With suppliers and decision makers present from every aspect of the industry from the world over, SAGSE grows in popularity each year. The biggest expo in Latin America, SAGSE is now in its 18th year. And while over the last three years there has been a lot of buzz around the markets of Argentina and Chile, some of the interest has shifted slightly as suppliers turn their attention to other potentially very lucrative markets such as Bolivia, Peru and Mexico. With some of the newest groundbreaking technology on display, CEM was there to talk to some of the leading global players poised to make yet more inroads into the vibrant Latin American market. Just read on to see what they shared with us.
Novomatic Group
Max Lindenberg
Marketing and Business Development
“Our huge product presentation will encompass all areas of gaming: traditional slots, multiplayer implementations as well as online and jackpot systems from Octavian. In one huge dedicated electronic live game installation, Novomatic’s iconic Novo Multi-Roulette™, Novo TouchBet® Live-Baccarat, Novo Flying Black Jack™, and the brand new Novo Flying 3-Card Poker™ and Novo Flying Carribean Poker™ will all be available in one multi-player, multi-game installation.
Booth visitors will gain exposure to our top star cabinets, such as the NOVOSTAR® SL2 and the Super-V+ Gaminator®, plus the latest array of Coolfire™ II multi-game mixes.
With the new Ultimate 10A-H multi-game range, we will be introducing a highly competitive multi-game offering on the new platform Coolfire™ I+. Guests will be thrilled by this cost-effective multi-game mix which is the first of a whole range of upcoming mixes that transfers popular Coolfire II gaming content to the international best selling Gaminator cabinet.
As G2E 2010 marks the end of a generation of annual gaming trade shows being held at the Las Vegas Convention Center, we will be making great efforts to celebrate those events and also look forward with enthusiasm to G2E’s new home at the Sands Convention Center from October 2011 onward. We look forward to welcoming our guests to our exciting and dynamic line-up of games and systems once again.”
Ainsworth Game Technology
Jason Meyer
Product Marketing Manager, Americas
“Over here is Players Paradise, a 4-level link progressive that we’ve launched out in Australia and across North America, and it’s done extremely well for us. It’s based on the Las Vegas theme with the ‘Welcome to Las Vegas’ sign, and it’s based on winning five of a kind—more than in any other game available. With that five of a kind, the customer goes on to win progressives and bonuses. It’s been a huge success for us. It’s unique to Ainsworth, and the Las Vegas brand is a seller everywhere you take in the world, so that’s our new launch of it here at SAGSE.
We seem to do a lot of good business here. Last year we did really well, and I think we’ve already done a deal for selling all the machines on display on our stand. And that was within the first hour of being here, which is pretty exciting.
We’re launching into a lot of Latin American markets. We’re already dominating the Mexican market, where we have 10,000 machines, so for us, SAGSE is a stepping stone into Argentina and the wider Latin American market. It’s an exciting and up-and-coming market. We’ve been successful here, because we have a good name and people trust us. I definitely think there is more room for us to do more work down here.”
Aruze Gaming
Steve Walther
Vice President of Marketing
“This is an opportunity for us to make our presence known in South America. Last year, we were here as attendees. This year, as you can see, we really have a sizeable display. We really wanted to show our diverse and broad range of products.
Prominently at front we have our multiple bonus games, our G-DELUXE® category of games such as Bow Wow Bucks™, Vampire and Beauty™ and Pretty Pigs™. They’re more entertainment-style gaming. We’ve got an interactive feature for the games and games pop up frequently. There are also bonus events where the player touches the screen and makes choices. So it has that entertainment factor but it still has that gaming element to it, and it appeals to those who are interested in the gambling side of the business.
We also have our G-SERIES® products here, which are our stand-alone games such as Showgirl™, Giant Panda™ and The Last Emperor™ products. These categories of games we are presenting as uprights, as well as in our G-COMFORT™ slants—an ergonomically designed slant top.
One thing you’ll notice from all our products is the ambient lighting in the background. We really want to place somebody in an immersive experience. So on our G-DELUXE Rock You Queen™ product, when you hit the bonus you can pick one of five songs from Queen’s Library. When you play the game you get the video experience with the members of the band on the reels, while on top it’s playing the video of the song you chose.
Beyond that, we also have a multi-terminal unit here and we have a library of multi-terminals, so we are really showing that we can cover the multi-terminal needs of the casino property as well. This year at SAGSE we are making a statement to South and Central America that we offer an alternative to some of the people you may have done business with before, and that we have superior and a fantastic line of products that you won’t be disappointed with.”
Gaming Laboratories International
Ian Hughes
Senior Director, Global Engineering and Client Services
“GLI offers testing services on behalf of regulators and jurisdictions around the globe. So when regulators wish to ensure that their product is compliant against regulations, the role GLI plays is in predominantly being involved in certification. So the manufacturers will bring products to GLI, and we’ll test them against jurisdictional requirements and issue certification against those requirements for that particular jurisdiction.
We’ve been very active in Latin America from Panama to Peru, Chile, Argentina and Mexico, and we are also involved in jurisdictions that are starting to regulate gaming.
It’s important to make sure that you have local contacts and a local presence in as many jurisdictions as you possibly can. That’s why we have a fully staffed laboratory here in Argentina, so we have good local presence here.
We work with manufacturers very early in the process—well before they are ready to submit to the lab—and we work with them so they build compliance as part of the design stage. If they wait too long, we often find issues that are hard to fix and it gets into their fundamental design. It get very expensive to rework those. So we work early with them in the design process.
We can also help them understand what the jurisdictional requirements are. Even though they might want to sell their products to Peru, for example, but later on they are looking for Panama and Chile and other jurisdictions as well. We can talk to them about what they need to think about for those jurisdictions.”
DigiDeal
Luke Kuhn
Sales Manager
“We have a DTS V table here with virtual chips and virtual cards. They both offer classic blackjack and classic baccarat with two and four different side bets available.
The biggest niche for our machine is that we offer the interaction with the dealer. We have the dealer, but with the virtual cards and virtual chips option—meaning we don’t have the cheating but we still retain the table game environment, because we still have a person standing there.
So our biggest idea is we don’t want to take the person away. We still feel that the table needs the dealer but our product takes away the necessity of training. Our system also allows the operator to look for someone with a good personality—more of an entertainer rather than someone stressed out dealing cards. And of course with our system, there’s absolutely no danger of being cheated or any type of collusion with the dealer whatsoever.
At the same time, with our product you also have the option of not having a dealer. So, for example, in the busy hours you have the option of having a person there, but when things are quieter the machine can run by itself.”
International Game Technology
John Wimsett
Managing Director, IGT Latin America
“This has been a pretty exciting show for us because it has given us the opportunity to showcase a host of new products. On the floor here we have 120 cabinets, and within them we have 114 unique titles. That’s quite a phenomenal amount. Of those 114 unique titles, 40 or more of these are titles that the industry has still not seen.
So what we are really showcasing is not only our product, but our capacity to produce the product—our commitment to constantly delivering new styles, new themes, new bonuses and new approaches.
Additionally, this has been the opportunity for us to showcase Star Wars™ Droid Hunt™, which our latest edition to the Star Wars family of games, one of the licensed themes that has had a long and enduring success for IGT over the years. It’s a stunning game—unbelievable graphics and a math model that we know works. We are pretty excited about that, and this is its international debut.
Similarly we have launched here one of our newest Wheel of Fortune® games. This is the brand in the industry that has had the longest life of any, and we continue to roll it out. It will be followed by another release from the Wheel of Fortune family in a few months.
We have decided to showcase these products at SAGSE for two reasons. First, if you look at Latin America, it’s not just an enormous market. It’s a very mature one in many ways. More importantly, it’s a market to which IGT remains totally committed. So first we know we have to make a commitment to this market. Secondly, it has to do, to some extent, with the timing of trade shows as SAGSE is one month ahead of G2E this year. That will obviously change next year. But due to our rate of introduction, that’s not to say we haven’t saved up a lot of things for G2E. People will see a lot of exciting new products there that they haven’t seen here.”