4 Ways the Next Generation of Slot Machines Will Blow Your Mind

Out with the old and in with the new. When it comes to tech, the newest slot machines can give Counterstrike and Call of Duty a run for their money.

The gambling is industry is big on tech. Blackjack dealers use automatic shufflers, sports betting is now done largely on smartphones and tablets, and casinos use sophisticated surveillance technology to sniff out cheaters and card counters.

Little attention, however, is paid to good ol’ fashioned slot machines. These days the machines are electronic, rather than mechanical. But you still pull a lever to get them to work their magic. In fact, many lifelong casino gamblers have barely noticed that slot machines have changed.

Until now, that is. With online casinos in the US are coming out with exciting new interactive slots, the machine gaming industry has become more competitive than ever before, with each firm combining technological wizardry and marketing savvy to come out with the next big thing.

Take a close look around any casino floor in the US today, and you’ll notice that these aren’t your grandmother’s slot machines anymore.

Graphics

Slots started to go electronic in the 1970s, with the first ever “video slot” hitting Vegas casino floors in 1975. The graphics have gradually improved since the early days of Walt Fraley’s “Fortune Coin” game, but they’ve generally lagged behind the virtual gaming frontier.

Not so much anymore. These days the top slot machines boast graphics that can rival video games systems like the PlayStation3 and XBOX360. Leading slot manufacturers such as International Games Technology (IGT), Bally Technologies and Merkur Gaming compete with traditional tech giants like Sony and Microsoft for top talent.

Kim Cohn, Bally’s director of game development, chalked up the rapid advancements to the fact that the industry is a lot more competitive than it used to be.While noting that when she first took a job with Bally in 2002 the gaming industry was “much more primitive,” these days “anybody can make a great game where you pull a slot. We’re constantly trying to come up with new ideas.”

When every manufacturer has access to quality technology and competent designers, success depends on the ability to bring something to customers that is truly special. What was once cutting-edge is now merely commonplace. Said Helga Watkins of UNLV, “there’s an expectation for this rich environment visually.”

Touch screens and immersive gaming

The new generation of slot machines also offers players a much more hands-on experience, literally. Many machines now feature touch screens. While much more convenient, some nostalgic worry that going touch will eventually make the ol’ fashioned pull lever go the way of the dinosaur.

The most exciting tech advancement, however, is the opportunity for players to literally “immerse” themselves in their games. Merkur Gaming has released the ground-breaking Ozone, whereby the player sits in a partially enclosed “gaming cabinet,” a chamber of sensations that allows the graphic experience to be taken in from the surroundings. 

• Popular thematic slot games include Mad Men, Ellen Degeneres and Duck Dynasty
• Manufacturers now compete with video game companies for top talent
• Most slot players are looking for entertainment, not payouts

While full-blow virtual reality slots aren’t yet on the market, once the technology become affordable, it’s only a matter of time. Vegas gambling expert and author Natasha Dow Stull put it into perfect words:

The gambling experience has evolved in step with technological innovation…Once a relatively straightforward operation in which players bet a set amount on the outcome of a single payline, today machine gambling begins with a choice among games whose permutations of odds, stakes, size and special effects are seemingly endless.

Thematic games

Pop culture themed slots have been around for a couple of decades, providing a perfect business model.
Thematic slots recently hitting the market include Duck Dynasty, Mad Men, Sons of Anarchy and Ellen Degeneres.

Even many with no interest in gambling have a hard time passing up a Hollywood-themed slot specially designed to pique their interest. Manufacturers and casinos are utilizing advances in market research to come out with machines targeting specific segments of the gaming population.

For example, a recently-released Wonderwoman slot was tailor-made for baby boomers, complete with clips from the TV show and kitschy 70s music and visual fonts. In the words of Vegas-based journalist Kristen Peterson, “people are going to spend on this attraction, regardless of the odds.”

The growing popularity of thematic slots reflects a brilliant insight on the part of manufacturers. While American gambling laws require casinos to publicize each machine’s payout percentage, the majority of players don’t care. They play them to be entertained, and could give a damn about how much money they lose.

Plotlines

Another respect in which slots are beginning to look more like video games than gambling machines is the fact that many new games have multilayered storylines to go along with their increasingly complex paylines and progressive jackpots.

Bally’s Cash Wizard, for example, allows the player to progress through a trilogy of stages, each with its own interwoven plot line and protagonist. Many slot games now include special challenges, mini games and bonus features. The Dark Knight Rises, a hit 2013 slot from NetEntertainment, included a feature in which the player could fight against another character in a combat sequence.

If history is any indication, as players become more accustomed to story-based slots with complex, add-on heavy plotlines, eventually they won’t accept anything less.