Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | July 2012 42 WMS’ next foray was its Lord of the Rings product, which offered an even more personalized experience and instituted a password in addition to the username. As more products roll out, WMS continues to ramp up more personalization, Pacey said. Describing Clue and Super Team, he noted, “both of them have different value propositions that are really integrated into the product itself.” For instance, with Clue, players can go online to a casino website and play a Clue casual game that unlocks special areas for a period of time so that whenplayers return to thebricks-and-mortar casino, they can start at the new level. With Super Team, players also can go online to unlock achievements, including those that permit players to customize unique outfits for their superhero. WMS also has ventured into the Facebook world of casual gaming through its partnership with Large Animal Games to offer Lucky Cruise, which allows players to move from destination to destination, playing for-fun versions of slot games. Pacey notes that Lucky Cruise players are split almost evenly between newbie and avid slot players. “There’s an interesting opportunity to really reach out online to players who have never played [slots] before,” he said. Part of WMS’ core vision is “this social kind of convergence of products,” he said. Players want to have that secondary level of accomplishment, unlocking achievements, seeing their names on leaderboards, and receiving other forms of recognition. “At the end of the day, it’s about making the player experience at the property more meaningful and providing operators with the tools to drive players to the property,” Pacey added. Customized Experience Another manufacturer investing heavily in this area is Bally Technologies. Bally Vice President of Technology Bryan Kelly said the company is committed to developing products that promise to leverage the power of episodic/ persistence gaming. “This year has been a year of building teams and starting on the ideation on different game platforms. You’re going to see those products in the marketplace within the next 12-18months,”he said.“You’ll be able to unlock bragging rights, collect objects. You’ll be able to unlock trophies.” Leaderboards and game board-type features around the base game are among the other developments. Bally’s goal is not to compete with a casino, but to “enable our casino customers to offer Internet, mobile and social games that will have episodic and persistent capabilities,” Kelly noted. “We’re really focused on a B2B strategy and trying to return play to that particular casino, that casino brand.” The key is getting players to return to the game, giving them bragging status or more perceived value, he said. As regulations in the market evolve, he said, its possible perceived value eventually could translate into real value. Bally, Kelly said, may benefit from Players can go online to a casino website and play a Clue casual game that unlocks special areas allowing them to start at a new level when they return to the property to play the machine Bally’s iDeck is well-suited to deliver some episodic-persistent gaming features In Focus