Patent ID: 7951002

Claim:
A gaming machine comprising: a housing; a master gaming controller coupled to the housing configured to control a game played on the gaming machine; a display coupled to the housing and configured to display the game controlled by the master gaming controller; one or more input devices coupled to the housing for accepting indicia of credit, wherein the indicia of credit are for making wagers on the game played on the gaming machine; a first game server configured to provide one or more gaming services to a first plurality of gaming machines in a first network and to a second plurality of gaming machines in a second network, wherein the one or more gaming services are selected from the group consisting of progressive game play, bonus game play, accounting services, game serving, and game configuration; a communication interface configured to communicate with the first plurality of gaming machines via the first network; wherein the first game server is configured to do the following: send at least one request for gaming information to the first and second pluralities of gaming machines, the gaming information including a first portion and a second portion, and receive at least the first portion of the gaming information from at least one of the first plurality of gaming machines via the communication interface; a concentrator configured to do the following: communicate with the second plurality of gaming machines via the second network, receive a least the second portion of the gaming information from at least two of the second plurality of gaming machines, combine the information from the at least two of the second plurality of gaming machines to generate a combined second portion, and provide the combined second portion of the gaming information to the first game server; and a translator configured to do the following: communicate with the second plurality of gaming machines via the second network, translate the gaming information between two communication protocols, wherein the first plurality of games is compatible with the first communication protocol, and the second plurality of games is compatible with the second communication protocol, send the gaming information to the first game server using the first protocol, and send the gaming information to a second game server located on a remote gaming machine of the second network using the second protocol, wherein the first game server is further configured to provide the gaming services to the first plurality of gaming machines using the gaming information, including the first portion, the second portion, or a combination thereof.