Cover Story
(August 2007)Cover Story
(August 2007)How does a prominent game manufacturer create stunning new products for a constantly changing market where there's no clear-cut consensus on the best direction to take?
Who else to ask but Incredible Technologies (IT). IT has a keen sense of the coin-op industry and that clearly is illustrated in its products including the Golden Tee golf series. But the question about what operators want is not an easy one to answer.
"We need more online games!" some operators wail. "Online contests, tournaments and sweepstakes make me money!"
"Please, no more online games. Players just want to have some quick, casual fun. All this online stuff isn't necessary!" others claim.
And there you have it. Trying to please operators by offering what they demand can't be a simple choice. How can IT commit millions of dollars toward the development of games when its customers hold such disparate views? How does the company decide where to take risks and go forward and where to draw the line and step back?
The answer may seem trite but it's genuine. IT asks operators for input, listens to the concerns of location owners, interviews players of all skill levels, and analyzes trends in the entertainment industry. A simple formula that is very effective.
"A game for every location and a location for every game," is not just a fancy way of saying that the company has something for everyone. This slogan describes IT's philosophy: Every location can be successful with an IT product, online or offline.
Online History
IT was the first to establish and maintain a commercially successful online tournament system. With the debut of Golden Tee 3-D Golf in 1996, IT introduced the International Tournament System to operators around the globe. During the next 10 years the game earned over $2 billion and over $15 million in prize money was awarded to tournament players.
When IT launched the current generation of the game, Golden Tee LIVE, IT changed the tournament structure from monthly contests to an "every game is a tournament game" format. Players could compete for cash with every game played and winners would be paid instantly. No longer would winners wait six weeks for a check. LIVE was giving players the instant gratification they craved as well as funding immediate additional game play. Golden Tee LIVE has grossed nearly $100 million and the LIVE tournament system has generated over $8 million in prize money.
In 2002 IT added Big Buck Hunter to its online system and ran the first national online hunting game tournament. Contests continued on Big Buck Hunter through 2006. In its five-year run, nearly $400,000 in cash was awarded to winners.
In 2006 IT began offering an online version of its popular Silver Strike Bowling game. Although originally developed as a stand-alone offline game, Silver Strike Bowler's Club (SSBC), the online model, was created to satisfy the demands of operators who clamored for an online version of the hit game. SSBC allowed operators to remotely conduct online contests on their machines using IT's proprietary FACTS software, while players could check their statistics and averages at the game's Web site.
However, SSBC's major attraction for players was the opportunity to win substantial prizes in a national sweepstakes. With weekly cash prizes of $3,000 and monthly prizes of automobiles, motorcycles, and lavish trips, the SSBC sweepstakes became one of the highest-profile online strategies in the history of the amusement industry, according to IT. In less than a year IT has awarded over $250,000 in cash and prizes to lucky players and earnings-to-date are approaching $20 million.
Technology
As Golden Tee evolved from its rudimentary 3D roots into a state-of-the-art entertainment device, the underlying technology behind its online initiative evolved too.
The early games utilized a dial-up modem to make a phone call to the company's servers and uploaded game play data. After organizing this data, the servers created leaderboards that were then downloaded back to the games, again using phone lines. This highly efficient, but slow (by today's standards) system enabled nearly 30,000 Golden Tee Fore games to communicate with IT on an every-other-day basis.
With Golden Tee LIVE and Silver Strike Bowler's Club, the communication is no longer dependent on hard-wired phone lines. Wireless communication allows a constant flow of data to IT's servers and the resultant leaderboards appear on the game instantly. Players now compete in real-time Golden Tee contests with other players around the world. They know immediately when they win and they're paid immediately.
"We know that players today demand instant gratification," said Larry Hodgson, Vice President of Product Development. "We have to continue to feed that need. There's no turning back. As player attention spans grow shorter, we need to satisfy them as quickly as possible."
As with Golden Tee LIVE, players swipe a card to identify themselves for entry into the SSBC sweepstakes. All entries are pooled and a drawing is conducted every Friday with the winner announced on each game at 8 p.m. local time. "Thousands of players are huddled around Silver Strike machines at 8 p.m. each Friday," said Hodgson. "Anticipation is high as the countdown clock approaches zero."
Today nearly 15,000 Golden Tee LIVE and Silver Strike Bowler's Club machines around the world communicate continually with IT's servers.
Affordable and simple
IT claims that it communicates more often and directly with operators than any other manufacturer in the industry. IT's customers are continually informed about new products, services, and policies through Operator Services at (itsgames.com); constant contact via in-person meetings and phone conferences; e-mail and fax bulletins; its booth at the Amusement and Music Operators Association (AMOA) International Expo; and especially through its annual Operator Summit.
"The Operator Summit is a low-key selling event," said Don Pesceone, Senior Vice President of Sales. "We're mainly there to listen and solicit feedback from operators. We really want to hear what operators have to say."
What have operators been telling IT? One thing is that the fees associated with online connectivity don't always justify placing an online game in every location and that the more involved nature of online games is not always for everybody. While some players seek a deeper gaming experience, others simply want a quick and easy way to spend an hour or two. It's this dichotomy of interests that vexes game developers industry-wide, according to IT.
"Operators have told us that simple and approachable games are a must if we expect to relate to an audience whose attention span continues to shrink," Pesceone explained. "We've observed this trend and it's directly responsible for the development of both Silver Strike Bowling and Target Toss Pro: Bags. We're listening to our customers."
President and CEO Elaine Hodgson spoke directly to the issues of affordable and simple games in her annual state-of-the-industry address in May at the 2007 Operator Summit. Here's an excerpt:
"People have many options for their time. We need to be attractive, easy, fast and cheaper. We must make games that appeal to what we call the 'Casual Majority' of players. Silver Strike Bowling and Bags are great examples of just such games. We're continuing to refine Golden Tee to meet the ever-changing needs of our players and operators. In our upcoming 2008 update, we've taken the opportunity to simplify, refocus, and reinvent the Golden Tee product to reach an even broader audience."
Hodgson was unwavering in her commitment to operators and the industry. "Incredible Technologies is dedicated to providing profitable and cost-effective solutions for our operators. This has been our driving force as a company for the past 20 years."
The factory's multi-game strategy continues to evolve in an effort to reach this ever-changing and diverse audience. Here's how those solutions shake out.
Solution: Target Toss Pro: Bags
IT's newest game has been the surprise hit of the year. By adapting one of the hottest games in the country, beanbag toss, to video, IT has capitalized on a current entertainment trend that shows no signs of abating anytime soon. And, operators are responding in big numbers. As of the end of June the company indicated that Bags was sold out through mid-August.
"We've obviously tapped into a huge underlying demand for a new, simple, recognizable, approachable, and inexpensive game," said Pesceone. "Everyone knows how to play Bags immediately upon walking up to the machine. It's affordable: For a buck they can try it. It's easy: Anyone can be good at it after only a few games. And, the cool side-game features mesh perfectly with today's bar crowd."
Solution: Silver Strike Bowling and Silver Strike Bowler's Club (SSBC)
The offline Silver Strike Bowling offers the same compelling game play as the online Bowler's Club, but does not allow the player to track his averages and statistics and the operator is unable to conduct FACTS-based contests on the offline machine. But the most significant difference between the two versions is the SSBC sweepstakes is not available on the offline game.
"To get operators attracted to SSBC, we simplified the online process," Pesceone noted. "Our goal is to make it as easy as possible for operators to get online with Silver Strike so their players will have the opportunity to win the weekly sweepstakes. We've cut costs to the bone (fees are only a nickel per game) and reinvested those dollars in incredible prizes."
SSBC offers no further investment in time or money for players; the sweepstakes costs no more for them to enter. Once they identify themselves they're in.
"Players know that they just swipe their card to get in the sweepstakes and it costs them no more to do so. Our sweepstakes is building everyday because it's transparent to players. The cost of going online with SSBC is so low that operators should truly consider this option," Pesceone said. A national Silver Strike Bowler's Club online tournament will commence in October.
"It won't cost an operator one cent more to provide his players with the opportunity to enter this tournament. IT will do all the work in conducting the event, freeing up valuable time for operators to do what they do best, operate their routes," said Pesceone.
Solution: Golden Tee LIVE 2008
Every year the Golden Tee New Courses Update provides operators with a shot-in-the-arm that rejuvenates their games and cash boxes. Locations anxiously anticipate the additional food and beverage sales. Players, of course, count the days to when they'll be playing new layouts that will both vex and entertain them.
How does IT adapt Golden Tee LIVE to appeal to a broader base of players without alienating the millions of fans the game already enjoys? "We started by simplifying the check-in process," explained Hodgson. "Now players will have the choice of 'Casual' or 'Advanced' play. We think this basic change will make it easier for a player to decide how deeply involved he wants to become. We brought back a lot of the little things that drew people to the game in the past. Now the attract mode again says to 'PLAY GOLF' and we're providing simple on-screen animations showing how to spin the trackball. It's pretty basic stuff but we think it's important if we're going to attract new players. The last thing we want to do is outgrow our audience, which is a risk with a product that's been around as long as Golden Tee."
When a player selects Casual Play he'll find that starting a game is quick and simple and the game experience itself to be easier than Advanced Play. Hodgson compares it to the "Stroke Play" option on the old Golden Tee Fore platform: quick to get in, easy to play, but still hard to master.
"It's basically an offline experience," he said. "The wind and slopes are not as severe, eliminating most of the frustration that plagues new players, and the leaderboards are populated only with the scores of players on that machine, allowing the locals to show off. We know local leaderboards are extremely popular. Now the casual player will have a chance to see his name in lights again."
According to Hodgson, instead of committing to $4 for 18 holes, Casual Play allows the new player the option of paying 25 cents per hole, making the game more approachable than ever.
In addition to five brand-new courses, players who prefer the premium online experience will also see big changes in game play, most notably the huge variety of new tee boxes and pin positions for every hole. "It's possible that a player may never see the same set up more than once," said Hodgson.
While Glory Play will continue to place 20 golfers in a real-time online tournament, those players who compete in Prize Play will now find themselves segregated into three divisions based on best lifetime score, with the goal being to attract more players to Prize Play and to give more players a chance to win.
"Instead of a newbie competing against a veteran, newbies will compete against other newbies," Hodgson said. "Now no matter what level of skill a player has attained, everyone will have a chance to win cash. We know Prize players play the most games and, hopefully, we'll convert a few Glory players to Prize Play. There's nothing like winning a few bucks and seeing your name at the top of a leaderboard to get you to come back!"
Golden Tee LIVE 2008 also offers the opportunity to play three holes for free. A person simply swipes his credit card to get the three free holes; once he's done that he no longer can get three free holes with that same card.
Operators can even choose which 2005 and 2007 courses will populate the Classic courses on 2008. The factory says this option will allow operators to custom-tailor the course set-up to each location.
Potential Solution: Golden Tee 2008 Unplugged?
During this year's Operator Summit, Larry Hodgson spoke of a new version of Golden Tee for 2008 that would be a stand-alone offline version of the game. Golden Tee 2008 Unplugged would address the issues of ease-of-play and cost.
"We believe an inexpensive kit that contains the 2008 courses with LIVE's incredible graphics, that's offline with no fees, and features our new level of Casual Play, will be a huge hit in bars and taverns that have Golden Tee Fore but may not justify a Golden Tee LIVE," said Hodgson. "Default pricing would be $3 for 18 holes, making it affordable for patrons in second-tier locations."
"Right now we're testing Unplugged in locations that still have Golden Tee Fores. If it does well we'll release it in September along with LIVE 2008, but if it doesn't do well we'll scrap it and go back to the drawing board. IT will never release a product that doesn't test well," he said.
The future
IT, a dominant manufacturer of video games for the coin-op industry, continues to evolve and change with the times. Everything IT does is focused on addressing the needs of the marketplace and its customers whether it's online, offline, dedicated, or a kit. As IT enters its 23rd year in business, Elaine Hodgson reiterated the company's philosophy of game development:
"IT will be pursuing simple, approachable, make-you-feel-good games. As always we will add premium online features only to those games that can gain a substantial benefit from it and that generate the earnings to support it. We want to see a growing, energetic operator community. We want to see more locations wanting coin-op equipment and more players wanting to play. We will continue to do everything we can to make this a reality."