Inside Asian Gaming

April 2012 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 15 IGT company is doing its legwork this time around, conducting extensive market research both independently and in concert with customers. “One of the things that I’m trying to do is establish that type of relationship where we can bring operators in while we’re still in the development phase. And I think that’s good for us and certainly good for them as well. We will then bring products to the market that are much more attuned, not just to the general market here but to their particular properties and the player base that they have.” Which is not to say there isn’t “Americanized” product that hasn’t performed credibly for IGT. Golden Goddess, among others, has been a standout. A graphically rich, Multi-Layer Display technology game fitted on the robust AVP platform, it offers configurable line options all in a single program and features Selective Stacking, which locks a major symbol on each spin for larger base- game payouts, and Super Stacks for bigger wins at the bonus level. Success “has more to do with the specifics of the math model and the way the game is played as opposed to the pure theme,” Michalko says. The buzz phrase the company likes is “market-attuned,” which means a lot of things but can be distilled down to the recognition that an appealing package, while important, doesn’t cut it if the game mechanics, the math and the cultural context aren’t sound. “That means not just Asian themed,” he says, “the colors and the graphics and all that obvious kind of thing, but really drilling down much further with different segments of the player base to learn what their preferences are, what things they want to see in games.” The company has another strong base to work from with its innovative bluechip Neo cabinet, a hit in Australia, SGB-ready, TITO-enabled, with bigger, brighter screens, high-performance processors, an emphasis on player comfort and “Dynamic Buttons” that come alivewith animation andgraphics specific to the game being played. Looking ahead to next month’s G2E Asia, Michalko hesitates to characterize it as a defining moment for IGT in the region. He prefers to think of it a “coming-out party,” and doubtless one the company is anticipating as perhaps never before, given that that first fruits of much of what it has learned about China over the last several months will be on display. “I’m very optimistic and anxious about the next generation of games that we’re going to be putting out there,” he says. “As we’re getting these new products, I think we’re going to be much better positioned to win the business. It was a combination of things that held us back in the past, but I think we’re starting to put all the pieces in place. We’re very much in the spotlight at IGT right now. The pressure is on a little bit, but that’s okay. We know what we have to do, and I think we’re going to have the right people and right products to make it work.” IGT Asia Lda will be at Stand # 700 at G2E Asia, held 22-24 May at The Venetian Macao. Super Stacks—Dangerous Beauty Glittering line-up—Golden Goddess is among the graphically rich, Multi-Layer Display technology games on the AVP platform