous growth in the Asian gaming market,” asserts Mr Chang. Chinese appeal “Asia wise, 80% of the players are ethnic Chinese,” so it’s important to understand Chinese cultural tastes,”he adds. “One of the things we’re interested in developing is baccarat machines that really appeal to Chinese customers,” says Mr Chang. “We feel at the moment that some of the western-designed baccarat machines have too many interactions between machine and player. “When Asian players play on baccarat machines or baccarat tables they like to concentrate on following the dealing of the cards.” Too complex Western baccarat machines put more emphasis on trying to create a relationship between player and machine, whereas Asian players simply regard the technology as a dealer they don’t need to tip, suggests Mr Chang. Astro Corp. used G2E Asia to launch a number of new Chinese-themed video slot games, including Shanghai Tycoon , The Flagship and Convoy . In terms of screen set up they are much closer to the role-play games familiar to online players in Chinese gaming parlours than to classic Vegas reel and line games. They also have strong narratives relating to true events in Chinese history. In the case of Shanghai Tycoon , it’s the story of the Chicago-style gangsters who operated in Shanghai between the two world wars and before the Communist revolution. In the case of The Flagship , it’s the story of the rise of Chinese naval power and exploration during the Ming dynasty. Convoy is based on an historical soap opera shown on regional TV chronicling the dangerous journeys that Chinesemerchants and noblemen had to endure from the days of the Han Empire onward. “Games are part of a shared cultural heritage,” explains Mr Chang. Street games “In China games are traditionally played on the street or in other public places,” he adds. “Our video slot game design aims to relate to that concept.” “Chinese people love to play [slot] machines,” asserts Astro Corp Executive Vice President Sean Chang.