Visitors to the Shuffle Master booth play Ultimate Texas Hold'em at the Global Gaming Expo at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Photos by John Gurzinski. Progressive Gaming International Corp.'s Texas Hold'Em Live game, modeled after Internet poker, is designed for play on Tablet PCs. Visitors try out e-motion gaming machines at Atronics' G2E convention booth. The faces of the machines adjust for the players' heights.

The casino floor in 2006 might soon resemble a home theater.

From heightened graphics, video and sound; multiple game selection; seating comfort; and the ability to manually raise and lower the screen to fit a player's particular height, slot machine manufacturers unveiled a multitude of gaming device upgrades during this past week's Global Gaming Expo at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Slot builders, gaming equipment providers and game innovators heeded the concerns of casino operators who had expressed going into G2E that they wanted to see products that could be on the market next year.

"The feedback we had from the casinos was to have some good games out there that will get the players interested," said Robert Luciano, chief technology officer for Bally Gaming, a subsidiary of Alliance Gaming. "We enhanced the product to give the player a better experience."

What gaming industry observers found after three days of wandering the G2E's 290,000-square-foot trade show floor was not a lot of new games, but products that elevated previous gaming devices.

"I saw a few products that caught my interest and were somewhat unique," said Aimee Marcel, who analyzes the gaming manufacturers for Jefferies & Co. "There was some innovation but we did see very similar technologies from most of the manufacturers."

Marcel said the slot companies were more focused on displaying futuristic sever-based or downloadable technology; gaming products that are at least a few years away from the casino.

Goldman Sachs gaming analyst Steven Kent said G2E revealed few surprises.

"We thought the show lacked defining products that really stood out to create a new trend," Kent said. "Most of the manufacturers focused on creating newer versions of their most popular titles to generate software upgrade sales rather than trying to produce the great new title to sell a new machine."

Both WMS Gaming and Bally showed off new slot machines with surround-soundlike accompaniment and high-definition-style video. Designers said the seating and large speakers increased the player's entertainment during bonus sessions. They might, for example, get a concert sensation while playing a Bally's "Blues Brothers" game and a "fighter pilot" feeling during WMS' game based on the movie "Top Gun."

"You want to give the player more entertainment," Luciano said.

Atronic Gaming showed off the company's e-motion video slot machine, which is built on a cabinet the company touts as having an ergonomic design. Players can easily adjust the height of the machine to eye level; the lights, buttons and dual video monitors are designed for player comfort.

"All of our newer products will be placed on the e-motion cabinet," said Atronic spokeswoman Katie Stage, adding the machine was approved for use in Nevada in August. "We're getting good feedback on the machine from our customers and we hope this will help grow our footprint in Nevada."

The slot machine companies didn't ignore video poker. International Game Technology had several products based on cable television's "World Poker Tour" while WMS showed off its video poker game based on the World Series of Poker. Harrah's Entertainment owns the World Series of Poker and the game will only be found at the company's casinos during an unspecified time period.

Marcel was impressed by Progressive Gaming International Corp., which took video poker a step further, unveiling Texas Hold'Em Live, a slot machine game offering live multiplayer video poker.

Modeled after Internet poker, with similar graphics and enhanced capabilities, Texas Hold'Em Live lets gamblers enter live games with players throughout the casino.

The technology can link the games in multiple casinos through an Intranet connection, allowing the pool of players to grow substantially. In addition, the games were designed to be played on a tablet PC, which would allow players to wager in other areas of the casino in jurisdictions where hand-held gaming devices have been legalized.

"The game looks like Internet poker so players with a familiarity to the game will be comfortable playing," said Fernando Di Carlo, whose Canada-based Gametronics designed Texas Hold'Em Live for Progressive Gaming. "We've upgraded the graphics considerably."

Tom Kidneigh, who is involved with new product development for Progressive Gaming, said the game was submitted for testing and the company hopes to begin placing the machines in casinos during the first half of 2006.

"Anything with poker has potential and we think this game is going to have a tremendous draw," Kidneigh said.

In table games, poker's continued climb up the pop-culture charts reflected throughout the trade-show floor. Game manufacturers were trying to sell new games that had a poker derivative, especially Texas hold'em.

Shuffle Master, which displayed several new table games to complement its Let It Ride and Three Card Poker games, unveiled Ultimate Texas Hold'Em, which features heads-up play against the dealer and optional bonus wagers. Played on a table with a layout similar to blackjack, the game doesn't involve raising and bluffing.

Shuffle Master spokeswoman Kirsten Clark, said the game will be rolled out in California casinos next year.

"We think this is the game that will bring poker players out of the poker room and into the pit," Clark said.

While new table games have a long history of failure in the casino industry, enhancements to existing games have succeeded modestly.

Former certified public accountant Frank Mugnolo had a small booth in the far corner of G2E to display Casino Surrender, a variation of blackjack that allows a player to take back a wager, and "surrender" his hand, and win half his bet. This "surrender situation" happens when the player shows a two-card 20 facing a dealer with a 10 showing.

Normal blackjack rules apply throughout the game, but when the surrender situation arises the player is offered the option of taking back the wager and winning half the bet, gambling the dealer will end up with a 20 or draw to 21.

The game was tested at two Stardust blackjack tables in April. Since its unveiling, the casino has increased the game to one third of its total blackjack tables, Mugnolo said.

In addition, he said placement of Casino Surrender will begin shortly at several casinos operated by Station Casinos.

"Blackjack players, who understand the odds, would much rather play this game than the standard table," he said.