Amusement and gaming machines can sometimes be found in the oddest of places and as the dynamics of the industry change so do the opportunities available to operators. Helen Fletcher spoke to some of the companies with a presence in the more obscure locations to find out more...

Traditionally amusements and gaming machines could be found in seaside arcades, adult gaming centres and so on, but as society changes and more and more multi-complexes are built aiming to offer a multitude of services, the opportunities available to operators have if anything increased.

On Land

The retail sector, for example, now takes up a large proportion of business for children’s rides manufacturer Jolly Roger and Marshall Ashdown from the company said: “The UK seaside resorts probably only represent around 10 per cent of our business now.

“The growth of the retail sector has increased our market dramatically and the vast majority of our sales are now to operators in the retail sector. It is a sector that is now very keen to offer a total leisure experience and children’s rides have become an important part of this."

Francois Defreitas, from Photo-Me, an operator of photo booths and children’s rides within Europe, added: “We believe that the frequent rotation of rides is essential to maximise ride revenue and is a critical part of the successful operation of children’s rides.

“This is particularly important in a shopping centre environment where the same children make repeat visits to the centre on a regular basis.

“We carefully monitor the ride revenue in each centre to determine the optimum time to carry out a ride exchange.”

However, it is not just children’s rides that hold a firm place in the retail sector. Namco Europe Operations operates Namco Stations within retail locations such as the Trafford Centre and County Hotel in the UK as well as sites in Madrid and Barcelona, Spain, that include a whole host of coin-operated machines including video games, redemption, cranes, pool tables and bowling facilities to name a few.

Philip Millward, European operations director for the company, told InterGame: “We are finding that redemption machines and cranes are increasing in popularity and we have noticed that video games have moved to DX or interactive versions, but the popularity of a product does vary depending on the location.”

Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, was opened in 1992 and is one of the largest retail and entertainment complexes in the US; it is home to more than 520 shops and The Park at MOA, the nation’s largest indoor family amusement park.

Brian Spielman, games manager for MOA, told InterGame: “We have two arcades in the amusement park, one primarily video and the other redemption, which tends to perform better.

“I think this is because our customers are mainly tourists and they prefer to get a souvenir for their money and there also tends to be more younger children rather than teens.

“We also have penny press machines, lots of gumball and vending machines and children’s rides which are dotted around the mall in the high traffic areas and entrances as well as a very high concentration of machines in the park’s amusement areas.”

According to Spielman, the main reason for operating amusement machines and rides in retail centres is the high revenue they bring in. He said: “We can gain high profits from a small area with amusement machines – pound for pound they are some of our best revenue generators.

“But like everything it is important to keep things fresh and new, probably even more so for amusements and video games as they are always changing.

“The manufacturers are constantly coming up with new and clever ideas and I see a bright future for amusement machines in the retail sector. Home video gaming hurt the arcade business initially but this may be another reason why redemption has flourished.”

Neal Rosenberg from operator Monduce in the US added: “Shopping malls in the US tend to be owned by one company or an operator might run arcades in a chain of malls.

“Nickels and Diamonds operates a lot of the malls, selling specific products including children’s rides, bubble gum machines, video games, cranes and redemption games. In my opinion the video arcade business is shrinking in the US and the way forward for these operators is probably coin and redemption type products that use high value merchandise.”

The retail sector is also proving a popular choice with photo booth operators as all countries have to conform to the international passport standards and photo booths tend to perform particularly well in these locations, possibly explained by of the convenience of retail locations.

Offshore


Whereas as the main focus for an operator within the retail sector is how much revenue can be made, the focus for a cruise ship operator is related more to offering a service to its passengers.

According to Rosenberg, a lot of the cruise ships tend to own and operate the onboard arcades themselves and will generally buy direct from the manufacturers rather than go through a distributor.

Carnival Corporation is a global cruise company and one of the largest holiday companies in the world. Its portfolio of cruise brands includes Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Cunard Line, AIDA and Costa Cruises to name a few.

With its headquarters in Miami in the US and London in the UK, Carnival operates a fleet of 82 ships with over 154,000 guests and 60,000 shipboard employees meaning there are more than 200,000 people sailing aboard the Carnival fleet at any given time, making it the perfect location for amusements and gaming machines.

According to Jennifer De La Cruz of Carnival Cruises, every ship has a casino with 150-250 slot machines in it as well as table games. The ships also include a variety of children’s amusements that include all the top brands.

De La Cruz said: “For us the casino and video arcade are simply a component of a much larger vacation experience and they provide a diversion for those guests who are interested.”

For Neil Gumb, operations manager on Holland America cruise liners, this aspect of providing amusements as a service should its passengers want it, rather than a revenue generator, is something that rings very true.

Gumb said: “Amusements are not a main focus for Holland America ships as for the majority of time there aren’t that many children on board, compared with the Carnival Cruise ships that have around 8-9,000 children on board and have a lot more games as well as dance machines.

“We do have a mixture of amusement machines and feature a lot of Sega and Namco video arcade games; there are also the more traditional games such as Pac-Man and air hockey and foosball tables but we don’t have any redemption games onboard.

“The games are placed in what we call teen rooms; ATV track games tend to perform well onboard, as do House of the Dead 3 and Crazy Taxis. Pac-Man is particularly popular with the adult guests as it provides an element of nostalgia.

“We will keep the games on the ship for about four to five years, especially on ships like Holland America as there is little need to update them and we tend to use just one or two distributors if we want second-hand games but will buy directly from the manufacturer for new games.”

PAF is one company that has taken the idea of entertaining guests onboard a ferry one step further by recently teaming up with European ferry operator Stena Line to launch e-gaming entertainment in line with the PAF group’s b2bGaming offering.

The Finnish company was founded in 1996 and is an association governed by public law that arranges gaming on land, on board ships and on the internet.

Thomas Lundberg, head of business to business at PAF, said: “Stena Line is our first partner in the ferry industry and also the first ferry operator worldwide to offer e-gaming in connection to their website.

“We are confident that together with Stena we have created a new successful way of entertaining their passengers and keep them coming back on board over and over again.”

Stena Line’s CEO, Gunnar Blomdahl, added: “Gaming on board our ferries is appreciated by our guests and in parallel we know that online gaming is increasing in popularity. The internet casino has a clear connection with our onboard gaming activities and our guests can now enjoy entertainment that goes beyond the confines of the vessel.”

The concept offers a partnership in which the PAF group will provide a turnkey solution consisting of a gaming licence, governed by an EU jurisdiction, a ‘white label’ internet site and digital money games along with a complete and fully integrated back-office.

Air Time


However, it is not just ferries that have the opportunity to expand their entertainment options for travellers by using this type of service from PAF and it has already started to be established within the airline and tour operator industry - Flybe is one airline that launched the service back in February.

But what about while you are waiting for a flight? What entertainment options are available to you then, especially when you find out you have to endure a three-hour delay?

In the majority of the larger international airports you will find AWPs and SWPs located inside the pubs and bars and designated gaming areas.

Leisure Link has operated at a number of UK airports for the past eight years, including Manchester, Heathrow, Stansted, Aberdeen and Edinburgh.

While there are no restrictions to the number of machines allowed in arcade areas in UK airports, there is a limit to the amount of machines permitted in alcohol-licensed areas and pool tables and shooting-based video games are not allowed airside.

Adam Hodges, managing director of Leisure Services, told InterGame: “Because airports house many more machines, they will always take more money than pubs in terms of total income.

“The larger airports have circa 100 machines sited and AWPs and videos are always among the best performers for us.

“Compared to arcades the average machine income by individual machine is, however, very similar.”

According to Rosenberg, a lot of airport coin-op operators in the US started as pay phone operators and then made the gradual move into games.

He said: “As far as I am aware there are no restrictions concerning the operation of amusement games in US airports, but video arcade games are not that successful as people are usually in a rush and haven’t got time to play the games.”

A sign that airports are still a desirable location for entertainment services is the news that airports in Indian metro cities are exploring the possibility of setting up entertainment and gaming zones in the passenger waiting areas.

According to sources in a recent Business Line news story, Mumbai airport will be the first one to have the zones, followed by all the metro airports.

The airport would apparently have 100sq.ft to 300sq.ft of space available at four places for the facility, which would be under the Jet Airways waiting area after security check.

Singapore’s Changi airport is one that currently provides pastimes such as games, real life entertainment programmes and films available to watch in a waiting lounge.

It would appear then, in terms of revenue, that the retail sector is a strong contender for the operator and retail locations are set to become a more popular choice as more multiplexes are built worldwide.

For the cruise ship and airport sector, however, it would seem amusement arcades and adult gaming centres will remain more of an add-on service to guests and passengers rather than providing a great money-making location to the operator.