Helen Fletcher looks at the place of instant redemption machines in the coin-op amusement industry

We live in a ‘to-go’ society, where we expect everything to ‘just happen’- from our food to our coffee to our internet speed, banking and transport - the way of life for many in 2010 is fast-paced and everything needs to be immediately available to us all of the time.

It could be argued that instant redemption machines go some way in fulfilling this need when it comes to entertainment. More flexible than their ticket counterparts they can be sited anywhere and everywhere (legislation allowing of course) from motorway service stations and cinemas to bowling centres, restaurants, bars and karaoke venues - basically just about any kind of single site street location you can think of.

What makes an instant redemption machine special is that it provides the passing player with a ‘shop window’. While the game play has to, of course, be attractive in its own right, it is the prize inside that really draws the players in. Never has it been more important for operators to stock their instant redemption machines and cranes with high quality prizes - from licensed plush to electronic gadgets the prize inside needs to be at the top end of the scale.

Belgian manufacturer Elaut is synonymous with cranes and according to Jack Guarnieri of Elaut USA, good merchandise is the difference between good earnings and great earnings. "Every time new merchandise is put into the machine it is effectively a new machine," he said. "There is no other game that can be done with - select the best high quality merchandise and your players will come back again and again. It is better to use well-known brand names rather than imitation or grey-area merchandise - the earnings prove that.

"We have been finding great success with truck-stop locations - especially with our small footprint Little Giga Crane, which has the Giga technology in a smaller space. It can fit almost anywhere on the pedestal or it can be wall mounted or even sit on a shelf.

"There is no comparable product to the Little Giga," continued Guarnieri, "we have sold it to operators of carnival trailers as well as traditional pubs. The game is perfect near a restroom or lobby of a restaurant. The price point is competitive and the return on investment is a matter of weeks not years."

Ian Eason of Instance Automatic in the UK also told InterGame: "While the merchandise in crane machines is key to it being played - how it is set out and the lighting inside the machine is also very important, as is the game play. It needs to appear to be quite easy to win or when played, you get the feeling that you nearly won. Too quick and it won’t get re-played, too slow and it won’t take enough money, too hard and they won’t play and too easy and the operator won’t take any money - they have to be worked exactly right to obtain the ultimate takings."

Instant redemption machines and cranes can be a major part of the operator’s income, according to Eason, especially at the traditional seaside locations. "We have also been supplying inland operators, that normally operate AWPs, with cranes to replace their AWPs that are taking poor money."

VDW International is another Belgian manufacturer that has had a large amount of success with instant redemption machines and for the company’s Laurent Van DeWege they provide much more flexibility than other types of amusement machines available. "Because of their instant payout principle they’re very popular," he said. "In an ‘instant’ and for a low stake, the player can get good value for money in no time at all. Ticket redemption does have the advantage of allowing the player to collect the results of their plays over a certain period of time and permit them to redeem the tickets for even bigger prizes, however, there are differences in mentality among players when it comes to the type of redemption game they prefer, depending on the country. The US is strongly ticket minded as whereas Europe you would see more instant prize machines."

Instant redemption machines are integral to the coin-op amusement industry and manufacturers including the likes of Andamiro, Bay Tek Games and Namco, to name but a few, have all produced their own version of the machine. LAI Games, however, paved the way for all of these manufacturers with its Stacker game, which has been hugely popular worldwide and has had a number of spin-off versions including Mini Stacker and Giant Stacker.

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Riding on the wave of success of instant redemption machines, Sega Amusements Europe has recently become an official distributor of Andamiro’s Winner’s Cube and for the company’s Justin Burke, adding the product to its ever-growing portfolio was an obvious choice. He told InterGame: "They work well in various types of locations from large FECs to the more traditional seaside location and give the player another opportunity at winning a prize. Cranes in particular, have been the backbone of the UK seaside industry for years."

Winner’s Cube uses a simple play mode to make it appealing to all ages - aim and align the motorised rod into the prize slot using two buttons. "Instant win machines play a titanic role in the industry," said Andamiro’s Satinder Bhutani. "The versatile ability to adapt to almost every environment makes instant win machines a centrepiece attraction and they’ll continue to rise as a favourite in the coin-op industry.

"In addition to presentation and prize selection, game play experience plays a crucial factor in determining success. Game play experience is the aspect to which players will directly have a response with the outcome of each play. The more ‘hook’ the game play delivers, operators will see an increase in game play. With more innovative games being released, the future of instant win machines looks brighter and has immense potential."

Although ticket redemption games tend to be more popular in the US coin-op amusement market, manufacturer Bay Tek Games is currently experiencing a great amount of success with its instant redemption machine Road Trip. It takes players through three great American cities, Chicago, Denver and Hollywood, where players are offered prizes at each of the three levels for spinning enough miles. Players step up and spin the wheel by pushing the handle down, when the wheel stops players are awarded with the mileage shown on the wheel. Operators have the choice of a black or white cabinet and between spindles or capsules as the small prize design. According to Bay Tek, the benefit of Road Trip is long game play, which is entertaining for customers as well as the three prize levels, which offer variety.

"It is very important operators know and understand their player base and choose prizes that will drive play," said Bay Tek’s Holly Meidl. "It is also important to rotate prizes - changing the items periodically. This does two things - one, it allows players the chance at other prizes in case the prior prizes were not attractive to them and secondly it insinuates that someone else has won the prize - winners spawn players."

As attractive as instant redemption machines may be to the player, it is this attraction that can also result in their downfall. With the prizes clearly on show, this can open the machine up to all sorts of vandalism. According to John Brennan of Namco Europe, which has had a huge amount of success with instant redemption machines Barber Cut and more recently Clena-Flex, in single site locations where physical supervision may be less pronounced and increasingly valuable prizes are prominently displayed, security will obviously become more of an issue. "A well designed machine will have these considerations built in," he said, "with toughened glass, sturdy metal cabinets and secure entry mechanisms as standard. Operator options can include CCTV and secure tethering of machines to immovable anchor points."

Sega’s Justin Burke adds to this, telling InterGame: "Where possible, in manned sites, operators will use dummy prizes which the player exchanges for the actual prize. Vouchers are also used, which can be exchanged at a cash desk within a location - I have also seen some locations give a voucher code which the player will then phone through to claim their prize, which is then sent out in the post."

While this method may take away some of the ‘instant win’ element - it is not always going to be possible to award prizes right there and then - especially if the machine is left unattended overnight when there are less people around and more chance of vandalism to the machine. The temptation unfortunately, for some people, is too great.

Kevin Weir of UK-based distributor Electrocoin, adds to this, saying: "As they are unattended they are more susceptible to being attacked and if a player has lost money in one or feels they haven’t been fairly treated they may attack the machine. Similarly if you have 20 iPods in there protected only by a sheet of glass - it is going to be tempting for someone to break in."

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From an operational point of view, Sonaal Chopra of the Timezone Group - one of the largest FEC operators in Australasia - told InterGame: "Security is not a major issue in FECs where staff are on hand to supervise. Our instant redemption machines are spread across all our stores. A successful machine must be easy to understand - the customer should ideally understand how to play the game just by looking at it and not have to read any instructions. It should also be fun to play, of course.

"The merchandise inside is everything and instant redemption games are very important to the coin-op amusement industry. They work better in markets like developing countries where perceived value has a higher importance."

There are, however, restrictions on instant redemption machines and the prizes they can offer in many countries. According to Tiziano Tredese of Italian distributor and operator Elmac, in Italy all the machines have to be homologated by the government to assure they are games of skill with no chance at all and in Turkey crane machines are banned. Instant redemption machines are also banned in France, according to John Brennan of Namco Europe, even though there is a (legal) demand from travelling fairs operating mobile prize games. The Middle East also has strict laws on instant win machines - all of the redemption games and cranes are operated on a ticket payout basis only.

Where allowed, however, instant redemption machines are indispensible and according to Tredese in a good Italian FEC the instant redemption machine is usually responsible for around 30 per cent of the total income, with ticket redemption responsible for 50 per cent and video games bringing in around 20 per cent.

While they may be popular with the players, it is important manufacturers of instant redemption machines remain innovative to keep their place in the industry. While crane machines will always be a staple of the industry, new machines need to present the player with something different and challenging in order for the operator to get the most out of the machine possible. The range of plush and ‘swag’ available also needs to remain fresh and up-to-date - while operators need to keep an open mind and be willing to try new things.

Prize every time machines have proved very popular according to Colin Mallery of Harry Levy Amusements in the UK and machines that give a small prize whether the player wins or loses will also continue to find their place in the sector as perceived value for money continues to grow in importance.

First published June, 2010