Wednesday, October 06, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

GLOBAL GAMING EXPO: Experts take ideas for a spin

Looking at future, panel sees downloadable games

Visitors to the International Game Technology booth at the Global Gaming Expo play a Wheel of Fortune game Tuesday in which nine people compete against each another. The expo, which features slots and gambling machines from a host of companies, continues through Thursday at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Photo by John Gurzinski.

Slot machines with downloadable games that can quickly transform the casino environment will be the next technological advance in gaming, experts predicted Tuesday at the Global Gaming Expo.

"We've gone through this great ticket in-ticket out cycle; the next technology advance will be downloadable games," said Frank Fantini of the Gaming Morning Report.

T.J. Matthews, chief executive officer of International Game Technology, said downloadable games will enable casinos to maximize player preferences. If one side of a casino is empty while the other is crowded, the casino can download new games or change denominations of play to attract players, he said.

"Downloadable games will change the casino environment," Matthews said. "Players will have games they want and casinos will increase overall activity."

While Matthews acknowledges such operations are five years off, he said that server distribution for such operations is now available.

"The industry has always lagged on the technology side," Matthews said. "But we're getting up-to-date with microprocessors and graphics."

All panelists at the Las Vegas Convention Center predicted other changes over the next few years.

"Look at Gen X, Y and Z," said Mark Yoseloff, chief executive officer of Shuffle Master. "Look at the Hard Rock and the Palms. They're taking out slots to put in more table games. Blackjack is even making a huge comeback."

While discussing the potential for intelligent table games, which offer more automated operations, Yoseloff described table games as the antithesis of slot machines.

"They require a lot of labor and a lot of guessing," he said. "Intelligent tables with data-reading capabilities would have the ability to evaluate play on the table."

Yoseloff said that companies are working on this technology but that they are not ready to introduce anything.

"The world has already waited 5,000 years for an intelligent gaming table; they may have to wait another few months," Yoseloff said.

Matthews said that while these products are exciting, companies are focusing on ways to increase features and depth of the gaming experience in an effort to increase player interaction.

One such way of raising the bar on player interaction is to create "community events, where people compete against each other," Matthews said, adding that a new version of Wheel of Fortune, shown at G2E, allows nine players to compete against each other.

Matthews said that new markets opening across the country present new opportunities for gaming companies.

"Pennsylvania is allowing 60,000 more machines, Maine just had an open vote and Arizona just passed legislation doubling the number of gaming devices," Matthews said. "There is a gaming debate in almost every jurisdiction that doesn't currently authorize gaming," he said, cautioning that companies should be wary of market saturation.

Paul Oneile, chief executive officer of Aristocrat Leisure Ltd., reminded the audience and the panel that a game must work well.

"It only comes down to the ability to deliver games," Oneile said. "We will ultimately be driven by the success of our games," he said.

The panel agreed that while technological innovations present exciting possibilities to the gaming industry, traditional games still have an important value and aren't going to be replaced anytime soon.