Inside Asian Gaming

IAG MAR 2020年3月 亞博匯 38 JAPAN I n Part 1, published as the cover story to the January 2020 issue of Inside Asian Gaming , we described the current industry maneuverings in Japan as similar to a mass dating game, with the “girls” being the candidate locations and the “boys” being the candidate operators who are courting them. The 12 girls discussed in Part 1 will eventually be whittled down to just three, with Osaka currently the red hot favorite, followed by Yokohama, Nagasaki and Wakayama as the next most likely. In November last year the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism proposed 4 January to 30 July 2021 as the period for local governments, hand in hand with their chosen IR operator partners, to submit their IR applications to the national government. 在 2020年一月刊登於《亞博匯》的第一部分中， 我形容現時在日本的行業動態彷彿就像一個 大型約會遊戲，當中「女生們」就是那些潛在 落腳地，而「男生們」就是那些追求她們的候 選營運商。 在第一部分中討論過的12位女士，最後都會被篩選剩下3位， 當中大阪是現時的大熱門，還有橫濱、長崎及和歌山。 在去年11月時，國土交通省提議地方政府可以在2021年1月4 日至7月30日期間，與他們選擇的綜合度假村(IR)營運商夥伴攜手 向中央政府遞交IR申請。 This means each of these girls has the rest of 2020 to choose a boy to start dating. Unsurprisingly, there is no shortage of suitors – IAG is currently tracking a peloton of 20 companies in the race. This issue we take a look at the "Big 4" companies with the reputation and financial clout to go all-in on a Japanese IR, with the remaining 16 contenders to feature in the upcoming April edition of IAG . THE BIG 4: 800-POUND GORILLAS You’ve heard the old joke, “Where does an 800-pound gorilla sit?” Answer: “Anywhere he wants to!” Each of these four “800-pound gorilla” companies is indeed an absolute behemoth in the global gaming industry. 這表示每一位女生都可以有2020年一整年的時間去選擇一 位他們希望交往的男孩。可以料想到的是，他們實在不乏追求者。 《亞博匯》到現在為止就正在追蹤20間已經進入賽道的公司，並 且把他們分成五個級別。 讓我們會一會這些男生吧！ 第一級：八百磅重的大猩猩 你可能也有聽過一個老笑話：到底一隻八百磅的大猩猩會坐 在哪裏呢？答案就是，牠想坐在哪裏都也可以！這一級別裏的4間 份量十足的大猩猩公司，每一間都可謂是環球博彩業的巨擘。