http://cemaudioedge.com/episode/tech-check-russ-ristine

Get your questions ready! The phones will be open for you to call in and test Russ’s knowledge of all things G2S. So don’t miss this opportunity to chat with Russ in what will surely be a lively discussion on the present and future of gaming technology.

Can’t make the live show? An archived version will be made available so you can listen at your leisure.

Cheers!

G2S

G2S 1.1 is now available
G2S 1.1 is the final version of G2S 1.0.3 and is the one against which your products will be certified. This version came about because the committee had been doing clarifications and enhancements for the new G2S 2.x versions (2.0.1, 2.0.2, 2.0.3, etc.), and it became a bit confusing as to the correct behavior to implement. G2S 1.1 contains all of G2S 1.0.3 plus all of the clarifications from G2S 2.x. It was released in early March along with certification documents, and it will not be changing.

You can read more about G2S 1.1 and certification here:

• G2S 1.1 Protocol document and schema package
• G2S Technical Bulletin (additional clarifications to G2S 1.1)
• G2S 1.1 Certification Requirements

The next version of G2S will be G2S 2.1
G2S 2.1, currently being developed in committee, is due out toward the end of the year. This version will extend G2S 1.1, by adding functionality that satisfies a series of requests from GSA’s Operator Advisory Committee (OAC). The committee is also hoping to add Employee and Tournament classes to this version.

S2S

In the S2S world, S2S 1.5.1 has recently been released, which should make it much easier to build a site controller that receives G2S commands from EGMs and then sends them to a central system using S2S. The plan is to continue driving towards a complete rewrite of the protocol as follows:

• S2S 1.6 – addresses the OAC requests: download (SSMP-334), SDDP (443), new GAT class (447) and player class updates
• S2S 1.7 – redo the table games classes
• S2S 1.8 – redo the classes that overlap with G2S (voucher, wat, bonus, etc.)

Few would argue that the slot floor of the future will rely heavily on Game-to-System (G2S) and System-to-System (S2S) protocols to provide the immersive experiences desired by a new generation of computer- and social network-savvy players. Radical Blue Gaming plans to be at the nexus of this transformation with an array of critical tools for the development, testing and maintenance of tomorrow’s gaming floors. 

The company’s stable of products includes RadBlue System Tester, RadBlue G2S Scope and RadBlue S2S Simulator, which help game developers understand and implement Gaming Standard Association protocols, and devices such as RadBlue Protocol Analyzer and RadBlue Analysis Suite, which test and harden new applications to make them ready for real-world use. 

“What we offer our customers is expertise and efficiency that saves them money by helping them accomplish their goals with an eye toward future innovation,” co-founder Russ Ristine says. “Whether it’s helping to improve a G2S implementation with our test tools, helping a manufacturer or casino troubleshoot their G2S floor in real-time with RPA, or advising casinos on the most efficient way to move to an open-standard, high-speed slot floor, our goal is to give our customers the tools they need to succeed in the world of next-generation gaming.”

The word is spreading too. RadBlue products are now used by such leading manufacturers as IGT, Aristocrat, Bally and WMS. Operator clients include no less than Isle of Capri Casinos,
Kerzner International and Lotto-Quebec.

Players of the new Lord of the Rings™ game can now extend their gaming experience outside the casino by logging on (by computer or mobile phone) to playerslife.com, a website that lets EGM players play “casual games” for bonus points. They can then use those bonus points on the casino game, which incentivizes return visits to the casino. Players also have the option of playing the same casual games at the EGM to earn bonus points.

The site creators have done a nice job of creating a community space, with a player forum and developer blog. Real-time game play updates of both casino and online players dynamically display on the home page,providing  a sense of excitement and connection with the game experience.

But my purpose in pointing Player’s Life out to you isn’t to do a review.

What I find exciting about the Player’s Life concept is that it represents a move toward connecting current technologies and trends with the gaming floor. WMS took a good look at casino players and their interactions with both technology and gaming, so they knew exactly where to start.

Some people believe that the technologies that open-standard, high-speed networked gaming make possible will be too much for customers – and that may well be true for certain player segments. But what they forget is that same technology will allow casinos to be many things to many people. If personalization is the way of the future, then open standards are a must because the slot floor will need to be versatile and extensible, making plug-and-play applications indispensable. Monolithic slot floors that simply offer variations of the same type of games and technologies aren’t going to cut it. There are simply too many other entertainment options for perspective players.

The casino players of the future will want entertainment and excitement from the casino experience that they can’t find elsewhere. To succeed, gaming must find a renewed, technologically savvy attraction for players. This will take close collaboration between vendors and casinos, flexible technologies, a clear understanding of players and a vision for what gaming technology could be. Player’s Life is an important first step in that direction.

(Anyone working on that?)

http://mobilephone.firstblogfirst.com/2010/10/15/eldorado-launches-mobile-application/

That is the question being discussed by casino operators worldwide. To facilitate the discussion, it may be useful to step back and take a look at some of the pros and cons of the typical slot floor network on most gaming floors today. As a point of reference, most casino slot floor networks currently look something like this:

The Pros

Comfortable

Like your favorite sweatshirt, your current network may have a few holes, but you know it well and it still serves its intended purpose.

Well-Tested

Most existing slot floors have been around for nearly 20 years, so many of the problems have been found and (hopefully) corrected.

Avoids the Awkwardness and Frustration of Dating

When you commit to a vendor that uses a proprietary slot floor system, for the most part, you only have to focus on that one relationship. Whether it’s calling support, getting training for your team or inquiring about new features, having a single point of contact (and responsibility) can be reassuring. Of course, marriage can have its own share of awkwardness and frustration, but I’ll leave that for another time.

Less Regulation

Since all traffic on a proprietary slot floor goes through a Slot Machine Interface Board (SMIB), new functionality that does not affect the game does not require regulatory approval. (Well, it didn’t until Ticket In/Ticket Out was added to slot floor systems. After that, the system was considered a gaming device, so any change is now highly regulated.)

Less Expensive

By far, staying with your existing slot floor network is the less expensive option in terms of up-front costs because you already have the system and network in place. Your costs for an existing proprietary network mainly involve new features, minor upgrades and maybe a bit of training.

The Cons

Overly Complicated

If the new feature is going to be initiated by your enterprise data warehouse or marketing system, and includes an interaction with the player and an update to the credit meter on the EGM, there are potentially five different protocols that need to be modified (some of which may not even be controlled by your system vendor). With so many moving parts, the possibility of issues creeping into a feature increases for each protocol on the network.

Inefficient

There are as many as six different program environments that must be modified, tested, approved and deployed to your gaming floor in order for a feature to be available to your players. No wonder the typical development cycle is 18 months or more! This lengthy and complicated development cycle presents significant challenges to the rapid development and deployment of new features.

Slow, Limited Communications

The final connection to the EGM uses a slow, polled serial communication link running a protocol called SAS (created 20+ years ago). This SAS link works pretty well over a local connection with the SMIB, but it can’t be used to move large amounts of data to or from the EGM, nor could it ever be used to talk to multiple hosts. Most player interactions are done using player peripherals hung off a third-party SMIB that is supplied by your slot system vendor because player interactions can’t happen across the SAS communication link.

Discourages Innovation

All of the protocols in use (other than SAS) are developed by the system vendor with an eye towards securing their floor network environment (an incredibly important concern when processing vouchers, transferring money and doing other important business functions). However, most don’t employ off-the-shelf security mechanisms (like TLS or SSL) as those types of industry standard solutions are not really available for custom-developed communication protocols. Plus, due to the proprietary nature of the interfaces, any innovation must come from or be sanctioned by the slot system vendor. While slot system vendors are very capable, network lock-in as well as proprietary/non-standard protocols discourage standard Internet technologies and new ideas from moving easily to the slot floor.

In a nutshell, there is certainly a case to be made for proprietary networks. Each casino will have its own set of considerations when deciding how to move its slot floor into the future.

What do you see as the pros and cons of proprietary slot floor networks?

Networked Gaming

Networked Gaming (n.): Open-standard gaming protocols, running over an Ethernet connection, that facilitate standardized communication between EGMs, servers and peripheral devices.

Some may take exception with that definition. I was reading an article the other day that claimed networked gaming had been around for the last 15 years. To which I responded with a resounding: “Er?” As it turns out, the article was referring to central determination (Class II) gaming.

Strictly speaking, all central determination systems are networked. And, as a point of fact, most central determination systems are now run over an Ethernet network. But it’s not really a good example of what’s happening with the open standard, high-speed technology effort that will push gaming technology into the future because it only has one piece of the equation: Ethernet. Here’s an example:

Using an Ethernet network, company A communicates really effectively between company A’s EGMs and servers.

That’s great, but . . .

Using an Ethernet network and open standards, company A now communicates really effectively between the EGMs and servers for companies A (your slot system), B (your player management system), C (your cool bonusing applications) and D (your totally amazing augmented reality games). Now, you’ve got technology – regardless of the vendor – that you can easily leverage across your entire slot floor.

What matters in this scenario are things like innovation, quality, ROI and vendor responsiveness because interoperability, extensibility and flexibility are already there.

Open Standards

Open Standards (n.): A technical standard that gifts rights of use to the public and can be implemented royalty free. There are three open standards for the gaming technology industry: the Gaming Device Standard (GDS), Game To System (G2S) protocol and System To System (S2S) protocol. All three standards are maintained by the Gaming Standards Association (GSA), which has a membership comprised of gaming vendors, operators, test laboratories and regulators.

What’s the catch? While using an open standard is one thing, implementing an open standard is quite another. Since the goal of open standards is interoperability, GSA has quite sensibly set up a certification program for vendors implementing GSA standards. Certification ensures that whatever the technology is, it will play nice with what’s on your floor. Independent test labs, such as BMM, GLI and Eclipse, are already participating in the certification program. Manufacturers can even set up their own test labs, as long as the labs are accredited.

Server-Based Gaming

Server-Based Gaming (n.): 1. EGMs that receive information from a central host server. There are two basic types of server-based gaming:

1. system-based: EGMs receive game content and results from a host server (for example, central determination games).
2. system-supported: EGM is responsible for game play and outcomes, but things like game configuration, game updates and media are downloaded from a host server.

Depending on the implementation, server-based gaming may or may not require an Ethernet connection, and may or may not use open standards.

Go forth, knowledgeable consumer

So, what questions should you be asking vendors as you navigate the latest technology offerings at G2E this year?

Does the product conform to one of the Gaming Standards Association’s open standard protocols? Is it GSA-certified? If not, is there a timeline for certification?

You will hear many arguments as to why you shouldn’t worry you’re pretty little head about open standards, but remember: the real difference between proprietary protocols and open protocols is choice, flexibility and innovation.

Open standards are essential to realizing the full benefits of an Ethernet-based networked slot floor (and, in case you were wondering, the G2S protocol includes a class for central determination as well as download). And in all honesty, some vendors may not want you to really understand your options (Do you blame them?). It’s up to you to be an informed consumer.

What other questions do you have about networked gaming? What issues are you encountering as you talk to your vendors about implementing open standards in their technology?

Video Conferencing

We know, video conferencing has been around for awhile (think Skype). Unfortunately, serial connections have not been able to support video conferencing at the game. With high-speed networking, you can now interact with your players in new ways. Notice a hot player is starting to slow down? Offer him tickets to the buffet. Have a high-roller who is playing into the wee hours of the morning? Maybe he would like a room.

The future is all about establishing relationships with your customers – making them part of your community. Whether they have an issue, question or just need to chat, video communications will give your players instant face-to-face access to casino representatives and let you better anticipate your customers’ needs. What better way to build customer satisfaction and loyalty?

Social Networking

Not only will technology make it easier for players to connect with you, it will make it easier for them to connect with each other. Whether it’s posting, texting, chatting, following or tweeting, many of you already use this technology to reach players. But these applications could be much more tightly integrated into the gaming experience to build your player community, bring players together and bring the excitement of playing with friends - even over long distances – to your properties. Best of all, social networking is increasingly becoming a real-time endeavor: players won’t wait until they get home to tell their friends about their experience at your casino – they’re more likely to give real-time updates and invite their friends to join them. This makes individual players even more important to your business because they have the potential to attract additional players during their visit.

GPS

There are so many possibilities for GPS technology, it’s hard to know where to begin. From a marketing perspective, GPS adds a new dimension to recommendations (for example, the “Trips” feature in Gowalla). Players can now, not only give your casino a thumbs up, but provide specific location information about the best places in your casino to visit. You can entice players into your casino by sending rewards directly to their phone if they come within a certain range of the property. Or, increase play on new games by sending players game-specific coupons as they walk through the slot floor.

As with social networking, integration of GPS technologies into the slot machine could add interest to the gaming experience as well as to expand your player base. What if players could use Google-Earth-like technology to find other players for multi-player games – not just in the casino they’re in, but in casinos around the world?

Smartphones

Smartphones give you instant access to players and let you keep the excitement going after they have left the casino. What about sending bonus games to the player’s smartphone? Or, did player X tell you that she’s a fan of Really Cool Game Y? Send her real-time, automatic game updates:

“HotPlayer6 just beat your high score on Really Cool Game Y! Come in today and we’ll give you three free spins to try and top it!”

Augmented Reality (AR)

What if AR adventures involved playing slots in your casino? Maybe even card games? What if players not only raced around one of your properties, but several, trying to be the first to earn the final reward? Sure 3D and Wii-like interactions are cool, but we think gaming companies should go in this direction:

While the above video is conceptual, the technology already exists. AR gaming has the potential for the competitiveness, interactivity and excitement to take gaming to a whole new level.

What technology would you like to see on the gaming floor?

In the earliest slot floor management systems (circa 1975), accounting and security were all that was important, so system manufacturers came up with the concept of the Slot Machine Interface Board (SMIB), which they could stick into every slot machine (many were mechanicals or electro-mechanicals). These early SMIBs connected to a wiring harness that would detect when hard meters incremented, and had a number of mechanical door switches to tell when doors were opened. SMIBs worked and life was good.

A bit later (mid 1980’s), gaming machines got a bit more advanced and were able to start sending data through a serial connection to the SMIB. Even today, most Electronic Gaming Machines (EGMs) speak an old (but good) protocol call SAS (IGT’s Slot Accounting System protocol). This protocol, created over 20 years ago, uses a slow serial link (19,200 bits per second) in which the host polls the EGM for information multiple times per second. For example:

HOST: “Do you have anything to tell me?”

EGM: “No”

HOST: “Do you have anything to tell me?”

EGM:“No”

HOST: “Do you have anything to tell me?”

EGM “No”

HOST: “Do you have anything to tell me?”

EGM: “Yes. Here’s a hex poll code that you need to understand so you can send me other hex codes to request more detail. If you get it wrong, or don’t get back to me at exactly the frequency that I’m expecting, I’m going to stop talking to you.”

These serial protocols (like SAS) worked fine for getting meters and tilts from the EGM, but they didn’t have the capacity to allow you to interact with your player or send configuration data to the EGM. So, system vendors were compelled to react by beefing up their SMIB and adding a card reader and a small display to identify employees and display tilt codes. In the late 1980s, SMIBs were expanded again to allow the casino to track players at the EGM. Over time, new and more advanced player peripherals were added to the SMIB – first keypads and buttons, then bigger displays, followed by lighted bezels around the card reader. Once again, life was good.

More recently, however, the general public has become tech savvy (especially with all of the cool new stuff happening on the Internet), making the rather static player experience supplied by the SMIB vendor a bit boring. System vendors have reacted with snappy 3”x6” displays that allow secondary games on them and menus of choices for the player. While these changes mark continual improvement, they’re not really up to the experience I get through my browser or on my iPhone. It really is time for another radical change.

And that’s where G2S comes in – a protocol that, from the ground up, was designed to communicate all of the accounting and security information from SAS, handle all of the player tracking communications that are currently happening with your SMIB, add in remote configuration of the EGM (downloading and installing new software) and access to all of the data that’s been locked inside the slot machines (you know, all of those metrics you now have to read at the EGM). Plus, it has been designed to run over a high-speed network that also accommodates streaming media, video conferencing, instant messaging, and anything else you can do on the Internet. And coolest of all is that the interactions with the player can occur on those two really big high def displays that are on most EGMs.

That concludes the history lesson. Next time, we’ll dive under the covers to see how easy G2S really is.

At the All Things Digital conference, sponsored by the Wall Street Journal, Microsoft had to glumly sit by while the whole world told them that they were dinosaurs. Steve Jobs and his revolution are going to destroy the desktop hegemony enjoyed by Redmond, and the world will never be the same.

This may or may not be true, and part of me even wants it to be true. But there is one thing that my 30+ years in the technology space has taught me: innovation cannot be denied.

Microsoft may be looking at a bleak future; we shall see before too long.  But one of their employees sitting at their desk, either in Washington or California or China or India, is inventing a new future for Microsoft. Innovation has a way of doing that. Just when the future looks one way, a spark of an idea jumps up, the clouds part, the seas calm and a new race is begun (pardon my mixed metaphors).

Microsoft, for all of its warts, has transformed the word in more ways than Mr. Jobs has or probably ever will.  And I would bet Redmond will do it again.

Now, if they could just keep my Vista box from crashing every other day…

–Marty