G2E PREVIEW
From the Top: Game Technology CEOs in the Spotlight
This month Indian Gaming interviewed eight game manufacturers to discuss what is happening at their companies, what will impact the Indian gaming industry, and what new products
they will be spotlighting at the 2009 Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas next month. The one
constant throughout these interviews is that every company is very focused on the needs of
Indian casinos and offering innovative games and systems to help drive revenues and give
players a much more exciting entertainment experience.
employed someone just to concentrate on the
games, visiting all the tribal gaming jurisdictions,
Danny Gladstone, CEO
seeing their operations and getting feedback so
Ainsworth Game Technology Ltd.
the game designers can understand and take
Year company founded: 1995
points from what’s happening out there. So it’s
CEO since February, 2007
just not a product that we lay out from here,
Corporate Headquarters:
send overseas and hope it works. We believe
Sydney, NSW Australia
we’ve got a fair bit of input from the established
www.ainsworth.com.au
gaming operations in North America. We’re not
saying, “Here, this is what we’ve got. This is
what we want from you.” We’re saying, “Here’s
It’s pretty exciting to see your success in Australia and
what we’ve got, but what do you want?” We talk to senior staff
how you’ve put a team together to bring that success to
and slot managers, and utilize group discussion with players.
Indian Country.
We want to know what they feel. There are some subtle
One of the first things I did as CEO was increase the size
differences across the markets.
of our staff in North America so we could enter the Indian
Where do you see the company a few years from now?
gaming market. We have a fair number of people in sales,
As we gain more licenses, and we establish ourselves
service and game development, many of whom started back
further in the Indian gaming market, our team will increase
in February of 2007. We’re just now starting to hit the radar
in size. That will also increase production. We have plans
as genuine contenders and being an alternative product to buy.
for different types of products to be introduced and we’ll
From what we’re hearing, the tribes are really enjoying
be releasing some exciting new games at the G2E show. We
Ainsworth games.
have a strategy for games and service in place going forward
Our product has a point of difference in comparison to those
for the next 24 months in place. Because the more successmachines currently in the marketplace. The other major
ful we are in Indian gaming, the more product we’ll need.
operators have similar styles, which is fine, and there’s
It’s not only the people on the ground being ramped up, it’s
nothing wrong with their styles by the way, but we’re presentthe people in R&D to support them.
ing our product a little bit differently, with a more oval shaped
As an Australian company, how have you been able to find
video screen, 26”, and we can put all of our messages and
success
in the North American Indian gaming market?
displays on one screen whereas the other operators tend to split
In
particular,
some of the reasons why we have had an
it between two different LCDs.
opportunity to sell tribal games is because of the great people
What are the unique challenges you face as an overseas
we have who are experienced working in the industry. Buddy
manufacturer?
Bartholow and Rick Metzler have been around a long time –
The games are designed in Australia and we’re selling to
experienced people with great relationships who can get the
tribes in North America. To elevate that to a new level, we’ve
right information for us. Buddy has a great relationship with
32 Indian Gaming
October 2009
the Indian tribes. He’s been around since the start of tribal
gaming. He understands he can sit down with the senior
people of this company and say, “Look, this is what we need.”
Rick Metzler has been in this business for 30 years. He’s seen
the industry open up and grow, and he understands that not
everything’s the same. A lot of people thought Nevada and New
Jersey were the start and end of the world. It’s obviously not
true. Indian gaming is the most buoyant gaming market across
North America.
Part of our success has been the revamping of this
company over the last three years. In all facets of our operation,
we’ve employed people with a history in the gaming industry.
It’s a unique industry, and we’re always open to new people and
new ideas, but they have to coincide with experience.
I’ve been in the industry over 35 years, and our Chairman Len
Ainsworth is 86 years old and has been at it over 56 years, so if
we start adding the years up, we all should be on pensions now!
As far as technology goes, we’ll meet the demands of technology
that are needed to produce the right games. I think that’s very
important, because everyone overdrives the technology
scenario sometimes. I know a lot of people keep shouting server
based gaming, and downloadable gaming, and this and that. But
truly, we’ve all got computers on our desk, we’ve all got the Internet, so we know downloadable is not anything that’s going to be
real tricky in the world. But we’re basing our marketing and appeal
to the customers across the Indian nation on the performance
of the games. And we’ll provide the technology to support
them. We won’t have the wagon in front of the horse.
What do you have planned for G2E?
What I’d like everyone to know is that we are releasing some
very exciting new games at G2E. We would like everyone to
drop by the Ainsworth booth and have the Ainsworth team
present its top performing GamePlus™ range of products. After
G2E, we’ll constantly be releasing more new games. Our focus
is having a very well presented machine with games that are
very popular with players. We really want to enhance the
product on the floor and push the envelope.
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October 2009
Indian Gaming 33
G2E PREVIEW
Jamie Odell, CEO
What new systems are you moving forward
with in the near future?
We are looking to invest in our U.S. systems
business. We have a great business with
our Aristocrat Oasis 360™ system, we are
constantly upgrading it and want to show our
commitment and intention to continue building on this system in North America.
Aristocrat now offers the RFX™ five-reel
mechanical stepper product to the North American market. In
a range of player-favorite titles, including Sun and Moon™,
Geisha™, Tiki Torch™ and Flame of Olympus™. The
Aristocrat stepper was developed using the same grade of
superior game configurations and graphics found in our MKVI™
video range. With multiple line-play, lower denomination
options, and increased win hit-frequency, traditional stepper
players will experience gaming entertaining at its best. We are
also working on compelling new game content for the stepper
games and we are quite excited about this new product. We
really haven’t been in the stepper business for a number of years,
but now we see that this could be a great business for us.
Aristocrat Leisure Ltd.
Year company founded: 1953
CEO since February, 2009
Corporate Headquarters:
Sydney, NSW Australia
www.aristocratgaming.com
Since you became CEO in February, what changes are you
making at Aristocrat?
The number one priority is to increase focus on North America and we love the North American market. The fact of the
matter is we believe that we need to embed more management
in the market and dedicate more understanding to specifically
tailor products for our customers in the U.S. We want to
build on the business we currently have, so I am sending over
Paul Kitchin, Chief Marketing Officer, and Julius Patta, Chief
Technology Officer, to be based in our Las Vegas office. They’ll
work with Nick Khin, President of the Americas, to truly
understand and talk with the players and operators to tailor
games specifically to their market needs. We’ll have more
decisions based in the Americas and more focused game content. We believe that is the next generation of what we need
to do to build a great business in North America.
This means you will have direct company management
here in the U.S.?
Yes, it will be far more powerful to run the business from
the Americas rather than from Australia. Just the time zone
difference and living in the market makes so much sense. So
the biggest announcement is that we are increasing focus and
tailoring our products for North America. We are focusing on
the three core markets for us – first the U.S., then Australia and
Japan.
Are you bringing new technologies to the Indian gaming
market?
Absolutely. We recognize that technology drives new
products and new compelling games and gaming content. And
so by taking the chief technology officer and basing him in
the U.S., he will be able to have a big focus on emerging
technologies, making sure we can utilize them for our games,
and building the games players want to play and therefore
be successful for the operators. Using technology to drive
new product is going to be fundamentally what we are
trying to do here.
34 Indian Gaming
October 2009
Do you utilize focus groups as a way to better understand
what players want?
Yes, it is absolutely essential. We are setting up a new
Insights function based out of our Las Vegas office. What that
will help us do is gain player insights through focus groups to
understand more about player behavior and the things that
excite them. And then with that information we can then go
through the games development process to make new tailored
games and deliver on those expectations.
With this economy it looks like players are more interested
in going to Indian casinos vs. Las Vegas and Atlantic City.
The local Indian gaming markets have really held up
better than the strip, which is based on the tourist and conference business. This has been a tough time for all operators and
we recognize that it is a matter of when, and not if we get
through these economic times. The timing is out of our hands,
but as soon as the economy comes back to full strength, I think
we will all be feeling pretty happy again. It is a good time to
be reevaluating and refreshing the business and that is what we
strategically are doing.
Are you going to be doing more research and development?
Yes, and we will fundamentally put more resources in the
U.S. market. Recently we have been sending more and more
of our game designers to the American market to meet with
operators. It has been proven to us that we need to have more
people embedded in the market and focused on that market.
So you see we are making an investment with a more tailored
approach to deliver on the needs of the U.S. market and
U.S. customers specifically. We are so
impressed with the Indian gaming casinos.
I spent some time in California a month
ago at some really wonderful properties.
It is a privilege to be working with them.
They are of such high quality with such
committed and passionate people. It is a
great industry to be in and we are proud
to be servicing those customers.
What will Aristocrat be showcasing at
G2E?
Our new games and the best system to
help you build your casino for the future
will be on display. Our team will help
you construct the perfect blend of video
and stepper products, all supported by
one of the most evolved system in the
industry.
New and exciting titles that we will
have on display at the show include Beat
the Bandits™, Kentucky Derby™ a
5-reel RFX linked progressive product,
Bejing Bonanza™ Aristocrat’s first GEN7
Connected Gaming product which
includes a tournament feature. Other
key products include the new Jeff
Foxworthy’s™ Redneck Rumble™ Triple
Standalone progressive, Hit the
Heights™, MegaMillioni$er™ and
GEN7 Xtreme Mystery™.
Fueled by the power of Ethernet is
Aristocrat’s Oasis 360, which gives an
even more in-depth player profile than
ever before. Revenue generating, cost
control, the most comprehensive system
to date, industry leading concepts – all of
these statements accurately describe what
is in included in the Oasis 360 portfolio.
Aristocrat will be showcasing its new
approach to bonusing, and revenue
generation through the demonstration of
Oasis 360 version 11.6.2, SpeedMedia™
1.4, QuickFunds™ and more. The Oasis
360 team is taking a new approach to
delivering market-driven products.
Networked Gaming continues to fascinate the industry.
Aristocrat’s floor management tool, fueled by GSA’s G2S
protocol, is all about interoperability. Additionally, the
TruServ™ server-based solution unites players, operators, and
content in an open source environment.
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Indian Gaming 35
G2E PREVIEW
Richard M. Haddrill, CEO
What are some other technological innovations driving Bally’s business?
Today with our Business Intelligence tools
you can get a dashboard that can be customized
for the general manager, for the tribal council,
for the chief operations officer, for the slot
manager, for the marketing director. Each one
of them may have different statistics they want
to track. They can get their dashboard pop up
on their computer screen whenever they want to call it up, and
it tells them what’s going on at their property. We get real-time
dashboards that tell the slot operators where the hot players
are, where the hot machines are, which machines aren’t
playing well. It’ll give you all the statistics you need to
optimize your floor. When combined with marketing
data and player data, it tells you how to create that unique
experience for, say, John or Jane Doe. If we know how they
would like to wager, what machines they like to play and what
kind of promotions they like, we can target an experience for
them that makes them have a better, even more enjoyable
time at the property.
Bally Technologies
Year company founded: 1931
CEO since October, 2004
Corporate Headquarters:
Las Vegas, Nevada
www.ballytech.com
How is tribal business going for Bally?
We are pleased that business, despite a tough economy, is
relatively good. For instance, the Southern California tribes have
been investing pretty heavily with Bally over the last three years.
Morongo decided to use the iVIEW Display Network to better communicate with their players and create more quality and
excitement on the floor. We’ve also been fortunate in that
Pechanga’s been doing some server-based initiatives with us and
Viejas switched to Bally from another provider about a year and
a half ago. Also, Barona’s been a good long-term customer that’s
also been investing. So Southern California’s been a good
market for us. Within the last three years, some 29 different
tribal casinos have switched from other systems to Bally
systems. I mentioned Pechanga, and Viejas, but Chickasaw,
Oneida and Coushatta are all big casinos that have switched to
Bally systems, as well.
Why do you think they are switching over?
Starting five years ago we began to make some big investments in systems, and we’ve been in the systems business for
32 years. We decided to enhance the technology and make it
state-of-the-art with the tremendous functionality we’ve been
building up over the years. So you can now buy our products
in an AS400 platform, Unix platform, or Windows platform,
which removes any technology bias.
So a Microsoft Windows platform can now be utilized?
That’s correct. For the smaller locations in particular, this
helps lower the cost. Additionally, many IT people today are
familiar with Windows. Unless they’ve been in a bigger IT
department or had prior experience with bigger hardware,
they’re much more comfortable with Windows. So now we have
this great functionality installed on a Windows platform where
the box cost is lower and the usability is easy. It’s really exciting for many tribes we’ve spoken to in the last three or four
months. We already have two Native American tribes live and
11 more in the queue to be installed, so we’re excited about that.
36 Indian Gaming
October 2009
This would then give the player extra value?
Absolutely. It would also allow you to target that value to
the key players in a way that allows you to optimize your
profitability. Now it also allows you to better manage your
capital – in other words what machines are performing well and
when. It will help make sure you don’t waste marketing money
on players that are not good customers. So it’s really a good
opportunity. You can also monitor, for example, when bill
acceptors are full, you can monitor when a printer is out of
paper, so you just have a more efficient floor.
Can you actually operate by getting a report and sending
it to slot service?
That’s exactly what happens today. Before when machines
weren’t being played and the casino didn’t know that the bill
acceptor was full, or the printer was out of paper, they wasted
hours on downtime. Now they can go right to those machines
with the service deck and get the machine back up and running.
Bally has a heavy presence in Washington State. How did
you positioned yourselves for that market share?
First, being early into the market and helping the tribes
develop the whole program in the state built a really strong
trust factor. And we did it for the long term, which is part of
our company principles – to try and be a great long-term
partner. Today we have a 70% share in the State of Washington. We’ve rolled out the first million-dollar Class II-style
WAP called 1,000,000 Degrees in Washington and that’s
exciting. And on the systems side in Washington, we’ve historically had our centrally determined system called Bally One and
we’re now offering our tribal customers there the opportunity
to migrate that centrally determined system to get all the
functionality of our SDS system, which has a lot more accounting and marketing capabilities.
Additionally, we’ve been able to partner with some of our
competitors. Because of the unique technical complexities in
Washington, we actually put a number of competitor titles on
our box and on our system. This allows the tribes to have a broad
variety of titles and work through one supplier, and one
system, like Bally, and yet they get all the games that they’d want
from Aristocrat, Ainsworth or others. Our competitors are fairly
paid, we’re fairly paid, and the customer gets a simpler
solution. So it’s one of those situations where if you can work
with your competitors to make it win, win, win, why not?
What does Bally have planned for G2E?
I think the main message from Bally is that we are totally
committed to the Class II and Native American market for
great long-term partnerships. So look for us to show terrific
products for Class II and for Indian gaming at G2E, but
also to be listening very intently to what new needs the
tribes are finding. How can we help them control costs? How
can we help them create a greater entertainment experience
for their players? It’s going to be a two-way dialog. I would
encourage the customers to come by our booth. We have a
secret viewing area for them, where they can come in and
see some real advanced products that I haven’t described to
you here.
I hope the culture of Bally comes through to our tribal
customers. We’re trying to be good long-term partners and very
hands-on, customer-facing people that are good listeners.
We will continue to improve, as we have these last five years,
to become even better partners. However good we are today,
I can assure our customers that we’ll be even better six months
from now.
October 2009
Indian Gaming 37
G2E PREVIEW
Gene Chayevsky, Chairman
& CEO
During the review we share our analytics on
game performance and recommendations on
title mixes and title changes to make sure that
at any point in time the investment they’ve
made in Cadillac Jack is optimized on their
floor.
Having done these things on the product side
and the product management side has allowed
us to grow our overall footprint in the tribal
Class II and Class III markets. It allowed us to strengthen our
customer relationships and enter new jurisdictions, again both
Class II and Class III. I would say it allowed us to continue to
strengthen our reputation as a top Class II vendor in the
market. And as a result of all these initiatives, it would be fair
to say that 2009 will be the most successful year in the
company’s history.
Cadillac Jack
Year company founded: 1995
CEO since March, 2008
Corporate Headquarters:
Atlanta, Georgia
www.cadillacjack.com
What changes has Cadillac Jack made moving forward
in the current economy?
When we started the year, we knew it was going to be a tough
one, and so we set clear goals for ourselves. In ’08, if you recall,
we retooled the company in a fairly substantial way. We reorganized our management team, our business policies and our
product line to be much more competitive. So entering ’09 we’ve
really dedicated the company to a couple of things. The first
is to be able to deliver a steady stream of new, higher-earning
games. The second is achieving much closer relations and
collaboration with our customers in terms of our proactive and
continuous work to optimize our title mix on their floors, so
they can get the best use of our product at any given time. We
want to improve our technical support capabilities and be
more proactive in assisting our customers with marketing and
promotions, especially given the challenging environment.
As we reflect on what happened this year and what the
outcome is for Q4, and looking into 2010, here is what I can
say today: We generally executed well, according to the goals
that we set for ourselves. We will have released more games than
ever to the market, 28, by the time the year is out. We expanded
our very successful 20 Line game family, building on the existing success of our “So Hot” franchise. We enhanced our more
limited product line of 15 and 25 Line games. We grew our
product line with new product families, new 50 Line games, a
launch of a 40 Line game family that you will see at G2E, as
well as a new WAP product. In fact, the new games that we
released to market in ’09 doubled and in some cases actually
tripled the performance of the game library that we had in the
field in 2008. This exceeded our expectations. We’re happy that
the investment and the attention that we’ve given to our engineering group and to our games has shown great results. We’re
really excited about that.
How did you go about determining what changes to make?
As I mentioned, we instituted a formal account review,
looking at processes and procedures with our customers.
38 Indian Gaming
October 2009
Is Cadillac Jack headed toward server-based gaming?
As you know, Class II gaming is closer to server-based than
traditional Class III, so obviously we have a Class II background that makes us fairly well positioned to get into the
server-based Class III market when and if that product really
develops. We are certainly looking in that direction and are
working toward being compliant with that once our customer
base is ready for that product.
How do you collaborate with customers to successfully
market new games?
Whenever we launch a new product we try to run promotions tailored to that particular product. When we think that
a product just needs a fresh start, if you will, or a little push,
then we create these types of events for our customers and we
tend to work very closely in setting up and managing the promotional events. I know that budgets are tight, so we help bear
some of the cost of marketing. We think it’s a good investment
and it shows our dedication to our customer and our faith in
our product. We expect to continue to do that into next year.
Having good games obviously is a core component of
getting good results. But it’s not just the games. It’s how well
you work with your customer. How proactive are you in
making recommendations about how to utilize the Cadillac Jack
library? How often do you change games, and how do you do
it? How do you launch new products? What we’ve found is
where we have a high degree of collaboration with our
customers, we have seen very good results and often quite
dramatic improvements in the performance of the Cadillac Jack
product, which in turn leads our customers to have greater trust
in us. It’s a very virtuous circle for the relationship. It’s not just
about delivering good games. If we just delivered good games
and then did nothing with them, they
would soon fade. So the trick is to work
closely and on a continuous basis to figure out how to optimize that game library,
how to make changes quickly based on
monthly historical results. We give our
customers insight into what’s happening
with our product roadmap sometimes 12
or even 18 months out, so they know
what’s coming and they can plan for a
long-term presence of Cadillac Jack on
their floor. And they have the comfort
that we will continue to provide new and
exciting products. So it’s not just a
question of having good games or having
better games that we’ve been able to
achieve in 2009. It’s getting to a qualitatively different level of collaboration with
our customers.
What will you be showcasing at G2E?
Our customers will see that we are
expanding both the depth and the breadth
of our product portfolio to make sure
that we can sustain these good results and
to actually continue to improve these
results. We’re going to show our new
family of 40 Line games; a second family
of 50 Line games; a new multi-level progressive; a next-generation custom
designed cabinet; as well as another new
WAP product. So with this increased
depth and breadth of product, we feel
confident that we’ll be able to build on our
success and momentum from this year. I
think the improved products will allow us
to further strengthen our relationships
and increase the value proposition that we
deliver to customers. It will allow us to
obtain new customers and enter new jurisdictions. We will continue to work with
and assist our customers with respect to
marketing and promotions, and will continue to strengthen our internal technical
support processes.
We hope that the end result of these efforts will make
Cadillac Jack an even easier decision for our customers when
they’re looking for a Class II or Class III partner.
G 2 E 2009
G2E
2009
Booth #2
643
#2643
JCMGLOBAL.COM
October 2009
Indian Gaming 39
G2E PREVIEW
partnerships by providing tribes the newest and
best performing games and systems. And, our
International Game Technology
customer support will remain first-rate.
Year company founded: 1981
We will also build on our history of workCEO since April, 2009
ing with our tribal customers to implement
Corporate Headquarters:
new products. Tribes in Arizona were the first
Reno, Nevada
to offer ticket-in, ticket-out (TITO) and tribes
www.igt.com
in California are leaders in the use of serverbased gaming. We will continue to look to
tribal government and to tribal gaming authorWhat positive changes are being made by IGT in this
ities for leadership in this area.
economic market?
To date, IGT has provided billions of dollars of financing
It's important that our tribal customers understand that,
for gaming equipment and ancillary FF&E in Indian
no matter what, we will not scale back our commitment to
Country at reasonable terms that benefit both large and smaller
service nor our commitment to tribal sovereignty. While
tribal government casinos. Our financing commitment remains
we’ve had to make some difficult choices this year to
the same. We believe tribal government gaming continues to
conform to the reality of today’s economy, we continue to
offer attractive opportunities.
develop outstanding games that excite players as well as
We’re all too well aware of near-term economic challenges
innovative products and systems that provide solutions.
for gaming, including tribal gaming. However, despite these
IGT has more regional service centers than all of our major
challenges and despite the recent suspension or delay of
competitors combined, and we remain committed to putting
certain tribal gaming projects, the long-term picture is much
our customer first.
more encouraging. A survey of recent and soon-to-be
In this economic environment, it is more important than ever
completed tribal gaming developments demonstrates a broadto maximize revenue and provide value – every game must
based and robust undercurrent of growth and development
perform. At IGT, we understand that great games, customer
for tribal gaming. We recently identified nearly 60 tribes that
service and uninterrupted game operation are critical to tribal
are building or growing their tribal gaming operations.
casino operators. Tribes rely on our customer service, our
From California to Connecticut, from Alabama to Arizona,
technical expertise, and our support of wide area and other
tribes are making substantial investments in the future of
system operations as well as jackpot verification.
gaming. Tribal gaming continues to spread its already
We understand how important every single customer is to
substantial roots, so tribal governments prosper and so the
our casino partners. These times call for the best games – the
market for IGT games and systems grows.
most exciting games – to attract and retain customers. Games
Looking into the future, what do you see coming regardare the engine that drives growth of the gaming business.
ing emerging technologies and what can this mean to the
Across the board – from MegaJackpots, to spinning reel and
Indian casinos?
video slots, to poker, to electronic table games – we make the
I think it's important to remember that tribal casinos are as
games that your players want to play, all designed to improve
varied, or even more so, than commercial casinos in their size,
your bottom line.
location, and the makeup of their customers. As you know, tribal
What are the key elements of IGT’s strategy over the next
governments operate casinos that range in size from some of
couple of years regarding the Indian casinos?
the largest casinos in the world to relatively small 50-150
IGT has a history of leadership in Indian gaming. That is,
machine operations. They operate casinos in metropolitan,
from the start, tribal government casinos have prospered
suburban, and rural locations. We believe that's important to
because of IGT games and systems, financing, and support.
keep in mind – there is no fixed notion of a tribal casino. Each
IGT will continue to be a leader in tribal gaming markets. We
tribe is a distinct, sovereign entity, so each tribal casino has
are proud of the partnerships we have developed with tribal
unique characteristics, needs and opportunities. As a partner
governments who offer gaming and our support for tribes as they
with tribal casinos, IGT is committed to meeting this varied
enter the gaming market. We will continue to develop those
range of needs.
Patti S. Hart, CEO
40 Indian Gaming
October 2009
Server-based gaming is an innovation that supports a key
element of casino success – new game content. With serverbased gaming, tribal casino operators can download new
games without having to change out hardware. This means
all tribal casinos, large and small, will have access to all new
games without changing out expensive game platforms.
Smaller casinos should delight in this amazing opportunity.
Developing true innovations in gaming excitement for
the player is IGT’s top priority. And for operators, including our tribal partners, IGT’s goal is to help casinos
realize superior value and performance. We can help
operators achieve new levels of dynamic casino and player
management, and genuinely differentiate their floors from
the competition.
Can you spotlight some of the new products that are
being offered at G2E?
IGT is thrilled to show the next level of gaming today
to help casinos entertain their players with bold first-to-
market innovations and groundbreaking new products.
Debuting will be the highly anticipated Sex and the City
Slots with MultiPLAY and the new MegaJackpots Center
Stage Series featuring Wheel of Fortune Experience 3-D
Slots. Both feature the MEGAfx Surround Chair that will give
players a new sensory gaming experience. You’ll see a whole
new level of 3-D games to excite the player, including
Cougarlicious, The Little Shop of Horrors, Wu Xing and
Dynamite Blast.
Video Poker lineup of new games includes the first video
poker game featuring a group-play bonus, Hot Pursuit Poker
and the first-ever wide-area progressive poker game – Super
Times Pay Mega Progressive.
IGT Network Systems will feature a host of products
including the downloadable game library, Service Window
and the sbX Tier One package. Our multi-player products
will feature new electronic table solutions including
Blackjack, Triple Towers Virtual Horse Racing and Triple
Towers Virtual Greyhound Racing.
October 2009
Indian Gaming 41
G2E PREVIEW
Anthony Sanfilippo, CEO
Multimedia Games
Year company founded: 1991
CEO since June, 2008
Corporate Headquarters:
Austin, Texas
www.multimediagames.com
Coming over from Harrah’s Entertainment, what are some
of the changes you have been making at Multimedia?
If you look at our company over the last 15 months, we have
had the good fortune of bringing a number of very
talented people on board here. Our first priority was to make
certain we had the right talent in place to execute our plan –
to focus on what our company has done well in the past, to
identify the opportunities that lie ahead of us, and, most
importantly, to ensure that we focus on those opportunities.
To achieve these objectives, we materially changed the leadership within the organization and brought on some very
talented individuals.
Tell us about your background and your new executive
team.
I'll start with a few key members of our team. First is Mick
Roemer, Senior Vice President of Sales. Mick joined us
earlier this year, and has extensive background on the
equipment supplier side. He is a seasoned veteran who truly
understands what it takes to get a product from the concept
stage to market. Mick also provides us with good strategic
thinking regarding how we roll out new products,
which is an area of expertise this company lacked before he
joined us – we didn't have anybody who had any Class III
game development experience.
Another key executive is Ginny Shanks, our Chief
Marketing Officer, who came over from Harrah’s Entertainment. Prior to Ginny’s joining the leadership team,
Multimedia lacked a systematic and disciplined approach
about the products under development. We had 160 game
titles under development, but those titles were not part of a
well-planned, product strategy. That had proven to be an
expensive way to go about game development. Under Ginny’s
leadership, we have reduced this number from 160 to about
50 titles that we are working on at any given time. We
understand that for Multimedia to be successful in our Class
III initiative, the majority of the games that are placed on a
42 Indian Gaming
October 2009
casino floor must perform above house
average. Ginny, with her extensive gaming
industry and marketing background, brings
the expertise that will help us achieve this.
Patrick Ramsey, Chief Operating Officer, is
very experienced and was previously overseeing slot operations at Caesars in Atlantic
City. Uri Clinton, General Counsel, is very
experienced working with tribal casinos. Adam Chibib, Chief
Financial Officer, has been CFO for four tech companies. So
we have a nice balance of individuals who have both operations
experience and technology experience.
My background is primarily in operating casinos. I was the
President of the Central and Western Divisions for Harrah's
Entertainment for the last ten of my 23 years with Harrah's.
I've spent lots of time handling multiple facilities and
multiple priorities – including development of new jurisdictions – and was responsible for a variety of different player
segments and employee groups.
The story here is really the rebuilding of Multimedia
Games.
The company has a history of employing some very
talented and creative individuals. The new people on the team
have the opportunity to work with a very talented group to
develop a much better company.
Multimedia Games is a company that was built primarily
upon technology, products and services that revolved around
a central determinant system. That is a system where slot
machines have their outcomes determined by a central server.
The company has a technology foundation that is focused on
a central system that talks to an individual terminal and an
outcome is replicated in a predetermined manner.
We are now applying and evolving our technology and
offerings into Class III gaming, and we are making a lot of
progress in this effort. We’re moving into the content
business, and developing content that customers would like to
play, regardless of whether it's a Class II or Class III game.
Multimedia does a lot of business in Oklahoma. Are your
products there a revenue-share type of program?
Oklahoma, as you know, started in Class II, but there is
now more Class III gaming there. We have a wonderful
relationship with the Chickasaw Tribe in Oklahoma, and
revenue-share is the model they use. But there are other tribes
in Oklahoma that have a combination of both, purchasing
games as well as revenue-share.
What other markets do you plan to enter with Class III?
Our path over the next three years is to seek licenses in
the many jurisdictions where there is gaming. We have
such a small footprint right now because
we’re only licensed in just a few places,
but we see great opportunity to grow
domestically with Native American
casinos.
There are a number of states that are
focusing on gaming expansion and we
want to make sure that we're taking an
aggressive, yet orderly and manageable,
approach to expanding into new jurisdictions to ensure that we can deliver quality
games. We pride ourselves on having great
relationships with tribal casinos. We
already have a large presence in Oklahoma
as well as Washington, and we have just
started to get licensed in California. We're
also focused on Mississippi and in the
licensing process there, as well as Louisiana,
Minnesota, Wisconsin and New York
State. These markets represent the first and
second phase of our Class III rollout plan.
We’re also getting licensed in Connecticut
and Florida.
How are all of these exciting changes
being received?
The feedback we’re getting is that our
customers see a much higher level of
service from us - and we’re much more
focused on what’s important to them. We’re
at Sycuan right now, where we’re doing
ten trial games. These games are performing above house average, and they’ve been
very pleased with the performance of the
first games that we put in California.
What does Multimedia Games have
planned for G2E?
We will be featuring our Casino
Commander System, which makes it very
easy for a casino operator to switch
from an ‘in revenue game’ to an ‘out of
revenue’, tournament game. Casino
Commander has been out in a Class II
version for a few years and is now being
introduced as a Class III product. The Casino Commander
system overlays on our games, and through this system, the
casino operator can very simply change the game that was in
revenue to a slot tournament game. We will also be showcasing our new community game, Sport of Kings, and our latest
Class II and Class III titles.
How do you define
leisure
Is it rest and relaxation? Is it high-energy nightlife? Or is it both?
Introducing YWS Leisure Suite™, a single-source, end-to-end
solution that meets your hospitality and casino business needs while
respecting your tribe’s history and sovereignty. We are designers
and architects focused on the serious business of leisure.
What can we design for you?
Contact Ron Snyder at 702 279 4955 or [email protected]
www.ywsarchitects.com | 702 243 5670 | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Associate Member, National Indian Gaming Association |
Member, U.S. Green Building Council
October 2009
Indian Gaming 43
G2E PREVIEW
Ron Harris, Founder & CEO
Rocket Gaming Systems
Year company founded: 1996
CEO since April, 2003
Corporate Headquarters:
Grove, Oklahoma
www.rocketgaming.com
When did Rocket Gaming Systems get its start in the
industry and where is it headed today?
When someone thinks of Rocket Gaming Systems they
may or may not know that we are a division of the Miami
Tribe of Oklahoma Business Authority. Rocket Gaming
Systems is a tribal business enterprise. We have been in
business since 1996 and over the last three years have been
in a period of reinvesting in our future. We have spent $25
million rewriting and reworking our system and our
approach to gaming. Having been born and raised in the
Class II industry, this knowledge is a stepping stone getting
into the Class III market.
Our goal with that investment in technology is also to
reestablish people’s focus on Class II gaming. So much has
gone on for twelve years and we now have, for the first time
in the industry since Multimedia pioneered high speed
bingo games, a stable set of technical standards and
minimum technical standards we can build product to. So
now we are going to see a whole lot more innovation hit
Class II, which is the cornerstone of Indian gaming. We
are going to make sure that this cornerstone is solidly
intact.
What new games is Rocket currently developing?
The most recent game we’ve developed are the Gold
Series games, a very exciting Class II series of games with
a video wheel at the top and some very innovative things
that currently do not exist in Class II or Class III today. This
is coupled with video graphic depictions of spinning reels
that match what goes on with the bingo card. The Gold
Series features a wide area progressive with a $1 million
starting prize and some very unique features.
NIGA just passed a resolution announcing that Rocket
Gaming Systems will be giving charitable donations to
NIGA based on play of the Gold Series game. Our partnership with NIGA has never been done before in this
industry and is a whole new funding source for them. We
44 Indian Gaming
October 2009
hope it becomes an example for other
manufacturers to consider. NIGA is such a
great lobbying force for all of Indian
Country and we need to keep them strong,
well funded and out front.
What other new products do you have
planned for release?
The Gold Series, both video and stepper are the big
products, but we will also be releasing a number of other
products. The Rocket Gaming Systems focus has been and
will continue to be Class II gaming, which is what we do
best. We will also be showing some spinoffs of those
products for the Class III market. Everything we are doing
and all of our technologies have been applied to Class II
gaming over the years, like server-based gaming, downloadable gaming, and community gaming. Now you hear Class
III manufacturers saying “it is coming” and “we are going
to have it in the next five years.” But these are things that
Rocket has done for more than 10 years, with regard to
downloadable and community-based gaming for a common
prize.
In the early years we had downloadable network games,
not because we were rocket scientists, but because we were
poor. We were undercapitalized and did not have the
people to run around with EPROMS to change games, so
we downloaded them. If a tribal customer wanted a
certain game, we would download it to the machines and
reboot it. The next morning the new game would be ready
for play. We did that back in 1997. It is proven technology.
How do you see wide area progressives fitting into
the mix?
Players like the Wide Area Progressives Systems (WAPS),
which was one of our very first games. Everyone was scared
of the Department of Justice and in those days the thought
was that if there was a fixed jackpot it was a house-banked
game. We decided that we would flip every prize that we
offered into a progressive. So what that meant is the meter
moved when the players would buy in to play the game, and
it was called a progressive. We found the players really liked
it. Those progressives have been around since 1997 and in
the bingo industry forever. They remain an integral part of
Rocket’s product offerings.
G2E PREVIEW
Brian Gamache, Chairman
of the Board & CEO
WMS Industries
Year company founded: 1943
CEO since June, 2001
Corporate Headquarters:
Waukegan, Illinois
www.wms.com
Give us some insights into WMS today and how R&D fits
into the company’s future.
Our company is in the midst of a renaissance period, as
reflected by the successes we’ve had over the last few years
introducing very innovative, never before seen products to
market. Also, when you look at the company’s four foundational
platforms, whether it be Sensory Immersion Gaming,
Community Gaming, Transmissive Reels Gaming, and most
recently, Adaptive Gaming, we’ve really pushed the envelope
on player experiences on a casino floor.
Our culture has always been known for innovation. The
investments we’ve made in marrying intellectual property with
very unique game play is paying huge dividends for our
customers, the players who enjoy our games, and our shareholders. So we are in a very good position today, based on the
characteristics of our company. We spend about 14% of our
annual revenues on research and development, which as a
percentage of revenues is among the highest in our competitive set. That’s something that we believe needs to stay
constant because we’ve consistently demonstrated that R&D
can create new revenue opportunities for our company. In fact,
we’ve seen 18 quarters of double-digit revenue growth and few
companies in corporate America can say that today.
That’s incredible in this economy.
Yes, we did this in the worst possible replacement cycle in the
history of the slot business. So, we’re focused on continuing
forward, and we know that the slot replacement cycle will eventually turn when the economy turns. We believe that our best
days are still in front of us.
I work with some incredible people who have a vision for
this business that is unlike any of our peers. We think
differently about this business, looking at it from the player’s
viewpoint. Between our marketing research and our focus on
gaining the right intellectual property, I believe that our
company will continue to have a pipeline of spectacular
products for the foreseeable future. It’s not a mistake that we
46 Indian Gaming
October 2009
are successful. We have a very rigid methodology that we follow. It seems to work for us and
we’ve been able to enjoy that success.
As far as new technologies, is the biggest
push right now server-based gaming?
When I came to WMS in April of 2000, I
believe we had about six patent filings as a
company. Today we have over 1,100, a majority
of which are related to the server-based world.
We’ve been preparing for the server-based slot floor for the last
several years. I’m very excited about the position we find
ourselves in today, and I believe that, again, from a differentiated strategy, we’re focused on the application and the value
we can bring to the operators through the additional coin in
achieved by our products and the high level of player interest
in our games. We believe that there is a way of communicating and connecting with our players in a server-based world that
doesn’t exist today. We have been very successful in creating our
Casino Evolved Advanced Technology Lab (CEATL), where
we’ve been bringing our customers in to showcase the real
application value to server-based gaming and they’re seeing the
value proposition like never before. We’ve been investing tens
of millions of dollars and countless man-hours over the last
several years in preparation and we’ve succeeded with our
strategy of getting operators and players to see the benefits.
How does the Casino Evolved Advanced Technology Lab
work for your customers?
We invite them to see our forward-looking products in a
demonstration mode. It helps them conceive how these
various application suites will allow them to be more profitable
and more effective operators. So it’s very interesting when they
see the true value, which is not in the download and configuration of the games. The true value is in the applications that
we offer that are new and differentiated. In fact, we have
several different application suites that we’ve been working on
diligently and we think they will redefine the way people look
at slot machines. I believe that ten years from now, people will
be focused on the applications and less so on the games. We
think there’s a chance here to build a different dynamic on the
casino floor than exists today.
With these new applications, does the player get a more
entertaining experience?
Absolutley. In fact, at the end of the day, the one thing that
we’re focusing on is that player experience and the recognition
players have in terms of loyalty, which in turn supports the
operator. If we do a good job, as I expect we will, we will continue to be successful in gaining market share and creating
double-digit revenue growth for the years to come.
What new products will WMS be showing at G2E?
We have some new Bluebird2 video products with our
G+ expanded line and our I-Play products coming out under
the video section. We have very robust participation offerings that we’ll be showing, including our new Price is Right
product that we announced recently. All the products that we
bring out at G2E are available within a twelve-month period.
Again, we’ll have our inner sanctum to show our most
advanced and innovative ideas and to get people comfortable
with the way we’re thinking about the future of the slot floor.
But the majority of our focus will be products that will be
delivered to the marketplace in the next 12 months. We have
the most robust pipeline of product that we’ve ever had in
our history for this year’s G2E.
We’ve always had great expectations for our Bluebird2
cabinets, but they are even exceeding our lofty expectations.
The customers are seeing tremendous value. The difference
between our Bluebird2 performance and our original Bluebird
is in the 20-25% coin in range. Our customers are seeing huge
benefits from the expanded graphics packages, the depth of the
math modeling, the increased graphics and audio capacity, and
the ergonomic nature of the cabinet. Its getting rave reviews and
I think it’s driving a lot of our new market share increases, to
be quite honest.
Obviously Indian gaming has played an important role in
the growth of WMS.
It has been an incredible source of revenue for our company
over the last several years, but particularly in this downturn.
A lot of the major multi-unit operators weren’t buying as
aggressively and if it weren’t for the Native American customers
that we hold so dearly, stepping up to the plate and keeping us
busy, there would have been a very different outcome. We have
great respect and admiration for the Native American casinos
that serve us so well.
In closing, I’m the luckiest guy in the world to work
with such a talented group of folks here at WMS. To see us
continuing to push the envelope in order to exceed expectations gives me a great sense of pride. p
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October 2009
Indian Gaming 47