Public Gaming Interviews Victor Duarte at the IGE Gaming Show in London …

Paul Jason, Public Gaming:  We’re here at the IGE Trade Show in London, January 2009.  The SPIELO - ATRONIC booth is buzzing with activity, so it’s hard to get the attention of Victor Duarte but he agreed so we’re holding him to it.  Robin can do the selling for a few minutes.  Victor, SPIELO is working on a lot of new things, some really interesting breakthroughs for new technology in server based gaming … 

Victor Duarte:  We expect 2009 to be one of the most exciting years ever for SPIELO. We have a lot of new products that we’re releasing into the market. It usually takes a little time to create momentum for something new, but we’re jumping right in with substantial initial sales volumes. For example, we have the prodiGi Vu^TM cabinet, which we’ve just released, and we already have an agreement to install 2,500 units in Oregon this year. That is important, because the prodiGi Vu will become the baseline product for us in the commercial business in North America. We expect to ship a good number of those into commercial casinos around the United States and Canada this year. 

Q:        When you say for the commercial side, is it branded under SPIELO or ATRONIC?

V. Duarte:       As of now, the prodiGi Vu cabinet is branded under SPIELO. However, we are having discussions internally on whether or not we would also brand it under ATRONIC. Frankly, we prefer to focus on the brand of the machine, as opposed to the company. So prodiGi Vu is the brand, and that’s what we try to emphasize, rather than whether or not it comes from SPIELO or ATRONIC. Similarly, we have another new cabinet called the WinWave Vu^TM. We’re working with one of our signature customers, Svenska Spel, to release the WinWave Vu in significant volumes throughout this year. It’s important to note that the two brand-new cabinet options have different focuses: the WinWave Vu is aimed at the traditional distributed VLT market, while the prodiGi Vu is aimed at the venue or casino-style market. So far, we’re pleased and excited to see our customers respond so positively to these two new cabinet styles.

Q:        So the prodiGi Vu is more for the commercial casino?

V. Duarte:       Yes, more for the commercial casino market.  However, some customers -- Oregon is one -- feel that it fits their distributed VLT model as well.

Q:        And how or what are some of the ways that the WinWave Vu is different than the prodiGi Vu?

V. Duarte:       Inside, there’s very little difference between the WinWave Vu and prodiGi Vu cabinets in terms of the platform. The difference is in terms of esthetics and shape. The WinWave Vu is not intended to look like a traditional slot machine, with chrome and frame lights, for instance. It’s designed primarily to fit into the distributed market. Typically, that market is characterized by small venues where gaming is an ancillary activity. A typical distributed environment is a bar, tavern, or restaurant, for example, with a limited number of machines and gaming is another activity offered there. That’s in contrast to a casino, where generally speaking the primary focus is the gaming experience, and the larger venues have a much greater number of machines. So the product is designed differently, especially the look and feel. The difference is actually quite obvious when you look at them side-by-side.

Q:        Wouldn’t there be a lot of other differences with respect to how they’re managed by the operator?  The distributed venues that don’t specialize in managing gaming machines would have different management systems than a casino, correct?

V. Duarte:       Oh, clearly. And that’s where the central system, notably our INTELLIGEN^TM Central Video System and our i-Link^TM retailer terminal, come in. We typically see a large scale central system connecting machines across a significant geographical area, either directly, or with the help of a small server or retailer terminal at the distributed locations. The system and retailer terminal allow central or remote management of the machines, the generation of retailer reports, and the management of cash redemption, for example. In a commercial casino, the concept of a retailer and a retailer terminal is not relevant. As well, for a distributed operator, server-assisted gaming is more important because it allows the installed machine base to be managed remotely, and content to be downloaded without a service visit. In many respects, the system required for the operation of a distributed machine network that uses retail locations has as much in common with a traditional lottery system as it does with a casino management system.

Q:        Tell us about why Svenska Spel selected SPIELO’s WinWave. 

V. Duarte:       As I’ve said in the past, Svenska Spel is one of the most innovative lotteries in the world. Years ago, they contributed to the design of the original WinWave. They gave us ideas, told us what features and qualities they were looking for, and gave us feedback during the design process. We then took that knowledge and talked with other WLA customers who also ran distributed gaming programs, and we got their feedback. Based on the collective stakeholder analysis, we were able to come out with a cabinet that had the design qualities, features, and functionality that met our customers’ needs. Svenska Spel initiated a lot of great ideas, but the end result reflects a consensus among all of our customers. Thanks to that partnership, the product we developed is tailored to fit players’ and operators’ needs in socially responsible distributed gaming networks. We’ve now developed the second generation of the WinWave -- the WinWave Vu. This new product includes enhancements like programmable button boards, dual wide-screen LCDs, and other features that didn’t exist in the original design. There’s another product I mentioned earlier, called the INTELLIGEN Central Video System, which is our next generation central system, and it launches this year. We’ve been working on INTELLIGEN for a couple of years now. It’s our answer to operators’ needs for server-based gaming in a distributed environment, and we’re very excited about it. We expect INTELLIGEN to go live this summer with Svenska Spel. We’ll make some other launches as well this year, but the main ones are the prodiGi Vu and the WinWave Vu cabinets, and the INTELLIGEN system. These new products contain functionality that’s genuinely unique to the industry, and we know our customers are going to be very excited about them when they see them up and running.

Q:        Do you feel that SPIELO is really dedicated to providing a truly open platform to enable the operator to have maximum flexibility to implement ancillary technologies and software and games from other suppliers?

V. Duarte:       We’re fully committed to open standards. Our customers are asking for it, we believe in it, and we are an active member of the GSA. We see the benefits and the importance of it from our end, as well as from the operator side. As an example of our commitment, we’ve implemented G2S on INTELLIGEN, and we look forward to working within the GSA to promote extensions to the protocol – extensions that will meet the needs of our governmental and distributed gaming customers. In addition, as part of GTECH, SPIELO is really focused on the interoperability of all GTECH’s systems. By interoperability, I’m referring to the ability to connect the many best-of-breed products in GTECH’s portfolio and leverage certain common components where a unified approach adds value. Interoperability also means enabling different transaction types across various points of access -- for example, completing a lottery transaction on a VLT, or advertising the Power Ball jackpot on the second screen of a VLT. Of course, we continue to develop end-to-end gaming solutions, which have great value to many customers, but we maintain open standards to give our customers the ability to integrate third-party technologies that meet their individual needs and objectives.

Q:  What else?

V. Duarte:       Just that we’ve never been more excited about our product lineup. In spite of a challenging economy, 2009 should be a great year for SPIELO.