Inside Asian Gaming

July 2009 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING Aristocrat 33 operating side on how you work together on that.” Sharing insights “All markets are different, but from my background those [cooperation] skills are pretty well developed. Retailers understand how shoppers work, and [casino] operators understand how players work. The manufacturers have all sorts of different insights into what are the particular features for example and the elements of a game, or the ergonomic factors [in terms of machine layout, seating and general player comfort] that are attractive to the players. “So I think this industry can move forward in having a partnership approach, as opposed to manufacturers saying ‘This is what you need to do’.” Do you think in a challenging economic environment that partnership is more likely to be boosted? “Absolutely. I must say again this is a fabulous industry and I need to protect this industry, to understand the new agenda, particularly around things like responsible gaming and to work together to make sure the industry is sustainable. Everybody in every part of the chain needs to be involved in that collectively. I absolutely think there needs to be one approach about how to make the industry even better and even Aristocrat’s recently-appointed Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Jamie Odell more successful. Clearly within that we [manufacturers] need to compete, but not to forget that the industry—and when you’re here in a place like the Venetian it’s a superb reminder—is a fantastic experience. Consumers—players—are coming here for an all round experience which includes gaming, entertainment, eating and drinking, staying in a nice resort and using facilities such the spa. We’re working with all those partners holistically to make sure the experience keeps getting better and better. We can all do a better job when working as one industry.” Do you see consolidation happening in the gaming industry in terms of the number of equipment suppliers? “I think over time people are always going to look at the issue of consolidation and what benefit may come from that. I don’t think our industry is any different in that regard. At the same time there’s going to be continued fragmentation around the edge. You see at a place like G2E Asia there are a lot of small manufacturers, because new technologies are being developed all the time and because sometimes the best ideas come from outside.” Change we need Aristocrat has been very strong in the Macau market. Is it a case of ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’, or is it about preparing for the future? “It’s an interesting question. We’re in the middle of a strategic review that will be made public at the end of August. There are a number of things we do very well. We make very good video machines and our core business is extremely strong. We have got great mathematicians and the games work very well. They generally outperform the floor average and we’re very proud of them. We must continue that and protect that; that’s most important.” Aspirations “But there are also areas where we’ve got to grow a bit more as well. I think we’ve got to get better at emerging technologies. We see some of our competitors doing that better than us. We’re still not a really serious player in the stepper market. We showed our RFX™ Stepper which is our US stepper, on the stand at G2E Asia, but we’re still not a major player in that element. There are all sorts of new gaming such as connected gaming coming through as well, which is using new technology. Again, we need to consider how we get more of that. “I’m very proud of what the guys have done here in Asia. In Macau particularly, we have a very strong position. I want to protect everything about that but also recognise that—particularly in those areas driven by new technologies—we’ve got to get into some new spaces. That’s where I want us to have some accretive business coming through in future. Core and more “Fundamentally we make games and systems. That will remain our core business. We’re pretty focused at the moment in the video space, and we’re thinking about how we can build our capabilities as players look for even more adventurous games. Some of these games are themed around strong entertainment themes, some using new technology. I think we can do a better job of getting into that space. “It’s not going to be good enough just to keep on doing what we’re doing, because the world’s going to change around us. We’ve got to get better at getting all those front end insights and understanding how those changes are coming.” The RFX™ Stepper was on show at the G2E Asia