SOUTH EAST ASIA Focus


Aristocrat Technologies plays ‘catch me if you can’ in the markets of South East Asia


Five years ago the first G2E Asia show launched with Aristocrat Technologies firmly on pole in the Macau market and commanding a dominating position in the South East Asian market. At that event, every manufacturer declared their intention to erode and chip away at the Australian games developer’s massive lead. Half a decade later, Aristocrat hasn’t just held its beach-head, its reinforced and built upon it.


At the opening of the latest resort in May, the Galaxy Macau on the Cotai Strip, Aristocrat claimed 70 per cent of the slots floor, with the Galaxy Entertainment Group adding new machines to the location (as opposed to simply re-siting machines from existing locations). On the floor of the Galaxy Macau the operator has intelligently sited its huge array of Aristocrat games, without creating another ‘slab of slots’ visible in other locations on Cotai. Competition on the Strip is impacting upon the way operators both site their slots and differentiate their offer to the growing player base.


Over 63 per cent of Aristocrat’s Galaxy Macau slots are Viridian widescreen units, separating its slots from the other locations in Macau, though many of the games are the same. “We have taken our most successful titles, such as Dragon Empire and Dragon Emperor, and migrated them to our widescreen cabinets to enable operators to differentiate their floors in an increasingly competitive slots market here in Macau,” explained Aristocrat’s General Manager Asia Pacific David Punter at G2E Asia. “In addition, we have added our Xtreme Mystery, Dragon Riches, which sits above any game, which is already working extremely well in markets outside of Macau.”


It’s the year of the dragon in 2012, so it’s little wonder that Aristocrat displayed an array of dragon-themed products on its stand in Macau. The company’s latest Hyperlink, Yellow Dragon, is based on the region's most successful link game, FaFaFa. Yellow Dragon, which equals FaFaFa in terms of performance, allows operators to link both FaFaFa and Yellow Dragon together to drive the pot even higher. Yellow Dragon features a combination of top-performing games including 100 Dragons, which is an extension of the popular 50 Dragons and 100 Lions.


Aristocrat’s best performing Asian titles include: 5 Dragons, 50 Dragons, 50 Lions, Choy Sun Doa, Fortune King, 100 Dragons


Aristocrat - FaFaFa in the lead


– FaFaFa Hyperlink and the Yellow Dragon Hyperlink – all benefitting from the advanced technological capabilities offered by VIRIDIAN WS.


Aristocrat’s new Nteractiv LCD programmable button technology also made its debut in Macau utilised on the company’s first new community and tournament game, Wealth Capital Bonanza. Players can watch other link players bid to win the tournament prize while also participating in the community jackpot. Wealth Capital Bonanza features a bank of four machines, with each of the four players incentivised to bet more to increase their multiplier, which is awarded once the feature is triggered. While there’s only one tournament winner, the remaining players can influence their chances of coming second, third of fourth in the community prize.


“Our main focus in this market has been to maintain floor dominance, and to do that you have to offer the right standard of games underneath the link,” emphasised Mr. Punter. To ensure Aristocrat maintains that dominance a range of new games were shown on the stand at G2E Asia, including: Dragon Emperor, Dragon Empire, Peeking Duck,


G3 I AUGUST 2011 I PAGE 33


“We have taken our most successful titles, such as


Dragon Empire and


Dragon Emperor, into our widescreen


cabinets to enable operators to


differentiate their floors in an increasingly


competitive slots market here in


Macau. In addition, we have added our Xtreme Mystery,


Dragon Riches, which sits above any game, which is already


working extremely well in markets


outside of Macau.” David Punter,


Aristocrat’s General Manager Asia Pacific.


Tiger Garden, Choy Sun Doa and Fortune Fantasy, as well as player favourite, Mr. Cashman. Aristocrat further built upon its game varieties, introducing new game categories and ways to play. To this end, Aristocrat revealed four new game categories: Mega Pay - in which one game can become four; Remix - featuring a unique shuffle of symbols and reels rearranged randomly on the screen; Win Your Way - which enables players to choose their own volatility, low, medium or high; and Drag 'N' Drop Wild - whereby players can select their wild position and multiplier options.


At the show in Macau, Aristocrat also launched the first-ever trade show app for iPhone and iPad, available through the iTunes store in both English and in Simple Chinese. The easy-to-use app offered a virtual tour of everything Aristocrat offered at G2E Asia, including a comprehensive overview of products by map, bank and category. The innovative company also showed a number of Free To Play Apps on the stand that are currently available for $1.99, including popular slot games Dragon Emperor and 5 Dragons, giving fans of the titles the opportunity to play their favourite games at home or on the move.


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