MULTIPLAYERS
online gaming, allowing Web players to participate in the casino action.
The vendor is also incorporating technological
advances in other areas. TCSJohnHuxley’s MultiPlay platform, for example, comes in two configurations. The Quad HD Live provides live-dealer Craps, Roulette and Sic Bo with game action displayed on a 56-inch HD screen at a resolution of 3840x2160 pixels – for comparison, regular HD is 1920x1080 pixels. That quality of display, and the increased realism that it brings, simply wouldn’t have been available to any casino just a few years ago.
Another kind of technology advance, meanwhile, is incorporated into the other version of TCSJohnHuxley’s MultiPlay, the HD Auto. Here, not only do bill acceptors and ticket printers allow for continuous 24-hour operation without a dealer, but there’s also a cashless option – a feature that’s likely to appear in more and more multiplayer systems as casinos increasingly opt for alternative payment methods.
Real and virtual Not all suppliers believe, however, in completely
virtualising the multiplayer game. DigiDeal’s Digital 21, for example, comes in two incarnations. The cards in both are virtual, and the dealer a human, but casinos can opt to offer either real chips or touch-sensitive on-screen substitutes. The same firm’s Dragon Baccarat, High Tie Bonus Blackjack and Texas Hold ‘Em Bonus are available in similar variant versions.
And the choices that casinos must make in implementing multiplayer systems are not limited to gameplay. Tables and terminals, too, come in an array of shapes and sizes. For example, just one vendor – Alfastreet – has rectangular eight- and ten-seater tables as well as a semi-circular five-seater unit.
Over the coming year, we can expect innovation in
multiplayer systems to continue on all these fronts. With the growing interest in casino-wide management systems, it’s likely that more multiplayers
Barcelona: tailoring multiplayers to the market
One of the biggest gaming suppliers to commit heavily to the multiplayer concept is Novomatic, with its Novo Unity and Unity II platforms – and recent deployments in Spain highlight some of the benefits of the approach.
Last summer, Casino Barcelona took just half a day to install a Novo Flying Baccarat
44 DECEMBER 2010
will offer cashless options, support loyalty and other cards, and be integrated ever more closely with back- office systems. In terms of gameplay and presentation, vendors will continue to develop new twists to make their products stand out from the crowd, for example with variations on table configurations, new side games, and attention-grabbing devices such as ever larger screens. It’s also likely that we will start to see 3D displays becoming more mainstream, and improved directional audio technology could enable multiplayer systems to make much more use of sound – for example, a virtual dealer could “speak” to individual players. And more systems are likely to reach out beyond the table, not only to remote terminals but also to smartphones.
The core benefits to casinos will be much the same
as today, but if these enhancements encourage more customers to the multiplayer table – and encourage them to play more games while they’re sitting there – they’ll be further proof that multiplayer systems directly increase gaming revenue.
multiplayer table, based on the Unity platform.
To appeal to Asian customers, the game is laid out in Chinese style, and each gamer can choose to see their own playing interface in a number of languages, including Chinese.
The table comprises eight Novo-Vision Slant
Top II terminals, one for each player, and two large plasma displays giving information to all. A range of side bets can be switched on and off by the operator instantaneously.
The arrival of Flying Baccarat brings to 68
the number of Novomatic multiplayer gaming seats at Casino Barcelona, which also has two installations of Novo Multi-Roulette with 24 terminals apiece, and one of Novo TouchBet Live-Roulette with 12 terminals.
The company has high hopes for Spain,
with Touchbet Live-Roulette, for example, now licensed for four of the most important jurisdictions – Andalucía, Aragon, Catalunya and Madrid. Other recent installations include Casino Marbella, with a dozen Live- Roulette seats.
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