Namco Europe Limited has underlined its intentions to expand into new business sectors adding British Kiddie Rides specialist Amutec to the existing business. The deal comprises the purchase of the Amutec name and a 10,000 square-foot manufacturing facility in Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire, together with expansive assets.
Namco Europe Managing Director, John McKenzie explained: “This strong brand complements our existing range of activities and it is our aim to add value and support to the Amutec marque, re-establishing it as a market-leading innovator within the highly competitive kiddie ride sector.“ He continued: “The business at Mablethorpe will once again develop new rides and products, facilitate the refurbishment of rides and continue ADIPS testing, whilst full spares support will be offered by west London-based Brent Electronic.”
The purchase was pre-empted in early January with Namco Europe creating a new Kiddie Rides division, headed by General Manager Chris Bell, whose 25 years’ amusement industry experience includes 20 working in the kiddie rides sector, eight of which were spent as consultant and Sales Manager with Amutec.
Chris Bell added: “The response to our new kiddie ride range at ATEI was phenomenal, adding an extra dimension to the Namco offering. The fresh impetus and professional business planning now being implemented will, I am certain, help restore the highest regard for the Amutec brand, as well as bringing many new opportunities to Namco’s other product sectors.”

That’s the message from Money Controls srl ahead of this month’s Enada Primavera in Rimini. They are stressing both the suitability of their products for the Italian market and the highest level of customer response from their Milan service centre.

Money Controls has the largest selection of hoppers in the industry, and two, the Compact Range and the Combi Hopper System, feature strongly on the company’s stand. Both are ideal for use in Comma 6A machines, meeting all the technical requirements of the new regulation, whilst providing field-proven reliability and security.

With fast payout, in ‘single’ or ‘stream’ mode, a small footprint and a range of bowl options, the Compact hopper range provides a solution whatever the application. As a result, over one million have been supplied worldwide.
Developed to meet the requirements of the Italian AWP market, the Combi Hopper system features a low float, high security and fast payout of €2, €1 and €50c coins from just two hoppers, with no hunting for coins. Launched two years ago, it has already been integrated into machines by major software houses in Italy. It is now available with a high-capacity bowl, making it the ideal solution for handling the increased jackpots in Italy.

The Money Controls’ stand features several other products from the company’s extensive portfolio, including: PayLink, their USB integration module, the SR5i and SR3 coin acceptors, and the Ardac Elite and Lumina bill validators, for the casino and amusement markets, respectively.

Stephan Rosseneu, Western European Sales Manager, based in the company’s Milan office, is looking forward to welcoming new and existing customers to the Money Controls’ stand and show them not just the company’s products but also their enhanced customer service: “With the opening last year of our new centre in Milan, I believe we now deliver the best possible customer response, with full service capability and next-day delivery. Whether you’re an operator or OEM, we’d be delighted to discuss your requirements. Please visit our stand, 005 in Padiglione A5. You will be made most welcome.”

TFT specialist and manufacturer Display Technology designed and manufactured custom 32" HIBRITE TFT solutions for Eurostar and the brand new opening of the Ebbsfleet International Fastrack railway station in Kent.

The displays offer excellent brightness, Contrast, and viewing angles and utilise Samsung's latest Digital Information Display (DID) technology with excellent brightness, super-wide viewing angles and amazing image clarity in a custom ruggedised housing, which is just what the Eurostar station required.  This combined with an industrial Single Board Computer (SBC) and Display Technology's high reliability Prisma II interface solution this solution was perfect and met the design spec. given to Display Technology.

Managing Director Chris Bartram commented "we are very proud to have delivered a high quality solution, to specification and on-time, despite extremely tight timescales. Plus to be involved with such an International brand is great."

Suzo Americas, with its headquarter in Buenos Aires, has been appointed as the official distributor in Argentina of Ardac Elite, Money Controls’ revolutionary bill and ticket acceptor. This agreement is further evidence of the Ardac Elite’s continuing success with OEMs and casino operators.
Signing the agreement on behalf of Money Controls, Aquiles Mila de la Roca, Director of Sales for Latin America, said: “With their experience, technical support and logistics capability, Suzo Americas is the leading distributor in the Latin America gaming market. Our new alliance with such a strong and reputable partner will enhance awareness of Ardac Elite and enable it to make further inroads in casinos in Argentina.”
Jens Peiler, Suzo Americas’ General Manager, said: “We are delighted with this new relationship with Money Controls. Having seen the success Ardac Elite has enjoyed, first in casinos across Europe and now in Latin America, we are excited at the sales opportunities for Ardac Elite in Argentina.
“Casino operators have been asking us about Ardac Elite, having read of its outstanding performance, particularly its high acceptance rate and fraud rejection. Many have been keen to replace their underperforming bill and ticket acceptors with Ardac Elite. Now that we have switched to Ardac Elite, we can satisfy these requests.”
Ardac Elite’s performance is a result of its advanced image capture and data processing technology that monitors 200,000 data points for every bill and barcode ticket inserted. And it’s this technology that enables a full-colour image of the last-note inserted to be displayed on a PDA. Now, disputes can be resolved in seconds, with no need to remove the cashbox: all floor staff need do is connect a PDA to the USB socket on the front of the Ardac Elite for instant proof of what note was inserted last.
The increasing popularity of TITO operations makes Ardac Elite’s latest feature, 4-way barcode reading, a surefire winner with operators in Argentina. With this new option, customers are no longer frustrated by tickets being rejected — whichever way a ticket is inserted, Ardac Elite reads it.

Concerned about counterfeits but still want to use real coins or colourful tokens?

Digitall Coin Ltd officially launched at ATEI and ICE a new range of products specifically designed for the gaming market. The FreeFall® Coin and Token Acceptor family. This product family is based on a unique proprietary patented laser technology, consists of a 3,5 inch and 5,0 inch devices and is one of the fastest, safest and most precise coin and token detector against counterfeit and frauds in the market. Its specific design reduces the dirt deposition and the need for cleaning. The coin path makes the coin completely “free to fall” into its final destination. FreeFall®, thanks to its design, can really read up to 10 coins per second and provides anti fishing protocol too. "We believe that we are bringing to the Gaming market a technological “quantum leap” toward safety.

For more information please view the companies website:-