Where Do we Go from Here?

[reho33]

I have followed NLG for a while now as the rest of you have. We have seen tremendous progress with regard to the gaming industry as a whole. It looks like video and more specifically communal video "games" are the future template for the gaming industry. No more ROM's , flash memory is the norm, in most modern machines. A lot of casinos give free play now so you can "kick" the tires before a dollar is spent. We also know that the S+, S2000, S6000, etc lines are being retired and that casinos are modernizing all the time with new equipment. So since here at NLG, we together, have the best and brightest minds, and most of the technical knowledge on the planet ( I think sometimes we know more than the manufacturers' ), where does everyone see the industry going? This affects slot techs, designers, engineers, etc. a whole lot of people. You already see one example of someone trying to design their own slot from the ground up and being successful at it. Let's face it, there will always be a market for old slots, coin pushers, etc. A lot of other industries are marching on and making much better products than 5 years ago for less in some cases. Just food for thought. I think Jason would have asked this if I didn't.
P.S. Sometimes greed trumps reason and not always for the best of the gaming public.

[FORDSBS]

WELL PUT reho33 . I wish I could put it in words lke that.
 

[poppo]

...where does everyone see the industry going?

Call me old fashioned but even though S+ and the like are 'computer controlled' there is still something about physical reels spinning that I enjoy. I hate video slots just as much as I hate the transition to TITO. I used to live in the Vegas area and always got a rush when walking onto the casino floor and hearing the ching ching ching of REAL coins dropping into the tray. Now it just sounds like  Machines are designed to take your money faster than ever. For those that go to the casinos I'm sure there will always be some new flashy gadget to try and keep your attention span for more than 5 seconds. As a home slot owner, I can just as easily play slots on my computer (which is why I stick with S+). IMO playing on a computer is just as much fun as a video slot that just prints tickets (in other words it's not).

Where do I see the industry going? I can foresee machines being taken out and seating put in where people just sit and play on their smart phone.  Wait.... I can already do that.

[brichter]

Some video titles are cool, but real reels (pun intended) are what grab my interest when I walk in the casino.. I like Visions (the best of both worlds), and I don't mind video for pokies.

Unfortunately, the server based games with thin clients on the floor will be the wave of the future, much cheaper to deploy when you start talking high game counts on the floor.

[poppo]

Unfortunately, the server based games with thin clients on the floor will be the wave of the future, much cheaper to deploy when you start talking high game counts on the floor.

I wonder if some of this will have a negative side effect. Often I used to walk around the floor looking for a specific theme. In the process I might pass a blackjack table or something else that catches my eye. With all of these 'multi-games' there is no incentive to get up and actually see what else there might be. But I guess the casinos figure that time walking around is time you are not playing. Personally, if I still lived in that area, I would be spending a lot less time at the casinos than I used to.

[brichter]

Unfortunately, the server based games with thin clients on the floor will be the wave of the future, much cheaper to deploy when you start talking high game counts on the floor.

 But I guess the casinos figure that time walking around is time you are not playing.

BINGO!!!  

Same reason they lay out the games so you can't see the outside and never hang any clocks where they're visible from the floor...

[stayouttadabunker]

"You can't see outside"...basically just like a "mancave" down in the basement...
I still like the lights and sounds of a casino.
It's wild when it's busy and there's lots of people.
I really doesn't matter what's on the floor really...
as long as there's something to bet on and drop money into...

The sound of "ching, ching, ching" of coins dropping into steel trays...
it gets the adrenaline going!  
I hope that makes a comeback but I'm afraid it's a dying breed. 

Collectively, we could make a machine that would be great to play!
But it will never happen because this is just a hobby for most of us and
I'd love to keep it as that...

[golflover]

As far as the future of gaming.. I am probably wrong, but see slot machines becoming almost like computer work stations on a network. Sit down and you'll sellect from possibly a hundred games from 1 seat. If you have a favorite you'll just select it on the touch screen. Much as it is today, but controlled more from a network aspect. they will still have llights and glass. In this way they keep you in your seat longer and and walking around less. just thoughts...

[Yoeddy1]

3 Reel games and Game King Poker/Blackjack are all I play in the casinos...although I am taking a liking to Keno games on the Game King a bit too.  I don't even play Bally games...all IGT.  Anyway, I'll continue to scout out "minty" S2000 kits, and as many know, "The Mummy" is my Holy Grail.  I'll probably call the hobby quits though from a buying new games perspective since I don't care for anything other than S2000's and investing the heavy dollars into a Game King 6.0 and beyond isn't much of an interest either since my 5.0p continues to blow my hair back.

I will however, keep my server hardware updated for MAME.  Since slots and poker are all going video, and many have been emulated in MAME, I would suspect the trends will continue to preserve the hobby. 

Make the hardware "minty" gentlemen, it will be worth some coin when it starts to disappear.

Jason

[jdkmunch]

As far as the future of gaming.. I am probably wrong, but see slot machines becoming almost like computer work stations on a network. Sit down and you'll sellect from possibly a hundred games from 1 seat. If you have a favorite you'll just select it on the touch screen. Much as it is today, but controlled more from a network aspect. they will still have llights and glass. In this way they keep you in your seat longer and and walking around less. just thoughts...

I totally disagree - gaming is hugely personal and the psychology of a favorite machine won't go away anytime soon.  They may have server technology in slot cabinets but I don't see simple terminals any time soon.

[poppo]

As far as the future of gaming.. I am probably wrong, but see slot machines becoming almost like computer work stations on a network. Sit down and you'll sellect from possibly a hundred games from 1 seat. If you have a favorite you'll just select it on the touch screen. Much as it is today, but controlled more from a network aspect. they will still have llights and glass. In this way they keep you in your seat longer and and walking around less. just thoughts...

I totally disagree - gaming is hugely personal and the psychology of a favorite machine won't go away anytime soon.  They may have server technology in slot cabinets but I don't see simple terminals any time soon.

But that is the whole point of a true server based system. You can just pull up your favorite game. Commercialized MAME.

[jdkmunch]

I think it's the game, location and surroundings -

If you pick a game from a server - what percentage is it??? Does it change when I play it ?? What are the men doing with the dial when I play it.

[jdkmunch]

Are there any casinos that are server based?

The technology is 15 years old.

[poppo]

If you pick a game from a server - what percentage is it??? Does it change when I play it ?? What are the men doing with the dial when I play it.

And how is that different than having a different % chip? I would think the gaming commission would have that locked down pretty tight. People play on-line all of the time. Who is on the other end of that?

[jdkmunch]

Te difference is this - someone must come over to the machine and change it in front of you -----

Not a pit boss looking at a computer monitor deciding you have won too moch today and dial back your odds

[jdkmunch]

I'm not saying I believe this but I know many people do.

[poppo]

I'm not saying I believe this but I know many people do.

I don't think the average person would know the difference between a server based game and a current multi-game unit. They could probably 'retrofit' the multi-game units to server based, and you would not even know it.

[jdkmunch]

I can see that -  people wouldn't know the machines ate just dummy terminals.

[stayouttadabunker]

They can't change the odds unless a warning that's there's going to be a % change,
comes up on-screen for a certain amount of time - I think I've read somewhere?

[jdkmunch]

I've read the same thing. I just feel that people don't trust the system
Or the casinos would have moved that way already.

[poppo]

I just feel that people don't trust the system
Or the casinos would have moved that way already.

It costs a lot of money to change out machines. If the bean counters say what they have is working, then why change anything?

And I really don't think trust has anything to do with it. What average person trusts casinos in the first place?  As I already mentioned, with millions of people already doing on-line gambling where they have no idea what is happening on the other end, I think trust plays a very little factor.

If anything the delay would be due to gaming regulations, security, and 'certification' of the systems. I also think they are already moving in that direction. First was player tracking, then TITO, then multi-games. Full server based systems are just a step away.

[knagl]

They can't change the odds unless a warning that's there's going to be a % change, comes up on-screen for a certain amount of time - I think I've read somewhere?

In a regulated jurisdiction like Las Vegas, yes, that's the rule.  In an unregulated casino environment?  Not so much.

Are there any casinos that are server based?  The technology is 15 years old.

The new Aria casino in City Center in Las Vegas has server-based games for the majority of its floor.  Other Las Vegas casinos have some banks of SBG, but not a lot of them.

As far as the future of gaming.. I am probably wrong, but see slot machines becoming almost like computer work stations on a network. Sit down and you'll sellect from possibly a hundred games from 1 seat. If you have a favorite you'll just select it on the touch screen. Much as it is today, but controlled more from a network aspect. they will still have llights and glass. In this way they keep you in your seat longer and and walking around less. just thoughts...

I agree.

[Op-Bell]

There's a lot of resistance at the casinos to server based games. Oh they'd like to have them, but they don't want to be tied over a barrel and see IGT coming towards them with a greased broomstick. Currently they pay $1200 a year (it may have gone up) per machine for TITO, and if they don't make the payment the whole floor goes off. IGT currently makes half its pre-tax profit - $500 million - from licensing fees, of which TITO is a large component, but that patent is running out. Operators are nervous that server based is going to be the next IGT cash cow, and once a majority of casinos are committed, who's to say they won't decide licensing needs to make $800 million, $1 billion, more?

City center, what can I say. Planned by the most starry eyed and incompetent managers in the industry. At the peak of the bubble, they went all-in on everything - no tasteless modern artist or gadget salesman was turned away. They were going to make it all back and more on the sale of condos. Oh well. If they remain solvent for another year, I'll be most surprised. Personally I'm rooting for them to go bankrupt quickly so that someone takes down the ugliest casino sign in the history of ugly signs.

For those who like the sound of rattling coins, the Cannery has a retro section of older machines. It's usually quite busy.