Patent ID: 7374487

Claim:
A gaming machine comprising, a master gaming controller designed or configured to 1) control a plurality of types of wagering games played on the gaming machine including a first wagering game and a second wagering game; 2) generate first critical data associated with execution of first game code for the first wagering game installed on the gaming machine: 3) allocate first memory space in a non-volatile memory for the first critical data; 4) generate second critical data associated with execution of second game code for the second wagering game; 4) allocate second memory space in the non-volatile memory for the second critical data; 5) determine a portion of the first critical data associated with the first wagering game is no longer needed; 6) identify in the non-volatile memory a memory space associated with the portion of the first critical data; 7) delete the portion of the first critical data associated with the first wagering game, wherein the deletion does not interfere with use of the second critical data stored in the non-volatile memory; and 8) deallocate the memory space previously occupied by the portion of the first critical data; a display operable to display an outcome to the first wagering game or the second wagering game; the non-volatile memory operable to store critical data comprising a) current state information including credit information generated during a play of one of the plurality of types of wagering games, said current state information describing a current state of the gaming machine during the play in a manner that allows the gaming machine to be restored to the current state when a power interruption occurs between the current state and a following state in the play; and b) previous state information including credit information associated with a previous play of one of the plurality of types of wagering games.