Summer is here and with it come a raft of depressing headlines - particularly in the UK, concerning the "credit crunch" and the "housing crisis". In the coin-operated amusement business we know only too well that times have been hard for some time now. This month UK operator Gamestec secured new financing, following a couple of very difficult years for the management team, as they fought the twin perils of the UK smoking ban and the highly unhelpful gaming act. This follows the news that another leading UK operator is pulling out of the UK single site business altogether.

Astra Games, part of the Novomatic Group of Companies, has acted decisively to bring an additional international flavour to its Bridgend, South Wales, facility with the appointment (effective immediately) of South African national Zane Mersich as Managing Director.

Ritzio International has acquired new gaming locations in Croatia. As a result of the transaction, the company has added sixteen new clubs in Zagreb and the other urban areas to the fifteen venues Ritzio has been operating in Croatia.

Clarion Gaming has announced major changes to the 2009 January Shows which will see the entire ground floor of both Earls Court 1 and 2 re-branded as the ‘International Gaming Expo'.

Axel Herr left Bally Wulff Entertainment at the end of May by mutual agreement. With immediate effect, the management of the company will be taken over by Tim Wittenbecher, Sascha Blodau and Wolfram Seifert.

Project has appointed Dave Hawkins to the post of Production Controller, working out of the company's London head office. Hawkins, who joins from the automotive industry, is responsible for co-ordinating the entire build process from receipt of the sales order to shipping the completed game for delivery.

IGT-UK has announced that it has acquired Manchester-based mobile gaming company Million-2-1. The acquisition cements the strategic relationship developed between the two companies over the past two years, and marks IGT-UK's entry into the mobile gaming market.

The Austrian online bookmaker Bet-at-home has become the first company from the gaming sector to be quoted on the Polish stock exchange. Bet-at-home is one of several online betting sites serving Poland and has around 400,000 customers signed up. This is around 40 per cent of its overall player base - making Poland its single most important market.

The proposal by InterGame publishing to launch a coin-op exhibition to run during the same week as ATEI brought a robust response from organisers Clarion Gaming. Although not totally surprised by the announcement, chief executive Peter Rusbridge believes that it is being seen by many in the industry as an unwarranted and potentially divisive move.

Mecca Bingo has announced its commitment to providing increased customer choice and amenities by trialling a range of new coin operated games and amusements within its national chain of bingo clubs.

Hot on the heels of the hugely successful Fast Soccer and Fast Rugby, SAM has launched national and sector themed air hockey machines.

Global VR has announced that it has made two appointments to fill the positions of President and Chairman of the Board vacated by former company head Jim DeRose. Company veteran Ken Bayer, will assume the leadership position of company president, while continuing his current role as Executive Vice President, Operations. Additionally, Patrick Imeson, Managing Director of Global VR's financial backer, Black Diamond Financial Group, LLC, will assume the responsibility of Chairman of the Board.

3M has appointed Fernando Fandiño Oliver as Sales Manager - Spain and Portugal. Fandiño Oliver will be responsible for day-to-day account management of existing and prospective customers in the gaming, banking and finance, and industrial markets.

Magic Dreams has launched new products for the Comma 6a Italian market. "The Italian street market was in a stand-by position since several months and finally the government approval has come," explained general manager Luca Gerardini. "We are now delivering machines for the hundreds of orders received for Color Slot and our newest Comma 6a machines."

Chris and Diane Eborall of Sound Leisure celebrated personal goals in completing their 1000th Nostalgia cabinet last week. Chris and Diane have worked as part of the Sound Leisure Woodworking team in excess of 20 years each are now also joined in the department by their nephew, Jason.  

SAM Leisure celebrated completing a successful first year under its new management structure this Spring. Despite the difficulties in the coin-op market caused by the smoking ban, and general economic uncertainty, SAM was able to trade profitably and consolidate its position. The company has just announced it has been able to secure a new, long lease on its Coventry premises and is currently negotiating to purchase the freehold.

Soundnet and Sound Leisure are reporting a good response to their attendance of the second Forum de l'Automatique, which took place at Espace Charenton, Paris in April

Games Media has appointed Peter Collinge as Operations Director with effect from the June 16.

This year's Hot Games Show 2008 will take place from 31 October - 2 November at the Kaohsiung Business Exhibition Center in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan.

Afew days from the start of ProGameShow 2008 and bookings for stands are nearly sold out. More than any other similar event, the Professional Game Show represents the state of the art in a complex and changing sector. People who matter and intend to matter in the gaming world already know that taking part at the ProGameShow is a firm date in the calendar for the current year.

Hollywood is focusing on the power of video games in recreation history. Popular leading man Leonardo DiCaprio has signed on to play arcade game legend and Atari Corp. founder Nolan Bushnell in a new biographical movie called Atari.

The National Dart Association (NDA) held its annual Team Dart International Championship at the Riviera Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas from April 18 through 26. The event attracted 14,000 international soft-tip dart players, representing Germany, France, Spain, Canada, Austria and the U.S.

Brunswick Bowling & Billiards and Pinnacle Entertainment Advisors have created a strategic partnership for new and existing bowling centers. Pinnacle will assist Brunswick in creating state-of-the-art game rooms and other family entertainment attractions for their venues. Company executives believe that bowling centers are evolving into the latest version of Family Entertainment Centers (FECs), with bowling as one of many activities.

Elected officials in Munroe Falls, Ohio have unanimously renewed a one-year ban on new applications for amusement arcades. The ban, which will run through early August 2009, prohibits gaming arcades "of any and all types" from operating.

The National Automatic Merchandising Association (NAMA) will evaluate how to protect the industry from a recent federal court decision. NAMA is the national trade association of the food and refreshment vending, coffee service and food service management industries. Many amusement companies also operate vending equipment.

During his term as Taipei City mayor, the former President of Taiwan - Chen Shui Bian cracked down on electronic games, causing positive and negative feedbacks from the public.  Now will games make a comeback?  The Taipei City Government passed the Electronic Game Locations Autonomous Regulation.

Yamay Recreation World has signed a letter of intent with one of the world's top five casino groups to build a resort-based casino. Reserving a land spanning 100 hectares, Yamay Recreation World will file its application as soon as the Gambling Law is approved in an attempt to seize the gaming market.  According to Yamay's plan, the 100-hectare plot will accommodate an international sports arena area (for horse racing and car racing), a "happy shopping" street and more than two resorts to provide 1,200 rooms in total.  One resort will have 120 rooms and Yamay will soon apply for its construction.  The construction is slated to begin in the third quarter of 2008.

Organised by the American Gaming Association (AGA) and Reed Exhibitions, G2E Asia 2008 took place at the Venetian Macao on June 4-5. The event represented close to 180 exhibitors mainly from Macau and other Asian countries. Among them were IGT, Bally, Aristocrat, Elixiru, Aflastreet and Casino Technology.

Czech Republic

In the Czech Republic, the growth of machine gaming and the rise of electronic gaming machines (VLT's) have prompted a comprehensive overhaul of gambling legislation, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2008. Ernst&Young has been contracted by the Ministry of Finance to hold a public consultation on all gambling regulation to be completed by 18 July so as to enable the firm to propose new gambling regulation to the Minister of Finance.

FIVE MONTHS after the Kiroljokoa, Ekasa and Garaipen companies were awarded the only three licences and the systems, betting machines and premises, the Basque Government's Department of Gaming and Entertainment has not yet approved the systems for them to start offering their stakes to those who are interested.

Andemar-Catalonia is an association which defends the interests of private gaming in Catalonia and in particular those of the amusement sector. This year marks the 25th anniversary of its foundation.

Hyperlink is the Acumulado (progressive jackpot) system for arcades designed by IPS (Informatica Programas Serveis). It has the largest number of interconnected machines in the country, with more than 700 units spread over more than 90 arcades. It seems like only yesterday and yet a year has already passed since the Adeslink company took the decision to launch the Primer Acumulado in the arcades in Spain. At that time this was a bold gamble for a gaming system that had never been tried before in our country.

IN parallel with the increase in its capital, ILD has formed the management company ILD Spain, which will have its head office in Tokyo. The British investment fund company Development Capital Management (DCM) has underwritten an increase in capital amounting to 40 million euros in International Leisure Development (ILD), the development consortium behind the Gran Scala leisure and gaming complex , which is planned to be built in the Los Monegros region of Aragon in Spain.

This company, which specialises in providing financial solutions for businesses and businessmen within the gaming sector, has its headquarters in Germany and has a direct presence in various countries with branches that operate autonomously, in each case applying the criteria that are most suitable for each market.

AN HISTORICAL Review of public gaming from the unification of Italy to the present. This has been an initiative started with the cooperation of the following bodies: Salerno University (Department  of historical and social sciences in the Faculty of training sciences); of Naples University (Faculty of training sciences); Fit (Italian Federation of tobacconists); the International watchdog on gaming; Sts (Association of sports Totoricevitori).

AMYC is celebrating its 20th anniversary achieving in all these years to meet customer's needs and managing to rise to market demand.

FOR ALMOST 20 years, Cummins Allison has remained leading manufacturer and supplier of cash-handling solutions to the coin-op industry. The introduction of its Jetsort coin-sorter revolutionised the coin processing of numerous arcades - fast, accurate, and extremely user-friendly, it has become the industry standard when it comes to sorting and counting coin.

COMESTERO GROUP has celebrated the memorable goal of one million RM5 coin validators sold all over the world.   

THE LATEST Coin Recycler and Maxi Cash Recycler products from GeWeTe provide improved cash handling facilities for arcades and casinos alike. The elegant machines are finished in a distinctive silver metallic housing and the modular structure assures the durability and high quality demanded from the cash handling sector. There is a range of banknote acceptors available on the machines and the number of hoppers can be adjusted to customer requirements.

THE DEMANDS of gaming manufacturers are straightforward. They want the highest levels of security, reliability and performance from coin validators and hoppers, at the best market price they can achieve. They want compatibility and interchangeability.

ASTROSYSTEMS LTD., the European division of currency validation specialist Astrosys International Ltd, continues to make successful inroads with the GBA ST1 bank note validator. Its modular architecture and secure cashbox design are proving to be key talking points. The ability to dis-assemble the unit and then re-assemble it within 30 seconds has been a winner with service technicians, as has the ability to re-configure the GBA ST1 from upstacker to downstacker operation with only the change of the front fascia.

ARDAC ELITE, Money Controls' revolutionary bill acceptor, sets new standards for performance, reliability and user-friendliness. Originally designed to meet the exacting demands of the casino market, Ardac Elite is proving increasingly popular with manufacturers and operators in the amusement sector. And it's easy to see why: it consistently delivers over 97% first-time acceptance of street-grade bills; it has the highest level of fraud detection; and, with minimal or no maintenance required, it gives maximum in-service availability.

CHANGING MARKETS require products that can adapt and offer new solutions to customers. This is exactly where the Cashflow 7900 fits in. With its roots in the vending industry (dispensing food and drinks), this five-tube changer can boast sales of over one million units.

THE CASHFLOW SC banknote reader has set new standards in banknote reader technology. The unique design provides a host of advantages and explains why operators around the world are turning to the SC for their banknote reader solution. The ability to accept all types of true notes (thus old and worn as well) with an excellent first type acceptance rate, along with very little to zero maintenance requirements., underlines the excellent quality offered.

THE MEI solution for note acceptance and payout in one single unit. This modular unit allows four notes to be stored for recycling. In the market for note payout the BNR offers a unique advantage. With the loader feature up to 300 notes can be stored for recycling, thus avoiding note starvation, a major potential shortcoming in this market. The total number of notes that can be recycled is 460 with a cashbox that can hold up to 600 notes.

THIS STACKERLESS banknote reader has been designed to set new standards. In the market for the compact, market-entry banknote reader market. Cost of ownership is key in this market sector and operators will soon see the value of choosing the GEO that perfectly fits their needs. With products in this market sector often coming under threat of attack, the added security of the GEO is designed to give operators peace of mind.

THIS 5" coin validator is valued as the best-in-class acceptor. The Advanced processor makes it future-proof and so allowing an automatic security algorithm. This ensures market-leading security against fraud coins. Time and time again the CF9500e acceptor has proven its quality in the market place, being the preferred choice in the market. Synot in the Czech Republic is the latest example of a customer specifying the CF9500e acceptor on all future products.

Cube Hopper MK2

This coin payout hopper has been designed to the highest standards for reliability and has thus become the standard choice amongst many manufacturers in the industry. The Cube Hopper MK2 is compact in design and has a continuous opto-sensor check for ultimate security. Thus, it can be used in a whole range of applications - gaming, change, parking and vending. The standard 450 coin capacity can be increased to up to 1200 via 2 additional extensions.

FOR MORE than 80 years the family-owned company wh Münzprüfer Berlin GmbH offers electronic and mechanical coin selector equipment to the international market.

CMI's MCT line has two product ranges. One Product range is a combination of network technology (creating a cashless system) combined with a change machine (pay-in/pay-out terminal). The second product range is a high-speed coin/bill recycling system (MCT 300,MCT 400, MCT 500 MCT 600). The aim of these products is an efficient , secured and quick money circulation on the floor.

Sega Rally is one of the best known and most loved driving franchises in the video game market. It's hardly surprising therefore that, after almost a decade since the last title in the series was released, there is a buzz of excitement in the industry surrounding the launch of Sega Rally 3.