Along with the opening of ARIA last week (at CityCenter) comes the first all-networked slot floor.
In the works for the past couple years, International Game Technology's sbX Experience Management System now resides on most machines on the ARIA floor - not just IGT's games but competitor games such as WMS Gaming, Bally, and Aristocrat as well.
What a server-based floor means is greater flexibility for the casino operator, where games (or groups of games in multi-game format) can be changed on the fly.
sbX also allows the player to access additional options unrelated to the gaming experience. Imagine every slot machine acting as a kiosk.
Inserting a player's card will login and pop up a menu, sliding the game to the side. The menu currently contains ads but has the potential of more in the near future (such as ordering drinks, making dinner reservations, buying show tickets, a map of the casino, etc.).
