Networked Gaming System Secondary Game Activation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing networked gaming systems fail to incentivize players to try new gaming machines, leading to a lack of excitement and revenue maximization on the casino floor.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a method where secondary games can be selectively activated on networked gaming machines for a limited period, with player-perceptible indications such as animations, sounds, or lights, without interrupting primary game play, and allowing the secondary game to appear to 'roam' across machines, creating an enticing and unpredictable experience.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If secondary games are activated on selected gaming machines, then player engagement and excitement are increased, but system complexity increases due to coordination across multiple machines
Solution Approach 1:
A central server acts as an intermediary to manage and coordinate secondary games across multiple gaming machines. The server selects which machines receive secondary games, tracks their status, and manages the limited-time activation periods, thereby reducing the complexity burden on individual machines while enabling system-wide player engagement.
Solution Approach 2:
The gaming system is designed with universal components that can handle both primary and secondary games across different machines. The central server provides multi-functional capabilities including game selection, activation management, and status tracking, allowing the same infrastructure to support diverse game types and machines throughout the casino floor.
2Adaptability or versatility
If secondary games are activated for a limited period, then player excitement and urgency are increased, but player time for primary game play is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of requiring players to fully switch to secondary games, the system allows partial participation where players can continue their primary game while the secondary game operates in the background or provides bonus opportunities. This partial action approach maintains primary game engagement while still generating excitement through limited-time secondary game activations.
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides preliminary notifications to players about upcoming secondary game activations on their machines. This advance notice allows players to plan their game sessions optimally, potentially returning to their machines during secondary game windows without completely interrupting their primary game flow, thus minimizing time loss while maintaining excitement.
3Adaptability or versatility
If secondary games roam across multiple machines, then player motivation to try new machines is increased, but tracking and management complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The central server implements a feedback mechanism that tracks which machines have active secondary games and communicates this status back to players through visual indicators on the machines themselves. This automated feedback system reduces tracking complexity by eliminating manual monitoring while maintaining player motivation through real-time information about where secondary games are currently active.
Solution Approach 2:
Gaming machines are equipped with self-service capabilities including automated status indicators that show whether a secondary game is active without requiring external verification. The machines autonomously manage their own secondary game states based on server instructions, reducing the overall tracking burden on the system while enabling players to easily identify which machines currently have active secondary games.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of operating a plurality of networked gaming machines in which each of the plurality of networked gaming machines is configured to enable a same or a different primary game to be played, may include steps of (randomly, for example) selecting a gaming machine of the plurality of gaming machines; activating a secondary game on the selected gaming machine for a limited period of time and generating a player-perceptible indication that the secondary game is active on the selected gaming machine. When the limited period of time has elapsed, a step of de-activating the secondary game on the selected gaming machine may be carried out, whereupon the method may revert to the selecting step. The secondary game appears to the players on the casino floor as a roving and unpredictable opportunity to win additional prizes or bonus, or to be able to enter large outcome games, with animations, sounds and/or other enticing effects running from one gaming machine to another. Players may attempt to “follow” the secondary game as it “moves” or “jumps” from one gaming machine to another, thereby further animating the casino floor.