Las Vegas slots: The rise of the machines

One of the greatest signs of technology's influence on the Las Vegas gaming industry is the evolution of the slot machine, and the popular 'one-armed bandits' are now set for their most significant overhaul in years.

Once upon a time these machines were standalone units, then they became networked for grand prizes and cumulative jackpots, and now they are on the verge of further innovation which will put them at the heart of the casino CRM system and see them become more versatile and multi-functional.

silicon.com gained an exclusive sneak preview of new work-in-progress terminals being developed at the Las Vegas headquarters of Harrah's, the largest casino company in the world.

This next generation of games will increasingly be run off a server to dumb terminals with very few moving parts and touch screens. Units with a fixed design, painted up with Wheel of Fortune motif, for example, will be a thing of the past and server-based games can be downloaded onto the terminals according to demand, said Tim Stanley, CIO of Harrah's.

But some traditional touches will be kept.

"We can still make the noises and we can still do 'ching, ching, ching, ching' when they win," said Stanley. "But by running the games off a server we know that if all our Wheel of Fortune machines are in use we can create some more by putting Wheel of Fortune on any other machines which aren't being used at that time."

And by moving to display screens - even though they may look like the old three or four reels of the traditional one-armed bandit, albeit in more two-dimensional form - the company makes the slot machine its most important asset in CRM once a loyalty card is inserted.

Other technologies being trialled include touch screen technology on the terminals - such as on-screen ordering of drinks - which will improve the customer experience, as well as provide greater on-screen cross-promotion based on the data held about that individual.

"If we know this person likes to see a show in the evenings then using the screen we will be able to offer them tickets for a show," said Stanley, adding that the versatility of the screens will mean the gaming, win and reward experience can be personalised to each player with a greater number of variables.

Harrah's, which owns Bally's, Caesars Palace, Flamingo, Paris and Rio in Las Vegas, isn't alone in embracing such innovation. MGM Mirage, which counts Bellagio, Luxor, Mandalay Bay and The MGM Grand among its Las Vegas properties has also been linked with a move towards server-based gaming in the near future, putting a huge Strip-wide endorsement on the switch to such a model.