Inside Asian Gaming

IAG SEP 2020年9月 亞博匯 84 JAPAN A s Japan continues to ponder the prospect of an integrated resort industry, Sega Sammy is working to bring creative EGM content to the world, installing the first “Virtua Fighter” video slot machine at Vietnam’s Macau Gaming Club in June. IAG spoke with Masaki Yamamoto, Vice President, Executive Officer and Managing Director of the Research and Development Division at Sega Sammy Creation – the casino sales company under Sega Sammy Holdings – and Hayato Sasaki, who serves as Director of Sales. Shintaro Kamimura: How has Sega Sammy Creation been affected by COVID-19? Hayato Sasaki: Due to so many casinos not accepting customers at this time, we haven’t been getting orders from casinos. Also, since the Japanese government has been moving slowly [due to COVID-19], it caused delays in various projects. However, I think the same is true for all manufacturers. SK: What was the reason for going with the “Virtua Fighter” slot motif this time? Masaki Yamamoto: “Virtua Fighter” is the first 3D fighting game and has sold all over the world, so we thought it would be well-received all over the world. We started with about 3,000 title options, and this is one of the dozen or so that we narrowed it down to. The target demographic for “Virtua Fighter” and “House of the Dead” is people in their 40s to 50s who actually played the games back in the day, and since they still have new series coming out, we hope it will also resonate with the younger generations. SK: It really has the game aspects that you find in Japanese pachislot. HS: It’s a 5-line game, but is made with amusement elements like pachislot. The casinos have actually come to us saying the free game portion is too long, and they’re worried it’s hurting their income. The next problem is finding the balance between the casino’s 正 當日本在思索綜合度假村行業的前景時，世 嘉颯美就努力把富創意的電子博彩機器內 容帶到世上，並且於今年6月在越南的Macau Gaming Club安裝了第一部「Virtua Fighter」 影像角子機。《亞博匯》就與世嘉颯美旗下娛 樂場遊戲銷售公司世嘉颯美創意公司副總裁、研發部執行官兼董 事總經理山本正樹，還有銷售總監佐佐木勇人詳談。 上村慎太郎（SK）：請問新冠疫情對世嘉颯美創意有甚麼影響？ 佐佐木勇人（HS）： 由於很多娛樂場在這段時間都不開門迎客，我 們沒有從娛樂場接到甚麼訂單。另外日本政府的運作亦(因新冠疫 情)而變得緩慢，因此多個企劃都面對延誤。可是我認為所有製造 商都在面臨同一狀況。 SK:為甚麼這次會採用「Virtua Fighter」這個角子機主題呢？ 山本理樹（MY）： 「Virtua Fighter」是首個立體格鬥遊戲，並已暢銷 全球，所以我們認為它在世界各地都會受到歡迎。我們在開始的 時候有大約3000個遊戲系列選擇，到最後就淘汰至十多個，「Vir- tua Fighter」是其中之一。 「Virtua Fighter」和「House of the Dead」的主要對象是那些 四十多至五十多歲的玩家，他們都在年輕時玩過這些遊戲。由於 這些遊戲依然有新的系列推出，因此我們希望它亦可以在年輕一 代中取得共鳴。 SK:它在遊戲方面的一些元素的確與日本的彈珠角子機相似。 HS: 它是一個五線遊戲，但卻如彈珠角子機一樣擁有一些有趣的 元素。事實上，一些娛樂場曾告訴我們，免費遊戲部分實在太長， 他們擔心這會影響到他們的收入。下一個要面對的問題，就是在 娛樂場收入和那些連我們都被吸引的彈珠角子機娛樂內容之間 取得平衡。