The latest innovations in Bally’s high-performing casino management systems and slot products will be on display at G2E Asia
Bally Technologies, the global leader in the supply of casino management systems, has extended that global dominance into Asia over the past few years.
The casino at Galaxy Macau, unveiled on 15th May, runs the Bally system. That follows Galaxy Entertainment Group’s corporate decision to switch from another supplier to Bally at its StarWorld property on Macau peninsula in 2010.
One of Bally’s greatest coups came when it concluded an expansive technology contract with Las Vegas Sands Corp (LVS) to supply casino management systems for all the company’s resorts in the US, Macau and Singapore. Bally systems were also chosen by SJM in Macau in 2009.
Cath Burns, Managing Director and Vice President of Asia-Pacific for Bally Technologies, is proud that Galaxy Macau is now also an important Bally customer.
“Galaxy Macau is a great property. We are honoured to be a part of the opening with both our systems and games,” says Ms Burns.
“On the system side the opening was smooth and our systems performed as expected. This is the best result for any system implementation. This was our 11th system implementation in Macau and Singapore in the past couple of years.
“All the credit goes to the Galaxy team, our software developers and our local support teams who planned and executed this project so smoothly. Bringing together a smooth opening with a wide array of business systems is not an easy feat. It was achieved by a great team effort.”
Ms Burns reveals Bally systems will soon have greater reach in the region. “We are currently working on our first system implementation in New Zealand with the SkyCity group. This is an exciting project for us as it marks our first system in the Australia and New Zealand market. In Macau we are also implementing a system at one of SJM’s slot clubs.”
Automatic value
Bally Technologies has tailored its systems to suit the table-focused casino markets of Asia. Bally’s TableView™ is an innovative table-management solution that allows operators to replace their existing manual rating process with the ease and simplicity of electronic automation. With TableView, it is possible to create an almost paperless environment in the pit and eliminate the delays of entering and updating ratings into the casino management system. TableView also provides a higher standard of customer service by reducing the amount of time required by supervisors to capture and register player ratings. Bally’s TableView system was designed to provide floor operations staff with a fast and easy solution for entering player ratings, managing requests for chip fills and credits, handling table closers, and issuing customer comps and markers in real time.
Bally’s iVIEW Display Manager™ (DM) is a picture-in-picture style player-user-interface for slot machines. This backwards-compatible technology, which works on any manufacturer’s gaming devices with a touch-screen display, has evolved into a self-service ‘kiosk’, enabling players to do many things, including ordering drinks, requesting their car from valet parking, and reviewing their player rewards offers.
But the real benefit is the way this technology can add new levels of excitement and anticipation to game play. When combined with Bally’s Elite Bonusing Suite™ applications which deliver floorwide, interaction promotions, iVIEW DM offers a second-chance-to-win and the ability for players to earn valuable rewards, all without interrupting play on their base game. These interactive applications enable players to spin wheels, select and cheer for their favourite contest-driven car or horse, get instant rewards on their birthday, and participate in floor-wide slot tournaments.
Another trailblazing product that reiterates Bally’s leadership in the systems business is Bally Business Intelligence™. This enables gaming operators to analyse and visualise the extensive data they gather every hour of every day. Bally Business Intelligence takes data from the various business systems, and integrates it into consistent, actionable, information across all the departments and casino locations within the organisation. Using Bally Business Intelligence, casino operators can now easily analyse customer, slots, tables, bingo, poker, hotel, point-of-sale, and other information with more than 500 key performance indicators built into the system. Bally Business Intelligence includes campaign management, predictive modelling, reporting, and analytics as well as visual analysis.
Feature richer
Making its debut in Macau is the iDeck™, the new touch-screen deck with virtual buttons. iDeck redefines player-game interaction. Its versatility offers extensive customisable features, virtual games, and mystery bonusing. Bally describes the iDeck as revolutionary—the first full video player interface in the gaming industry. With iDeck, when new game content is installed, the button configuration instantly changes to match the game, meaning operators will never need to change a button deck again.
“The iDeck offers an additional opportunity to reach out to the player and market to them and make the gaming experience even better,” points out Ms Burns.
“Given the take up of Apple-style products globally, the iDeck will appeal to all generations of players. We will be able to configure the iDeck with specific Asian preferences in mind, whether that is player-preferred colours, messages, or as an additional game screen. It is the future.”
New cabinet and games
Bally regards G2E Asia as the ideal setting to launch officially the state-of-the-art Pro Series™ cabinets for the Asia-Pacific region. These modern cabinets are highlighted by various energy-saving features and were built for easy serviceability and maximum player comfort. They support downloadable content and are ready for networked and server-based gaming floors. The Pro Series cabinets are driven by the power of Bally’s new ALPHA 2™ platform that enables new levels of interactivity and visual quality with 3D-graphic animations. The ALPHA 2 operating system allows for more impactful, interactive, and graphically stunning games, taking Bally’s core video product to a new level of development.
A game that utilises the power of Bally’s ALPHA 2 platform to its full extent is Cash Wizard™. Players are immersed in a rich and visually stunning world of magical potions and mysterious spells, artfully depicted with on-screen animations. Play is synchronised on the iDeck and two 22-inch, touch-enabled game screens, offering a rich gaming experience.
Bally’s Pro Series V22/22 cabinet stands out thanks to its cutting-edge design, custom surround sound, interaction, and unrivalled player comfort. Some of the games presented on this cabinet will be Seagull Sam™, Bacchus Gold™, and Ole Jalapenos™. Seagull Sam and Bacchus Gold offer the popular play mechanic Holding Wilds. In Holding Wilds, during the free games bonus, any wild symbol that appears will ‘lock’ in that position and hold for the remainder of the free games feature. Both Ole Jalapenos’ titles—Mild & Wild and Hot & Spicy—offer a three-level progressive and an entertaining bonus event in which players get to interact with Bally’s trailblazing touch-screen iDeck.
On display as well on the V22/22 cabinet will be Playboy Hot Zone™, Bally’s newest Playboy title, which is arguably one of the premier licensed gaming brands ever developed. Playboy Playmates are animated over both of the 22-inch touch-enabled LCD displays for an incredible visual presentation. This seductive game features Bally’s patented new Hot Zone play mechanic, in which a “Hot Zone” overlay appears on the reels during the base game and free games, and all symbols under the overlay become “Wild.”
Bally will also introduce the Golden Empire™ Mystery Progressive link to casino operators in Macau. This is the first theme in Bally’s new mystery progressive link family. The Asian-themed and locally created Golden Empire takes players to an ancient land filled with the possibility of lavish riches and rewards. Players can win one of the three or four randomly triggered progressive jackpots, depending on the operator’s configurations. The Golden Empire Link—over standalone video slot machines—allows jackpots to be triggered randomly during game play; no maximum bet is required to win one of the progressive amounts. The ‘attract loops’ playing on the overhead sign package that includes large LCD screens feature dramatic animated sequences of festive celebrations, dragon dancing, sword fighting, and fireworks erupting as the winning jackpot level is displayed and celebrated.
Exhibiting for the first time in Asia will be Bally’s award-winning game Code Red™. Presented on Bally’s new Pro Curve cabinet featuring a first-of-its-kind 22-inch “curved” LCD display, the Pro Curve offers players the look and feel of a traditional reel-spinning slot with the modern convenience and technology of video. Code Red offers a number of interactive features currently only seen in video games. Featuring Bally’s award-winning U-Spin™ gesture-control play mechanic to award free games, progressive jackpots, or bonus credits, Code Red is highlighted by a new “Free Games” play mechanic that showcases prizes on each reel—above the reel strip. Players can win either bonus credits, locked wild symbols, or a locked wild reel during the free games feature.
Another game that utilises U-Spin technology is the brand new Hot Spin™. In Hot Spin, players get to choose their own risk and reward levels by picking one of six reel symbols which determine how often they will get the U-Spin Wheel Bonus and how much they can win. A dynamic pay table means that the prizes on each wedge of the game’s giant touch-screen wheel change depending on which reel symbol is chosen and the player’s bet level.
The opening of Galaxy Macau with many Bally games so close to the date of G2E Asia, has been a great opportunity for operators to see Bally slot products in action where it counts the most—on the live gaming floor. “On the games side Galaxy was focused on providing the best selection of new and current performing products to their customers,” explains Ms Burns. “They gave us an opportunity to showcase some of our new products like Cash Spin which has been one of our most successful products ever launched. It has been fantastic to see such great slot occupancy. The players are clearly embracing the Galaxy slot product.
“Slot growth in Macau continues to trend well along with all other growth. Galaxy has raised the bar with its product mix which in turn will intensify competition and keep manufacturers focused on delivering innovative competitive products,” Ms Burns added.
