“ A big part of how we develop the games is the research element . We put a lot of effort into understanding what players like — what they get enjoyment out of in games — and it goes from there . We also put a lot of care into the branding of those games .”
“ SYNKROS was developed from the ground up . We didn ’ t buy another casino management system ; we took what was in the industry — Oracle , using Linux and an Ethernet floor — and developed the system from scratch .
“ A big part of how we develop the games is the research element . We put a lot of effort into understanding what players like — what they get enjoyment out of in games — and it goes from there . We also put a lot of care into the branding of those games .”
— Gerard Crosby , Senior VP and Chief Games Product Officer , Konami Gaming
five different form factors .”
“ For the design for the Dimension Series cabinet , the aim from the start was to design a cabinet that suited us for a global market ,” adds Crosby . “ For worldwide distribution , it needed to be reliable , it needed to be ergonomic . Also , one of the key things we wanted to achieve was to be flexible so we could build on a range of styles in the cabinets .”
With the new Dimension 43x3 , the cabinet series now touches all bases . “ The 43x3 is something that the engineering team and product management developed ,” Jingoli explains . “ We merchandised that a little bit differently . It ’ s a for-sale cabinet , or we can do participation , and the early results that we ’ ve seen have been very encouraging .”
SYNKing with Systems
For the past decade , Konami ’ s game development has shared accolades with its system development . The company ’ s SYNKROS casino management system , launched in 2012 as a flexible alternative to legacy mainframe CMS products from the big U . S . manufacturers , has grown into a must-have system for casinos of all sizes .
Today , SYNKROS is deployed in 142 casinos , mostly in North America , including commercial and tribal properties , 45 cruise ships and 541 individual slot route locations .
When he joined Konami in 2001 , Soukup brought a suitcase full of computer-science patents from his career , and as head of the systems division , he has continued to oversee innovation in SYNKROS .
“ SYNKROS was developed from the ground up ,” Soukup says . “ We didn ’ t buy another casino management system ; we took what was in the industry — Oracle , using Linux and an Ethernet floor — and developed the system from scratch .
“ The one thing we do quite differently from legacy systems is that we implement a centralized database and single sign-on , which allows operators to perform slot and table tracking and accounting , as well as player tracking , marketing , and bonusing using an integrated , single database — slots and tables , as well as player information . Additionally , from ground zero , SYNKROS was multi-site-capable , so operators that run multiple casinos can offer one card and global points across those properties to their players .”
SYNKROS also was designed to capture more granular slot data than the legacy CMS products . “ We designed the system from the beginning to feature game-level accounting and player tracking ,” Soukup says . “ As a person plays
“ SYNKROS was developed from the ground up . We didn ’ t buy another casino management system ; we took what was in the industry — Oracle , using Linux and an Ethernet floor — and developed the system from scratch .
— Tom Soukup , Senior Vice President and Chief Systems Product Officer , Konami Gaming
multiple games and / or multiple different denominations on a slot machine , each game / denomination may have a different hold percentage . We ’ re tracking that at the game level , so that you really know what the theoretical win for that player is , by the games and denominations they play . SYNKROS is implemented as a single code base ; the same code base is installed whether it ’ s a 15-slot route location or an 8,000-slot casino .”
In refining the SYNKROS system , Soukup has added a number of patented features .
“ Years ago , we had a lot of patents in the player mobile technology ,” he says . “ Instead of the staff member sitting behind a computer screen or having to go back to the club desk to service a customer , we ’ ve launched the Konetic employee mobile application based on some of those patents , which basically allows slot techs to be face-to-face with a customer to handle their jackpots , print their W2Gs directly from that mobile phone , and have that mobile phone integrate with the jackpot-dispensing kiosk .
“ It took us a while to develop a product for that patent , but one of the other big features we patented early was facial recognition — the ability to use your face to log into your player tracking account at a slot machine . We ’ re starting to see some interest in Australasia for that to be used , to basically validate that I am the person sitting in front of the slot machine playing this amount .”
In practice , a hole is drilled into the existing player tracking bracket and a smart camera is mounted , connected to an artificial intelligence facial recognition engine . The player can opt in for facial recognition , and can choose that option to sign in , versus having to card in with their loyalty card . The AI en-
20 Global Gaming Business FEBRUARY 2024