Thousands of gaming operators, vendors, managers and employees gathered last month in Biloxi, Miss., to wait the Southern Gaming Summit, a two-day conference and trade event that happened on the Mississippi Coast Coliseum & Convention Center.
The event featured numerous sessions, keynote speeches, networking events, parties and a trade exhibition. Excerpts from the sessions and the keynotes are available on this month’s cover story (starting on page 22) and within the Back Page column (on page 46). Below you'll find some highlights from the trade exhibition floor, in addition to a photograph album of the event:
Gaming machine manufacturers were again prevalent at the Southern Gaming Summit exposition floor, showcasing new games, cabinets and systems.
• American Gaming Systems (AGS) prominently displayed its It Pays to understand line of slot machines, which included the titles Ripley’s Believe It or Not! and by Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?, either one of which come with a proprietary trivia-based bonus feature. “We have a patent for delivering trivia inside an advantage game on a slot machine and this offers players the risk to manage their very own destiny in some ways,” said Andrew Burke, senior director of product management for AGS. “It is 4 percent of the return at the game, so if a player knows the solution to the question they're going to get a greater outcome than someone who doesn’t.” AGS also unveiled its new Skytower cabinet with a slant screen and a 42-inch vertical top monitor, and a line of video slots with pachinko-style toppers that activate during bonus rounds.
The company also announced that it had purchased Colossal Gaming on the show. “We are really serious about them…they were founded by a fully brilliant technologist names Steve Weiss… he has built out an excellent niche in oversize gaming product, stuff that makes the most important box you notice here at Southern Gaming Summit look small,” Burke said.
• Aristocrat Technologies introduced its 2014 theme at Southern Gaming Summit: The sport Transformed, denoting the influx of latest recurring revenue and entertainment-centric games developed by recently hired designers Joe Kaminkow and Daniel Marks, formerly of IGT and High Five Games respectively. “For 60 years, Aristocrat were designing primarily for one key segment, the core gambler,” said Matt Wilson, vp of promoting for the corporate. “For us to grow, we would have liked to have a look at other game segments, but didn't have the inner capabilities to construct games for these segments. We were trying to acquire game design talent and fortuitously Joe and Daniel were available.” Marks has gone directly to develop Aristocrat’s E*Series line of games, and 2,500 of those entertainment-centric slots are already within the marketplace, in keeping with Wilson. Certainly one of Kaminkow’s contributions to Aristocrat—the Batman Classic TV Series Slot Game—was showcased at Southern Gaming Summit. “It’s a great license for the gaming industry,” Wilson said, “especially when you think about the Batman we've relies at the 1965 television series, which has an actual brand affinity and mawkish resonance for the core demographic slot player.”
Aristocrat also unveiled its new Helix Slant and Helix Super Screen Slant cabinets. Several of Aristocrat’s newest product offerings might be prominently displayed within the Helix cabinet. To verify maximum versatility and worth for the operator, the cupboard is backward compatible with Aristocrat’s library of existing VIRIDIAN WS GEN7 game titles.
• Konami Gaming introduced its all-new Dungeons & Dragons themed slot machines at Southern Gaming Summit. The games are available two rich fantasy themes including Conquests & Treasures and Enchanted Riches. The games might be placed in pods of two, three or four and can be merchandised with custom logo premium chairs, a themed bezel complete with glowing runes, faux stone design elements, hand painted 3D dragon toppers and a lot of sign packages including one with a big rotating red dragon. “Fantasy is a robust genre for the gaming industry,” said Steve Walther, director, product management-games for Konami. “We went out a found a partnership with Hasbro who has the Dungeons & Dragons license and we brought it to market. We needed to ensure that it has an excellent presence at the gaming floor. LOTS OF PEOPLE who've played D&D remember that it's all in regards to the environment, so we created a robust environmental effect for D&D, with the stone borders between the sport and an excellent bezel with lit runes on it that say “the route to wealth is thru the red dragon,” for instance. Then we created this very impressive red dragon that spins atop the sport and very grabs your attention.”
Konami also showcased new games for its Podium Monument cabinet with 32-inch top screen and a brand new concept and mechanic called Reel Eleven, which features 11 individually spinning reels. “The 11 reels eventually come up with a chance to win an excessively large jackpot,” Walther said. “There is a brilliant amount of volatility within the game and the mechanic is different and catches your eye…it’s got an ideal feel to it.”
• Multimedia Games’ focus was on its new Maximum Player Experience cabinet—the first cabinet from Multimedia to add a 40-inch, full 1080p HD display; sound chair with Earthquake Shakers and 6.2 custom surround sound; and game-controlled LED runway lighting. The MPX cabinet is engineered to deliver a 360-degree gaming experience—players are transported to the land of the sport inside their display with every animation, light change, and vibration of this gaming platform. Multimedia Games also introduced special versions of Thundering Herd and Invasion 2: The Return designed specifically for the MPX platform.
• International Game Technology (IGT) showcased its MegaJackpot series which included James Cameron’s Avatar Treasures of Pandora on its new CrystalCore cabinet. Stuffed with industry-first innovation and visible splendor, this game allows players to play for large wins while exploring the luminescent forests of Pandora. IGT also demonstrated its accelerated commitment to Class II gaming by showcasing a lot of new, Class II only titles including Bengal Eyes, The Horseman, and Bayou Nights.
• Cadillac Jack focused on its PowerXStream line of slots, which includes a unique three-four four-four-three reel configuration with 576 how one can win. Themes with the innovative new PowerXStream pay mechanic evaluate the award in keeping with the selection of symbols that occur on adjacent reels, starting with the leftmost reel and moving right, or beginning with the rightmost reel and moving left. Cat’s Eye, Fire Wolf, Legend of the White Buffalo, Warrior Queen, Buff Beach and Thunder Bear were probably the most PowerXStream titles on display.
• Bally Technology showcased dozens of games across its vast product lines. One attention getter was Fu Dao Le, which featured a China-theme and a Red Envelope Jackpot progressive; a four-level linked mystery progressive that may be triggered by a red envelope on reels one and five, and when hit, awards players with a huge jackpot. Game appeal was aided by the reality it was house on Bally’s ALPHA 2 Pro Wave, the newest in a protracted line of innovative platforms, the primary to add a 40-inch curved high-definition monitor. The sport screen curves gracefully inward, giving a brand-new feel and appear to any casino floor, and optimal viewing and increased interaction for players.
• Aruze Gaming continued to turn new additions to its Innovator and Innovator Deluxe series of games. One new title was Ninja Warrior, that is a five-reel 30-line stepper slot game. The multiplier determined by the roulette selection is applied to all wins in the course of the free games. When the roulette selects multiple multiplier, they multiply one another as much as a maximum of 350x.
• Incredible Technologies also displayed numerous slots, one standout being Leonidas King of the Spartans, which showcases Free Spin Battle technology, an outstanding 3D display which features added awards and locked wild Spartan symbols.
• WMS showed its Blade Stepper cabinet, a contemporary spin at the classic three-reel mechanical slot machine. In keeping with company literature, this new platform has the entire character and contours that stepper players seek. Vibrant reels combine seamlessly with HD touch screens and lovely glass artwork to bring a refreshed elegance to the stepper category. AfterShock, Reel’em in and Spy vs. Spy were one of the vital titles featured in this stepper reel/video hybrid.
Southern Gaming Summit was also a showcase for a bunch of non-slot casino products. These devices and systems could be reviewed in July Casino Journal.
Read More... [Source: Hot Games]
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