Times, and situations, change, and G2E is no exception. You’ve always needed good shoes, but today the essentials for G2E include the right mobile apps. Whether you’re an iOS or Android fan, there are some old and new smartphone applications that are virtual necessities.
First, there’s the just-released official G2E app, now available in all the usual places. Their tag line is that it’s “your source for everything G2E” and “will help you plan… which exhibitors to see, get custom recommendations of exhibitors and education sessions, and more.” That description is a bit inflated, since it won’t keep track of your party invites, appointment times, contacts, notes, or things of that nature. But it is your best bet to find booth locations and seminar schedules. And anyway, unless you’re still on a flip phone, most of today’s smartphones have native Calendar, Note, Contact and Photo apps to fill in those blanks.
Before mentioning the one new app that’s guaranteed to improve your G2E visit, there are two whimsical installs worth considering: Drink Control, Drink Tracker and Map My Walk. The Map My apps have been popular with cyclists and runners for years, and the Walk version will give you complete and accurate stats on exactly why your feet are killing you each day. At the same time, it will also display a chart of where you’ve been and show the nonsensical wander-path you’ve been making on the Sands Expo floor. If you’re the type that wants to log data of your G2E alcohol consumption, Drink Control is for you, although if you download it, hopefully you’ll keep that knowledge to yourself rather than risk becoming the ultimate party pooper each evening. G2E is only a few days, after all.
The breakthrough new app is ReelScan, from the folks at ReelMetrics. The parent company, based in the Netherlands, has become quite popular in the last few years by collecting and analyzing slot performance info from a database of nearly 180,000 slots in North America. ReelMetrics customers can quickly determine how their floor mix and game performance compares to others, along with a wealth of data configured for unique attributes such as Bet Configurations, Potential Conversions, and Time Series Analysis (how well a game performs over time), among others. Along with all the standard industry KPIs, customers can select periods – Life-To-Date, Trailing 90-Days, Last Month, etc. – and subsets from core vs. premium, manufacturers, cabinet types, denominations and more.
Access to the complete ReelMetrics database is limited to those subscribing to their service. However, browsing the CDC Gaming website will show a small sampling of this powerful data, updated each month. While limited, this info is still golden: www.cdcgamingreports.com/reelmetrics
With that as background, slot directors and others will find that this new ReelScan app can give you access to a lot of that data on your phone or tablet. Here’s the kicker: you don’t have to be a ReelMetrics subscriber. Both the download and the app are free of charge. With this on your smartphone, you’ll be able to stand in front of a machine on the G2E show floor and see current performance metrics (see the sample screen shot) and summaries of critical design elements and configuration options (denoms, holds, line configs, etc.)
As of this writing, they’re still adding some new KPIs and features. However, GPTW (shown at left) is one of ReelMetrics’ best and reflects a blend of Games Played and Theoretical Win performance. RPM stands for Relational Performance Multiple: in other words, it’s a relative index against the entire national database. For the IGT “Fortune Coin” machine illustrated, 2.44 indicates the game is 244% better than the house average of all the machines in the survey for the GPTW KPI. You’ll also see the number of units in the database and the number of venues or casinos where the game is located and for how long it’s been installed. These three are very important in evaluating the strength of the data.
Equally powerful is the Time Series Analysis, which shows how a game has fared in terms of installed base and performance over time. These are critical factors in considering purchasing more games and/or selecting future conversions.
But you can’t have any data if the game theme hasn’t been released, as is the case with many of the products that we see at G2E. Surprisingly, this may be the best feature of the app. For a new title, you can still search by its cabinet. In other words, the newest theme on the Konami Opus might not be in the database yet, but the Opus cabinet will be profiled extensively, as will the balance of the cabinet’s active game library. That will provide some basic guidance about the theme’s – and cabinet’s – chance of success.
Better yet, the app won’t end on Thursday with the close of the show. While you often need to be cautious about enabling notifications with many apps, you should be sure to allow them with this one. When the new themes do hit floors, the app will be updated with the new performance metrics as they arrive.
At least three manufacturers (Konami, Everi and Scientific Games) will be outfitting their products with ReelScan QR codes, which can be scanned by the app for quick and convenient access to profile pages. For others, you simply plug the theme or cabinet into the search box. There’s also a feature to put any game that catches your attention on wish/watch lists for future reference.
According to Nick Hogan, ReelMetrics’s co-founder & CEO, the app was born out of decades worth of pent-up frustrations with industry trade shows. “Regardless of whether we’re speaking with operators, suppliers or amongst ourselves, the most common theme is frustration,” explains Hogan. “There’s a lot to see, the sales teams are overloaded and the information exchanged tends to be fairly topical, at best – aesthetics, perhaps a bit of mech and math, but none of the hard data points or other indicia upon which operators can make qualified, informed decisions.” Naturally, he’s hoping it will raise brand awareness for ReelMetrics and give potential customers a “taste of what we can do.” However, there’s no fine print on this app. It’s there for all to use, and the data should prove invaluable in making out your G2E or New Year’s shopping list.
Hogan says they plan to keep the momentum going, with the app servicing ICE London, NIGA San Diego and G2E Asia next year. He also said they expect to add more and more info as ReelScan matures. You can find more details on the app at www.reelmetrics.com/reelscan.
Although ReelMetrics does not staff booths at G2E – Hogan says the noise and distraction levels on the floor render analytics discussions “effectively impossible” – they’ll be conducting private, on-site demos by appointment throughout the week. To schedule an appointment, simply contact ReelMetrics at g2e@reelmetrics.com.
