It is fitting that in our 20th anniversary issue we choose to not only look back over the past two decades, but ahead to what the future may hold for the amusement and gaming industry.
AS an industry, this sector has historically been slow to adopt new technologies, whether that’s reluctance on the part of operators to invest their hard-earned cash in additional equipment or manufacturers’ limited R&D resources. In recent years, however, there appears to have been a concerted effort to move the industry forward. One theory is that in the lean years of the recession, manufacturers realised that in order to survive they needed to come up with fresh new ideas for their customers, who, in turn, acknowledged shifting consumer tastes and the need to offer something new to satisfy them.
A key factor in all of this, though, is the idea of what the amusement sector thinks it should be and how it ought to position itself in a world where home console video games, once the chief threat to the industry, are themselves under increasing pressure from today’s mobile apps. Both pay-to-play family amusements and the machine gaming markets are facing stiff competition for both consumer spending and consumer attention. Leisure spending is yet to fully recover to pre-recession levels in many markets, so convincing consumers to part with their cash is an ongoing battle.
On the gaming side, today’s AWPs and VLTs need to compete with other forms of gambling, not least in the form of online gaming – a sector that constantly bombards consumers with advertising. The introduction of the new jackpot for Category C AWPs in the UK, for example, will only go so far to entice players to play; they demand an experience that compels them to play the game. Feature-rich video content, for example, along with community gaming opportunities and a linked jackpots are the order of the day.
Online connectivity provides operators with the opportunity to keep game content fresh and exciting for players, while also providing a wealth of data to keep track of performance. One pioneer of such technology is Astra Gaming, part of the Novomatic group. It’s A-Serve platform, developed jointly by the team at ATSI in Poland and Astra in the UK with support from the group’s R&D team in Austria, delivers gaming content to UK casino, bingo, pub and adult gaming centre locations for both Category B3 and C platforms. It features two key elements – the Entertainment Studio, which involves diagnostics and game download functions, and Orbital, a reporting tool.
Read the full article in the August issue of InterGame
