Insight
SLOT CABINET DESIGN Konami’s Concerto
already a lot of content available,” agrees Mr. Soberon. “In the forthcoming year there will be more games and new features added to this cabinet, including [progressives] and multigame. Players are already ask for these features, so we need to introduce them to the players as soon as they are available.”
Jeff Croes has also been adding extra Concertos to his slots floor in Aruba. “We started with six concerto’s cabinets using a total of six themes, one of which is equipped with the Jackpot Streams progressive feature. Our themes were recommended by our Konami sales representative while we were at G2E last,” describes Mr. Croes. “We will be adding another progressive feature called the Wheel of the Imperial Egg in the coming days and have in mind to add a few more Concertos on the floor next year. Variety in themes gives you the option of replacing low performing themes.”
an expanded range of Concerto cabinets, our multi-game products, and the new skill-based products that we will be unveiling at G2E this year.”
IT’S A NUMBERS GAME Concerto launched with six games at G2E 2015
and since then Konami has established a large library of new base games and standalone progressives. We wanted to know from Konami if the KP3+ platform allowed the manufacturer to create great games faster, or if Konami was simply burning the midnight oil to ensure operators had a consistent pipeline of games for the new cabinet?
“Te KP3+ platform offers Konami the ability to create games with higher resolution, fuller richer sounds, greater speed, more memory and support for more monitors like the topper and the Dynamic Dash, all while delivering new game mechanics that engage patrons,” describes Mr. Reback. “We produce our themes at relatively the same rate, but the KP3+ can deliver more; and with a more powerful platform our game designers have a broader palette. We have worked hard to bring out a deeper library that takes advantage of this new platform and the resulting performance has shown that it has been worth the effort.” Since release, the total number of original new
KP3+ base games has risen to 24, plus two standalone progressives. We wanted to know from the panel how important it was to them that a new cabinet like Concerto should hit the ground running with so many new titles at the outset? What has this pipeline meant in terms of how they operate their Concertos on the floor and how do they introduce new games to players?
“We have 24 Concertos on our floor and we haven’t had to convert any of them because performance is solid,” describes Chris Garrow. “Like most properties, progressives and especially must hit progressives, are extremely popular. When we have a new theme we like to showcase it somehow, whether it’s placed in a high traffic area, an end cap sign, website or some type of social media.”
Kelly Pace is equally as impressed with the Concerto’s current library, emphasising that it helps to keep the floor fresh with new product and/or with the upgrading of underperforming themes. “Guests like to see new and updated products, especially those guests who are loyal to the property,” says Mr. Pace. You must have a good library to support your cabinet, which is exactly what Concerto has done for us.”
“Te Concerto platform is very new, but there is
Te final word goes to Chuck Hickey, who considers a large games library as a bit of a misnomer, as for him it’s about ‘quality volume’ as opposed to just ‘volume.’ “Te pipeline is certainly important in that you know you will have to replace games sooner or later (later is better), so having something to put in it is important,” concedes Mr. Hickey. “I wouldn’t put a new box on the floor until there were several programs to fit into it. It’s just too easy to fail. If the new box has a good game in it… I’m not going to change it just for the sake of changing it… I’m going to buy another of those new boxes and put the new game in that one. Tat is how you gain floor share. Without a pipeline of games you might not be able to grow much on a casino floor.”
BACK TO THE FUTURE As mentioned earlier, KP3 games originally
released on the Podium cabinet are now performing at a premium on the Concerto. We asked the panel if this was solely down to the new KP3+ platform, the design of the cabinet or other environmental factors? We wanted to know why the same games, with no actual change to the gameplay, perform so much better on Concerto?
Kelly Pace, Slot Director at Hard Rock Sioux City Hotel & Casino thinks it’s simply the case that a better processor = better graphics = more engaged players, which is exactly what he wants to see. Chris Garrow, Casino Operations Director at Treasure Island claims that these older themes are refreshed on a more comfortable cabinet with better sound and graphics. “Tey look like new themes on the Concerto and new cabinets usually perform better than older cabinets,” he tells us. Jeffrey Croes, Casino Slot Manager at Aruba Marriott Resort & Stallaris Casino credits the build quality of the cabinet, the sharper and richer looking graphics, and also praises the positioning of the LCD screens, stating that the Concerto’s screens are at “exactly the right angle for players.”
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