Downloadable Versus SBG
What levels of investment are going to be needed to deliver downloadable solutions for players?
"To answer this question, one has to first understand what differentiates next generation video gaming from the current stand-alone machines.
The most common form of video gaming machines remain those that contain a sophisticated amount of hardware and software located within the terminal. Those terminals also house the Random Number Generator (RNG), responsible for calculating the outcome of a game according to local gaming legislations.
The software is located on a chip (EPROM). If an operator decides to run a different game on the same Hardware, often referred to as box, then this EPROM needs to be changed, i.e. it requires a person being physically present at the box.
When we talk about next generation gaming we then generally spoken differentiate between two approaches:
1.
Downloadable
“In this approach gameplay remains largely the same except that the software part is downloadable from a central server over a communication line into the machine. The RNG remains in the machine.
If a player wants to play another game, a new game has to be downloaded before it can be made available.”
2.
True Server Based Gaming
“Here all Software Logic is taken out of the video gaming machine and placed into central server. All game outcomes are determined centrally.
Logically, this decreases the hardware and basic software requirements, permitting third party hardware that can be easily used at the gaming site. As a result, hardware investments are dramatically decreased. T
he move of game logic from the terminal to a central site breaks the traditional value chain, opens up competition and could produce better value for operators.
If a player wants to play another game, then he simply chooses another game on the Menu and can do so instantaneously. No download necessary.”
ACE Interactive is specialized in True Server Based Gaming. With its solution initially developed for the Norwegian Lottery - Norsk Tipping - in 2003, more than 10,000 Terminals can be run simultaneously, delivering many different games and styles in parallel.
“There is no doubt that this is where the video industry is going. However, some jurisdictions are yet to allow RNG location outside the video gaming machine and as a responsible gaming provider Aristocrat offers a downloadable solution for those operators. Aristocrat’s downloadable solution is a bridge for clients from today to tomorrow into the next generation of gaming, True Server Based Gaming.”