internationalcasinoreview
2012 Report
Technological applications and inspired new games
Interactivity is central to what Bally Technologies presented at ICE. The company has developed some of the best game mechanics in the industry and is riffing on them in a range of great games, but it’s also using technology to advance its presence on mobile and internet platforms, new and highly promising channels in the future development of casinos.
interactiveinspiration BALLY TECHNOLOGIES
With games and systems at its heart, providing content and applications for online gaming applications either for purely online or land-based oper- ations is right up Bally Technolo- gies’ street. “We’re presenting our new Bally Interactive division at the show,” said VP of corporate marketing Dan Savage. “We have developed around 20 casino applications for mobile devices, including for iTunes and Android - basically any multi- media device. We also have a suite of games adapted for the interactive sphere that are delivered by our Remote Gaming Server through the cloud. These excellent games offer all the enhanced bonusing, proven play mechanics and progressives that Bally is famed for.”
For land-based operators, Bally Interactive products will enable them to offer both mobile and online games for fun and pay-to-play in those markets where it is legal. Savage continued: “The mobile casino applications are generally designed for those times when cus- tomers are on the property, which can be determined by GPS, and that means in many jurisdictions the games can be offered on a pay-to- play basis. We can customise games for particular properties, which helps operators tie customers in to the rewards programme.”
Online and mobile gaming is rather more advanced in Europe than in the US, however, Savage believes that the situation will change fairly rapidly in North America: “I think it will be about two years before the whole of the US is there. Casino properties are wanting it, and I think that we will be able to learn a lot about how Europe has done it - both from the good and the bad.”
For all the ingenuity and stunning technology behind such applica- tions, it takes a great new slot machine to really attract attention on the gaming floor. Bally’s Michael Jackson King of Pop machine does just that. Seen for the first time in Europe ahead of its release to the world in June, the machine is a tribute to one of the biggest music stars of all time. Using the new Pro Series V22/32 cabinet with a cus- tomer Pro surround-sound chair, the game immerses the player in his life and music and features mystery wild and free games bonuses all to a soundtrack and video including Bad, Beat It, Billie Jean, Dirty Diana and Smooth Criminal.
24 March 2012 •ICEreport
“I think it will be huge in Asia,” said Savage. “To be honest, I think it will be huge everywhere.”
Michael Jackson King of Pop uses
Bally’s award-winning U-Spin tech- nology in the bonus rounds, which also features in a different form in another big licence that is sure to appeal to a wide range of players, Grease. Inspired by the 1978 film musical, it is Bally’s first double-play game, featuring two 25-line games that the player can play at the same time. U- Spin comes into play during the Yearbook bonus, in which the player draws their finger across the screen to flip the pages of the yearbook. “I’m thrilled about this technol-
ogy,” said Savage. “When TFTs came in, a lot of companies weren’t using them to allow the player to interact with the game - now it seems such an obvious thing. We now offer U-Spin on nine different products.” The company has also taken TFT interactivity and used it on the iDeck (also an award-winner), which in Grease functions as the button panel during base games but is also used in two bonuses: the Dance Off free games feature and the How Cool Are You bonus. In the former, players ‘dance’ on the iDeck to win addi- tional free games or credits, and in the latter, players select one of four cards appearing on the iDeck, which moves up a ‘coolness’ ladder to award one of the four progressive jackpots or credit values. The iDeck is also used to full effect in the Fish’n for Loot and Total Blast games, which brings arcade-style skill to the gaming floor through the U-Shoot virtual shooting gallery bonus game play mechanic. Fish’n For Loot was the first game to be released: in the bonus round, players use the iDeck to generate bubbles which they then fire at the tropical fish in the upper two screens. In the newest iteration, the space age Total Blast, players get to shoot star ships powering across the upper screens, earning bonus credits and multipli- ers along the way. iDeck is revealing real inventive- ness at Bally. An excellent applica- tion was U-Play, on All That Jazz, in which game players become piano players. When the bonus hits, players get to choose from a range of melodies with different skill levels which they have to play on a piano keyboard that appears on the panel; the accuracy of their playing leads to a score that is then translated into bonus awards - perceived skill rather than actual. That perceived skill also comes into play on Skee-Ball, in which
Bally Interactive was at the show for the first time with a range of mobile applications featuring a suite of Bally games
Bally’s VP of corporate
marketing Dan Savage with the
Total Blast game featuring U-Shoot on the iDeck
The iDeck is more than just a button panel: it has inspired a whole new set of game mechanics
players throw a virtual ball and try to get it into one of five concentric scoring circles, just like the classic arcade game. The points earned translate into tickets, which then give the player the option to choose an item from the corresponding prize shelf to reveal the final award. All these skill elements have led to truly engaging games and con- cepts with people on the stand at least vying to have a go.
Bally is, of course, also known for its systems, of which there was a full range on display at ICE, including SDS, CMP and MultiConnect for every size of casinos. The company was particularly promoting the iView
Display Manager, and interactive communication tool used by players and controlled by the operator. This picture-in-picture style player-user interface is backwards compatible on any gaming device with a touch- screen display and provides a way for casino operators to present self- service player account access, mar- keting message and secondary bonus games on the main game screen without interrupting play. It was also demonstrating the Elite Bonusing Suite (EBS), which when combined with iView and iView DM delivers floor-wide interactive promotions, second-chance-to-win events and the ability for players to
Michael Jackson King of Pop features some of the legend’s best tracks and videos and is sure to be a worldwide hit
earn valuable rewards. Through an interface with the Bally player track- ing system, EBS enables casinos to personalise their promotions by cre- ating targeted bonuses based on club level, real-time wager habits, birthdays and anniversaries among other things. These interactive solu- tions allow players, for example, to spin wheels, get instant rewards on their birthday or participate in floor- wide slot tournaments.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56