Every year since Global Gaming Business began publishing in 2002, we have gone to all of the major slot manufacturers months before the Global Gaming Expo trade show for a sneak-peek at the games they will be launching for the coming year.
G2E, of course, is where all the world’s slot-makers go every year to launch the new “model year,” so to speak, showing operators gathered in one location—the Sands Expo Center in Las Vegas—all of the innovative products they intend to release to the market over the ensuing 12 months.
Every year, it seems, the mind-boggling collection of new slot games in all genres seems to get more impressive. This year is no different. With recessionary slumps behind them and operators finally seeking to renew their floors with new machines, the slot manufacturers once again will wow the industry with an amazing array of innovation.
As usual, the slot sector’s coming-out party will be marked by a lot of star power, from both past and present—from Bally’s new game featuring the late Michael Jackson and its new game featuring ZZ Top to Aristocrat’s nods to classic Batman Adam West, WMS Gaming’s impressive re-creation of Michael Keaton’s title character in Beetlejuice, to IGT’s “Center Stage” treatment of the classic film Jurassic Park and more.
But branded slots are only part of the story that will make this year’s G2E special. All of the major manufacturers have beefed up core video slots with great new cabinets (including radical new shapes like “Pro Wave” from Bally), play mechanics, multiple progressives, mystery bonus events, stacking wild symbols, remarkable 3D (check out “Sphinx 3D” from Spielo), intriguing reel setups (Konami’s “Rapid Revolver,” Incredible Technologies’ “Sidewinder Reels”), new community-style events (Aruze’s “Sinbad”) and numerous other new ways to play—including not only the traditional kind, but new employment of skill factors, and even knowledge-based games (AGS’ “Ripley’s Believe It Or Not!”).
Many slot manufacturers also will use the big trade show to demonstrate platforms which will take all of that content to new distribution channels—namely, online, mobile and social gaming. However, G2E is mainly about the content itself, and how the manufacturers have translated the ever-advancing sophistication of digital technology into new experiences on the slot floor.
On the following pages, in alphabetical order by manufacturer, you will find the best of what the slot-supply segment of the gaming industry has to offer. This year’s collection will have operators looking forward to next year, and to offering their players the best experience the slot floor has to offer.
