iView DM and U-Spin bonus

[CEM Sarah]

Hi guys,
here is a video we did with Bally in which they show off the iView Display Manager and the U-Spin wheel bonus. Pretty neat stuff. Has anyone played a machine with this on it yet? I'm curious to hear what you thought about it.

http://www.casinoenterprisemanagement.com/video-library/casinofest-8-bally-technologies

[Deb]

That is pretty neat! I have not seen this at all yet. Of course I haven't been to the casino lately either so........ I do like the spin deal. If I see this, I will likely give it a try. Thanks for posting Sarah!

[azplayer]

This is all very interesting. It's also somewhat disturbing.

The customer interface for service and players account info is ok, BUT...................................
Big Brother is definately on the casino floor now and it makes me sad that we, the slot players, are so predictable.
I'm sure that "more bonuses" means more play for the casino and less money won by the player. Why would the casinos use
this technology if it wasn't to their benefit?

The casinos have led us to believe that the RNGs are totally random. The only true randomness occurs in nature. If a human made it or programmed it, it's not realy random. The older machines were easier to get a feel for, therefore the more levels of technology added to a slot machine the harder it becomes to believe in randomness. Randomness should not be able to be controlled. A bonus every X spins is not at all random. The odds are already in the casino's favor but they want more.

just saying

[The Shamus]

Hi guys,
here is a video we did with Bally in which they show off the iView Display Manager and the U-Spin wheel bonus. Pretty neat stuff. Has anyone played a machine with this on it yet? I'm curious to hear what you thought about it.

http://www.casinoenterprisemanagement.com/video-library/casinofest-8-bally-technologies

Hi Sarah ... you do a nice job on the video. Bally and IGT are obviously the leaders in this field. These backend systems are what keeps Bally "in the game".

As a player, I care most about the games. The interface, and iView are interesting technologies -- and I'm sure there is a good future in this. However, as soon as they demonstrate the slot, I am timewarped back 15 years. The machine makes sounds that I have heard coming out of the men's room. Honestly ... when is Bally going to have 3D graphics and cutting edge sound. Those 7's should be eye-popping and exciting. Year after year goes by, and they never seem to learn.

The video gives you some good insight in how player denographics are not just captured, but analysed (real time), and visualized.

As a player, I hope it leads to better games and better comps.

I could also see people getting upset at their neighbour getting the "wheel" more frequenty. That could turn some players off.

All very interesting. Keep the videos coming :)


/\/\/\/\ the Shamus /\/\/\/\

[maxgirl]

Is ballys saying that the machine can be programmed to manipulate the wheel to favor certain players with bonus rounds or what ever Prizes on the wheel? If So, then our post many months ago on players cards eventually being able to target and reward the best customer seems to be not so farout as once thought. I hope I am misunderstanding this video because otherwise I think this is A Scary direction I hate to see slots go to. To much BIG brother for real! Can we get back to Reels?? lol

[inaminute]

First of all, thanks for posting this video.

I hope anyone who doubted the ability of casinos to employ the technology to actively manage the slot floor in real time and thereby maximize the losses of all players is paying close attention to this video.

I think it is becoming quite clear that the slot cards that casinos managed to fool players into using, all along were to be the basis for the technology you see here that absolutely allows for the linking of player profiles to how the machine is going to play for you. The question operators initially faced was how to convince players to trade tracking information that was to eventually be used be used in this manner. It turns out it was quite easy, and no where near fair compensation to the player has ever been tendered by the industry.

My guess is this is Bally's SBG product, or one of them, and I think they already recognize player apprehension and concern by never mentioning the words server-based gaming in this video. This ought to further prove that gaming commisions are totally in with the manufacturers and have stopped being an advocate for the player.

As I thought, Bally's iView Display manager is server-based per this link from Bally:

http://ballytech.com/press-room/print-press-release/2010/01/06/bally-technologies-awarded-enterprise-wide-systems-720.html

The problem isn't simply server-based gaming but the slot floor management programs being used with SBG. From the above link is this quote:

"To enable GEG to better understand their players and make their operations more efficient, Bally is providing Bally Business Intelligence, a powerful data analytics and visualization solution. This solution provides powerful data on game and table performance; player and game interaction; inside and outside mapping; player behavior and trends; player loyalty and value; and event and promotion evaluation."

Good luck to players because as azplayer, maxi, and a few others here have been saying for months, it's really too bad that casinos would take these measures when the games were already heavily weighted in their favor. Profit upon profit.

[inaminute]

One more thing about the video.

At 4:27 of the video, enlarge to full screen and pause and look at this very carefully. It's a table with the following headings from left to right: Player ID, First Name, Last Name, Actual Win, Theoretical Win, and Minutes Played. And look at the populated values by the way, lol.

This is a great video and I hope everyone watches it.

[maxgirl]

wow inaminute, you pointed out some things that I missed, makes perfect sense that they are glossing over the SBG control with different terms for same program. I am not sure of these responses are what Sarah thought she would see or maybe thought she would see player excitement at some new technology. Its good to note the concern we have where all this TRACKING stuff is headed, NO one wants more control over thier win, or bonuses, House has enough advantage.

[azplayer]

So I guess the bottom line is.....While we screw the player, let's at least make them feel good. In other words, give them some free play, free meals, free rooms, or other "promo" freebies. Now what I want to know is....What if a player doesn't use a card? Is/does that increase/decrease a players chances of winning? Now that the totally random theory is squashed, what are the true chances a player has? To card or not to card, that is the question! Are free comps worth the price we pay for them? I didn't use player cards in our AZ NA casinos. Now I might have missed out on some free stuff but I believe that I did better without the cards. With this SBG things are going to be tilted more to the casino. I know it's gambling, I know that it's supposed to be a loser's game, I know that casinos aren't built by winning players, but I also know that when people start to really believe that they don't stand a chance, most will quit. I've quit going to NA casinos here in AZ. Just don't believe I get a fair shake there. Not enough transparency.

Innovation and new technology are great unless they are misused. This is one of those times.

[azplayer]

To follow up...........

Am I going to quit playing slots? Heck no, they are too much fun!

[JesterPete]

I'm going to go out on a limb again and bet I'm not a "best player" at any casino. I'm going to lower my bet from 14 cents to 7 cents so they hate me even more:)

Pete

[azplayer]

I'm going to go out on a limb again and bet I'm not a "best player" at any casino. I'm going to lower my bet from 14 cents to 7 cents so they hate me even more:)

Pete

WOW!! I would have never guessed that you were such a high roller!! LOL

[inaminute]

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20101111006220/en