Casino Sept 08 P30-35 8/21/08 12:59 pm Page 32
SERVER-BASED GAMING
downloading of games themselves,” he says. “The “What we have been doing is installing it by stealth.
demand is more around service and the customer We’ve been putting in the product, and then once
experience and marketing to the customer at their the machines are installed, casino owners see the
point of play than it is about how to eliminate benefit of the product and what they can do with it.
EPROMs in games. However, Bally’s Download Then they start expanding the system. We put in the
Configuration Manager allows operators to download machines first, the machines take more money than
and configure game content as well as adjust a wide what was there before, and then the operator starts to
variety of game configurations including expand the whole system and integrate it into their
denominations, minimum bet and hold percentages, internal financial system. It happens slowly, rather
as well as other machine attributes.” than in one quick event.”
It depends on where you are selling, as well as what Revolutionary change doesn’t seem to be on the
you are selling, it seems. Norman Crowley, Co-CEO of cards…
Inspired Gaming, explains that his company is
enjoying major growth in emerging Eastern Bloc and Field trials and open standards
Asian markets: “Operators don’t have any existing IGT, on the other hand, has been pressing on with
equipment, so they go straight for server-based its five North American trial sites, which are now
gaming equipment when they put anything in. running a fully-GSA based, G2S game-to-server-based
“There is a lot of discussion at the moment about solution, according to Javier Saenz, IGT’s Vice
whether this stuff works or not,” Crowley says. He is President of Server-Based Management and Markets
adamant that it works financially: “We have proved for who says: “That’s a pretty important milestone in
years now that the income from server-based gaming terms of the industry, and in terms of the product,
equipment is almost double the analogue equivalent. that we have accomplished in those trials.”
There’s no mystery as to why that’s the case: server- An open, server-based architecture is seen by IGT
“It is time to get
based gaming gives you more choice, you can choose and others as vital for the future, and will move the
to put whatever games you want on the machines, and casino market away from ‘closed’, proprietary
past the technical
it reduces the cycle of decision making. If a game isn’t systems, each tied in to a single vendor or supplier.
speak and into
performing, you can take it off and put on another Innovation and creativity are encouraged in an
game in seconds. The flexibility and the power it gives ‘open’ environment, where hardware from different
the business
to the casino owner is just unprecedented,” he says. vendors can work together and games and other
speak. What is the
“We think the debate is over.” applications can be written to comply with
Inspired has also enjoyed some success in the published standards and will run on platforms
benefit for the
traditional casino market with server-based gaming, provided by a variety of vendors.
operator, what is
not least in the UK with the Gala Group, but it’s not “New open standards are fuelling the creation of a
that straightforward a sell, as Crowley explains: “A lot whole new world of gaming products, features and
the benefit for
of it is getting casino owners to embrace the full services that will have a profound impact on our
the player?”
breadth of the technology. Traditionally, casino industry,” predicts Gaming Standards Association
Avron Goss, MD of Abbey
decision-making has been about choosing between President, Peter DeRaedt. “Many exciting new
machines, trying to decide which one is the better products will become available enabling operators to
Entertainment
performer. With server-based gaming it is a different serve their customers like never before: games that
approach, where you actually put in the system first, take entertainment to an entirely new level; systems
and then you overlay the game on the system. That is that provide a complete player profile in every area of
a new way of thinking about installing systems.” the property from gaming to dining to shopping to
32 SEPTEMBER 2008
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