PRESS RELEASE
LAS VEGAS, November 9, 2010 — Bally Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: BYI), a leader in slots, video machines, casino-management, and server-based solutions for the global gaming industry, announced today that it will spotlight powerful floor-wide bonusing applications; more than 135 new game titles; and a suite of mobile applications at this year’s Global Gaming Expo (G2E) in Las Vegas, Nov. 16 – 18 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
“G2E 2010 promises to be our most innovative and technologically advanced show in our Company’s 78-year history,” said Richard Haddrill, Bally Technologies’ Chief Executive Officer. “From our industry-leading iVIEW DM and systems technology and our new ALPHA 2 Pro Series cabinets featuring the amazing iDeck multi-touch button deck, to a host of remarkable video and stepper slots featuring new and compelling game-play mechanics, we are delivering on the promise of being ‘Your Partner in Innovation.’”
Bally will showcase a host of system solutions, server-based technologies, mobile, and hand-held applications in its 14,400 sq. ft. booth #1230, along with 300 games comprised of more than 135 new game titles for the Class III, Class II, VLT, central determination, and international markets. The majority of Bally’s game content will be featured on the new Pro Series cabinets.
A major focus in Bally’s exhibit will be live demonstrations of the floor-wide Elite Bonusing Suite™ applications through the iVIEW Display Manager™ (DM) in-game player-user-interface.
“The applications we’ll be showcasing with iVIEW DM are truly remarkable, delivering amazing new ways to excite and reward players across the casino floor, without interrupting game play,” said Ramesh Srinivasan, Executive Vice President – Bally Systems. “These are the ‘apps’ that will truly change the player experience, and deliver measurable ROI.”
In addition to the products highlighted in Bally’s G2E exhibit, customers can see Bally’s most cutting-edge games and server-based innovations in a private area with invitation-only access.
Pro Series Cabinets Deliver HD Video, Custom Surround-Sound, 3D Animations
The majority of the games in Bally’s booth will be featured on the Company’s new Pro Series cabinets using the power of the new ALPHA 2 platform. ALPHA 2 features an INTEL® Core™ 2 processor; four gigabytes of dual-channel memory; Realtek™ high-definition audio; and leading video technology.
This powerful platform is optimized for dual screen, multi game; uses HD video technology for exciting 3D graphics, animations, and up to a four-monitor play experience; supports both existing and new game libraries; and is network and server-based ready.
These sleek, sophisticated cabinets feature the iDeck for compelling player interaction; custom four-speaker sound (24-bit); LED cabinet lighting and a Super Candle synchronized with game play; and improved serviceability.
“Our game developers and hardware and software engineers have outdone themselves and our operator feedback has been truly outstanding,” said Gavin Isaacs, Bally Technologies’ Chief Operating Officer.”
Isaacs added that the Pro Series cabinets are download and configuration-ready, and the Company will have a library of downloadable games.
Bally Reinvents Button Deck with New iDeck
Designed to maximize player interaction, the iDeck is a fully downloadable multi-touch-screen button deck that replaces traditional button decks on slot machines. This trailblazing technology features multiple levels of innovation, including player-selectable configuration, game-synchronized touch features, and multi-touch, skill-based gaming. The iDeck is built to withstand the rugged demands of everyday casino environments.
The revolutionary iDeck recently won first-place for “Best Productivity-Enhancement Technology” in the 2011 Gaming & Technology Awards.
New Games Feature Rich Graphics, Animations, and New & Expanding Play Mechanics
Betty Boop’s Love Meter™
RelatedPosts
Bally brings the sexy animated cartoon character from the mid-1930s back in Betty Boop’s Love Meter™, with a towering Love Meter top box where players can win credits, free games, and a top award that starts at $1 million. There’s even a special “Love Meter” feature called “How Hot Are You?” in which players put their hands on the iDeck to get their “love temperature” taken. Just like an old-time Love Meter, the lights move from “Loveable” all the way up to “Irresistible.” When the meter stops, the panel flips to reveal an award (credit value).
Cash Wizard™
The first Pro Upright game with a spinning wheel, Cash Wizard utilizes the power of Bally’s ALPHA 2 platform to its full extent. Players delve into a rich and visually stunning world of magical potions and mysterious spells, artfully depicted with dazzling on-screen animations, special effects, sound, and music. This bonus-laden game captivates and delights players with three base-game bonuses, and two “Wizard Bonus Bet” mystery bonuses. A whimsical wizard and his pet dragon cavort across the screen, activating these three mystery wheel, bonus-bet progressives which occur every 13 plays on average.
Playboy Hot Zone™
Bally’s newest Playboy title, the Playboy Hot Zone™ video slot, harkens back to the Playboy of the 1950s and 1960s. Illustrated Playboy Playmates, wearing era-appropriate “bunny suits,” are animated over both of the 22-inch touch-enabled LCD displays for an incredible visual presentation. An illustrated version of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner even appears in bonus celebrations. This 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.
U-Spin™ Makes Games More Interactive
Bally is leading the industry in interactive gaming with its award-winning U-Spin gesture-control play mechanic, first introduced on the highly successful Cash Spin game. With U-Spin, during bonus sequences, the player gets to touch the screen and spin the bonus wheel just as if it were an actual physical wheel.
At G2E, Bally will introduce Hot Pick™, the follow-on title to Cash Spin. In Hot Pick, 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.
Other U-Spin games featured include the industry’s only double-wheel U-Spin games − Vegas Hits™ and Vegas Hits Road Trip™. Bringing an entertaining, retro Vegas experience to the casino floor, these games whisk the player to a nostalgic time where the thrill of 16 bonus possibilities on two vibrant wheels is a thrilling reality. Crowning the games is a topper that closely resembles the famous “Welcome to Las Vegas” sign, a Las Vegas Strip landmark recognized worldwide.
Also capitalizing on U-Spin interaction are Golden Pharaoh™ and Money Vault™, Bally’s first two games titles on the unique and high-profile Pro Upright Hammerhead game cabinet. This exceptional cabinet design features a jumbo-sized 32-inch upper display with a Super Pointer. The U-Spin Wheel is synchronized with the top-box display – making every bonus event an attention-grabbing celebration for everyone to see.
Community Games Bring Players Together
In the community-play arena, Bally features Meet Me in the Middle™ and Hot Shot® Yours, Mine, and OURS!™, follow-on game themes to Two for the Money™ on the DualVision™ cabinet, which was designed to enable couples or friends to sit at the same bench seat and play two different games together, while sharing the same credit meter.
Hot Shot Yours, Mine, and OURS! takes Bally’s hugely successful Hot Shot theme to a new level featuring five levels of Hot Shot patented game-in-games, 11 possible progressives, and a giant mini-game for maximum levels of player excitement.
Floor-Wide Bonusing with iVIEW DM and Elite Bonusing Suite Delivers ROI
Until now, the return-on-investment (ROI) of server-based gaming, especially when it comes to revenue enhancement, has been hard to quantify. Bally’s iVIEW Display Manager™ (DM), a picture-in-picture-style player-user-interface for slot machines, delivers that ROI. This backward-compatible technology, which works on any manufacturer’s gaming devices with a touch-screen, has evolved into a self-service “kiosk,” enabling players to carry out many functions, including ordering drinks, requesting their car from valet, and reviewing their offers. As a point-of-sale device, it enables players to conduct banking functions and purchase lottery tickets and race and sports wagers without leaving their seat, in addition to a number of other functions. Streaming video functions even enable players to watch live sporting events and TV programs.
But the real benefit is the way this technology can add dramatic new levels of excitement and anticipation to game play. When combined with Bally’s Elite Bonusing Suite applications which deliver floor-wide, 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 root for their favorite contest-driven car or horse, get instant rewards on their birthday, and participate in floor-wide slot tournaments. Bally’s iVIEW DM with the Elite Bonusing Suite recently won the first-place 2011 Gaming & Technology Award for “Best Customer-Service Technology.”
Mobile and Hand-Held Apps Premier at G2E
Bally App Connects Guests and Operators 24/7
Innovation will reign supreme at Bally’s G2E “App” bar, where the Company will demonstrate a number of applications designed for casino guests and gaming operators. The Bally 6601 app enables casino patrons to skip lines, receive all casino promotions, and access other property details directly on their mobile device at any time. This gaming-based mobile application using smart phones allows patrons to easily look up their points and comp balances, promo dollars, current offers, progressive amounts, see a map of the resort, as well as view property information such as hotel, dining, spa, and entertainment.
Another solution, Bally Service Tracking Manager™, is a web-based dispatch system used to create and assign tasks on the casino floor by intercepting timely messages from other casino-management applications. This reactive solution uses system and customer data to enhance service to players by immediately assigning available tasks to appropriate personnel. From ordering and delivering drinks, reviewing table alerts, automatically enrolling patrons in event-based offers and promotions, and much more, Service Tracking Manager increases the efficiency of guest services for superior floor management. This solution interfaces with handheld smart devices such as the iPod Touch and the iPad™ for faster routing of casino floor personnel to customers.
Play-for-Fun Games Offer Nonstop Access to the Experience
Another highlight will be the Cash Spin mobile app, available for download from the Apple App store on the iPhone®, iPod Touch®, and iPad™ (coming soon), which plays just like the real mechanical-wheel game and enables players to shake or tap their device to spin the reels. During the U-Spin Wheel Bonus Feature, players swipe the wheel left or right, fast or slow, just as they would on the 32-inch vertical touch-screen on the Cash Spin casino game.
There’s even a Cash Spin Locator feature that enables app players to locate Cash Spin games in casinos nearest to them using the GPS-positioning technology on the mobile device.
Cash Spin is the first of several play-for-fun games that Bally is developing for mobile-phone users. The next apps, which will be released throughout 2011, are Hot Shot® Progressive™, Blazing 7s™, and Vegas Hits™.
Solutions for Public-Gaming Markets
At G2E, Bally will showcase its solutions for VLT and video-gaming markets worldwide. From the Velocity™ multi-game suite, to the Bally MultiConnect® central system and a lineup of proven terminals and cutting-edge, casino-style game content, Bally offers an end-to-end solution.
Bally Systems Shows Its Passion for Customer-Driven Innovation
As the world’s no. 1 gaming-systems company, Bally will showcase an impressive array of networked products, including an extensive portfolio of server-based solutions. Bally continues to innovate with its systems portfolio, providing gaming operators with a number of operating efficiencies, as well as more ways to reach players than ever before with cutting-edge marketing, floor-wide bonusing, and player-communication technologies.
“Over the past few years, Bally Systems has made enormous progress in terms of both re-engineering our core systems into modern technologies, and also creating a lot of value-added products that can be built on top of these core systems,” said Ramesh Srinivasan, Bally Technologies’ Executive Vice President – Systems. “Our passion for innovation is driven by the customer, and we work hard to exceed their expectations in all we do.”
Along with full displays and hands-on demonstrations of the latest versions of its industry-leading slot and casino-management systems SDS®, ACSC™, CMP™, and MultiConnect™, highlighting Bally Systems’ G2E display will be the following:
Centralized Download and Configuration with Bally Command Center™
Prominently featured at G2E will be Bally Command Center, the nucleus of Bally’s server-based solution. This download-and-configuration-ready solution not only provides a connection to a wide variety of gaming devices on the casino floor, but can also manage content on the iVIEW network and is able to manage software updates on peripherals.
Based on the open GSA protocols, Bally Command Center provides a platform to unify previously separately controlled devices under one managed application with easy-to-use wizards. This provides a means of creating a dynamic gaming-floor configuration that will maximize players’ experiences and most of all – casino revenue.
Bally CoolSign® Enables Centralized Media Management
This property-wide media management system gives gaming operators control of all the digital signage throughout the operation, and delivers powerful and consistent messages on a variety of displays across the casino resort. CoolSign is the only media-management solution to be fully integrated with Bally Systems for a complete 360-degree media-management solution, yet CoolSign can also run in conjunction with another gaming technology provider’s system. At G2E, Bally will show an intelligent CoolSign way-finding application that casino operators can use to direct guests not only to resort amenities, but also to their favorite slot machines, all the while enabling on-the-fly adjustments as casino operators reconfigure their slot floors.
Bally TV Brings Player’s Club Access, Personalized Marketing Messages to In-Room TV
From the comfort of each guest’s hotel room, Bally TV enables casinos to deliver customized marketing messages, cross-promote casino and resort amenities and events, and provide access and interface to player’s club account information and features. The innovation also enables operators to offer guests a number of customer-service options not currently available on in-room TV programming. Bally TV content is centrally managed and driven by Bally’s CoolSign media-management solution.
More Information
For more information about Bally’s G2E showcase, visit our G2E microsite and G2E Virtual Press Office. For information on the Global Gaming Expo, visit http://www.globalgamingexpo.com/
About Bally Technologies, Inc.
With a history dating back to 1932, Las Vegas-based Bally Technologies designs, manufactures, operates and distributes advanced gaming devices, systems and technology solutions worldwide. Bally’s product line includes reel-spinning slot machines, video slots, wide-area progressives, and Class II, lottery and central determination games and platforms. As the world’s No. 1 gaming-systems Company, Bally also offers an array of casino management, slot accounting, bonusing, cashless and table management solutions.
