G2E – Feeling the effect of recession?

The giant G2E exhibition in Las Vegas experienced lighter first day footfall than usual on Tuesday, November 17.

 

The stands of the big slot producers at the front of the hall in the Las Vegas Convention Center attracted good crowds, but things were much quieter towards the back. The consensus of opinion among exhibitors was that this could be the first visible sign of the worldwide recession affecting the gaming industry.

"The industry is entering uncharted waters," said JCM Global’s senior vice president of operations, Tom Nieman. "It will be interesting during this show to see how the industry is reacting to the economic conditions. It seems that operators are hunkering down until the storm passes and this is affecting their buying."

The company, famed for its bill acceptors, was using G2E to show that it is much more than that. "We have diversified enormously and here we are focusing on the TransAct  printers and 3M display systems that we also supply in addition to our own products," said Nieman.

JCM also launched a bill validator designed for table games. "We’re treating table games in exactly the same way as slots." Said Nieman. "It’s one of those things that makes us think: why didn’t we think of this before? It effectively automates the drop process and the soft count process, saving casinos time and effort."

Casino Technology of Bulgaria expanded on the theme of its PlayMe multiplayer roulette game that incorporates a piano. PlayMe Video Slot is a verson of the concept featuring video slots rather than roulette, while PlayMe Duelling Piano features two pianos, one in black and one in white.

The company also introduced Gemini Sensa, the next generation of the Gemini slot cabinet. This features revolutionary technological improvements to bring players a new experience in terms of interaction, accessibility and ergonomics.

Atronic International had its biggest G2E stand ever this year and used it to launch several innovative new products. Among them was Stargate, based on the popular television series. This features three independent games that are linked to a five-level bonus system. "This has gone down very well in player focus groups," said Atronic’s Sylvia Dietz. "The brand is the initial draw but the games have to stand up on their own and we believe they do."

Also strongly highlighted by Atronic was a new community bonus product, Tree of Riches. "Players play in a group and have the feeling of playing together," said Dietz. In order to participate in the bonus, a player has to have been playing for a certain length of time.

Another company with a bigger G2E stand this year was Austrian Gaming Industries. "This shows our commitment to our growing customer base in South America and Asia, many of whom come to the Las Vegas show," said the company’s Max Lindenberg. AGI was showing many multigame mixes that have been exclusively designed for different markets. "We are also hoping to grow our market share in the North American markets," said Lindenberg.

He added: "At this time we don’t know how the global economic situation is going to affect the gaming industry. It could even be a positive thing for the industry. As people cut back on expensive items like holidays and new cars, they may spend more on low cost entertainment like gaming."

Bally Technologies’ busy stand had no less than 250 games on it. "We now cater for all sectors of the gaming market and we want this show to reflect the fact that we are now a truly global gaming company," said director of corporate communications Laura Olson-Reyes. One of many new products on show was Power Strike, The five-level progressive jackpot is designed to feature a high-level top prize, which at the show was a custom-built motorcycle.

Bally also introduced several new concepts from its systems division, but at the same time showed that its existing core systems products have also been improved. "The cool new stuff is important, but we want our customers to know that we are constantly focusing on improving our core product as well," said Ramesh Srinivasan, executive vice president systems.