"We want to make sure that we continue being the best in games"

TJ Matthews also talked about the new trends for the gaming industry and made comments about the different markets in which the firm develops its activities.

Why do you think IGT is a worldwide leader? Which is the key of the success?

I think the industry is based in two things: games and technology. Our company has done that earlier than others, because we understood earlier the fundamental relationship between the gaming device and the player, and the fact of making an enjoyable experience. Besides, the point of sales, the art and all the things that are combined into a gaming machine, and then, making it unique enough and also offer extra proper protection. The firm is going to invest us$ 200 million this year in research and development to find new ideas to market the products, more than all the bigger competitors combined.

With regards to international markets, for example, we've done a very good job to become local in Argentina. And being local is an important point that requires an infraestructure and serious work. These are the sort of operations to get the products that the costumer needs, and I think that's a transformation that has been ongoing for a long time.

Which do you think is the new trend for the industry? In the latest ICE and G2E exhibitions, the company exhibited sb concept. Do you think that is the near future for slot machines?

Well, I think we have two key parts when we talk about slots: the game itself that is extraordinary important, but then you have this delivery mechanism as well, in order to see how you deliver the games to the casino.

That has previously been a machine only function, and I think you'll see more and more that functionality migrates from a machine terminal to this system. And so you see a lot of systems prepared to make a difference in the casino environment; things like cashless gaming combined with this system, large jackpots, progressive jackpots, etc. All of those suits are system-oriented. However, you will be able to agregate all that system funcionality to a single unit, so that you can centrally manage all those existing activities and then be able to add to the existing features, that may reach to an accorded player in terms of the marketing and the promotional aspects of it, so that you can bring more promotional options to the floor such as a tournament, a bonusing or a group play.

The idea is to provide particular menus to individual players that remark on their favourite machines, that can allow them to resume bonusing that were previously earned in other sections. All that kind of specific patron orientation, all those things are going to be accomodated with future networks. We put all that under the umbrella of server-based, and we are very excited about the idea of a floor that might migrate to more and more network functionality and see that is something that's been tested now. We're going to do functional test for the next twelve months or so. The idea is to start in October 2008 or the beginning of 2009, to see some of this network for floors, under what we call sb games.

It was recently announced an agreement with Pure Depth in terms of new displays for high-tech slots. What can you tell me about this deal?

Well, I think that with video, is very obvious how we can have kiosk services, basically what we call the sb window, so we can communicate directly with the player without interrupting the game play. When you take a look at the basically reel slot, it is certain how to accomplish that kind of communication. And so what PureDepth will allow us to do is electronically create a mechanical gaming device and to do so with video screens, so that we can have a sb windows openly.

Last year, the company also announced that it acquired some Novomatic intellectual property for multi-station games. Is that another field in which IGT is particulary interested? I mean, besides slot machines, try to gain market share in other fields?

Well, one of the strengths of IGT is that we are in every market and that we have this very broad product line that allows us to serve all the needs, or at least the game device environment for a casino operator. And one of the big missing pieces in that product line was multi-player station. You see, in markets like Argentina, Macau or some places in US that product is becoming more and more important, and we do something in a hurry to fulfil that need. So going to Novomatic and acquire technology from them was a right step to make. It is a good marriage, that allows us to reach new markets faster.

What is your vision about mobile gaming?

The big thing for us is that the global view of game distribution and game content is changing. It means you're going to see more and more thin-client distribution, as well as more mobile gaming opportunities not only in casinos but on the Internet, interactive television, mobile phones, PDAs or some other environments. It will be hard for individual countries and authorities to get comfortable with that kind of development, but it's really happening in other forms of consumer-related business. It is also happening in some point in the gaming environment and IGT looks to lead that technology. So we are committed to really all different distribution channels, and now it is this time to monitor in order to be ready for future opportunities.

What is your vision of Macau? Is it really the new Las Vegas for Asia? How important is that market for IGT

Well, I guess Macau is important for the industry, and it will be a very large market on its own. May be 50,000 machines will be required in Macau over the next four years. But we also see a gaming expansion to all parts of the world. Countries like Singapore, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, are part of this development we are talking about, so the entire parts of the world will represent a substancial net for gaming devices and so that's an important value, too.

How important is Latin America for IGT?

Latin America has become extraordinary important. There are lots of people and a lot of individual markets. We have been able to make sure that we are in each country, in its many different markets as possible, so that again we can be local in terms of the sales, offers and developments that we originate. There is, for example, a very well established market in Argentina that will continue to grow. We have new licenses that have been distributed in Chile, so for us it is a brand new market, as well as Mexico. We continue to operate in Colombia and Peru, and there are new markets we must pay attention to.

What is your vision of the company in ten years' time?

If you look at our leadership in games, we want to make sure that we continue being the best in games. And we want to make sure that we continue developing technology that accomodates players preferences and gives good results to operators. Part of the opportunities are that we will grow faster outside the US than inside the US, so we want to make sure that we create a global structure for the core operations as well as being stronger in other countries. The market is going to continue growing worldwide as well as the industry itself, so that will demand more IGT products, while we continue entering to new markets as well.