Bell-Fruit Games Ltd.
Leen Gate. Lenton. Nottingham.
NG7 2LX. England.
Tel: 44 (0)115 970 6707 Fax: 44 (0) 115 978 0963
contact@bellfruitgames.co.uk

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26/07/06

A BIG DEAL FOR BELL-FRUIT GAMES

Bell-Fruit Games is proud to announce the eagerly-awaited arrival of the top-performing AWP DEAL OR NO DEAL !

The DEAL OR NO DEAL TV gameshow has captured the imagination like no other, transcending popular culture and becoming the hottest property around.
Its success is due in no small part to the unusual and compelling format, including elements such as eliminating boxes, beating the banker, deciding whether to ‘Deal’ or ‘No Deal’ etc – all of which are replicated for the player in this exciting new AWP !
The game is enhanced by sounds and visuals from the show, with extras recorded especially for us by Noel Edmonds!

The DEAL OR NO DEAL AWP created a stir right from the start, producing exceptional test figures followed very quickly by full approvals, and now promises to be as big a star as the show itself!

06/07/06

PRESS RELEASE - Nova Productions fail in obtaining ECJ reference ahead of copyright judgment appeal

Nova have failed in their attempt to delay the Court of Appeal hearing in their dispute with the Bell-Fruit Group by having various matters referred to the European Court of Justice.

At a hearing before Lord Justices Jacob, Waller and Jonathan Parker on July 4th, the Court of Appeal concluded that there are no grounds for such reference at this stage and that costs of the application should be awarded in Bell-Fruit Group’s favour.

The appeal hearing will take place before the middle of February 2007.

BFG Managing Director, John Austin, commented: “I am delighted with this outcome as we feared the
appeal hearing could have been delayed by up to two years whilst an ECJ reference was sought.

06/02/06

IIIIIIIIINNNNNNN ONE !!!

The famous tones of legendary BULLSEYE commentator Tony Green could be heard on the Bell-Fruit stand at ATEI, as he visited along with the show’s creator Andrew Wood.
BFG has had fantastic success with the BULLSEYE brand across many market sectors, and has now acquired the licence for the long-awaited new series, set to air on Challenge TV in April. Yet to be announced is the name of the presenter; Tony was debating the possibility of taking on the role himself, but the smart money with the bookmakers is on Peter Kay – followed by the comeback kid Michael Barrymore …

06/02/06

HAPPY FRUITS JOINS HOT SLOTS ONLINE AT CYBERSLOTZ

We are delighted to announce that our famous "Happy Fruits" game has joined our uniquely interactive "Hot Slots" game on the Cyberslotz website, the online gaming division of Talarius PLC with more than 160 Quicksilver Gaming Centres throughout Britain.

Hot Slots

"Both Happy Fruits and Hot Slots have tremendous success records and have adapted superbly to the online world, delivering a rich, interactive experience not currently seen outside pubs and arcades," said John Austin of Bell-Fruit Games. "These are uniquely captivating games which bear much of the appearance and appeal of traditional fruit machines."

Happy Fruits

A view shared by Brian Morgan of Cyberslotz who adds "I am delighted to welcome Happy Fruits onto our website to join Hot Slots, an engagingly simple to play game which actually rewards the player for skillful play." Play "Happy Fruits" and "Hot Slots" for fun or serious cash at www.cyberslotz.co.uk

20/01/06

NOVA PRODUCTIONS FAIL IN THEIR COPYRIGHT CLAIMS AGAINST BELL-FRUIT GAMES AND MAZOOMA

PRESS RELEASE - 20th January 2006

In a judgment handed down today in the High Court by the Honourable Mr Justice Kitchin, Nova Productions Limited fail in their alleged copyright actions against Bell-Fruit Games and Mazooma Games. The claim against Mazooma subsequently involved GamesNet, IBN, Gamestec and Leisure Link.

During the trial, which ran for 12 days in November at the Royal Courts of Justice, Nova claimed copyright infringement of their Pocket Money SWP game by BFG in its “Trick Shot” AWP, and Mazooma in its “Jackpot Pool” SWP supplied to Gamestec and IBN for use on the GamesNet and ITBox terminals.

In a tightly written judgment consisting of over 250 paragraphs, Justice Kitchin concludes : “For all the reasons I have given I conclude that both actions fail.”

On behalf of Bell-Fruit, MD John Austin said “I am delighted that the court found that neither Bell-Fruit Games nor Mazooma had infringed any of Nova’s copyright. A massive amount of cost and resource was put into the preparation of our defence as well as the time spent in court and I wish to publicly thank all the witnesses who prepared and gave evidence on our behalf. However, the work involved in this whilst maintaining focus on our business was, at times, most demanding and I feel angry to have been obliged to do it. I hope this judgment will dissuade future fallacious claims on similar issues. Bell-Fruit Games and Mazooma will be applying to recover our legal costs from Nova, which are substantial.”

06/01/06
BELL-FRUIT'S BATTLESHIPS ON THE MOVE!


Nigel, John & Ferdy having fun with Battleships

Leading mobile games publisher GAMICA has released Bell-Fruit's Battleships for the mobile phone, with single- and multi-player community features where players can challenge each other.
"Working closely with Bell-Fruit has enabled us to make Battleships the most realistic and exciting mobile fruit machine today," said Ferdy Blaset, MD of GAMICA .
"With all the community features enabled, the games brings a new and unique connected gaming experience to mobile gamers."

"Our Battleships game has a tremendous success record and GAMICA has succeeded in migrating it superbly onto the mobile platform, delivering a rich AWP experience not currently seen outside UK pubs and arcades," said BFG’s John Austin.
"Adding community interest by introducing a high-score table and multi-player features can only further enhance its already proven player appeal."

For more information, media enquiries and screen shots, please visit: www.gamica.com

01/09/05
BELL FRUIT'S MAN OF IRON

BFG’s Steve Butler recently competed in the Sherbourne Ironman – a long-distance triathlon event involving a 2 ½ mile swim and 112 mile cycle, finished off with a full marathon. Steve himself admitted that the Ironman is mainly aimed at lunatics….
He told us : “The swim was a bit of a fist-fight, with 1300 other people trying to swim in the same bit of lake as me, but I emerged relatively unscathed – unlike my bike which picked up a puncture around 70 miles into the cycle … my legs were really tired by the time I started the run, so while I ran downhill and on the flat, I was reduced to walking uphill. At the halfway point I was really sick … I finally completed the event nearly 12 hours after I started ! The day after the race I was very sore and vowed never to do another Ironman, A week after the event, my aches have gone and I’ve started to plan for next year !!”
Despite his obvious insanity, Steve’s mammoth effort has raised over £350 for the British Heart Foundation.

25/08/05
BELL-FRUIT GAMES ON A ROLL !

Following the success of RANDOM SPINNER – top-performing Sec 16/21 model and showing no signs of waning – Bell-Fruit Games has launched a new £500 Jackpot random game in the shape of HI ROLLER.

HI ROLLER features the ever-popular game of Poker in a well presented video format, and all the successful elements from RANDOM SPINNER, including multistake options and the Random Feature Wheel.

Click here to read game description


16/05/05
Nigel McLaughlin Joins Bell-Fruit Games

Nigel McLaughlin joined Bell-Fruit Games on May 9th in the new position of Director of Business Development (Technical). Reporting to MD John Austin, he will be responsible for identifying and developing technically-based business opportunities.

Nigel has a wealth of industry experience, having held senior positions at JPM, Ace and Barcrest, and is delighted to be joining the Bell-Fruit team at such an exciting time.

09/05/05
DOUBLE LAUNCH FOR BELL-FRUIT IN SPAIN

Bell-Fruit have announced the launch of two products for the Spanish market, FIEBRE and AMERICAN POOL, both of which have successfully come through the homologation process.
Export Manager Mick Lee told us : “We are very pleased that both games have tested exceptionally well and are now approved for Spain. It is particularly rewarding that two such diverse concepts have universal player appeal : FIEBRE is a 6-reel game that builds on the success of its predecessor GOLPE DE SUERTE, while AMERICAN POOL is a first for the Spanish market – an AWP that utilises video technology”
Both FIEBRE and AMERICAN POOL were at the recent Malaga show, with Bell-Fruit’s Spanish distributors Comatel.

Czech Show
Mick arrived in Malaga direct from the show in Prague, where our latest Czech product was shown by distributors Comax. RANDOM SPINNER, based on the UK game that has got everybody talking, is Bell-Fruit’s first video game for the Czech market.

07/04/05
Gambling Bill Goes Through

The Gambling Bill will go through this week as part of the ‘wash-up’ process as Parliament is dissolved next Monday, prior to the General Election.
A deal was struck with the Opposition to reduce the number of Regional Casinos to just one, enabling the Bill to be debated as a formality in the Lords yesterday, returning to the Commons today, and given Royal Assent on Friday April 8.
It would appear that, in addition, the Government has belatedly agreed to allow existing casinos to double the number of machines permitted from 10 to 20, with an increase in stake to £2 and maximum prize to £4000.

02/03/05
ATEI 2005 Show Report:

Last year we moved our stand to the back of the hall adjacent to the new entrance to the ICE (Casino) show, a relocation that was deemed an immediate success.
For ATEI 2005 – a busier show than ever - we had a brand new stand, much admired particularly for the stunning colour-change lighting on the top deck …
Downstairs our stand was chock-full of exciting product, from all UK sectors as well as eight European markets. Highlights included :
For the much talked-about Section 16/21 - a new version of the Vegas-style video casino game RANDOM SPINNER (pictured) with £500 up for grabs as a max. win….

ATEI 2005
BFG Managing Director John Austin

Headlining AWP based on the award-winning TV show ANT & DEC’S SATURDAY NIGHT TAKEAWAY, with running commentary provided by the boys themselves ...
Stunning multiplayer games with 42” plasma top boxes for both UK and Belgium ; the UK game TRICKSHOT featuring an innovative 3D Pool game.
POKER KING – intensive research and development has produced the superlative multi-site video poker game with extras …
… and many many more gems !
Thankyou to all our visitors, for helping to make ATEI 2005 such a successful show.


The BFG Stand

17/01/05
The following has been released by DANOPTRA HOLDINGS LIMITED :

Colin Daniels, the Chief Executive of Danoptra Holdings, announced today that Phil Walters is joining the Imagehighlight board as non-Executive Chairman. Imagehighlight (IHL) is the holding company for Bell-Fruit Games, Mazooma and QPS. This appointment follows the purchase by Danoptra, on January 5th, of the 60% share capital in IHL it did not previously hold.

Colin Daniels commented : “I am delighted that Phil agreed to join the IHL board as Chairman. He has considerable experience in the coin-op and non coin-op games and gaming business both in the U.K. and overseas; I am sure he will contribute significantly to the development of the businesses of IHL.”

Phil Walters commented “I am very pleased to have been offered the chance to work with talented and successful teams at Bell-Fruit, Mazooma and QPS at a time of both challenge and opportunity for the industry”

05/01/05
BFG under New Ownership....

The following press release was issued on Jan 5 2005 :  

On 5th January 2005, Danoptra Holdings Limited announced that it had acquired from Merkur Holdings BV, a Gauselmann Group company, and from the companies' management the shares it did not previously own in Précis (928) Limited and Imagehighlight Limited, the holding companies for Bell Fruit Games Limited and Mazooma Games Limited. As a result, these companies become wholly owned subsidiaries of Danoptra Holdings Limited.

Colin Daniels, Chief Executive of Danoptra said today " We are very pleased to have completed the purchase of the remaining shares in Bell-Fruit, Mazooma and QPS. They are market leaders in the design and manufacture of gaming and other payout games in the U.K. Since our initial investment in 1997, the management team have done an excellent job in developing the businesses and I am sure they will take full advantage of the many opportunities that exist in the UK and overseas markets.

Michael Gauselmann, Gauselmann's CEO and Co-chairman said today " We’re very pleased that during the past 8 years of successful partnership with Kunick (now Danoptra) the management of our 3 companies closely cooperated and established a tight corporate network to achieve market leadership. Today’s announced transaction will enable Danoptra to maintain and expand its leading positions in its home markets and will allow the Gauselmann Group to further focus and address growing European market potentials."

08/12/04
MICK LEE ON HIS TRAVELS....

Autumn being the International Show season, Export Manager Mick Lee has had his passport stamped a fair few times recently, as he travelled to – among others – GAMEXPO in Budapest, FER in Madrid, AMOA in Las Vegas, ENADA in Rome and FORBES in Prague.

“These exhibitions continue to play an important part in the development of each market sector, not only to emphasise BFG’s ongoing commitment – we have developed new products for nine export countries during the last year - but also to see firsthand what other products are around. It’s also a great opportunity to catch up with our distributors, with whom we have built strong working relationships, and also make new contacts”.

Coming soon – more export news from Mick...

Mick Lee pictured with Czech HOT SPINNER

25/10/04
Preview 2005 ....

Preview 2005 at the Hammersmith Novotel was a busy and successful show, where we demonstrated our versatile portfolio including latest AWP CROWN JEWELS and the revamped favourite Club machine CLASSIC PHARAOH’S GOLD.
As ever, Preview is an opportunity to sneak a look at forthcoming offerings, which this time included our innovative development for Section 16/21 machines – a Monopoly version of roulette. Look out for the all-singing all-dancing version at ATEI !


01/11/04
New Gambling Bill Starts Its Parliamentary Process

Since Sir Alan Budd’s Gambling Review Report was presented to Parliament by the DCMS in July 2001, there has been nearly four years of consultation and scrutiny resulting in the Government finally lifting the covers off the Draft Gambling Bill last week.

The new Bill allows for relaxation of the rules governing casinos and there is much debate taking place on the pros and cons of fundamentally changing what is provided for in the existing legislation.

BFG believe that the existing legislation, which is nearly 40 years old, is out of date and does not take account of new technologies. A new Bill is needed to address this and reflect more up to date public attitudes towards gambling. Also, and importantly, internet gambling needs to be regulated.

We support the new Bill but have concerns over a number of issues which, unless addressed by amendments, will adversely affect what is currently a well run, crime free industry with an excellent record in the prevention of problem gambling.

18/06/04
BACTA BIKERS

Following their latest ‘tour of duty’, representatives of the BACTA Bikers presented a cheque to the little girl who inspired their cause.
Ellie was diagnosed with cancer of the kidney just 12 months ago at the age of 3, but thanks to the superb care at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford she has come through chemo and surgery, and after being given the ‘all-clear’ is now well on the road to recovery. To continue the care of children with cancer, a new hospital is being built for which funds are still desperately needed – which is where the BACTA Bikers came in….



In the last 10 years this team has raised over £120,000, all of which went directly to various charities. After previous trips, which include Hell and Back in Norway and Lands End to John O’Groats, this year’s ‘jaunt’ was chosen to be a circular tour of Ireland. The riders – whose numbers included John Austin, Phil Burke, Martin Ireland, Andrew Murden, Steve Murray, Nik Novak, David Orton, Kevin Short and Tony Slater – made the trip in June, and despite an accident in the wilds of Connemara which unfortunately sent 2 of their team home, declared the trip a roaring success.
Their efforts, and the generosity of so many throughout the industry, have raised the impressive sum of £19572 for the new hospital project, which was received at the site by Consultant Surgeon Rowena Hitchcock, and Ellie herself.


18/06/04
JOHN GETS ON HIS BIKE…

Report from the man himself …

“The BACTA Bikers are now back after completing our fundraising motorcycle tour of Ireland …
Overall the tour was a success, despite losing 2 of our number to minor accidents …
The team are hoping to raise £25,000 for the Oxford Children’s Hospital, £3,200 I have raised thanks to your generous sponsorship. Thank you all !
Presentation of the cheque will be arranged very shortly …
John Austin


02/06/04
BFG IN LINE FOR TOP BUSINESS AWARD

Bell-Fruit Games has beaten formidable opposition to reach the final of the prestigious Nottingham Evening Post Company of the Year Award. Short-listed from a considerable number of applicants, we are now through to the top four in the competition, where we will be up against the likes of leisure company Center Parcs.
John Austin said: “Reaching the final four of this award is a great achievement of which we can be justly proud”
The outright winner will be announced at a special awards ceremony, which will take place shortly at the Council House in Nottingham.


01/04/04
A KICK START FROM BFG!

Bell-Fruit Games are proud to sponsor the N.S.T.K (National Sport Traditional Karate) squad, including our own Luke Milner, Multimedia Designer for the company.
The squad have accumulated an impressive assortment of titles under their collective belts, while Luke himself won the EMA British Kickboxing title this year and was chosen once again for the full England team.


Jan 2004

WHAT DE-REG REALLY MEANS.....

Banknotes can now be used for ‘Plays’ on machines–

When a note is inserted, £2 automatically transfers over to Credit
Each time Credit returns to ‘zero’, a further £2 may be transferred

Club machines have an extra facility:

When a note is inserted, £2 automatically transfers over to Credit
Each time Credit returns to ‘zero’, a further £2 may be transferred
£2 increments can also be transferred from ‘Wins’