Scientific Games Managing Director for Asia, Ken Jolly, says a Japanese casino industry would spark a new technological revolution for slot machine and gaming product manufacturers – particularly if left unrestricted.
“We believe Japan has a great future in terms of the technology that will come through in the industry,” Jolly (second from left) said. “But we saw in Singapore, when you only have two casinos it limits the amount of product. Only 4,000 machines in the market (excluding ETGs) made it difficult for manufacturers to continue to develop new technology.”
Speaking at this week’s Japan Gaming Congress in Tokyo, Jolly said the scale and unique nature of the Japanese casino market – estimated to be worth as much as US$40 billion annually – would inevitably see leading manufacturers such as Scientific Games push the boundaries.
“While a lot of people in Japan travel – in fact the fourth largest Macau visitation group by nationality is from Japan – there are still a lot of players who are used to pachinko and pachislots, so elements seen in pachinko halls will be included in our offerings in Japan,” he said.
“Right now we’re investigating and learning about the current pachinko market, but we’ll adapt line and denomination concepts according to market forces. It will be trial and error early on, no one really knows what will work.”
While innovation would be largely focused on providing game options that appealed specifically to local players, Jolly believes casino management systems could also see major advancements made in regards to responsible gambling and harm minimization.
“By the time casino doors open in Japan we could have even more advanced harm minimization functionalities such as tracking back to ID cards, enhanced information displays for players – even recommending voluntary exclusion could be done in the system,” he explained.
“We are always developing new functionality. By the time we get there, data science will be a big thing. We will also see improved loyalty and business intelligence functions.
“Typically players have been rewarded in groups, but individual players could be identified and rewarded too. It could be tied in to the host management system. Players could enter the casino and local Japanese hosts could immediately know.
“This could have good harm minimization outcomes — a local Japanese host could approach players as soon as they walk into the casino.”
