Big Game FISHING

ATRONIC strikes gold with an essentially Asian theme

Another ATRONIC linked gaming concept introduced into the Macau market in the final quarter of 2008 is FISHING FOR JACKPOTS™. The product—with its iconic animated lucky goldfish—has been diligently researched for the Greater China market using an existing game framework.

The strategy in this case is tap in to local entertainment and cultural preferences without in any way looking or feeling like some kind of reverse engineering.

“FISHING FOR JACKPOTS is a five-level progressive jackpot concept that has been carefully themed for the Asian market,” says Michael Kos, one of ATRONIC’s Product Marketing Managers.

Running deep

Anyone who has spent even a short amount of time in East Asia quickly becomes aware that goldfish are much more than a cheap, low maintenance version of a family pet in the way they tend to be in the West. In Asia, it’s not only the goldfish themselves, with their ‘lucky’ colouring in terms of attracting wealth and prosperity, but the calming nature of the water in which they swim that are widely felt to have a positive effect on the human mind.

Some feng shui practitioners regard even a painting of goldfish as having the same soothing effect as an actual goldfish tank. Chinese brush paintings of goldfish perfectly capture the lightness of the fins, the lines of the body, and the life force of the animal in a few simple strokes.

In Mandarin Chinese, there are two words that are spelt in English as ‘yú’. To the untrained foreign ear they can sound exactly the same, but one means ‘fish’ and the other means ‘bounty’ or ‘surplus’. Therefore goldfish became a symbol of surplus and wealth, and a gift of goldfish is considered by the giver and by the recipient as a blessing and as a wish for good luck.

The association of goldfish with good fortune is reinforced in Chinese legend. One tells of a period of drought ending when the world’s first goldfish jumped out of a well. Other Chinese myths have goldfish present at the beginning of time.

Cultural connection

We mention this at length because readers will understand by now that it’s no accident that ATRONIC chose its goldfish theme for FISHING FOR JACKPOTS. The act of fishing itself can be viewed by Chinese people as auspicious, further reinforcing the feel good factor for the player.

A memorable feature of the slot game is the way the game graphics have been set up on the bonus play. Animated lucky goldfish swim ‘upstream’ from the bottom of the screen toward the top, veering off to the right to navigate their way up channels of differing monetary value. The nearer the top of the screen the side channel, the greater the value of the bonus.

“We use goldfish as a symbol of good luck and surplus. All the on screen text is in Chinese to explain to players how the jackpots work,” states Mr Kos.

“We have five-level, predominantly lower value jackpots but the important thing is they can be hit frequently. It is fully configurable by the operator at all five levels,” he adds.

“We have a suite of standard base games that contain all their functionality, and then we have two additional bonus concepts which play for the jackpot. We have a line trigger and also a mystery trigger. Once the player gets into the bonus function they are guaranteed to win at least one level of the jackpot,” explains Mr Kos.