IN BRIEF (Page 16)

Aristocrat shifts focus

Aristocrat Leisure Ltd, the world's second-largest maker of slot machines, is targeting US and Canadian customers with new American-themed games to boost its share of the world's biggest gaming market.

"Certainly the priorities, now more so than in the past, are centered on North America," Executive Chairman David Simpson said in an interview in Las Vegas last week. "Even under these difficult economic conditions, it's still the most important market. It's our No 1 focus."