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There has been a surge in internet casinos. Are you worried that these could eat into gaming industry business at some point? 

There was a mad rush a few years ago. I think there’s a very big social aspect to playing in a casino as distinct from playing in the internet. That barrier will always prevent the internet from overtaking what we do. Internet is a separate market; it’s a very different market. Certain games play well on the internet. Others such as slot and table games don’t do well on the internet. But the social aspect is the big differentiator. 

Besides slot machines, you are also into casino systems business. How are the two interlinked? 

The core functionality of the systems for the casino is the accounting and the marketing programmes, where there is player loyalty like in an airline. We now have a technology called the iView, which is effectively an interface through the systems to the player. 

So things like your favourite drinks are kept in the records and when you sign in, it would ask, “Hello, Smith would you like gin?” And if you hit yes, someone would bring you a drink. And if there are five or six different manufacturers’ games on the floor, a system enables you to link them all together. So, systems has become very important for the casino. 

Can you give an overview of how gaming technology is evolving? 

Systems had always been separate from gaming. What technology is doing is moving them closer together. So, through systems you will be able to add functionality and flexibility to the games that people have otherwise played on standalone machines. In short, it’s getting networked. 

Both. At the moment it’s 80% systems, but we are starting to build the games team. We will be doing more and more of the games here. Our very first game out of the India studios we showed at the international casino exhibition two weeks ago in London. It’s a huge breakthrough for us and it was very well received. 

Do you see India emerging as a big market for you in future? 

I would hope so. But I don’t see it in the short term. At the moment, Goa has a couple of ships but they aren’t regulated. The ships are actually being fitted out offshore. So, when they arrive in India, there will be no business for anyone doing business in India except for people wanting to go and gamble there. Which is a pity. 
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