When I first started attending Global Gaming Expo (then referred to as World Gaming Congress) back within the early 1990s, the trade exhibition floor was filled with merchandise we might consider either antiquated or quaint today. Remember slot token providers? How about all of the services and products dedicated to riverboat casinos that truly cruised?
Visit a slot provider back then, and chances are high that you can have experienced a booth with a big percentage of space dedicated to mechanical, stepper-reel slots. And why not, considering how popular that form of slot was inside the 1970s and 1980s? Indeed, the primary great expansion of gaming within the United states of america was at the back of the mechanical slot and customers who loved to tug the handle, see the reels spin and listen to the coins clank once they won. By the point I saw the machines, modern touches akin to push-button spins and bets have been added, nevertheless it was still at heart the similar machine and play mechanic it had always been.
But even you then could see the change coming. Sure, the booths were stuffed with reel product, but all everyone desired to see, play, experience and speak about were video slots. It was apparent to even a novice like me that video slots were the future, that they offered a platform a lot more conducive to cutting-edge graphics, theming, mechanics, design, game math and so on.
So it wasn’t surprising over subsequent years and trade shows that the volume of vendor booth space dedicated to mechanical reels became gradually diminished. Stepper slots were still displayed, but often relegated to the back of the booth, its former star-turn positions out front taken by the most recent licensed video slots. By the 2000s, people were predicting mechanical reel machines would go the best way of the record player and VCR, and slowly fade from existence.
It now appears that this predicted demise for stepper slots can have been a bit of exaggerated. Indeed, the games still resonate a few of the older casino patrons, a lot of whom actively seek them out at the slot floor. The mechanical slots also are evidently finding purchase with some younger casino clientele, those who actively seek to be retro chic and wish to play the kind of machine that personified the old Las Vegas casino gaming experience.
Whatever the reason, some slot suppliers have noticed the mechanical reel slot market remains to be quite lively, and feature taken steps during the last couple of G2Es to enhance their offering on this area. IGT has stepped up the mechanical reel market in a large way this year, showcasing its King Reels concept, which contains the brand new S3000 cabinet for all its stepper slot games. The cutting-edge new cabinet includes player adjustable volume and lighting, touchscreen technology for the reels and the facility to synch lighting and sound for a bank of machines, essentially allowing properties to create modern, floor-wide entertainment experiences at mechanical reel slots, of all places.
It may be interesting to look player response to those new mechanical slot products. Who knows, maybe old dogs can enjoy new tricks.
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I want to welcome Frank Neborsky, vice chairman and principal officer for Power Strategies, to the writing staff of Slot Manager. He'll be taking on the Thoughts from the ground column from Kevin Parker, who's pursuing other business opportunities. Frank is a veteran “slot guy,” and his columns are sure to be both insightful and useful.
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