Bally V22/22 or IGT G23

[Yoeddy1]

So what’s the going rate on these machines?  These are games like Firehouse Hounds, Cash Coasters, Hot Roll, etc. right?


Just trying to get an idea for the next game. 


Jason

[777sizzler]

Around 4k if you can find one-there is gen1 and gen2 on these as well as the 32" feature premo machines can be more.  I just looked at about 100 of these and they for the most part go over seas.  You can get a s-mld cabinet on 20/22 and do the same thing or a Fusion style cab. (20mld/32 top with facade etc.) and do the same thing.  G-23 for some is more desirable.  This is talking upright and not slant machines.

[rickhunter]

Jason, the G20's can be had for about 1/2 that, they just have the 20 inch monitors, but they use (or can use) the same mpu and plays the same games.  As you know from my on-going post, I have a G20 now with all the bells a whistles.  MLD screen, 621 box with VGA card, edge lit buttons.  A truly fantastic game.  Well worth the investment.  Have I mentioned in my thread how important it is to have a key 7 (or equivalent) usb key?  You can also get the S-MLD cabinet as Barry says.  They are probably easier to find, but they usually don't come with the dynamic buttons and I believe they use smaller monitors, although I'm not entire sure on that one.

[Yoeddy1]

Or perhaps a Bally V22/22?  I’m not a Bally guy in the casino, but I’m starting to think that it would be fun to have IGT, WMS, and Bally in our game room. 


Can you guys give me the skinny on a good Bally platform, games, etc?  Are they pretty easy to setup?  Are games dongle, non-dongle, cost?


Of course I’d make it all minty.  Can these take Bally Mastercom 250s for player tracking?


I’d appreciate any info. 


Jason

[Yoeddy1]

And what’s the series before V22/22?  My wife does like the traditional Bally roll up sounds.


Jason

[rickhunter]

The V22/22 is known as Alpha 2 pro V22/22.  They are based on the alpha 2 platform.  Have dual 22 inch screens, only the bottom screen has touch.  The setup is nearly identical to WMS bb2.  The main difference is when you first install the game.  In WMS bb2/bb3, you leave the cf cards in the mpu at all times.  The Bally Alpha 2, has an install CF which you use to install the OS (which usually never needs replacing unless a newer games requires newer os, but then the old games will also work with the new os, unlike WMS BB2).  Once OS is installed in the drive, you don't need to re-install it, maybe only update it to a newer os.  You then only need to install the game using the same install card whenever you want to change games.  Once the game is installed, you no longer need to have the cf card in the mpu as both the os and game will load off the ssd in the mpu.  Games will run you about the same as BB2 games.  Some of the newer games are dongle based and they tend to run double in average as a bb2 dongle game.  They are also a bit more difficult to locate since most of them are still in casinos.  There are a lot of alpha 2 pro games that are not dongle.  The dongle thing on the bally's is a mixed bag.  Not all new games are dongle based.  The alpha 2 pro is nearing it's end of life as  SG is now moving over to their new twinstar cabinets.  I speculate that alpha2 pro will go the way of bb2 soon enough and the cabinets will be easier to get and more affordable.

The previous gen is a V20/20 and it is an alpha 1 based cabinet.  Also there was a V20 which was basically a single screen variant without the dual video card.  It operates very much like bb1/bb2 from wms.  It requires the CF cards to be present on mpu at all times, and the setup is 99% identical to wms, so your learning curve will be very small.  Some of the older alpha 1 games will not run on alpha 2, but a lot do.  The v20/20 is also easy to find and can usually be had under $1,200 unshopped but working.  There's a significat difference in the quality of the games between alpha 1 and alpha 2 video.  There are only a handful of alpha 1 videos worth having, but a lot of alpha 2 videos are really good.  At this point, I can't really recommend the alpha 1 video platform anymore, the stepper platform is among the best ever made and I recommend the stepper alpha 1 all day long.  But video, not so much, I would save up and get an alpha 2 pro.

I should note that some "alpha2" games will work on alpha 1, but there aren't very many that do, kind of like the way it was with bb1 and bb2, there was that overlap before wms just stopped supporting the bb1 cabinet.

[Yoeddy1]

Thanks Rick.  So when you talk about an Alpha 1 stepper, are you referring to this?


http://youtu.be/RYV8VsCYEE0


What are some things that I should be aware of with this platform?  Are games easy to get?  What are the good ones?


Jason

[rickhunter]

Yes, those are it.  They should be relatively easy and not too costly to obtain as they are all being removed from casinos in favor of the alpha 2 pro steppers and curves. Things to look for:

1. Make sure you get the elite model (Alpha S9000 Elite), basically has the 20" widescreen monitor on top, as opposed to the 15 inch verision (non-elite).
2. Get a title on the machine that is harder to get, like a bull's eye bonus type game.
3. The 5 reel kits are easier to get than 3 reel kits, so get a 5 reel machine if you want more variety (although they are relatively easy to convert a 3 reel machine).
4.  I know you are a coin-in type guy, you can get coin-in equipment for this platform, although I will tell you they are kind of rare and when found, you pay a premium for it.  I have a nickel setup on a 3 reel stepper.
5.  If you get some of the newer themes, you may get a 1 ghz mpu box with it as the newer games kind of require it.  You may want to ask the dealer for a 1 ghz box.  They usually come with the 300/400 mhz cpu's (they are also known as the 512MB boxes and the 1 gb boxes, as the 0lder 300/440 mhz variety had 256MB or 512MB and the 1ghz boxes have 1GB or 2GB depending on mpu type

[Yoeddy1]

Thanks Rick.  What are some good titles out there?


Jason

[rickhunter]

Off the top of my head Hot shots, Any of the quick hit games, Green stamps, Bullseye bonus games, Hee Haw, Diamonds and Devils Deluxe, Playboy Free Games, Peacock Plenty.