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?

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.

In short, G2S moves your casino from a closed-system world (where you can only get new applications from your system provider) to an open network, where anyone can write an application that lets you have all sorts of amazing new interactions with your players. The applications taking the lead these days are remote game configuration and downloading new code to run on your gaming machines. These are just the tip of the iceberg. Much like e-mail and file sharing were the tip of the iceberg for the Internet – and now look where we are!

As you (and your slot floor) move into this new world, it is critical that you are an intelligent consumer – making sure that the solution you implement (or is installed for you) can take advantage of future applications. I suspect there may be some pressure from your current solution providers to make sure you don’t go shopping around for solutions from just anybody. This might cause your casino to become as flexible and innovative as (gasp!) the Internet.

So, what do you do? Concede that your current solution providers are the best at what they are doing now – the highly regulated, incredibly important applications that are the bread and butter of your casino – and let them know they will continue to be an important part of your future. But, imagine going to a gaming show, seeing a cool new application that might be just perfect for your players, and then having it up and running a month or so later. And, if it’s not quite right, having the vendor iteratively update their application until it’s just perfect for your players. In the G2S world, a gaming machine (EGM) can talk directly to multiple servers at the same time! This means that your current system provider can continue to do what they do best (all of the important stuff), while your EGMs also talk to other applications that are not as highly regulated (since they are just “marketing” apps).

Over the coming weeks, I’ll be exploring various aspects of networked gaming, and ways that you can prepare yourself and your slot floor for future innovation. In addition, I would be happy to explore specific networked gaming topics that interest you. So, what you would you like to talk about?