internationalcasinoreview G2e10 REPORT


Confident innovation and strategic tie-ups for Konami


A long process of game development by Konami has resulted in games that are really appealing to players and slot managers and which are helping to boost Konami’s profile on the slot floor.


RevolutionaryGames KONAMI


There’s a new buoyancy apparent at Konami: the company’s machines, which combine quirky and interest- ing gameplay with attractive cabinets, are making signifi- cant inroads on to the gaming floor as operators see the proof of their appeal to players in the cashbox. Leading the charge is the


Podium cabinet and plat- form. “We did a lot of cus- tomer research and we’ve imported all the titles from the K2V platform,” said Leah Steinhardt,


marketing


manager. “They actually do a bit better in the Podium.” She continued: “We’re now shipping more games than many of our competitors. We have 18 per cent of the floor at the new Maryland Holly- wood casino and at the Rivers Pittsburgh we had 100 per cent of their expansion. We’re also really gaining trac- tion in Europe with place- ments in Croatia, Bosnia and Portugal.”


Regional sales manager Peter Zor (left) with customer support technician Luka Oblak


Several new games for the


Podium (and K2V) platform were launched at the show, including Pirate’s Jackpot and Pharaoh’s Wish. Pirate’s Jackpot is a two-


level, standalone mystery progressive developed for both video and stepper reel platforms. The bonus round is triggered by a mystery Coin, with a higher chance of appearing the more the player bets. Players then have three chances to reveal the Key hidden behind one of 42 gold Pirate Skull symbols on a map. Finding the Key launches the Treasure Chest feature, where players can choose one of four chests to reveal either the Maxi or Mini progressive prize. If the Key is not found in the previous screen, the player receives a consolation Black Flag Bonus award. All skulls that have been chosen subsequently grey out and are unselectable in bonus rounds triggered later, increasing the odds of finding the key. Pharaoh’s Wish is also a two-level standalone


mystery progressive with the bonus round in the form of a matching game offering the chance to win the Maxi or Mini jackpots or a bonus prize. Again, the more the player bets, the higher the chance of triggering the pro- gressive. For the Advantage 5 stepper reel and the Advan- tage Revolution platforms, the company has launched an entertaining new game Rock around the Clock. Another standalone progres- sive, this time with four levels. On Advantage 5, three, four


or five scatter symbols trigger ten, 15 or 15 free games with Stacked WILD symbols boosting prizes. The progressives are triggered through the Mystery Rock Clock on the upper screen, which may randomly advance after a primary game. If it strikes Bonus Time, the progressives are acti- vated, each one represented as a record on a jukebox with the needle acting as an arrow. If the arrow lands on a jackpot area, the prize is won,


with consolation prizes of up to 300 randomly awarded. The version for Advantage


Revolution sees the same Mystery Rock Clock which this time will trigger one of two bonuses on the revolv- ing reel assembly. Rockin’ and Reelin’ sees two reels spinning horizontally in opposite directions with an arrow stopping on credit amounts that can accumu- late until either Collect or Jukebox Jackpot is hit. Jukebox Jackpot, which can also be hit from the Mystery Rock Clock, sees a player choose one of three discs, which then reveal a colour pattern that is transferred to the physical reel below. The player then has one spin to try and hit the colour associ- ated with the jackpot. Konami is now also ship- ping its community four- level progressive Top Track, first seen last year. The follow- up to Beat the Field sees a Grand Prix-themed commu- nity bonus game, in which eligible players compete for a progressive award, won by


Konami’s Leah Steinhardt with Pharaoh’s Wish and Pirate’s Jackpot


one of them, with all others receiving a Community Bonus Award. Players can increase the number of par- ticipants they have in the race by increasing their bet levels.


An important tie-up with


WMS was announced just before the show with both companies pledging to work to allow full interoperability between their networked game and systems. The integration of Konami


No imitating Patir quality


notflattering PATIR DESIGN


Flexible One from Gold Club


choiceproduct GOLD CLUB


Slovenian company Gold Club launched a brand new cabinet at G2E. Cabinet One features two 23-inch moni- tors and has chrome trim- mings. The cabinet has been cut beneath the screen to allow it to be opened com- pletely from the front, which means that less room is needed between machines on the gaming floor.


Gold Club has been


expanding its business across the world, so the


cabinet is manufactured in Mexico, while the games are devised at its headquarters in Europe. “We have a new Game Star multigame for this new cabinet aimed at the Latin American market,” said regional sales manager Peter Zor . “Players can choose up to nine games to play but by using a simple key, the operator can select which games to present from a library of 30 games that are all installed in the machine. It’s very easy to configure with a drag and drop menu.”


52 January 2011 •G2ereport The system offers some


of the flexibility and func- tionality of networked games without a network. Five new game titles have also been developed, one called Golden Reef and four with ever-popular Asian themes: 9 Dragons, Lucky Lions, Lotus Princess and Samurai Spirit, all 20-line games with free spins, bonus games and double-up features. “We have also installed


player tracking from a Mexican company ACE Systems,” said Zor.


Even though the number of new openings in the last couple of years has been minimal and operators have held back on refurbishment plans, gaming chair manufac- turer Patir Design has managed to hold its own. “It’s because of the excel- lent quality of our seats, their excellent design and the fact that people know us for our excellent service and swift delivery,” said founder Seref Patir. “The expansion of the machine market in Italy has been very good for us with lots of orders and lots more requests. Our main market is still Germany, where things are picking up. Mexico has been good for us too. So we didn’t really feel the crisis, even if business was a bit lower than normal.” One indicator of Patir’s rep- utation for quality is the number of companies - espe- cially in China - who are not merely imitating but outright copying some of its products.


Seref Patir was less than happy to see one Chinese company just a few booths away from his own offering direct replicas of his chairs: not only that, it appeared as if they had copied Patir’s entire catalogue, photos and design and merely substituted its own name and logo for Patir’s.


“The one page they didn’t


dare copy was the 15-year guarantee that only we can provide,” said Patir. “There are Chinese companies claiming that they manufac- ture our products under licence. This is entirely untrue: only Patir makes Patir chairs.


products with WMS’s Wage- Net system will see a full array of remote configura- tion and download functions available through a single system and user interface. But the move goes beyond just the games with non- gaming systems also able to operate on each company’s machines, such as Konami’s Player Tracking and Advanced Incentives appli- cations and WMS’s Portal application suite.


L-R: Export managers Süleyman Yilmaz, Kinga Kajli and general manager Seref Patir


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