In a sweeping move that makes industry standardization a reality, the Gaming Standards Association (GSA) announced its protocol standards are immediately available to the gaming industry for free on its public website at http://www.gamingstandards.com.
Gaming Standards Association Board Chairman Lyle Bell and Senior Vice President Information Technology for Seminole Gaming said: "This is truly a banner day for our organization and for the gaming industry. We have worked for more than six years on these protocols, and they are surpassing all expectations. The Gaming Standards Association 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."
Bob Luciano, Chief Technical Officer for Bally Gaming and Systems said: "Following the successful implementation of the S2S standard in several jurisdictions, we are committed to the BOB protocol and its widespread implementation throughout our platforms and systems. We will be operating BOB in several of our system/game product offerings currently in development at Bally. As the open standard, networked based gaming protocol, BOB enables the diverse set of gaming features we will provide to operators and patrons. We look forward to demonstrating this technology at G2E this fall."
Moti Vyas, Gaming Standards Association Board Member and Chief Information Officer for Viejas Enterprises commented: "GSA has had more than 75 member companies that have supported and contributed to the development of our standards. The result is a cross-pollination of ideas which leads to protocols much richer than can be achieved by one company alone. The open standards will attract entrepreneurs from non-gaming industries to participate, innovate and contribute to the growth of gaming industry. Also, casino operators will benefit immensely by virtue of seamless integration and freedom provided by GSA’s open standards."
Finally, Gaming Standards Association President Peter DeRaedt said: "The decision to open up all our standards to the world will stimulate innovation and grow the industry at large. GSA’s BOB standard protocol launched in early 2004 already incorporates download, remote configuration and video lottery support. It provides functionality that all operators currently enjoy on their casino floor. Opening these standards will forever remove the choking effects that proprietary protocols have over the gaming industry. GSA standards offer operators freedom of choice."
Gaming Standards Association member companies will continue to enhance and expand the existing protocols to benefit the industry. Draft standards will only be available to members, which will give them the opportunity to provide input and direction, as a benefit of membership.
Early in 2005, Gaming Standards Association deemed this the "Year of Adoption" and is fulfilling on its promise. The organization has already released the revolutionary BOB, S2S and GDS protocols and supporting toolkits to wide acclaim, and now it is delivering its standards to the industry worldwide.