www.euroslot-online.com
CONTENTS
April 2012 CALENDAR
NEWS HEADLINES WORLD NEWS: ASIA WORLD NEWS: U.S.
INSIDE: NEW UK GAMING TAXES • WHAT NEXT FOR EUROPE’S VLTS? • DIGITAL SIGNAGE
Innovative Technology Ltd (ITL) are celebrating 20 Years of Innovation within the automated cash handling sector this year. Founded in 1992 ITL was the first company to manufacture low cost multi- currency validators, when it introduced the NV1 Smiley® to the market - making banknote validators affordable to the market.
www.innovative-technology.co.uk
www.euroslot-online.com Editor
Barnaby Page
euroslot@barnabypage.com
Journal Manager Jonathan Swift
+44 (0) 1622 699197
jswift@datateam.co.uk Contributors
Jon Bruford, Stuart Gardiner Italy: Maurizio Brodo U.S.: Sharon Harris Asia: Ian Hus
Publishing Director Paul Ryder
+44 (0) 1622 687031
Managing Director Parvez Kayani
Published by:
Datateam Business Media Ltd. London Road, Maidstone, Kent ME16 8LY, UK
Tel: +44 (0) 1622 687031
Fax: +44 (0) 1622 757646 Circulation:
Capsule Publishing Services,
The Mallings, 112 Malling Street, Lewes, East Sussex BN7 2RG, UK Tel: +44 (0) 845 6027390 Fax: +44 (0) 845 6042327
datateam@capsule-group.com
ISSN: 0966 - 0259 APRIL 2012
© Copyright Datateam Business Media Ltd. All materials in this publication remain the copyright of Datateam Business Media Ltd. and no part of it may be reproduced without the written permission of the proprietors. A request to insert an advertisement is deemed to be an acceptance of Datateam
Business Media Ltd.’s conditions of trading, copies of which are available on request. The publishers cannot accept
responsibility for any discrepancies either in copy or between
products and/or services listed. Nor can they be responsible for illustrations and/or copy for products which lead to infringement of copyright.
PHOTOS: p4: Berlin: Matthias Renner. Dubai: Titoni Thomas. Mexico City: Saguayo. p13: Norman Leftly. p18: Slowking4.
Just what we feared F
or British amusement operators, there are not many glimmers of hope to be
found in this year’s Budget. By far the biggest disappointment, of course, is the setting of the new Machine Games Duty (MGD) at 20 percent when the industry had hoped it would not much exceed 15 percent. Even the less significant lower rate (for small-prize machines) is, at five percent, way over the three percent that BACTA had lobbied for. The only real positives for operators are the further
reductions in corporation tax, which will continue to 2014. The increase in the personal tax allowance could also help encourage consumer spending, a very little, but none of this goes much way toward offsetting the MGD problem. For the supply side of the industry, however, the Budget is
somewhat cheerier. Not only will those corporation tax reductions help, but there will also be new tax credits for research and development. Most interesting, perhaps, is the plan for tax breaks
similar to those enjoyed by the film industry, but this time for the animation and video game businesses. If the government is serious about encouraging those sectors, perhaps it can be persuaded to give to the creators of game content what it takes away from the operators of games.
Barnaby Page, editor
WORLD MARKET REPORT: EASTERN EUROPE
4
5-14 16 18
20-21
WORLD NEWS: REGULATION 22-23 BUSINESS FOCUS: VLTs
MARKETING FOCUS: DIGITAL SIGNAGE
PROFILE: MIKE CLOKIE 28-30
32 34
THE INDEPENDENT VOICE OF THE AMUSEMENT AND STREET GAMING INDUSTRY
APRIL 2012
3
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