Swedes Install More Konami Slot Machines

Konami might be famous for making Metal Gear Solid and infamous for Silent Hill but their gambling games are selling well in the background as Sweden will attest

There is a special place in a geek's heart for some of the early video games that launched an entire genre of entertainment that now pulls in more money than Hollywood. We will all speak well of “Space Invaders”, of “Pacman”, of “Asteroids”, and whilst they've certainly dated since the early 80's, no longer the cutting edge of technology by any means, each retains the emotional punch that goes along with all the memories we have of when we first encountered these electronic boxes of wonder during our childhood. Text Box

Konami Expand In Sweden
• SeleXion multi game cabinets installed
• New locations in Gothenburg & Stockholm
• ICM & Cosmopol very pleased

I recall the first time I saw “Defender” in an arcade on a ferry twixt England & France during a school trip (our party spending much of the crossing gambling news we'd broken it to give us infinite credits wouldn't reach the crew) or when I was first tall enough to use a “Battle Zone” game as it was meant to be used, and, perhaps more embarrassingly, have vivid memories of attempting to replicate one of my favorite games in real life by challenging my younger brother to traverse a bridge across a busy motorway without allowing any vehicle to pass right under him.

The game we were trying to play for real? The Konami classic “Frogger”. Frogger was a simple game, one merely had to get from the bottom to top of the screen without being struck by any of the mobile obstacles that crossed your path horizontally at various speeds. The lower part a road full of traffic five lanes wide, the upper part a river full of logs, alligators and turtles. It sold hugely across the world with 5 million copies going in the US alone, and I loved it dearly until Microprose created “Gunship” and the 3D universe beckoned my digital soul away from the flatness of Frogger and its ilk.

The Legends Of Konami

Of course if you're younger than my dubious progress into middle age makes me, you will perhaps be more familiar with Konami as being the maker of the more recent, but no less classic, computer games such as “Castlevania”, “Pro Evolution Soccer” and “Metal Gear Solid”, all of which have spawned a sequel series of games stemming from the original. “Castlevania” pitted you against vampires in a side scrolling form of adventure game, and “Pro Evolution Soccer” allowed you to play out your Beckham-esque fantasies in the comfort of your own home, but “Metal Gear” was something else.

The original “Metal Gear” arrived in the late eighties and was an instant hit with gamers, but it wasn't really until the late nineties with the “Metal Gear Solid” incarnation of the game that it gained a world wide reputation as a mixture of stealth and action that few others had managed to balance in quite the same way. However whilst I and my type were busy slaughtering the bad guys, scoring superb goals or running away from vampires looking for a power-up, Konami was also developing another side to its business.

I know what you're thinking, but no, I'm not talking about the Silent Hill series of games, but of their development and marketing of slot machine games that have made it one of the unsung heroes of the gambling world, and those of you that like to bet on sports in Sweden may already have played their games without necessarily knowing you have. For instance, Konami own the rights to all the slot games based around the “Rocky” series of movies, and indeed several others, and that range is set to grow.

ICM & Cosmopol Expanding Konami Offering

Games like “Money in the Bank”, “Solstice Gold”, “African Treasure”, “Atlantic Treasure”, “Aloha Gold”, “Cash Inferno”, “Coinopolis”, “Big Payoff”, “Billionaires”, and “Lucky Dice” have all emerged from the Konami stable of games creators and have proved hugely popular around the world, rather more so than some of their attempts at recreational gaming if we're frank about it. Yes, Silent Hill, I'm looking at you again, you disastrous rail-shooter you. This popularity continues to provide dividends for the company away from the glare of the computer games industry per se.

Konami have, for instantly, just begun another round of installing its games across Sweden, with an expansion of its presence in Gothenburg and Stockholm using the SeleXion multi-game cabinets that look set to be a new industry standard just as soon as the rest of the industry catches up. Their regional distributor ICM extremely pleased with how the process of expansion is going despite the somewhat restrictive Swedish gambling laws that limit the number of placements possible in the country and exclude the competition of companies like Bet365.

“Our first two installations of Konami machines in Malmö and Sundsvall have been successful and we are confident that the installations in Stockholm and Gothenburg will follow the same success route.” said ICM's Wolfram Dahlstrom, with Casino Cosmopol specialist Erik Sober adding “We are very satisfied with the performance in all our four casinos and the SeleXion machines are popular among our guests.” All of which means that Sweden is likely to see ever more Konami driven games in the future, which will perhaps prop up the Japanese game's makers less successful ventures. Castlevania movie anyone? No...no I thought not......