Inside Asian Gaming

April 2011 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 41 inch LCD monitors to broadcast players’ “briefcase” picks. Of course, it’s just about impossible to miss from anywhere on the casino floor. And a community bonus has been added with a guaranteed launch every 11minutes, almost every player get to participate (“stress-free eligibility,” Brennan calls it). Here’s how it works: On-screen clocks at each station count down the seconds to “Briefcase Bonus” time, heightening the excitement for the players who’ve collected a minimum of 18 “golden briefcases” during the base game and have moved to the next level. (There’s a bonus multiplier for additional cases.) In the bonus round each player selects a briefcase on their machine. Everybody’s picks are displayed on the five-screen “wall”. Some of the cases are randomly opened to reveal their amounts. The “Banker” appears, offering players a credit amount based on an average of the hidden amounts in the remaining cases. The player then chooses “Deal” or “No Deal”. This continues until either all the players choose “Deal” and accept the offer or until only one case is left. As the round closes, players have the option of selecting the remaining case, staying with their original case or switching to another player‘s case. The elected cases thenopen, and the individual credit amounts are increased by the player’s own multiplier. Final results are ranked on the giant screen. “It’s very well thought-out, very sophisticated,” says Brennan. There’s a social element for the“entertainment”player, as he terms them, and a competitive element the “gambling” player craves. “Everyone in the industry is jumping into community games, and we’ve been kind of sitting back and looking at what has worked and what hasn’t worked,” he says, so Join ’n Play “represents a lot of firsts for us, and we feel it will be one of the key community games out there, and one of the top recurring-revenue products.” Bally Technologies; Expanding the community Last year when Bally was installing its first Two for the Money DualVision games the basic pitch was “A Community of Two”— two players side by side on a single bench, two separate games, but a single bankroll, the same wins, same losses, the same highs and lows—a true shared experience. Says Director of Gaming Operations Mark DeDeaux, “We felt that slot players were perceived as players who like to play together; table games were for people who like to play with other people.” DualVision and its high-frequency bonus math model have proven so popular, especially with recent enhancements to the cabinet’s dynamic “celebration effect” lighting and sound package, Bally now is customizing its original “five-pod” configuration for casinos that want the flexibility of providing Two for the Money (and its brand-new brother, Meet Me in the Middle, based on the popular board game and just launched in December) in sets of three and even in single placements. As for Two for the Money, Quick Hits was its inspiration, it employs the same free games feature and seven-level progressive, and therefore Bally was confident it couldn’t miss. “It’s the trend with all the manufacturers,” explains DeDeaux, “using proven games we know players like.” Meet Me in the Middle, which will see its first installations in the next couple of months, derives its parlor game fun—like a free games feature that’s triggered when both player pieces land on a “Meet Me in the Middle” symbol at the same time—is a “natural fit for community gaming,” he says. As is the new five-reel, 40-line Hot Shot Yours, Mine and OURS!, which takes its math and its unique Game in Game and progressive features fromthehugelypopular Hot Shot. Either player can enter their own Game in Game bonus separately. But there are an extra three symbols that will admit both players into the bonus together. For a more competitive take, there’s the new Blazing Hot Tournament, available as a “three-against-the-wall”or as a free-standing six-pod with two sets of three linked players. Its random bonus rounds can be triggered simultaneously, and a thermometer-like reading tracks and broadcasts eligibility for the big bonus. What’s really unique is that Cosy community—Two for the Money™ on the DualVision™ cabinet Raising the heat—Blazing Hot Tournament ™