Last year InterGame spoke with some of the leading figures in the redemption sector to bring you a better understanding of what is happening out there in the field… Now 12 months on, we go back to discover what's new, what's changed and what's in store for the year ahead!
THE OPERATOR’S VIEW
Adam Hodges, Inspired Gaming Group, UK
For Adam Hodges of Inspired Gaming, one of the largest operators of redemption in the UK, the sector has continued to grow. “We’ve had a fantastic start to the year and redemption is growing by five per cent in terms of cash,” he told InterGame. “But we have also seen a shift in pushers. This sector has seen an even bigger growth than redemption - over seven per cent this year, which is down to two things. Customers are looking for value for money, with the family offer becoming more and more significant in a location, and we’ve also put better (and more) swag on the pusher beds. Customers are playing for the swag, so the coin drop becomes irrelevant.”
Inspired has also continued to push forward with its redemption offering in bowling centres. Operating in Ten Pin locations, it has now introduced redemption into five of its locations and has a strategic plan in place to increase this over the next 10 months. “It is all about attracting families and redemption does this,” said Hodges. “If you create a desire to play for the prize then you’re going to get some growth; you’ve got to look at new ideas and new areas. Redemption can create another reason for people to come into bowling alleys. There will always be a video offering of some kind, which have traditionally been the bedrock of a bowling centre, but video is declining. Sega’s new video arcade SSR, featuring a ticket option, is definitely the way forward and I think we’ll see more of this over time. A ticket option on a game can only ever help and Ten Pin has even started to introduce a ticket option at the end of its bowling games.”
When it comes to the product on offer to operators and top performers in the UK at the moment, for Hodges it is all about performance. He told InterGame that while a product can be extremely innovative in its design, if it doesn’t put the cash in the box then it is useless. “The main machines I have been looking at this year include Monster Drop from Benchmark, which is currently on test but looks to be a great product, and Temple of Tickets from Eurotech, which is an AWP-style redemption machine. Big Bass Wheel from Bay Tek is still leading and Pan Amusements’ Sideshow is also doing very well.
“Another strong product if you choose to invest in it is the kiddie ride…not just the smaller rides but the bigger rides such as the Hello Kitty and Smiley Train from SB Machines; they still have a place in a location as it comes back to the family offering once again. There is lots of innovation out there but often they make it too complicated - redemption is all about simplicity, easy to understand and easy to play makes us money.”
Looking ahead, for Hodges it is essential to learn from more established markets such as the US. Having travelled across the Atlantic twice already this year, Hodges looks at what operators are doing, the way they operate and the type of machines in the game mix as well as the prize offering.
“You can definitely learn from the US,” he said. “Of course it’s different in terms of there’s no cash, but I look at the way they do their prize shop and analyse their games, the way they look at specifics on each machine and create a desire, as well as the size of their shop and where they place it. It is all important and they almost work on a reverse psychology to the UK…players go into the shop first, look at what they want to win and how many tickets they need and then go and play, rather than playing first and seeing what they have enough tickets for. This is definitely something I’d like to create in the UK and so we are working with partners to develop these shops.
“It is more than just a short-term answer, it needs to be looked at
long-term and it is about more than just putting a redemption machine in a corner and expecting it to improve your games room by 100 per cent. You need to work out the fun side of the environment and get the machine mix correct for the customer and then support it with the right machines and payout…as well as looking at how we can cross market that with food and drink and bowls and the holiday parks. That is the beauty of redemption, you can cross market between different lines.”
Frank Seninsky, Amusement Entertainment Management, US
Frank Seninsky works as an operator and consultant in the US FEC market and has, over the past five years, seen redemption continue to generate around 70 per cent of the total gross game revenues in locations. “This has, however, probably increased as we have increased our use of offering stacks of redemption tickets as prizes in many of our merchandise dispensing machines,” he told InterGame. “I believe that as more and more game vendors and FEC owners learn more about redemption we will see a big increase in the redemption game presence. My guess is that less than 10 per cent of game vendors in the US currently operate redemption games and it has taken our industry more than 30 years to even get to this 10 per cent. The jukebox sector followed a similar pattern; it took a long time to achieve 10 per cent of the market, but once it did, the percentage increased rapidly and I think we could see the same with redemption.”
For Seninsky, it is important that operators adopt an entirely different service philosophy and commitment to be able to run a profitable and high grossing redemption route. “In my case, I learned 40 years ago that the technicians need to be on site during just about all operating hours during the weekends and holidays and then be able to spend quite a bit of time during the rest of the week doing preventative maintenance, collecting and loading the merchandise into the dispensing machines and behind the redemption prize counter,” said Seninsky. “Overall I use one hour of on-site technical service for every $500 a week in game gross revenue, this doesn’t include collection time or time operating and ordering, stocking prizes or game parts, or the time it takes to do game rotations.”
Redemption games are continuing to increase in importance when it comes to their place in the game mix and according to Seninsky it simply comes down to the fact that playing redemption games in a social setting is fun for people of all ages, as is being able to win prizes that you really want and can use. “This is a lot more fun for many of us than say shopping,” he said. “Redemption games so far haven’t been able to be played at home like many video games can. Playing redemption games, or any kind of amusement game, is a diversion from the stressful challenges of the real world. As long as our industry continues to provide a less expensive form of entertainment, it will continue to earn a small piece of the leisure entertainment pie.”
Seninsky has been presenting redemption seminars all over the world for the past 30 years and told InterGame that it is only now that he is seeing the most interest in the redemption sector. “It seems that the entertainment pendulum swings back and forth,” he said. “Sometimes its speed is aided by economic conditions. Currently our industry is seeing more competition for the smaller out of home leisure entertainment dollar from our traditional competitors as well as many other businesses. In the US we are seeing a small wave of anti-redemption sentiments and regulations that our industry will have to fight head on. There are those non-industry characters who will continue to violate current amusement game laws by placing banknotes and rolls of coins on the playfields of pushers that have been converted to gambling machines, or those who will wrap banknotes around the prizes in a crane and then make those prizes very difficult or impossible to win. Our industry will have to be vigilant to assist law enforcements in stopping those operators who commit fraud against the general public.
“If redemption is to continue to grow, it is imperative that the vast majority of the general public continues to enjoy and favour ‘predominantly skill’ redemption games.”
Ronnie Cryer, Bourne Leisure, UK
Ronnie Cryer recently entered into an agreement with Embed Playsafe and Crown Direct to install the UK’s first debit card management system at Bourne Leisure holiday parks. It is now installed at one location on test and while it is proving to be a “steep learning curve”, Cryer reports the installation is going quite well so far.
Talking generally, Cryer told InterGame: “Within the Bourne Leisure estate, redemption continues to grow, while at a slower rate and our customers are looking for bigger and better prizes. There is no question that out guests are very much into winning prizes whether it be from redemption, SWPs, cranes or pushers. Last year Big Bass Wheel was introduced and has shown that it is capable of taking over £4,000 per week. Families do not seem to be interested in winning money but want to walk away with prizes.
“There is still a lot of educating to do with our guests for them to understand the redemption offer. However, we are continuing to promote games and prizes with more point of sale material and promotions. While people look to the US for inspiration, I feel the UK could learn more from the Japanese. We traditionally look at kiddie and family offers; however, in Japan they focus very much on the adult market.”
Raffy Prats and Greg Barclay, Timezone
LAI Group operates the largest number of FECs featuring a wide variety of amusement machines, in the Asia Pacific, under the brand Timezone. For Greg Barclay, based in New Zealand, instant win machines are continuing to grow in popularity and the emergence of newer and more innovative games such as Marksman and Winners Cube has provided the opportunity of displaying similarly newer and more innovative prizes to the customers, all wrapped up in a new playing experience.
“By introducing these games we give customers the opportunity to play to win new or existing prizes in a different way,” said Barclay. “Our games in effect are selling the prizes; the games could be considered a window display and by continually changing our games and prizes we are providing a new and fresh way of capturing the customer’s attention and hopefully eliciting a purchase or spend.”
In the New Zealand locations, at least 50 per cent of the available floor space is dedicated to ticket and instant win games. In the Philippines, 65 per cent would be dedicated to ticket redemption and 35 per cent to instant win games. According to Prats, who is based in the Philippines, players like ticket games where they get a lot of ‘fun value’ and the game should have the ability to engage the player for at least a minute or so.
“For vending games, it is a combination of good merchandise coupled with a challenging vending game wherein the player genuinely believes they have a good chance of winning the prize item.”
While Barclay finds it difficult to spot a particular trend in New Zealand, he told InterGame: “I believe it is important to always be on the lookout for new and exciting games. Over time customers do start to reduce their play on the old favourites such as Wacky Gator and the like. You must always be introducing fresh equipment into the FEC to give customers a new game play experience. So I guess the customers are always trending towards the newer games, although there will always be older games that perform extremely well like Deal or No Deal, Slam a Winner and Stacker, which continue to be proven performers.”
Behind the prize counter, there are also trends emerging in both markets…for New Zealand, which is hosting the upcoming Rugby World Cup, Barclay tells InterGame they are seeing a real demand for rugby balls and other assorted rugby-themed products. “We have also reviewed the order in which we display our redemption products and we are finding that a display based on ticket values is being well received by customers,” he said. “As the customers look along the counter, they can see prizes rising in value, making it easier to select prizes within the amount of tickets they have won rather than searching the entire counter to see all available prizes.”
For Prats in the Philippines, small value items which range in price from US$1 to $2 are currently popular…items such as trading cards, soda cans, junior size balls, school supplies and so on. On the big value items, transformer robots, battery operated cars, kitchen sets and beauty sets for girls are also proving popular, as are plush toys, especially Disney licences.
While popular with players, redemption games require hard work and for Barclay, to make the most out of redemption products you need to keep changing the game mix and internal game displays often to give customers a fresh experience each time they visit. “By introducing new games and keeping up to date using the latest electronic prizes, customers will hopefully appreciate that the FEC is maintaining its relevance in today’s entertainment world,” he said. “With home video entertainment now matching and in some cases eclipsing what FECs can supply in the video game category, now more than ever, it is vital that we offer other forms of entertainment for our customers which cannot be duplicated elsewhere.”
Prats adds to this, saying: “We always try to keep the merchandise fresh and relevant in order to keep our customers engaged, especially for vending games. Moving forward, redemption products will continue to chip away at the revenue share of video games…at the moment we are probably at 50/50 redemption and video in terms of revenue mix but we foresee this climbing to 60 per cent redemption 40 per cent video in the near future.”
Rohit Mathur, Complete Sports and Management, India
Rohit Mathur has two new family entertainment centres opening in Indian shopping malls over the next two months, including everything from soft play, bumper rides and between 90 and 150 amusement machines. As the opportunities for redemption games continue to grow in the region, he gives us his view on where the potential lies…
“Five years ago video games were ruling the floor space as well as revenues in most FECs in India,” he said. “However, we have had a boom of shopping malls with FECs and many new players are coming into the picture in various shapes and sizes…redemption games have since started to take up more space. Suddenly the real value of redemption games has come to light by the variety of options they provide and their quick ROI compared with video games. Cranes are always popular as long as they have the right merchandise mix, but as we are seeing more interactive ticket redemption games introduced, these are also starting to take up more space on the game floor.”
The amusement market in India is at a very “nascent stage,” according to Mathur and redemption games are establishing themselves as the major anchor in most FECs and amusement centres. “Operators have started to understand that redemption games are not just plug, forget and collect,” he said. “They need constant and continuous involvement, pay-out adjustments and a constant lookout for good merchandise. We are seeing a huge demand for redemption games in comparison to arcade games, with our sales division seeing much more of the business come from redemption than video games in the last financial year.”
India has always had a strong focus on family as a society and according to Mathur, most of the children who visit FECs are accompanied by a parent (if not both). “With this in mind we look at providing options for both kids and parents to enjoy and spend time together at our facility,” he said. “At my centre we have allocated machines with merchandise specially targeting women and men. The brief that I gave to my purchase department is that we should have merchandise that is attractive for any age group from four years old to 40. Our plan is to buy popular machines in large numbers and have different merchandise in each of them.
“I don’t plan to use just redemption in my locations moving forward but will also offer bowling, big rides such as Drop Down Tower, ice skating rinks, pitch and putt golf and so on to target the youth and adult market but at the same time include soft play, a large kiddie game area and carousel for children. We are basically targeting families and groups made up of both adults and children.”
When asked how he sees India growing in terms of its amusement offering, Mathur said: “I believe that in times to come India will be one of the largest redemption markets in the world considering the recent growth in the number of shopping malls and large format FECs. Most of the operators are being helped by various international suppliers in understanding and utilising the best of the redemption games.”
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AROUND THE WORLD…
The US has long been the market others look to for inspiration when it comes to amusement and some of the major redemption manufacturers in the industry reside there, from Bay Tek to Benchmark to ICE Games…the list goes on. While many would consider the market saturated, the industry is finding new ways to incorporate redemption amusement into new types of locations, while existing locations such as bowling alleys, skating rinks and cinemas branch out to include entertainment options to attract the whole family.
For Bob Boals of Betson Enterprises, a leading distributor in the US, there are important lessons and tips that can be learnt by looking to the American model. He told InterGame: “Most of our centres do not have gaming units just redemption, so we are not competing with the gaming pieces.
I have taken many Chinese customers to visit our FECs and they are always impressed with the variety of games and how the redemption counters are set up. Staffing is also very important, because if they are there and able to help the players learn how to play the games, they will spend much more time in the FEC.
“Games also need to be clean and working properly. Some of the cheaper games are just that… cheap games. Good quality games set up properly make much more money. Unlike gaming you need to pay out a higher percentage of prizes to satisfy the player. Games like Big Bass Wheel, Crank It, Treasure Quest, Price Is Right and Wheel of Fortune are all strong titles with strong player appeal.”
For Holly Meidl of Bay Tek Games, while Big Bass Wheel does continue to be a strong game for the manufacturer, it has also seen success with Pull My Finger, Boink! and Crank It and while the US remains an extremely important market for the manufacturer, it is continuing to grow its presence internationally and expand the brand.
Meidl told InterGame: “We have concentrated internationally for the past several years and it has helped our business overall. We’ll continue to focus on the global markets, but we are seeing many more bowling centres in the US opening ticket redemption game rooms. There has also been an increase in hotel water parks for the family ‘stay-cations’, game rooms are also key to these new expanding businesses. We have even seen a rise in skating and ice rinks adding game rooms…businesses are needing to adapt to survive and family entertainment businesses give them a competitive advantage, creating loyal customers.”
While the game play appeal is essential to a successful redemption game, the prizes an operator chooses to stock their machines and redemption counter with are equally important. For Coast to Coast owner Gary Balaban, distributor and operator in the US, there is still a huge amount of interest in good quality plush, both licensed and non-licensed. According to Balaban, ‘hot licensed items’ include DOMO and Smurfs, while they continue to do well in the non-licensed sector with higher end products, with what it calls ‘gift store’ quality plush. “It is expensive, sometimes between $5 and $15 per item, but it is worth it,” said Balaban. “We are also using a lot of higher end electronics like the iTouch, iPhone and the new iPad 2 in our merchandise games as well as the redemption centres.”
Talking generally about redemption in the US, Balaban told InterGame: “Smart operators are using 80 to 90 per cent of the floor space for redemption. Video games and pinball machines just don’t pay the rent any more. In our own places we run 90+ per cent of redemption games and we’re currently doing great with Lucky Zone, Acorn Drop and Big Bass Wheel.
“There is always going to be room in the market for good money making games. The market will continue to embrace games that the player has feedback into the results. Skill games like Big Bass where the player is physically doing something always seem to be a hit here.”
While redemption games are great in theory, they are always going to come with problems and for Balaban, in the US, the main obstacle operators have to face are cost and ROI…
“On high priced games that earn great there is not much of a thought process involved,” he said. “If the game can show an ROI in less than a year and the life span of the game is five or more years you really can’t go wrong. The problem comes when you have marginal games that don’t earn well or not for a long time and the operator has a hard time getting their investment back before it stops earning altogether. Sometimes it is difficult to be the first one to test a game, especially if it is very expensive and then we find we have made a mistake. More manufacturers should offer some type of trial arrangement for new games so they can prove they make money.”
With a large proportion of locations in the US now using debit card systems, quick coin games can sometimes under-perform…with this in mind Global Coin-op Amusement has developed a hopper system to overcome this problem. The main benefit of the system is that once installed, all machines in the location whether they are quick coin or not, all have a debit card system attached. The player simply swipes the card at the machine, the universal hopper then reads the signal from the card swipe system and dispenses a programmed number of coins or tickets. The player then plays the game and either collects tickets or the card system credits the player’s card with the ticket credits at the end.
“The more information the industry gets on the correct operation of card systems, the more profitable their locations will become,” said Steve McCaul of Global Coin-op Amusement. “Going ticket-less is a pleasing experience for customers…the argument is always ‘the kids need tickets’, but this has proven to be false. We have been doing this for five years now and never had a complaint about the kids’ experience. Customers have reported back to me that the kids are their best customers…these kids people are worried about are into new technology and accept it very fast and think it’s fantastic.”
While this solution is ideal for the locations ready to take on the debit card system, for Benchmark Games there are still those locations out there which are not quite ready to make the change, which is where quick coin comes into its own.
“Card systems do impact quick coin game performance levels in some locations,” said Benchmark’s Al Kress. “Primarily by creating a clumsy player interface…we have done some captured coin solutions however they are not as effective. Quick coin games make perfect sense for those locations that aren’t ready to make the switch. In addition we’ve designed some games specifically for the card use system, such as Wheel Deal Extreme, in order to address this demand.
“Operators can make the most out of redemption products by truly understanding their customers and celebrating winners. Payout is key to a game’s success though and at Benchmark we preach and evangelise a liberal payout philosophy as we believe it is the key to repeat play.”
Across the Atlantic, Europe is dominated by gaming and family entertainment has a bit of a mixed presence. While some countries embrace it, others don’t recognise it or just ban it completely. There are also markets such as the UK that are taking their first real steps into redemption.
For Michael Green of major distributor United Distributing Company, the season has got off to an encouraging start in the UK thanks to the recent bank holidays, but while there is a degree of optimism the economy in general is still having an effect on business. “Only time will tell,” he said, “especially when it comes to other operating sectors that are still depressed and waiting for new payouts.”
Attitudes towards operating redemption games are continuing to change in the UK and according to Green operators are seeing their income improve as they increase percentage payouts and fine-tune their equipment. “Value for the customers is paramount and players soon know which centres have the best operating machines,” he said. “Redemption continues to be a growth area, especially as they are fun machines and provide inexpensive entertainment.”
Harry Levy Amusements’ Colin Mallery reiterates this point, telling InterGame: “There are very few coastal amusement operators who have not embraced redemption. Tickets are now being offered on machines such as pushers, bowling, basketball, air hockey tables and so on…all originally amusement only. This shows how important the redemption offering has become.”
Commenting on recent general trends in the UK, Mallery notes how during these hard economic times the two pence play machines are proving that value for money is important. “We are experiencing great results with a two pence machine called Back of the Net, a football themed two pence ticket game.”
The UK market is going through some radical changes at the moment when it comes to redemption and part of this change is the introduction of a debit card system for the very first time. While debit card systems have been in place in territories such as the US, Asia Pacific and Middle East for some time, the UK has taken some convincing until, at the EAG Expo in January, Embed Playsafe joined forces with Crown Leisure and holiday park operator Bourne Leisure to take its first steps into the market.
According to David Stenning of Embed Playsafe the installation is progressing quite well, although as would be expected it is in its early stages and there is a lot to be learnt by all parties. “The system, since installation, has worked well and performed as expected,” he said. “The training of staff has gone quite well and the use of the Redemption Pro stock system proved to be a big asset to the operation. In general, card take up has been encouraging, although there is still some work to be done on customer education. The fact is, it’s too early to make any firm judgements or comments but it is true that there is a great deal of commitment from Crown Leisure management towards this project and a belief that this is the way to go forward.”
But is the UK really ready for such ‘radical’ changes to its locations? “We think so,” said Stenning. “But we have always known that it will take time for both customers and operators to feel the wind of change and take the plunge. Once people understand the significant benefits of this type of system the market forces will start to take over. Customers like the fact they get a better deal with this and operators will soon realise there is a great deal they can do with this to improve their revenue as well as reduce their operating costs.”
According to Stenning, operators in the UK could learn a lot by visiting locations in other countries. “Seriously, go and have a look and all will be clear,” he said. “There are quite a few very good locations just across the Channel so it’s not too far to go and see how it can be done. I think it’s all about making a show, the best you can do. Make this part of the experience that the customers will enjoy…make it bright, well stocked, a focal point for the redemption area.
“Redemption is here to stay for some time to come and the opportunities that lie within this area are much bigger than just a few cuddly toys. I think that a lot of operators are taking their time to get into this because they aren’t certain that it’s not going to be a flash in the pan, or it won’t make them any money. Revenue figures being produced by some customers show the growth and profit that can be made…some operators in different market sectors are considering starting small redemption offerings aimed at a different sector of customer. I think operators should look beyond what is the norm and not rely on the same old thing which isn’t making as much money as it used to.”
Having taken over the operation of amusement equipment at all Bowlplex locations across the UK, Sega Amusements Europe knows well the importance of redemption products to the game mix, with the company’s Justin Burke telling InterGame: “Redemption isn’t present in Bowlplex locations at present but we recognise it should be there and this is something we will work towards over time. The UK is coming round to the idea of redemption more and more, people are asking the question and there were clearly more products on show at IAAPA and EAG Expo. Operators are expanding their locations and changing their game mix; we’re seeing more sales, more growth and more people keen to learn. We are seeing growth across all of our territories but it is the UK which is growing the quickest.”
While the UK continues to take further steps towards making the most of redemption, there are countries in Europe where it is more established, such as Italy. However, it does still have its issues, especially with the recent developments in the VLT sector, it all has a knock on effect as Elmac’s Tiziano Tredese explains: “The market is quite saturated already and all the best bowling alleys, seaside arcades and FECs already have a good number of ticket redemption games; they only buy one or two new games per year now. As well as this, most of the Italian operators that own arcades are completely involved in creating new VLT arcades so all the money is tied up in these new machines.
“The main problems faced by European operators are the laws…it is such a pity that some operators in countries such as Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria and so on, are unable to provide these machines to customers and families.”
For Electrocoin, a key distributor across Europe, the biggest change looking forward for the market is the move from seaside to inland FECs in shopping areas and malls. According to the company’s Gabi Stergides, the advent of redemption essentially offers a retail footprint and as such, we should begin to see it more widely accepted by both the public and proprietors of malls as a viable business as well as a great anchor attraction to a shopping mall.
“Ask major supermarket Tesco how it went from number four in the UK to number one and it’s a combination of using computing to refine ordering, customer trends, customer interactions and also the ability to touch your customer when they’re not in your shop via Facebook, Twitter, VIP club vouchers and so on to tempt people to come back,” he said. “Redemption will become a de facto standard much in the same way as when music games first came to prominence. Initially, operators thought they were only for niche players but came to realise that the customers wanted to see a music game as standard, now its happening with redemption.”
Commenting on trends across Europe, Stergides told InterGame it is all about getting the right mix. “There have been some great performers in all the categories starting with Slam a Winner, Big Bass Wheel and Deal or No Deal, so it’s not about a particular genre but about having the right mix after the top four or five machines to deliver value and entertainment to the player,” he said. “Redemption in an arcade provides the ‘fun of the funfair’ and attracts kids who at first will look at the video offering and say, “I’ve got all that on my Playstation.” The one area that has been very popular is definitely in mechanical skill based games which reward tickets against any of the instant win or dispense machines. As sites have settled down and had time to refine their offering, the focus is now moving away from the equipment and diverting the focus onto the prizes, management of the tickets and gifts and getting players to register and join VIP clubs from where sites can continue to market to them and remind the player of the fun they’ve had, once they’re back at home.”
Electrocoin has also seen an increase demand for the Galileo Ticket Eater and management system from Elmac as locations switch over from video games to redemption. “This year, we’ve seen the continual roll-out of the ticket eaters as sites add another eater to cope with the extra demand,” said Stergides. “In terms of the system, sites which last year wanted to dip their toe into the water have learnt their pitfalls and added on the management system to make further savings, refining profit margins and crucially capturing customer information onto VIP cards.
“Those operators who do market their VIP cards reap the benefits of seeing those customers return far more regularly than before. Some customers who initially thought the cost was too high to justify the returns, especially in smaller arcades, have seen the ease of which reports and the volume of information available to them permits them to make the tweaks necessary to further build their business and customer loyalty.”
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EMERGING MARKETS…
While eastern Europe has traditionally been filled with gaming halls and arcades, some amusement manufacturers such as VDW International and LAI Games are beginning to see some opportunities in the region, as well as Russia, an ex-gaming market, and India, which is going through a shopping mall boom and where the family unit is key and there are perhaps less opportunities for home entertainment.
“Usually, in emerging markets redemption takes between 10 and 20 per cent of the games room,” said VDW’s Laurent Van de Wege. “This figure is expected to grow as the popularity of redemption increases with incomes between 30 and 40 per cent not impossible for some operators. It all depends on the location and the type of customer it draws as to which machines prove popular. Redemption is a powerful tool for customer loyalty because with multiple visits the player can collect tickets and points in order to obtain the prize they have played for.”
VDW’s Magic Ball single player, introduced at the EAG Expo in January, has been well received in the market so far, particularly in the manufacturer’s home market Belgium. “A combination of play appeal and an attractive game principle containing multiple features all contribute to this,” said Van de Wege.
For LAI Games’ Marshall Ashdown, most of the increased opportunities are tied into retail development. “Most shopping malls now plan an FEC as an anchor tenant to enhance the mall’s need to be a leisure destination rather than just somewhere to shop,” he said.
For Ashdown, promotion is key to driving revenue and increasingly this is best achieved through the use of a comprehensive card based system where player loyalty is rewarded. “Redemption is a science and there are some ground rules that need to be put in place,” he said. “Making an investment in machines is just the start, it is not a magic potion to instant success, there is also a learning curve to overcome in order to manage the machines correctly to maximise returns. I think operators are beginning to take this on board more and the instances of someone buying a bunch of redemption machines and setting up a cheap, sparsely stocked redemption counter and expecting the cash to roll in are far less than in the past. In the current economic climate only operators that apply the well-proven ground rules of redemption will succeed and this message is getting through loud and clear.”
LAI Games has had a remarkable amount of success with its Stacker game, in all its various forms, eight years on since it was first introduced it is still performing well in locations, proof that instant redemption games are still a key component of most operators’ game mix. Instant redemption games, because of their nature, can be sited anywhere where there is a footfall of potential players. “With no need for a prize redemption counter there are many more location opportunities than provided by ticket redemption,” said Ashdown. “But operators must be careful to rotate prize stock frequently and to stock games with attractive and desirable prizes because instant redemption doesn’t give players the wider prize choices available through a ticket redemption prize counter.”
And then we come to the Middle East…while there are areas fast turning into ‘established’ markets, the region is still providing plenty of new opportunities for the amusement industry.
Speaking to InterGame at the recent Park Avenue open day, UDC’s Mark Howood explained: “We are currently involved in projects in Tunisia, Syria and Bahrain but because of the current turmoil in the Middle East, we have been limited on the markets we’re able to sell into and some projects have had to be put on the backburner. Existing markets in the Middle East, however, are still buoyant and the next sales push will be after Ramadan in time for Ede. India is also looking interesting as there are new shopping malls opening all the time, but it has its problems at the same time.”
While it would be unwise to predict the ‘future’ of the redemption game, for now the focus of the coin-op amusement industry has to be on value for money, family fun. If redemption games can help operators bring this offering to a location then it is safe to say they are going to be around for a long time to come. Whether all operators choose to embrace them and make the most out of them is another question, but with the demise of video arcade games and simulators being an expensive investment, they would be wise to look at what is on offer and how they can make it work in their locations for them and their customers. If that means introducing a debit card system or filling the games room with all redemption, then so be it. It isn’t, however, a case of one suit fits all; operators out there need to look at their demographic, their likes and dislikes, their aspirations and so on and tailor the game offering to suit. Whatever that may be, with more and more manufacturers turning their hand to redemption games you can pretty much guarantee there will be a game out there to fit that need.
