ICE 2011
Allowing players to choose the volatility of the game has become a popular addition for some manufacturers, but it may only appeal to a relatively small number of slot players – the WMS solution for this allows players to choose how the game actually rewards them in gameplay, so they can choose the game’s actual features. Candace explained: “The Helios cabinet allows players to choose both the game they
SC units already in the world – and there are a lot of them!
This is another product we’ll be looking at
more closely in coming issues… WMS
For years now we’ve been eulogising about WMS and their excellent slot titles. So why change now? Great cabinets, brilliant sound, and solid game licenses which they have added to with the wonderful Godfather game. It’s a title that almost did not make it to the international markets, as Candace Lucas explained to CI: “We have a lot of product available across the international market now and we’re bringing more product to that space than ever before; five years ago, we brought half the amount that we have here today. Everything here is new to the international market; we make and design products for both our domestic and international markets, and sometimes product we thought would only be domestic has generated such demand from international that we then take it into that area too. For example, we were only going to produce Godfather for the domestic [US] market but its appeal internationally has been huge. We’re getting a lot of feedback from international customers so we’ve brought it here to make it available to them.” Also of note at the show for WMS was Alice, the Alice in Wonderland-themed Transmissive Reel slot with the wonderful Goldfish-style 3D topbox. It’s not ready to order yet, but when it is, expect it to fly. Candace enthused about the company’s G+
series enhancement, G+ Deluxe: “We’re excited about this, there are all the themes you can imagine with this – Roman Dynasty, Game of Dragons, and more. It’s a VLT product and we do have Italy in mind for this product. The G+ series as a whole is available in many regions and has proved many popular, and we expect this to carry on its success.”
play, and how the game will play out – they can actually affect some of the features of the game. A player might pick Caveman Cash theme, for example, over Venetian Romance, but then you can also choose the features that you most like playing with that game – do I like bonus triggers or would I prefer multipliers? It gives a totally different look and feel to the game.”
3M
The touchscreen experts had something special on their stand – multi-touch screens. They’ve shown this technology before, but it has evolved, as 3M Touchsystems UK Sales Manager Dave Williams, explains: “We’re focussing on our core products which have been very well received. We’re showcasing the multi-touch product; it brings a new collaborative approach to the use of touchscreens, and brings multi-user interactivity into the gaming environment. We have a number of applications here at the show both on our stand and on our customer stands who are using mutlitouch for the first time. Bally’s iDeck is a
multitouch screen, which replaces the button panel on the front of a slot, is one example. “At last year’s ICE we had a 22” desktop
monitor, which we’ve now launched and is being sold as a production item; we now have a 32” product on the stand, it’s evolving steadily. It was launched 18 months ago with a very high feature set, and those feature sets remain but the screen is much larger.”
MARCH 2011 47 Alfastreet Alfastreet has long had a talent for pushing
into emerging markets, with strong user bases in its home country of Slovenia, significant success in South America – and now major successes in Asia, with contracts in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Macau, and now Singapore. Deric Goh, Alfastreet’s Sales Manager for Asia, told Casino International the company now has an installed base of over 200 terminals in Singapore, which is very impressive. At ICE, the star of the show was the Alfastreet Multigame, a terminal where a player can choose what they want to play – Sic Bo, Roulette, whatever is on offer in the casino, ultimately. For operators, this means they can save space and give players much more variety. Their player terminals have also had an
overhaul, with bigger monitors, fresher design and overall tweaks and refinements. All in all, a good show for Alfastreet.
Apex Gaming Apex Gaming usually have something fresh
and interesting at exhibitions, and ICE was no exception. There’s a beautiful new slant-top cabinet which sits somewhere between a traditional slant-top and an upright. It looks brilliant, and with two 26” widescreen monitors, it will catch players’ eyes too. It’s running a new gaming platform called Evolution, which was showing an interesting innovation – simulated 3D games on a 2D monitor. Very interesting indeed, it was one of the most striking things we saw at the show. It could be a very cost effective way for casinos to benefit from the current trend towards all things three- dimensional. Quikker, Apex’s card game that was released
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54