Thursday, December 25, 2014

IGT's Wheel of Fortune franchise here to stick



“There’s a reason Wheel of Fortune has consistently been voted the preferred game by players,” the narrator’s voice boomed throughout the speakers as past images of Wheel of Fortune flashed around the screen. “There’s a reason it’s stood the test of time. There’s a reason the Wheel of Fortune brand will bring more value in your floor than some other machine—jackpots, baby, jackpots!”

With over $3 billion in jackpots, $14 million because the largest jackpot paid, a $1 million jackpot every seven days, one life-changing jackpot every 44 hours and 954 millionaires created in 19 states, it’s no surprise that Wheel of Fortune is one of, if not the, most well liked slot games on casino floors today and inside the past 20 years.

When IGT originally approached Sony, the licenser of Wheel of Fortune, 20 years ago, “there really wasn’t a convention of using externally licensed brands from Hollywood, or from other consumer product areas, for slot machines,” said Joe Sigrist, vice president, global product development and operations for IGT. “So this was really some of the first attempts at using a certified brand for a slot machine. We did the primary couple of games and it really struck a chord with players right from the beginning. The success we’ve seen during the last TWENTY YEARS was really just built upon the unique success of the initial games and it’s been an unbelievable ride.”

The success of the sport can't only be attributed to its jackpot frequency on casino floors, but in addition to the household name created by the unique game show. Trademarked as “America’s Game,” Wheel of Fortunehas been at the air since 1975, with over 6,000 episodes, and has earned numerous Emmy wins and nominations.  The show itself has awarded over $200 million to winners within the years and $5.4 million to charity.

Wheel of Fortune the slot game was in casinos since 1996, debuting over 200 games through the years. The games have consistently been voted the preferred slot by players for the past 15 years, drawing crowds in with the spinning of the wheel and its popular chant, “WHEEL...OF...FORTUNE!”

“You’ve got the anticipation of where the wheel will ultimately stop, on top of that we’ve added the massive life-changing jackpots that experience always been part of the games we’ve developed,” Sigrist said.

Over the years IGT has brought various sorts of Wheel of Fortune games to operators and players. The franchise began as mechanical-reel games, and has quickly branched out to video slot and community-style play games. The most recent slot game, presented at G2E this year at the CrystalCore 42-inch immersive cabinet, is Wheel of Fortune Jackpot Paradise. In regards to the new games, Sigrist said that, “in all cases we integrate the jackpot, the chant, the spin of the wheel. We continue to make use of those elements and mix them in ways in which create diversity and several types of games for various players.”

When it involves the slot games, Sigrist said that the brand new CrystalCore platform is a game-changer for the franchise. While reminding attendees concerning the importance and prominence of the logo on casino floors at G2E, IGT presented its new platform displaying the cutting-edge features which will be delivered to the classic game. “It’s high-definition graphics, incredible sound and the facility to bring video clips,” he said. “In Jackpot Paradise we now have Vanna White custom video that helps players understand and get thinking about the sport. Over time, we’re fascinated about bringing an increasing number of interesting aspects of games according to the hardware.”

Now after signing a brand new agreement with Sony, Sigrist said the plan is to continue investing more into Wheel of Fortune to construct at the brand. The brand new contract has extended the terms of IGT’s rights and taken the brand new Wheel of Fortune social casino game to the company’s online platform, DoubleDown (www.doubledowncasino.com).

Sigrist said that IGT has only scratched the surface, they usually plan on rolling out a drumbeat of recent Wheel of Fortune games, including those who are familiar to brick-and-mortar players, in addition to new games designed specifically for internet gaming that incorporate skill-based gaming. “With our social casino DoubleDown and our recent take care of Sony, we've got the facility to develop and launch games [online] to succeed in social players,” Sigrist said.  “We just launched our first game [Wheel of Fortune Double Diamond, in September] which was doing phenomenally well. Over the following few months we’re going to be launching additional Wheel of Fortune games on DoubleDown.”

With the entire discuss skill-based gaming coming to fit machines, Sigrist said that’s where he sees the franchise going. “We believe given the sport show aspect of Wheel of Fortune, bringing the skill elements of the sport show into the slot games, goes to be very exciting going forward.” To construct at the recent success of Wheel of Fortune Double Diamond, IGT’s latest land-based game, launched in early November, Wheel of Fortune Triple Extreme Spin introduces new bonuses and gameplay straight from the ground to a desktop or mobile device.   

 “In general, Wheel of Fortune is a kind of unique properties that experience an out of this world long life,” said Sigrist, “People not just like to play it, but our game designers, after having done over 200 games over the years, still love building games for WOF. There’s something magical concerning the brand that sort of excites people, and that's very unique not just in gaming but within popular culture.” 


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