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Wide area program distribution and game information communication system Number:7,186,181 from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) owispatent

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Title: Wide area program distribution and game information communication system

Abstract: Methods and apparatus are described for distributing gaming applications to a plurality of gaming sites located in a plurality of regulatory regions via a wide area network. Each regulatory region has a regulatory scheme associated therewith. A plurality of gaming applications are stored on at least one central server. A subset of the gaming applications are distributed from the at least one central server to at least one of the gaming sites located in one of regulatory regions via the wide area network, the subset of gaming applications being determined according to the associated regulatory scheme.

Patent Number: 7,186,181 Issued on 03/06/2007 to Rowe


Inventors: Rowe; Richard E. (Las Vegas, NV)
Assignee: IGT (Reno, NV)
Appl. No.: 09/965,524
Filed: September 26, 2001


Current U.S. Class: 463/42
Current International Class: A63F 9/24 (20060101)
Field of Search: 463/1,9-13,16-20,25-26,29,40-43 273/138.1,138.2,139,143R,236-237,292-293,269,459-461 700/91-93 709/200-201,213-221 707/200,203 717/168-178


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Primary Examiner: Sager; Mark
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Beyer Weaver & Thomas LLP

Parent Case Text



RELATED APPLICATION DATA

The present application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/266,427 for WIDE AREA PROGRAM DISTRIBUTION AND GAME INFORMATION COMMUNICATION SYSTEM filed on Feb. 2, 2001, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
Claims



What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method for distributing gaming applications to a plurality of gaming sites located in a plurality of regulatory regions via a wide area network, each regulatory region having a regulatory scheme associated therewith, the method comprising: storing a plurality of gaming applications on at least one central server wherein the gaming applications include instances of gaming terminal software adapted for i) determining a game outcome for a game played on a gaming terminal wherein the game outcome is determined via execution of the gaming terminal software on the gaming terminal; ii) determining a value amount available for dispensation at the gaming terminal based upon a wager made on the game and based upon the determined game outcome wherein the value amount is determined via execution of the gaming terminal software on the gaming terminal and wherein the gaming terminal is operable to dispense the value amount via a tangible media; and iii) displaying the game outcome at the gaming terminal via execution of the gaming terminal software on the gaming terminal; distributing a subset of the gaming applications including a first instance of the gaming terminal software from the at least one central server at least one of the gaming sites located in a first one of regulatory regions via the wide area network, the subset of gaming applications being determined according to the associated regulatory scheme.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein distributing the subset of the gaming applications comprises: uploading the subset of the gaming applications to at least one regional server associated with the first regulatory region; and distributing a portion of the subset of gaming applications from the at least one regional server to the at least one gaming site.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the at least one regional server comprises a plurality of regional servers.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising receiving a request for the portion of the subset of gaming applications from the at least one gaming site.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising determining from which of the plurality of regional servers to distribute the portion of the subset of gaming applications by performing load balancing among the plurality of regional servers.

6. The method of claim 4 further comprising determining from which of the plurality of regional servers to distribute the portion of the subset of gaming applications by parsing the request to identify a first one of the regional servers.

7. The method of claim 4 further comprising, in response to the request, identifying to a sender of the request each of the plurality of regional servers from which the portion of the subset of gaming applications may be distributed, distribution of the portion of the subset of the gaming applications occurring in response to selection of one of the regional servers by the sender.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein identifying each of the regional servers comprises identifying at least one file size and at least one download time associated with the portion of the subset of gaming applications.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising identifying the at least one central server as an option from which the portion of the subset of gaming applications may be distributed.

10. The method of claim 4 further comprising, in response to the request, providing access to resources related to the portion of the subset of gaming applications requested.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the resources comprise at least one of available related bonus games, game demonstrations, training, announcements, a bulletin board, game ratings, and a chat room.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein distributing the subset of the gaming applications comprises determining the subset with reference to a representation of the regulatory scheme associated with the first regulatory region.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein determining the subset comprises selecting software objects associated with the gaming applications.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of gaming applications includes a plurality of versions of at least one game.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the plurality of versions of the at least one game each correspond to a specific one of the regulatory schemes.

16. The method of claim 14 wherein each of the versions comprises a unique combination of software objects associated with the plurality of gaming applications.

17. The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving a request for the subset of the gaming applications via the wide area network.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the request is received by the at least one central server.

19. The method of claim 17 wherein the request is received by a regional server associated with the first regulatory region.

20. The method of claim 1 further comprising: in response to a request for a first one of the gaming applications from a first one of the gaming sites, presenting a plurality of software objects associated with the first gaming application thereby enabling selection of a combination of the software objects by a user at the first gaming site.

21. The method of claim 1 wherein each of the gaming applications comprises a combination of a plurality of software objects.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein the plurality of software objects includes at least some of base game applications, pay tables, display data, and bonus game options.

23. The method of claim 1 wherein distributing the subset of the gaming applications comprises transmitting the subset of the gaming applications in a single download.

24. The method of claim 1 wherein distributing the subset of the gaming applications comprises transmitting the subset of the gaming applications in a plurality of downloads.

25. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the gaming sites comprises a physical gaming venue.

26. A system for distributing gaming applications to a plurality of gaming sites located in a plurality of regulatory regions via a wide area network, each regulatory region having a regulatory scheme associated therewith, the system comprising at least one central server for storing a plurality of gaming applications wherein the gaming applications include instances of gaming terminal software adapted for i) determining a game outcome for a game played on a gaming terminal wherein the game outcome is determined via execution of the gaming terminal software on the gaming terminal; ii) determining a value amount available for dispensation at the gaming terminal based upon a wager made on the game and based upon the determined game outcome wherein the value amount is determined via execution of the gaming terminal software on the gaming terminal and wherein the gaming terminal is operable to dispense the value amount via a tangible media; and iii) displaying the game outcome at the gaming terminal via execution of the gaming terminal software on the gaming terminal, the at least one central server being operable to distribute a subset of the gaming applications including a first instance of the gaming terminal software from the at least one central server to a first server at least one of the gaming sites located in a first one of regulatory regions via the wide area network, the subset of gaming applications being determined according to the associated regulatory scheme; the first server for storing the first instance of the gaming terminal software wherein the gaming device is operable to distribute the first instance of the gaming terminal software to at least the gaming terminal; and the gaming terminal operable to receive a) the first instance of the gaming terminal software from the first server, b) execute the first instance of the gaming terminal software to generate a first game outcome and to determine a first value amount available for dispensation from the gaming terminal and c) execute the first instance of the gaming terminal software to display the game outcome on the gaming terminal.

27. An apparatus for distributing gaming applications to a plurality of gaming sites located in a plurality of regulatory regions via a wide area network, each regulatory region having a regulatory scheme associated therewith, the apparatus comprising: means for storing a plurality of gaming applications on at least one central server wherein the gaming applications include instances of gaming terminal software adapted for i) determining a game outcome for a game played on a gaming terminal wherein the game outcome is determined via execution of the gaming terminal software on the gaming terminal; ii) determining a value amount available for dispensation at the gaming terminal based upon a wager made on the game and based upon the determined game outcome wherein the value amount is determined via execution of the gaming terminal software on the gaming terminal and wherein the gaming terminal is operable to dispense the value amount via a tangible media; and iii) displaying the game outcome at the gaming terminal via execution of the gaming terminal software on the gaming terminal; and means for distributing a subset of the gaming applications including a first instance of the gaming terminal software from the at least one central server to at least one of the gaming sites located in a first one of regulatory regions via the wide area network, the subset of gaming applications being determined according to the associated regulatory scheme.

28. A computer-implemented method for distributing gaming applications to a plurality of gaming sites located in at least one regulatory region via a wide area network, each regulatory region having a regulatory scheme associated therewith, the method comprising: storing a plurality of gaming applications on at least one central server wherein the gaming applications include instances of gaming terminal software adapted for i) determining a game outcome for a game played on a gaming terminal wherein the game outcome is determined via execution of the gaming terminal software on the gaming terminal; ii) determining a value amount available for dispensation at the gaming terminal based upon a wager made on the game and based upon the determined game outcome wherein the value amount is determined via execution of the gaming terminal software on the gaming terminal and wherein the gaming terminal is operable to dispense the value amount via a tangible media; and iii) displaying the game outcome at the gaming terminal via execution of the gaming terminal software on the gaming terminal; uploading a subset of the gaming applications including a first instance of the gaming terminal software to at least one regional server associated with each regulatory region via the wide area network, the subset of gaming applications associated with each regulatory region being determined according to the associated regulatory scheme; and distributing via the wide area network a portion of the subset of gaming applications including a first instance of the gaming terminal software from either of the at least one regional server and the at least one central server to at least one of the gaming sites located in the regulatory region associated with the at least one regional server.

29. The method of claim 28 further comprising determining from which of the at least one regional server and the at least one central server to distribute the portion of the subset of gaming applications.

30. The method of claim 29 wherein determining from which of the servers to distribute the portion is done automatically without input from a user at one of the gaming sites.

31. The method of claim 29 wherein determining from which of the servers to distribute the portion is done according to a load balancing scheme.

32. The method of claim 29 wherein determining from which of the servers to distribute the portion is done in response to selection of a download server option by a user at one of the gaming sites.

33. The method of claim 32 further comprising presenting a plurality of download server options to the user.

34. The method claim 29 wherein determining from which of the servers to distribute the portion comprises parsing a request from a user at one of the gaming sites to determine from which of the at least one regulatory region the request originated.

35. A system for distributing gaming applications to a plurality of gaming sites located in at least one regulatory region via a wide area network, each regulatory region having a regulatory scheme associated therewith, the system comprising: at least one central server for storing a plurality of gaming applications wherein the gaming applications include instances of gaming terminal software adapted for i) determining a game outcome for a game played on a gaming terminal wherein the game outcome is determined via execution of the gaming terminal software on the gaming terminal; ii) determining a value amount available for dispensation at the gaming terminal based upon a wager made on the game and based upon the determined game outcome wherein the value amount is determined via execution of the gaming terminal software on the gaming terminal and wherein the gaming terminal is operable to dispense the value amount via a tangible media; and iii) displaying the game outcome at the gaming terminal via execution of the gaming terminal software on the gaming terminal; and at least one regional server associated with each regulatory region for receiving a subset of the gaming applications including one or more instances of the gaming terminal software via the wide area network, the subset of gaming applications associated with each regulatory region being determined according to the associated regulatory scheme; wherein the at least one regional server is operable to distribute via the wide area network a portion of the subset of gaming applications to at least one of the gaming sites located in the regulatory region associated with the at least one regional server at least one gaming terminal associated with each of the regulatory regions operable to receive a first instance of the gaming terminal software and to execute the first instance of the gaming terminal software to determine a first game outcome, to execute the first instance of the gaming terminal software to determine a first value amount available for dispensation and to execute the first instance of the gaming terminal software to display the first game outcome.

36. An apparatus for distributing gaming applications to a plurality of gaming sites located in at least one regulatory region via a wide area network, each regulatory region having a regulatory scheme associated therewith, the apparatus comprising: means for storing a plurality of gaming applications on at least one central server wherein the gaming applications include instances of gaming terminal software adapted for i) determining a game outcome for a game played on a gaming terminal wherein the game outcome is determined via execution of the gaming terminal software on the gaming terminal; ii) determining a value amount available for dispensation at the gaming terminal based upon a wager made on the game and based upon the determined game outcome wherein the value amount is determined via execution of the gaming terminal software on the gaming terminal and wherein the gaming terminal is operable to dispense the value amount via a tangible media; and iii) displaying the game outcome at the gaming terminal via execution of the gaming terminal software on the gaming terminal; means for uploading a subset of the gaming applications to at least one regional server associated with each regulatory region via the wide area network, the subset of gaming applications including a first instance of the gaming terminal software associated with each regulatory region being determined according to the associated regulatory scheme; and means for distributing via the wide area network a portion of the subset of gaming applications including a first instance of the gaming terminal software from either of the at least one regional server and the at least one central server to at least one of the gaming sites located in the regulatory region associated with the at least one regional server.
Description



BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to gaming networks including gaming machines such as video slot machines and video poker machines. More specifically, the present invention provides methods and apparatus for distributing gaming applications and related information over a wide area network such as, for example, the Internet or World Wide Web.

Typically, a master gaming controller in a gaming machine controls various combinations of devices that allow a player to play a game on the gaming machine and encourage game play on the gaming machine. For example, a gaming played on a gaming machine usually requires a player to input money or indicia of credit into the gaming machine, indicate a wager amount, and initiate a game play. These steps require the gaming machine to control input devices, including bill validators and coin acceptors, to accept money into the gaming machine and recognize user inputs from devices, including touch screens and button pads, to determine the wager amount and initiate game play. After game play has been initiated, the gaming machine determines a game outcome, presents the game outcome to the player and may dispense an award of some type depending on the outcome of the game.

As technology in the gaming industry progresses, the traditional mechanically driven reel slot machines are being replaced with electronic counterparts having CRT, LCD video displays or the like and gaming machines such as video slot machines and video poker machines are becoming increasingly popular. Part of the reason for their increased popularity is the nearly endless variety of games that can be implemented on gaming machines utilizing advanced electronic technology. In some cases, newer gaming machines are utilizing computing architectures developed for personal computers. These video/electronic gaming advancements enable the operation of more complex games, which would not otherwise be possible on mechanical-driven gaming machines and allow the capabilities of the gaming machine to evolve with advances in the personal computing industry.

When implementing the gaming features described above on a gaming machine using architectures utilized in the personal computer industry, a number of requirements unique to the gaming industry must be considered. One such requirement is the regulation of gaming software. Typically, within a geographic area allowing gaming, i.e., a gaming jurisdiction, a regulatory body is charged with regulating the games played in the gaming jurisdiction to ensure fairness and prevent cheating. In most gaming jurisdictions there are stringent regulatory restrictions for gaming machines requiring a time consuming approval process of new gaming software and any software modifications to gaming software used on a gaming machine. A regulatory scheme also typically includes field verification of deployed gaming applications to ensure that a deployed game corresponds to the certified version of the game.

In the past, to implement the play of a game on a gaming machine, a monolithic software architecture has been used. In a monolithic software architecture, a single gaming software executable is developed. The single executable is typically burnt into an EPROM and then submitted to various gaming jurisdictions for approval. After the gaming application is approved, a unique checksum is determined for the gaming application stored in the EPROM for the purpose of uniquely identifying the approved version of the gaming application.

A disadvantage of a monolithic programming architecture is that a single executable that works for many different applications can be quite large. For instance, gaming rules may vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Thus, either a single custom executable can be developed for each jurisdiction or one large executable with additional logic can be developed that is valid in many jurisdictions. The customization process may be time consuming and inefficient. For instance, upgrading the gaming software may require developing new executables for each jurisdiction, submitting the executables for reapproval, and then replacing or reprogramming EPROMs in each gaming machine.

By contrast, software architectures for use by personal computers have moved toward an object oriented approach where different software objects may be dynamically linked together prior to or during execution to create many different combinations of executables that perform different functions. Thus, for example, to account for differences in gaming rules between different gaming jurisdictions, gaming software objects appropriate to a particular gaming jurisdiction may be linked at run-time which is simpler than creating a single different executable for each jurisdiction. Also, object oriented software architectures simplify the process of upgrading software since a software object, which usually represents only a small portion of the software, may be upgraded rather than the entire software.

Another disadvantage of the monolithic architecture approach relates to the logistics of distributing gaming applications. That is, because each gaming application for each gaming machine typically is embodied in a separate memory device, i.e., an EPROM, these EPROMs must be transported from the gaming application provider, e.g., International Game Technology, to the gaming venues, e.g., casinos, and manually installed in each of the hundreds of gaming machines at each venue. The amount of resources consumed by this process is exacerbated by the fact that many new games are introduced each year.

Techniques for distributing gaming applications within a single gaming venue have been proposed which take advantage of the object-oriented software architectures described above as well as advances in networking technologies. According to such techniques, gaming machines in a casino may be interconnected using any of a variety of network topologies with one or more servers which transmit all or portions of gaming applications to the interconnected machines using any of a variety of network transmission protocols. An example of such a gaming venue network is described in commonly assigned, copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/746,944 for GAMING TERMINAL DATA REPOSITORY AND INFORMATION DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM filed on Dec. 21, 2000, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.

Unfortunately, single venue gaming networks still do not adequately address the logistical issues associated with the distribution of gaming applications from the gaming application provider to the gaming venues, or the complications associated with complying with a multiplicity of regulatory schemes. Thus, there is a need for techniques by which the distribution of gaming applications may be made more efficient.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention, methods and apparatus are provided for distributing gaming applications to a plurality of gaming sites located in a plurality of regulatory regions via a wide area network. Each regulatory region has a regulatory scheme associated therewith. A plurality of gaming applications are stored on at least one central server. A subset of the gaming applications are distributed from the at least one central server to at least one of the gaming sites located in one of regulatory regions via the wide area network, the subset of gaming applications being determined according to the associated regulatory scheme.

According to other specific embodiments, methods and apparatus are provided for distributing gaming applications to a plurality of gaming sites located in at least one regulatory region via a wide area network. Each regulatory region has a regulatory scheme associated therewith. A plurality of gaming applications are stored on at least one central server. A subset of the gaming applications are uploaded to at least one regional server associated with each regulatory region via the wide area network. The subset of gaming applications associated with each regulatory region is determined according to the associated regulatory scheme. A portion of the subset of gaming applications is distributed via the wide area network from either of the at least one regional server and the at least one central server to at least one of the gaming sites located in the regulatory region associated with the at least one regional server.

A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the present invention may be realized by reference to the remaining portions of the specification and the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram depicting a gaming terminal data repository connected to a number of gaming terminals and a partition of a database residing within the gaming terminal data repository.

FIG. 2 is block diagram of game software components that may be allocated to particular gaming terminals using a gaming terminal data repository.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a wide area network in which a specific embodiment of the present invention may be implemented.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating operation of a specific embodiment of the invention in the network environment of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a wide area network in which another specific embodiment of the present invention may be implemented.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a wide area network in which yet another specific embodiment of the present invention may be implemented.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating operation of specific embodiments of the invention in the network environments of FIGS. 5 and 6.

FIG. 8A is a perspective drawing of a gaming machine having a top box and other devices.

FIG. 8B is a block drawing of gaming components in a gaming machine.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart depicting a method of updating game software components on a gaming machine using a remote server.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS

The present invention takes advantage of advances in networking technology to provide techniques by which gaming applications may be efficiently distributed to geographically remote gaming sites. According to various embodiments of the invention, authorized users at gaming sites are given access to gaming applications in accordance with the regulatory scheme associated with the geographic region in which the gaming site is located. For the purpose of illustrating specific embodiments of the invention, an exemplary game data repository associated with a gaming site and to which gaming applications may be downloaded is shown in and described with reference to FIG. 1. For similar purposes, the structure of an exemplary gaming application is described with reference to FIG. 2. It will be understood, however, that many different types of gaming sites and gaming application architectures may be employed with various embodiments without departing from the scope the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a gaming terminal data repository (GTDR) 100 connected via network interface 108 to a number of remote gaming terminals 118, 120 and 122. The GTDR 100 may provide the management and download tools necessary to manage all of the information associated with a particular gaming terminal or groups of gaming terminals and manage access to this data for a particular user or set of users. An operator using the GTDR 100, with the appropriate access privileges, may define various parameters that trigger the download to the gaming terminal of information and programs such as game software components. The GTDR 100 may connect with an existing network interface system, such as a cashless system within the casino, may communicate directly with gaming terminals or may use combinations of both methods to facilitate information downloading and data collection. According to various embodiments of the present invention, GTDR 100 may also connect to remote servers via a wide area network, e.g., the Internet or World Wide Web, for the purpose of downloading gaming applications for distribution to and use on gaming terminals 118, 120, and 122.

The gaming terminals 118, 120, and 122 may be gaming machines such as video and mechanical slot machines and or gaming terminals providing video gaming play for games such as bingo games, keno games and lottery games. The gaming terminals may be located in many different venues such as casinos, stores, restaurants, bars and boats.

The gaming terminals 118, 120 and 122 may send game transaction information, such as coin-in and coin-out, game software component information, such as the versions of software residing on each gaming terminal and the version of a game being played, and player tracking information, such as the identity of a player playing a game on the gaming machine. The gaming terminals 118, 120 and 122 may send and may receive information directly from the GTDR 100 or the gaming terminals may communicate with the GTDR 100 via an intermediate device such as a cashless system server. Information received from the gaming terminals may be archived in the gaming terminal database 110 on the GTDR. In addition, the GTDR 100 may poll various servers such as bonus game servers, cashless system servers, progressive game servers for gaming information that may stored in the gaming terminal database 110.

The GTDR 100 may communicate with the gaming terminals, 118, 120 and 122 and other remote gaming devices, such as portable computers, printers, personal digital assistants and computers using the network interface 108. The network interface 108 may be a wireless network interface or wired network interface. The GTDR 100 may utilize a firewall 109 to prevent unauthorized access to data stored in the GTDR 100. Access firewalls may provided by Cisco Systems (San Jose, Calif.).

The GTDR 100 stores gaming information, such as gaming transaction information, game software components and game software component information, in a partitioned gaming terminal database 110. In one embodiment, the information stored in the gaming terminal database may be partitioned according to gaming entities. For instance, gaming information from a first gaming entity be may stored in a first partition of the gaming terminal database 112, gaming information from a second gaming entity may be stored in a second partition 114 and gaming information from a third gaming entity may be in a third partition 116. The number of partitions may vary and is not limited to the three partitions described in the present example. The gaming terminal database 110 may be a hard drive, CD-Read/Write drive or any other storage medium or combinations of storage mediums appropriate for storing large amounts of game information.

The large amount data and variety of game programs on each gaming terminal may be managed using the data and program management tools of the GTDR 100. Each game program may comprise of plurality of game software components. In FIG. 1, each of the items may be associated with a particular gaming terminal or associated with a type of gaming terminal. The items may be organized in a database structure of some type which may be extended to a large number of gaming terminals. Many different types of database structures are possible. Some examples of database structures which may be utilized are described in the text "Database Management Systems," R. Ramakrishnan, Mcgraw-Hill which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety and for all purposes.

An advantage of using a database partitioned according to a number of gaming entities may be easier sharing of data between gaming entities allowing for seamless game play across different gaming entities and promotions involving multiple gaming entities. Another advantage may be less expensive information management costs because multiple gaming entities may share the information management costs rather than each entity performing its own information management. Further, within a gaming entity, information management costs may be lowered because information management for a particular entity may be centralized. Yet another advantage of the partitioned database is scalability. The partitioned approach is scaleable to large numbers of gaming terminals. Further, when gaming information is stored for a large number of gaming terminals, gaming terminal configuration performance patterns may emerge that are not readily seen when information is only stored for a small number of gaming terminals.

The associations between gaming terminal database elements and the gaming terminals may be managed and leveraged with specific GTDR 100 tools that utilize information that may be stored in the data repository such as within a database structure of some type. For instance, the system may be used to establish relationships between users, terminal information, site information, and gaming terminals. With a given set of relationships established using the system, the casino operator may then identify the configuration desired of a particular gaming terminal or groups of gaming terminals. An example of the structure, relationships and types of information that may be stored in a data partition 116 for a particular gaming entity is shown in the FIG. 1. The example is used for illustrative purposes as many different structures are possible and additional gaming information may be stored in the database 110.

For each gaming terminal, including 122, 146 and 147, game software component information for various potential game configurations on the gaming terminal may be stored. For instance, gaming terminal 122 may be configured for 5 different types of games including 141, 142, 143, 144 and 145. The 5 games might correspond to five types of video slot games, 5 types of video poker games, or 2 types of video slot games and 3 types of video black jack games. The number of games on a given terminal and the combinations of games may vary. Game software components and game software component information for other video games of chance, including video bingo games, video lottery games, mechanical slot games, video keno games, video checkers and video card games may also be stored in the GTDR 100.

For each game, game software component information may be listed for game software components that reside on the gaming terminal. The game software component information may correspond to a particular game software configuration residing on the gaming terminal as well as potential configurations of software for the gaming terminal. For example, for game 141, the game software component information includes game system components 124, game paytables 126, game bonusing 128, game graphics 130, game sounds 132, game progressives 133, jurisdiction information 134, player tracking 136, game networking components 138 and other gaming information. Under each category, multiple different game software components may be available. Some of the game software components, such as game graphics 130 or game sounds 132, may be specific to a particular game while other game software components, such as game networking 138, may be shared by multiple different games. For instance, a video slot game and a poker game may use different graphics and sounds but the same player tracking software components. Examples of different game software components for each type of game software component are described with reference to FIG. 2.

The GTDR 100 may receive various types of game transaction information from gaming terminals connected in some manner to the GTDR 100. The game transaction information may be used to determine the relative performance of different games and gaming terminals. The game transaction information may be stored in a relational database allowing search and queries of various different data categories 160. The data categories may be specify various data relationships. For instance, game transaction information, such as coin-in, coin-out, and amount bet per game, may be stored according to specific games as game data 148. The game data may be a composite of game data obtained from multiple gaming terminals operating at different locations. Many data fields may be associated with the game data such as the time, game version, location, gaming terminal and player, and stored as a data record. The data fields may be utilized by analysis tools residing in the GTDR 100 to generate various information relationships such as game performance as a function of time, game performance as a function of location, game performance as a function of game version and game performance as a function of player.

The data categories 160 may be used to store commonly accessed data combinations to minimize analysis times. Many different combinations of game transaction information and other game information for various groups of gaming terminals may be stored in the gaming terminal database 110 as a queryable database. Other examples of game data categories may include: 1) gaming terminal data 150, which may be a history of game performance on a particular gaming terminal for all of its past configuration, 2) player data 15


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