Novomatic and AGI

Welcome to a selected sample of some of the firms we met at ATEI this year. Other companies we spoke to are featured in the news and products section of this month’s magazine..

Astra

2006 will see the Novomatic and AGI brands separated, with the focus ‘heavily on quality,’ according to Astra chief executive Neil Chinn.

The company, which is currently in the process of transferring some of its Austrian titles to the UK, will be concentrating on Section 21 and Section 34 games this year, and export to countries including Denmark, the Netherlands, Hungary and Spain will remain a large part of the company’s business. On the Section 16/21 side, Sinderella made its debut, Reel King made an appearance following a successful outing at London Preview in October, as did new title Slotto X. “We’ll be pulling back on the Section 16 side slightly,” Chinn told InterGame. “People want traditional machines and games, and we’ll be focusing on Section 34 this year.”
Chinn also said that 90 per cent of the company’s product had been switched to a new technology base, including a Global PC for high-end applications. “This is totally new for 2006,” said Chinn. “It gives games a huge visual impact.”

      Astra had three Italian and one Dutch machine on display at ATEI, and Chinn revealed that it would be sending machines to Italy and the Czech Republic in mid-2006. Astra also had two new cabinets on display including the launch of the new ergonomically- designed Skyline, with a dual screen and top-box as well as a £ 1,000 capacity hopper.
      The company also used the show to unveil the new Sportsbet, concept, a sit down cabinet that houses three games at one time and allows players to bet on any game at any time from any of the terminals. The product is aimed at the European betting market and Chinn was confident that it would be a top performer in Spain, Germany and Italy. “The games have full 3D graphics, which is key,” he said. “We need to be able to offer people the quality they can get at home, with games consoles.”
      Chinn also said that the company was currently waiting for legal clarification on some projects set for Germany. The ideas are in a lab, so it is case of ‘watch this space,’ he said.

PhotoPlay

As seen by InterGame at the Rome show last year, PhotoPlay showed off its Sportster terminal, the poker touchscreen gaming unit that twists and turns, saves space and allows players to have a go standing up or sitting down. The most noticeable feature of PhotoPlay’s stand was that there was a hefty 50 full time sales, marketing and network staff ready, willing and able to talk to customers and potential clients, llse Retzek pointed out that ‘this is because we have our games in 46 countries.’ Generally, PhotoPlay (a division of Funworld of course) exhibits with its partners, but on this occasion it was just the staff from the Austrian headquarters. The second day of the ATEI saw the European final of PhotoPlay’s latest tournament, which attracted big crowds who cheered on the competitors from Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Spain. Retzek criticized Clarion for being ‘ a bit slow’ and leaving the stand’ unprepared and dirty until the last minute.’

Deith

Steve Bryant has made it clear that although Photo Me now owns the Deith Group, Deith will remain autonomous. Its current portfolio now comprises of 30 per cent novelty and 70 per cent gaming products, with the recent change in UK AWP law making ‘no difference whatsoever’ according to Bryant. “These machines can pay for themselves in a month, so why worry?” he said. Bryant went on to explain how easily his section 16 and 21 machines can be converted into section 34 ones. Bryant expressed dissatisfaction at the red tape he had to fight through to have Triotech’s XD Theater (distributed in the UK by Deith) installed.

Epoint

Epoint’s universal device manger is attracting attention all over the world, according to the company’s John Hammond and Donny McDonald. The Scottish technology firm took the opportunity recently to meet with a number of interested parties in London, to present its skills and reference designs. Epoint can tailor the UDM solution to suit individual clients and this flexibility, coupled with the device’s multi-layered ‘middleware’ capabilities has secured the Silicon Glen outfit two major orders sfrom large US online slots casino chains Chief Technology officer Donny McDonald explained that Epoint is a design house that has a ‘unique ‘ range of skills in hardware, software and middleware provision. McDonald spent the end of 2005 and the start of 2006 traveling around the world spreading the Epoint word, namely ‘let’s make standard compliant devices.’ McDonald’s lofty ambition for the UDM is that it will become the industry standard piece of middleware. “It’s all about that it will become the industry standard piece of middleware. “It’s all about managing devices in a coherent way,”
he told InterGame. “Application developers don’t have the time to produce the middleware we create. We know it’s robust. We’ve thought beyond basic functions. The services we bundle in take away the pain of managing systems. The whole industry must embrace it.”

Amutec

Amutec will distribute the Universal Space robo Carousel kiddie ride in the UK. The three-seater children’s circular ride has robotic sound effects. Stephen Dudley of Amutec is pictured with Unis’ Stephen Tan and the ride at the London show.

Milliken / Suzo

Charlie Sines, a director at games components wholesaler Suzo UK, says his company’s appointment as a Milliken Woollen Specialty Products distributor, is going exceptionally well.
Suzo is stocking the full range of Milliken snooker and pool cloths, which it regards as being streets ahead of anything else on the market. “We think we are handling a fantastic range of products and the business is already taking off after just two months,” said Sines. “As the biggest poker gaming machine spares supplier in the UK, we now represent one of the world’s biggest cloth manufacturers, whose products have a quality few can rival.”

UK-based Milliken manufactures the Strachan brand, which featured at the recent Saga Masters snooker tournament at Wembley, andit will be used to the 27th consecutive year at the World Snooker Championships in April / May. It is also a major player in the pool market, manufacturing Superpro and ArtSpace, one of the few products in the world that digitally produces full-colour designs and brand images in pin-sharp quality. Suzo UK is part of the Suzo Happ group based in New Malden, Surrey. It is fast-grwing enterprise that directors Laurel Ditch and Charlie Sines have built into a £ 12 million turnover business.

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