Leader in France for bulk vending for toys, gums and novelties, Eurogift will be showcasing its latest and most innovative products at ATEI. Eurogift will be showing many new products catering to different styles of machines with or without licenses. Licensed products first : « With Hello Kitty and Ben 10, it’s going to be another craze. » said Laurent Morice, Eurogift owner.

Now the company is the official dealer for UK for all Bandai machines and toys. The other super sellers are Punch balls with Cars licence and Spiderman, Tweety, Winnie always top ranking. For other non licensed products, Eurogift is as always focusing on hot new items with high quality in mind. For example, « Ugly Stickies » a really gross mix with surprisingly real looking items : a rat, some glow in the dark eyes, a toad and some poo. Another item being shown is « Dreamcatcher » the native indian jewel now available in 49*57 mm capsules.

Many more new items will be shown at ATEI. Eurogift will be located at stand 2510. More information, please contact David Merle. David@eurogift.fr  . www.eurogift.fr/en

Gaming and Amusement markets have always been key markets for NRI, particularly for the electronic coin validators G-13 and G-40. For example, NRI has sold over one million G-13’s, thus being the industry standard for a 3½² electronic coin validator. Indeed, NRI was the first company that introduced such a product to the market. The G-40 continues to be the preferred coin validator, especially in AWP games in Germany.

In 2007, NRI introduced a completely new product range, called currenza. The focus is on the vending market, with the introduction of the c² coin changer and clip contactless payment system. 2008 will see the focus on amusement and gaming. NRI will be introducing two completely new products at the January exhibitions in Düsseldorf and London. These are called f² and h².

Casino operators will soon be able to benefit more from NRI technology. The G-13 has always offered multi-coin acceptance with high security and in particular can be found in German and Danish casino slots. The challenge has been to combine this technology with very high coin acceptance – up to 10 coins per second. This feat has been achieved - the result is the f² -  a freefall multi-coin electronic coin validator. Carles Aleixandre, NRI’s Sales and Marketing Director states, “Although similar products exist on the market, our customers have been requesting the f² - to fill the gap in the market of real product quality and high speed. We expect great things of the f²”.

The second major product introduction is the h² - a coin payout hopper. Aleixandre continues, “Product quality is key to our company philosophy. Customers trust NRI products. Therefore, it was natural for the NRI team to bring a hopper to the market that is designed and built by ourselves. The h² hopper series offers a whole range of features in the trusted NRI label”. Now let’s look at what the h² offers. The h² hopper can be classified as secure, compact, flexible and simple to integrate. h² is a multi-coin hopper with the ability to pay out up to 8 coins a second. The modular design allows cleaning and disassembly without the need for any special tools. Coin payout is secured via infrared sensor technology, ensuring high security against potential jams or fraudulent payout. Three different bowl sizes – marked as S, M and L allow a range of coin capacity depending on requirements and machine space availability. h² offers cctalk and parallel interfaces with 12V DC or 24V DC power consumption.  Aleixandre further comments, “The h² has been designed with backwards compatibility in mind for simple upgrading. The fact that the h² pays out to the last coin and offers a cascade payout function further highlights the confidence we have in this new product”.

Furthermore, NRI will be exhibiting the Payment Manager – a software program allowing the simple integration and management of NRI and CashCode products for PC-based machines.

The message from NRI is that together with CashCode the company can offer a whole range of products that can be simply embedded. With a strongly strengthened sales team (in 2007 four new sales managers joined NRI), NRI offers complete money-handling solutions to the gaming and amusement markets.

The whole NRI team looks forward to your visit at the January exhibitions.

Suzo-Happ Group today announced the acquisition of Dynamics Chinatec Industries (HK) Limited (“Chinatec”), a Zhuhai, China-based manufacturer of parts and components used in the gaming, amusement and transportation markets.  Chinatec is a long-time Suzo-Happ supplier that will now be part of the Suzo-Happ Group, a portfolio company of Pfingsten Partners, L.L.C.    The Chinatec acquisition provides Suzo-Happ with state-of-the-art Asian manufacturing capabilities, expanded engineering capabilities, and additional capacity to accommodate future growth.

Chinatec manufactures slot machine toppers, reel mechanisms, push button panels, front plate assemblies, sorters, PC boards, coin collection and dispensing systems for gaming and amusement machines, as well as transit fare collection devices.  Chinatec has over 200 employees at its ISO 9001-certified manufacturing facility in Zhuhai, China, and maintains sales and administration offices in Hong Kong and Hamburg, Germany.

Chinatec is the seventh company to become part of the Suzo-Happ Group’s strategic platform.   All seven companies combine to strengthened Suzo-Happ's position as the leading global supplier of amusement and gaming parts and accessories with over 30,000 SKUs, customers in 80 countries, and now more than 600 employees in 14 locations. Pfingsten Partners, a private equity firm with offices in Deerfield, Illinois and Hong Kong, is Suzo-Happ's majority shareholder.

“This transaction assures that we have a high-quality, cost effective manufacturing capability that enables us to service our customers even more effectively,” said Chuck Turnbull, President and CEO of Suzo-Happ Group.  “This is an important step in strengthening our control over our supply chain, maintaining our industry leadership, and enabling us to explore new opportunities for growth.”

“Suzo-Happ has been one of our primary customers for many years, so joining the Suzo-Happ family is a logical step that also positions Chinatec for significant growth,” said Rudi Meyer, Chinatec Director and co-owner of the company.  “We will now have direct access to Suzo-Happ’s administrative, organizational and strategic resources to help shape the company’s future direction.”

The Chinatec transaction closed on October 31.

‘Breaking The ICE’, the official party for ICEi 2008, will take place at Chelsea’s Bluebird Bar, 350 Kings Road, London on the evening of Tuesday, January 22^nd, show organisers have announced.

 Clarion Gaming’s Events Co-ordinator, Daniel Wiseman enthused: “ICEi’s successful launch in January 2007, saw a sell out event with remote gaming revellers partying until the early hours. Given the exclusivity of the venue and size, Bluebird was thought most appropriate to host this calibre and number of guests.  The Chelsea venue combines sophisticated design with warm colours and subtle lighting to create a relaxed environment. The Bluebird provides the perfect backdrop for an industry that places a significant value on networking and parties.”

 Tickets for the party, restricted to 750, cost £45 and promise a free bar until late. Head of Exhibitions, Karen Cooke concluded: “‘Breaking The ICE’ promises to build on the impressive success and profile of the 2007 ICEi party. We see the event as a real extension of the ICEi 2007 show floor at a location perfectly resonant with ICEi’s unique personality.”

 Sponsorship packages for ‘Breaking The ICE’ are also available and include a complimentary ticket allocation, advertisement in the official ICEi show catalogue, company logo and description on show website, branding on all event marketing literature and tickets, as well as branding and signage at the event.

For almost 30 years Merit Entertainment has been known for products and innovations that create an unequalled buzz in the casual gaming industry. At the 2007 AMOA Show, Merit lived up to its reputation. Two new products seized the operators’ attention and generated wild excitement – the Megatouch Entertainer, which combines music and games into one Wallette unit; and the Megatouch Firefly, Merit’s portable, wireless, handheld entertainment system (available in 2008).

 "Our company is excited and optimistic about the new suite of Merit products unveiled at the AMOA Show,” stated Tom Green of Blackhawk Music Co.  “The new Entertainer and portable Firefly have many interesting possibilities for previously untapped locations. We look to Merit to consistently think outside the box and bring new and innovative products to the market."

 Megatouch Entertainer

The Entertainer brings nearly 500,000 songs from the AMI network to the Wallette’s 17-inch form factor. No secondary jukebox is required to play music, as every Entertainer links directly to the AMI network and plays its own streaming songs. Additionally, being a Megatouch ION, players will also enjoy access to all of the latest 2008 games, right on the same system. This means that the Entertainer will reach casual gamers as well as music fans, instantly doubling the customer base.

 The audio configuration of the Entertainer is ideal for booth or intimate playback environments, making it possible for operators to put many units in one location to multiply their earnings. The unit sports an improved out-of-the-box sound system, which makes the music crisp and clean. Music levels can be changed on-screen with new player-adjustable volume controls, while the operator can set a maximum and minimum volume range for the system. This ensures that the music from one booth doesn’t overwhelm music from the next, or infringe upon other patrons.

 Merit also offers a Premium Sound System option for the Entertainer, which enables even louder audio than the out-of-the-box system. The Premium Sound upgrade kit mounts easily to the underside of the cabinet, and extends the Entertainer’s audio reach to include cafeterias, offices, schools, or other single-room settings, where a jukebox might be overkill. What’s more, there’s an audio output so an operator can use their own amp or speakers to tailor the Entertainer to fit specific location needs.

 Like all IONs, the Entertainer has built-in wireless networking, so there is no need to run any extra cables. Once a wireless router is set up, the Entertainer is ready to go. It’s fully compatible with the AMI broadband network, so it supports the entire AMI library and all the features that operators have come to expect from AMI.

 Megatouch Firefly

Gigantic buzz surrounded the introduction of the new Megatouch Firefly, Merit’s lightweight entertainment system that can be handheld, arm-cradled, or simply rested on a tabletop. Designed to move as easily as a laptop, this portable, wireless device will open up entirely new ways for operators to generate revenue, as it can be taken to places where current systems can only dream of going.

 Various built-in security advances will ensure that the Firefly is only enabled within a specified area, and the device will alert the location when taken off premises. The Firefly has a long battery life and its base station can charge up to five devices at one time.

 Additionally, the Firefly will contain all of Merit’s games and have the ability to play music. The simple addition of headphones will allow playback of all the music from the AMI library, and the unit can remotely control AMI or TouchTunes jukeboxes.

 “At Merit, we’re always looking for new ways to improve our operators’ ROI and help them grow,” said Colin Higbie, Merit’s Director of Marketing. “With that in mind, innovation is the key. We designed the Entertainer and the Firefly to expand the entire market.”

 For almost 30 years, Merit has ensured long-term return on investment for operators by providing continually high-earning equipment along with updates and upgrades for its products. With an installed base of over 250,000 touch-screen games garnering nearly 4.6 billion plays per year, Merit Entertainment is the worldwide leader in touch-screen entertainment devices. Merit Entertainment products appear globally in a wide array of venues and appeal to an almost limitless demographic. Merit continues to expand its position in the industry with ever-increasing entertainment, content, and new games. The company maintains a Web site with all the latest information at www.meritgames.com