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IGT opens up access to SuperSAS protocol
IGT is making its SuperSAS gaming machine protocol available to gaming industry manufacturers with no fees, licensing or additional requirements, the company announced last month during at the Slot Manager Institute conference in Las Vegas. The event is presented by Ascend Media Gaming Group, in conjunction with the Gaming Technology Summit, a joint venture of Ascend and WhiteSand Consulting.
"It's a big deal," said Ali Saffari, senior vice president of engineering, IGT.
The protocol will be made available to any manufacturer who wants it, and updates and revisions will be provided immediately, Saffari said. "That leaves all companies who wish to use it at a level that is fair to all. There is no early access to anyone."
Companies will have access to tools and source code to help integrate protocol into games and systems, reducing integration costs and time to market, he said.
"It is important to IGT. We made the protocol for the industry," he said.
Development costs will go down, and products will come to market more quickly, Saffari predicted. "Going from one market to another market is going to be seamless."
The news came one day after the Gaming Standards Association announced it would make its standards available free and open to the industry on its public Web site, www.gamingstandards.com.
"This is truly a banner day for our organization and for the gaming industry," said Lyle Bell, GSA board chairman Lyle Bell and senior vice president of information technology for Seminole Gaming.
"We have worked for more than six years on these protocols, and they are surpassing all expectations. The GSA Board of Directors has taken the next logical step in GSA's evolution, which is to make them open, so that manufacturers and operators around the world can reap the benefits they bring," he said in announcing GSA's move.
Having both protocols available on a level playing field will be good for the industry, Saffari said. "Now everybody has everything and they can choose whatever they want," he said.
Saffari said the two protocols may coexist, or one may prevail. "It does not have to happen," he said, of one surpassing the other. "Simply all manufacturers having access to it all only helps the industry."
Saffari also said IGT may ask an independent regulatory testing lab, such as Gaming Laboratories International (GLI), to create interoperability center to be the testing agency to test the protocol. GLI already has such a center for interoperability testing for GSA's protocols.
The new version of SuperSAS is the first industry-wide open standard protocol to incorporate both download and remote configuration capabilities, the company said.
"Download and remote configuration are the backbone of server-based gaming, which is the next great technology leap for gaming machines," Saffari said in a news release. "We've drawn upon 18 years of protocol development expertise, including contributions from the entire community of gaming manufacturers and regulators, and we've combined it with the latest standard networking and security technologies to create a single solution for all gaming machines and systems."
-Marian Green
IGT opens up access to SuperSAS protocol
IGT is making its SuperSAS gaming machine protocol available to gaming industry manufacturers with no fees, licensing or additional requirements, the company announced last month during at the Slot Manager Institute conference in Las Vegas. The event is presented by Ascend Media Gaming Group, in conjunction with the Gaming Technology Summit, a joint venture of Ascend and WhiteSand Consulting.
"It's a big deal," said Ali Saffari, senior vice president of engineering, IGT.
The protocol will be made available to any manufacturer who wants it, and updates and revisions will be provided immediately, Saffari said. "That leaves all companies who wish to use it at a level that is fair to all. There is no early access to anyone."
Companies will have access to tools and source code to help integrate protocol into games and systems, reducing integration costs and time to market, he said.
"It is important to IGT. We made the protocol for the industry," he said.
Development costs will go down, and products will come to market more quickly, Saffari predicted. "Going from one market to another market is going to be seamless."
The news came one day after the Gaming Standards Association announced it would make its standards available free and open to the industry on its public Web site, www.gamingstandards.com.
"This is truly a banner day for our organization and for the gaming industry," said Lyle Bell, GSA board chairman Lyle Bell and senior vice president of information technology for Seminole Gaming.
"We have worked for more than six years on these protocols, and they are surpassing all expectations. The GSA Board of Directors has taken the next logical step in GSA's evolution, which is to make them open, so that manufacturers and operators around the world can reap the benefits they bring," he said in announcing GSA's move.
Having both protocols available on a level playing field will be good for the industry, Saffari said. "Now everybody has everything and they can choose whatever they want," he said.
Saffari said the two protocols may coexist, or one may prevail. "It does not have to happen," he said, of one surpassing the other. "Simply all manufacturers having access to it all only helps the industry."
Saffari also said IGT may ask an independent regulatory testing lab, such as Gaming Laboratories International (GLI), to create interoperability center to be the testing agency to test the protocol. GLI already has such a center for interoperability testing for GSA's protocols.
The new version of SuperSAS is the first industry-wide open standard protocol to incorporate both download and remote configuration capabilities, the company said.
"Download and remote configuration are the backbone of server-based gaming, which is the next great technology leap for gaming machines," Saffari said in a news release. "We've drawn upon 18 years of protocol development expertise, including contributions from the entire community of gaming manufacturers and regulators, and we've combined it with the latest standard networking and security technologies to create a single solution for all gaming machines and systems."
-Marian Green
