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Slot Machine Revolution

DIGDIA
December 1, 2010
82 Pages - SKU: DDA6014769

Abstract Table of Contents Search inside this report Related Reports

If you are in the consumer electronics industry, you might be surprised by what is happening inside today’s modern casino.

There are more than 830,000 slot machines in the U.S. alone. When most people think about slot machine technology, they tend to look at the obviously visible elements, such as the use of a 103” Panasonic plasma display, shown above in IGT’s Center Stage platform*.

But, as one Casino executive recently said, “our industry is perhaps six or seven years behind other industries” when it comes to the use of modern computer and digital media technology on the casino floor. That said, the industry is now feverishly trying to catch up and is at the start of a revolution.

When a company looks for new opportunities to enter, they should look for a big industry that is going through big changes. The gaming industry definitely fits this bill in spades, making it suddenly attractive to all kinds of new companies from traditional consumer electronics, to upstarts, to familiar names from Silicon Valley, and to scam artists.

One technology that has been slow in deployment is simple networking. While slot machines and other devices, such as change machines, communicate with a central system, the communications is predominantly based on old fashion serial links. Now the big buzz is "Network-based Gaming", and after years of talk, it is finally starting to appear.

The other big industry buzz is about Internet Gaming. While tangled in laws that prevent it in many countries, it is nonetheless a huge business.

Put Network-based Gaming and Internet Gaming together, and you get the next big buzz - Mobile Gaming.

This report looks inside the gaming industry as it struggles to join the net-generation age from both a technology and target market approach. This report is aimed at the industry outsider that is wondering what is happening in this world of gambling and where emerging opportunities are. But, people inside the gaming industry will appreciate the view this report gives from a consumer electronics perspective.

1 Introduction
2 Slot Machine Technology Primer: 2.1 Early Slots; 2.2 The RNG; 2.3 TITO; 2.4 Slot Platform; 2.5 Main Game Display; 2.6 Top Box & Banked Machines; 2.7 Marketing Display
3 Networked Gaming: 3.1 Marketing Systems Revolution & New Business Models; 3.2 Game Management Brings New Thinking; 3.3 The Future Game Platform; 3.4 Connectivity Standards; 3.5 Casino Management Systems; 3.6 Attacks; 3.7 Replacement Cycle
4 Online Gambling: 4.1 Segmenting the Market; 4.2 Type of Gaming; 4.3 Regional Comments; 4.4 Ecosystem elements
5 Mobile Gaming
6 Appendix: 6.1 Worldwide Gambling Factoids; 6.2 Glossary; 6.3 Slot Machine Manufacturers; 6.4 Associations and Organizations; 6.5 Conferences; 6.6 Publications
Figures: Figure 1 - IGT Center Stage platform with Panasonic 103” plasma; Figure 2 - Cisco and Intel's first G2E booth in 2009; Figure 3 - ACE Gaming CPU; Figure 4 - Inside of an ECP Axis 3rd party slot machine platform; Figure 5 - Bill/Ticket collector; Figure 6 - 3M multi-touch system; Figure 7 - Translucent "3D" display; Figure 8 - Community Play bonus; Figure 9 - Full color video on a marketing display; Figure 10 - Independent games on same screen; Figure 11 - Two Marketing Display/Game Architectures; Figure 12 - IGT and WMS on the same screen; Figure 13 - WMS’s Star Trek Levels follow the player between casinos; Figure 14 - Machine prints reminder to register online; Figure 15 - WMS Player's Life website; Figure 16 - Look who's winning right now; Figure 17 - Bally's Off to the Races used at Barona Casino; Figure 18 - Where high-value female players currently on slot floor live; Figure 19 - Bally's map of floor activity; Figure 20 - IGT's map of floor activity; Figure 21 - Bally's Command Center - setting the odds (red circle); Figure 22 - ITG's sbX control panel - setting the odds (red circle); Figure 23 - A symbol can take on different personalities; Figure 24 - Autostereoscopic 3D used in slot machines; Figure 25 - Lenticular vs. Parallax Barrier 3D; Figure 26 - Bally's integrated touch screen top box; Figure 27 - Less flexible top box examples; Figure 28 - Konami "Revolution" revolving game screen; Figure 29 - Reel 'em In with player's names displayed on big board; Figure 30 - The current winner is shown with live video; Figure 31 - Changeable Buttons; Figure 32 - Totally flexible buttons; Figure 33 - Interlock is going for a flashier table game experience; Figure 34 - Aruze's roulette with real wheel; Figure 35 - Aruze offers a "new" dice game - Sic Bo; Figure 36 - DigiDeal's hybrid blackjack; Figure 37 - How to see the hole cards in electronic Texas Hold'em; Figure 38 - Communications Topology of a Casino; Figure 39 - IGT's iPhone Slot Machine next to Full Sized Machine; Figure 40 - Cantor's eDeck

Slot Machine Revolution

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