N.M. Code R. § 15.1.7.10 – Control Program Specifications

A. Except as otherwise authorized by the board all gaming devices which have control programs residing in storage media that is not alterable through any use of the circuitry or programming of the gaming device itself shall employ a mechanism to verify executable program code and data which may affect payouts or game outcome.
B. The mechanism used shall detect 99.99 percent of all possible media failures and shall reside in and execute from storage media that is not alterable through any use of the circuitry or programming of the gaming device.
C. All gaming devices that have control programs residing in storage media that are alterable through any use of the circuitry or programming of the gaming device itself shall:
1. (1) employ a mechanism approved by the board which verifies that all control program components, including data and graphic information, are authentic copies of the approved components; the board may require tests to verify that components used by licensees are approved components; the verification mechanism shall prevent the execution of any control program component if any component is determined to be invalid; any program component of the verification mechanism shall reside in and execute from storage media that is not alterable through any use of the circuitry or programming of the gaming device;
2. (2) employ a mechanism which tests unused or unallocated areas of any alterable memory for unintended programs or data and tests the structure of the storage media for integrity; the mechanism shall prevent further play of the gaming device if unexpected data or structural inconsistencies are found;
3. (3) provide a mechanism for keeping a record, anytime a control program component is added, removed, or altered; the record shall contain the date and time of the action, identification of the component affected, the reason for the modification and any pertinent validation information;
4. (4) provide a mechanism for extracting the validation information for all control program components on demand via a communication port; a separate mechanism shall be provided that tests the integrity of the validation information delivered via the communication port.
D. Any gaming device executing control programs from electrically erasable or other volatile memory shall employ a mechanism which verifies on a continuous basis, that all control program components residing therein, including fixed data and graphic information are authentic copies of the approved components. Additionally, control program components, excluding graphics and sound components, shall be fully verified at the time of loading into the electrically erasable or other volatile memory and upon any significant event, including but not limited to door closings, game resets, and power up. The mechanism shall prevent further play of the gaming device if an invalid component is detected.
E. Unless otherwise approved any gaming device that allows the adding, removing, or alteration of any control program components through a data communication facility shall employ a mechanism for preventing any change from taking place that would interrupt a game in progress. Any device, technique or network which may be used to accomplish the adding, removing, or alteration of any control program components may be considered a gaming device that shall receive separate approval.
F. Gaming devices with control programs or other security programs residing in conventional read only memory (ROM) devices such as EPROM’s or fusible-link PROM’s shall have the unused portions of the memory device that contains the program set to zero.
G. Gaming device control programs shall check for any corruption of random access memory locations used for crucial gaming device functions including, but not limited to, information pertaining to the play and final outcome of the most recent game, at minimum four games prior to the most recent game, random number generator outcome, credits available for play, and any error states. These memory areas shall be checked for corruption following game initiation but prior to display of the game outcome to the player. Detection of any corruption that cannot be corrected shall be deemed to be a game malfunction and shall result in a tilt condition.
H. All gaming devices shall have the capacity to display a complete play history for the most recent game played and four games prior to the most recent game. Retention of play history for additional prior games is encouraged. The display shall indicate the game outcome (or a representative equivalent), intermediate play steps (such as a hold and draw sequence or a double-down sequence), credits available, bets placed, credits or coins paid, and credits cashed out. Gaming devices offering games with a variable number of intermediate play steps per game may satisfy this requirement by providing the capability to display the last 50 play steps. The board may waive this standard for a particular device or modification if the hardware platform on which the device is based was originally approved prior to the adoption of this standard as modified and the manufacturer can demonstrate to the board’s satisfaction that the imposition of the full standard would hinder the design of the device or would otherwise pose a hardship due to capacity limitations in the approved platform
I. The control program shall provide the means for on-demand display of the electronic meters utilizing a key switch on the exterior of the gaming device.
J. Either the TITO system or TITO-enabled gaming devices shall maintain an audit log that records, at a minimum, the last 25 ticket-in transactions. Upon ticket redemption, the log shall properly update with the ticket redemption information, including the date and time of redemption, amount of ticket, and at least the last four digits of the ticket validation number.
K. Either the TITO system or TITO-enabled gaming devices shall maintain an audit log that records, at a minimum, the last 25 ticket out transactions. Upon ticket issuance, the log shall properly update with the ticket issued information, including the date and time of issuance, amount of ticket, and at least the last four digits of the ticket validation number.
[11/30/98; 15.1.7.10 NMAC - Rn, 15 NMAC 1.7.10, 3/31/00; A, 12/15/10]