Crown Technologies, the successor company to Bergmann Automaten, has positioned itself as a provider of high-end products in the German gambling machine market. In Hamburg the company underlined its claim by staging a glittering premiere for the most elaborate multigambler ever seen in Germany, the Admiral Crown.

JayBox has announced a trade-in offer worth £300 to operators, which will run until the 16th January 2008. The trade-in is offered on Superstars CD boxes and is limited to the first 50 confirmed orders.

Kick the Fish has been voted Game of the Year 2008 by players of Photo Play SYSTEM 2008. “The game ranks amongst on the top in all national and international games statistics,” said Norbert Langer, Funworld’s head of marketing and sales, who is quite pleased with this development. “

JPM has announced that two of its most popular SWP licences, Hangman and Battleships, can now be found at The Sun Online – the web portal of the UK’s most popular daily tabloid newspaper.

Danoptra Holdings Ltd, a leading player in the UK gaming and amusement machines sector and parent company of Gamestec Leisure Limited and Bell-Fruit Group, has announced the appointment of Nick Hawkins as Director of Legal Services.

Ireland's Minister for Justice, Brian Lenihan, has stated that the report from the Casino Regulation Committee will be presented to the Cabinet in the near future. The Cabinet is likely to ask a Dáil (Parliamentary) Select Committee to consider the report before deciding what type of regulations to introduce. In addition to dealing with casinos, it is also possible that the new regulations could deal with AWP style gaming machines.

Matahari Studios, a software division of LAI Games, has won an Indonesian ICT Award in the Entertainment- Game Category. The Indonesian ICT Awards 2007 is a national event, organized by the information and technology community supported by the Indonesian Communication and Information Department. As the award winner, Matahari Studios represented Indonesian Game Developers at the 7th international Asian Pacific ICTA Awards in Singapore.

Astra Games has opened a new state of the art factory and office building in Bridgend, South Wales. Located on the Bridgend Industrial Estate, half a mile from Astra’s previous production facilities, the new development covers an 80,000 square foot area.

IMA 2008 will be even bigger this year, according to the organiser. “This is due due not only to the new location and the new version of the German Gambling Ordinance passed last year but also to the broadening of the range of products and services offered at IMA as well as to the fact that we could win new exhibitors from both Germany and abroad,” said IMA Director Petra Lassahn at an international trade press conference in Düsseldorf.

Innocore Gaming Ltd (formerly Densitron Gaming) announced that results far exceeded expectations during the company's recent attendance at the Global Gaming Expo. The rebranding the company unveiled showed a powerful new image for the company to propel it into its second decade supplying high technology to the gaming industry. Edward Price, Innocore Managing Director, said “We received very positive comments across the board on the new brand image and along with the preview of six new DPX boards, based around the latest Intel chipsets, firmly stamp our position as one of the World’s leaders in providing hardware to the Gaming industry.”

Display Technology has studied the digital signage market very closely. Many of the solutions tend to be based around client PCs, addressing many of the high end segments of the digital signage market. But 90% of all advertising is achieved via paper posters and this mass market does not lend itself to client PC solutions (due to high power consumption and the environmental implications that come with that, expensive installation, permanent administration, licence and update costs as well as complex user software etc.).

Games Media has secured a licence from New Line Cinema to develop pay-to-play games based on the movie The Golden Compass. The first of these to be released is ‘The Golden Compass’ SWP game which was released to the company’s IND:E estate last month, just in time for the UK debut of the expected holiday blockbuster on December 7th.

From coin acceptance, coin payout and bill acceptance to payment integration, Money Controls has it covered, with one of the most comprehensive portfolio of payment products for the amusement industry. And all of these products will be on display at this month’s IMA show in Düsseldorf. Money Controls has an enviable reputation in the amusement sector, gained by working closely with machine manufacturers for over forty years.

Sega is reporting amazing income test results for its UFO Catcher skill-based prize machine. The Sega UFO Catcher with its blend of skill, prize values of up to £50 and a price per play of up to £1 has caused cash box takings to rocket, according to company sources, who claim a cash box average in excess of £2000 per week during a test at the prestigious Funland amusements in the Trocadero in London.

The Sound Leisure Group has signed a landmark deal with high street chain Timpson for the supply of innovative digital photography signage systems. This is the latest in a string of high profile projects completed by Sound Leisure Retail, Sound Leisure and its sister company Team Vacform for a number of high-profile clients, including Vodafone, Nokia, Burtons, Xscape and McDonalds in recent years.

Videobet, a world leader in server-supported gaming, is launching its new cutting-edge gaming terminal, the Midas. The Midas is a robust, slim, highly attractive dual-screen cabinet, ideal for wide range of gaming operations. The agronomic design is optimal for dual-screen gameplay, and suits both standing and sitting gameplay positions. The cabinet is equipped with the latest high-end peripherals, which can all be easily accessed for replacement and maintenance

Allstar Vending, will introduce its latest new flat vending item: scratch’n’sniff scented stickers. Entitled the “spice girls” this new collection matches images of pretty girls and names and images of popular scents and combines them with actual aromas producing an item never seen before by the bulk vending industry.