My name is IMPESTA'.
I've just read the great article against fruit-machines that trick the gamers into fake gamblings.
I worked almost 10 yrs ago for a company in Europe that distributed slot-machine made by CIRSA (www.cirsa.com)
(mainly the models "Minibravo" and "TuttiFrutti").
We also had in stock some other brands using touch-screen monitors , and powered by a JAMMA board with custom chips.
While the CIRSAs were mechanical (run by a lame 8086 chip with a small EEPROM) , the others were run by a MC68xxx with a classic EEPROM as every other game-board.
My task was the electronic repair of faulty parts , and also , the FLASHING of EEPROMS in the new machines as well as the upgrade of old models with new firmwares.
I can confirm you that :
1) Being mechanical or not , ANY models i had repaired was MEANT to WIN a pre-programmed percentage of money.
The "win-rate" was set up on the board using dip-switches or by the BIOS of the Jamma Board , as well as other nasty settings for the jackpot etc.
2) The real goal and design of the machines was in all case to be a "money-maker" machine , NOT a "gaming" machine.
3) Another one of my tasks was of course the full-test of the machine , that means PLAY with it for at least 1 hour.
There were some rare cases of machines that "paid" too much.
These were considered "faulty" and we had to reflash the EEPROMs to FIX the **ISSUE**.
(usually we had been called by the pubs themselves , angry by the fact that ppl was actually WINNING too much money.. and shouting me on the phone "your machine is broken , come here and replace it !").
4) In many case was the owner of the pubs asking us to LOW the minimum winning-rate , to be sure of making more money.
5) Being an organized company , every customer had a full documentation of the MONEY he was going to make , based on a complex statistical study that shown exactly the average winning-ratio per customer plus lots of other details.
6) Every machine had various firmware ROMs version , expecially the new ones , and in some cases the new releases fixed some models that were reported to "pay" too much.
In conclusion , the deal between our company and the customers was merely a deal were we GUARANTEED a minimum amount of money if the pub's owner decided to put our machines in his pub.
The fact that we were able to do that was because CIRSA itself programmed the ROMS that way.
--> pre-programmed alghorithm to FRAUD customers !
I've never ceased to be DISGUSTED by the market of gaming and slot-machines , but was also for me impossible to PROVE the scam in any way , due the fact that all i had were the eletronical manuals of the machines and nothing else.
Nothing that could ever prove the presence of pre-programmed tricks against the law and the customers.
(well , i could have been smart and dump the ROM code for future use but i was young and stupid at that time..)
Cheers
IMPESTA'
Slashdot Mirror
My name is IMPESTA'. I've just read the great article against fruit-machines that trick the gamers into fake gamblings. I worked almost 10 yrs ago for a company in Europe that distributed slot-machine made by CIRSA (www.cirsa.com) (mainly the models "Minibravo" and "TuttiFrutti"). We also had in stock some other brands using touch-screen monitors , and powered by a JAMMA board with custom chips. While the CIRSAs were mechanical (run by a lame 8086 chip with a small EEPROM) , the others were run by a MC68xxx with a classic EEPROM as every other game-board. My task was the electronic repair of faulty parts , and also , the FLASHING of EEPROMS in the new machines as well as the upgrade of old models with new firmwares. I can confirm you that : 1) Being mechanical or not , ANY models i had repaired was MEANT to WIN a pre-programmed percentage of money. The "win-rate" was set up on the board using dip-switches or by the BIOS of the Jamma Board , as well as other nasty settings for the jackpot etc. 2) The real goal and design of the machines was in all case to be a "money-maker" machine , NOT a "gaming" machine. 3) Another one of my tasks was of course the full-test of the machine , that means PLAY with it for at least 1 hour. There were some rare cases of machines that "paid" too much. These were considered "faulty" and we had to reflash the EEPROMs to FIX the **ISSUE**. (usually we had been called by the pubs themselves , angry by the fact that ppl was actually WINNING too much money.. and shouting me on the phone "your machine is broken , come here and replace it !"). 4) In many case was the owner of the pubs asking us to LOW the minimum winning-rate , to be sure of making more money. 5) Being an organized company , every customer had a full documentation of the MONEY he was going to make , based on a complex statistical study that shown exactly the average winning-ratio per customer plus lots of other details. 6) Every machine had various firmware ROMs version , expecially the new ones , and in some cases the new releases fixed some models that were reported to "pay" too much. In conclusion , the deal between our company and the customers was merely a deal were we GUARANTEED a minimum amount of money if the pub's owner decided to put our machines in his pub. The fact that we were able to do that was because CIRSA itself programmed the ROMS that way. --> pre-programmed alghorithm to FRAUD customers ! I've never ceased to be DISGUSTED by the market of gaming and slot-machines , but was also for me impossible to PROVE the scam in any way , due the fact that all i had were the eletronical manuals of the machines and nothing else. Nothing that could ever prove the presence of pre-programmed tricks against the law and the customers. (well , i could have been smart and dump the ROM code for future use but i was young and stupid at that time..) Cheers IMPESTA'