Slot Manager - January 2009 - (Page 16)

GAME CHANGER Forward-Looking Flexibility IGT’s REELdepth delivers unprecedented game options to casino operators and players through patented 3-D technology BY MARIAN GREEN Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of features touching on new slot products or technologies that promise to have substantial impact on the slot gaming industry. A lmost from the moment IGT’s first REELdepth video slots were installed Labor Day weekend at the Grand Casino Mille Lacs and Grand Casino Mille Lacs, the games started to prove their worth. “REELdepth is hugely popular on our floors with our players. It’s got all the good things that you can do with a video but with the appearance of a stepper,” slot executive Robert Allen said in an interview not long after the games’ installation. It’s something that will stand the test of time, especially as the industry moves toward server-based gaming. “It’s a good investment. For us, the game has everything we need to go into a networked environment,” said Allen, corporate vice president of slot operations for Grand Casinos, which operates the casinos for Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe. “It’s got an infinite number of options so that we can invest in these games and not worry.” The technology REELdepth video slots use Multi-Layer Display technology licensed through its partner, California-based PureDepth. The MLD technology uses a layering of two or more liquid crystal displays (LCDs) to create the visual effect of true depth without the use of 3-D glasses. It is the same technology that produces multilayer maps of war zones and drives visually enhanced images using real depth for Samsung and Sanyo LCD displays. Ryan Griffin, manager of IGT Standard games, said the technology promises to revolutionize casino slot floor operations. “What we’re able to do with that technology is create the feeling of actual depth between one LCD to the other, so images appear to be jumping to the front,” Griffin said. IGT’s Winners Choice Multi-Game slots with MLD are available on IGT’s AVP machines. The patented MLD technology with IGT’s “Reel Flex” feature allows the player to view and play their favorite games by switching from a three-reel to four-reel to five-reel to video reel to poker within seconds — all on the same AVP machine. A player also can switch to and from a nonprogressive feature to a progressive feature by choosing another game on the same AVP machine. “Players no longer have to search the casino floor for their favorite game,” Griffin said. “For the first time a player can sit down and at the touch of a button they can go from a three reel to a four reel or a five reel or to a video game or a poker game. That’s why it’s such a big, big game changer.” He noted the virtual slot reels in REELdepth games realistically represent the look, sound and feel of the older IGT ‘legacy’ mechanical reel counterparts, giving players an immediate comfort level. MLD technology also lets casino operators change games without having to convert to expensive and time-consuming reel shelves, physical reel strips, button panels, inserts, pay table glass, and game software. It also eliminates the need for in-machine thirdparty progressive meters and progressive controllers, because it has the capability to display up to three digital meters in the top box. The MLD technology allows players to toggle from game-to-game offering different math models on the same AVP machine – something its competitors’ multigame products don’t offer. And IGT offers a huge library of game choices, giving operators unprecedented flexibility, Griffin said. REELdepth on Winner’s Choice Multi-Game slots is offered on IGT’s new G MLD and S MLD machine models, using MLD technology. All games in the REELdepth line are ready for server-based gaming today, but operators do not need a serverbased system to run the games or the unique 3-D technology. “When you put that into a 16 SLOT MANAGER ❘ JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2009 ❘ www.slotmanager.net http://www.slotmanager.net

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Slot Manager - January 2009

Slot Manager - January 2009 Contents Editor's Note Quick Hits New Games Cover Story: Going Strong At 30 Game Changer: IGT's REELdepth Operations: Where There's a Will, There's a Way Games: G2E 2008 Slot Report Common Ground Marketing Inside Edge Advertiser Index Forum

Slot Manager - January 2009

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