Incredible Technologies – Tee’d Up

It was 2012 the first time Incredible Technologies, then and now the largest U.S. manufacturer of coin-operated amusement games, staged its first exhibit of slot machines at the Global Gaming Expo. The decision to enter the casino market had been made a few years before that, and the company had spent those years preparing to apply its amusement game expertise to building casino slots.

In just about every article on IT since that time, mention was always made up front of Golden Tee Golf, the company’s most famous coin-operated product and a staple of sports bars and arcades across the country.

Even after the company broke into the casino slot market with innovative games year after year, Golden Tee was inextricably tied to the company’s identity. This year, the company celebrates the 35th anniversary of the seminal golf amusement machine. There will be an original and a modern Golden Tee Golf in IT’s booth at G2E.

But the anniversary of Golden Tee’s 1990 introduction isn’t the only thing IT is celebrating at the trade show. The company itself will turn 40 next year, and the company’s G2E display will honor not only its early roots, but its 15 years of producing slot machines.

“For the first 10 years of my existence in gaming, everybody talked about us as the new kids on the block,” says Dan Schrementi, president of gaming at Incredible Technologies. “It was, ‘Oh, look at you guys in Chicago, you cute kids, you’re going to make slot machines. You’ll figure this out some day.’

“Well, people have been buying slot machines from us for more than 10 years. It’s time we stopped treating ourselves like the new kid in gaming. We’ve learned a lot. We know what we’re doing; we know how to make games. We’ve proven that we listen to the market. We think now’s a good time to tell that story.”

It’s a good story. A success story. A story of overcoming the challenges thrown at everyone in the industry by Covid-19. “During the Covid crisis was when we realized we needed to start changing our playbook,” Schrementi says.

Last year, IT unveiled the first fruits of its new playbook, the result of more than a year of working to improve its operations, R&D and product roadmap.

“About a year and a half ago, we made a very public statement that we were rewriting our playbook to be the more mature company we want to be,” Schrementi says, “which is one that competes, steady, as a 3-5 percent footprint in the market, and competes with all the big boys—an innovator, a disruptor and a supplier that makes our industry better by doing things differently than the conservative norms.”

To prepare its move to the next level, the entire operation got a makeover. “It was a huge commitment,” Schrementi says. “On one front was staffing—we brought in new people and experience, some in external- and internal-focused positions. We redid our finance team, our operations team, supply chain team, a host of other operational changes.

“On the other hand, we brought in sales staff, and we made a big commitment to product management. We brought in some new perspective on that, and launched an entirely new product strategy.”

At G2E last year, IT demonstrated a commitment to more volatile games, more gambler-style, avid-player games, and the Element cabinet, which Schrementi says is really what the market wants at this time—a more simple view; products that are designed to appeal to the more avid player.

“But a year ago, we didn’t know if it was going to work,” Schrementi says.

It worked.

“We’ve had the No. 1 cabinet in Eilers for four months out of the past five, on a cabinet that is very simple, yet very elegant in the way it was designed. Every feature on that Prism Element was designed to appeal to the gambler, and that approach is working.”

IT will show the next phase of its product roadmap at the Global Gaming Expo. “We’re going to the show with reinvigorated trust from our customers and the market,” Schrementi says. “They see where we’re headed; we’ve got a very good portrait cabinet in that very important category of a core game.”

IT adds a cabinet to its collection this year, the Prism Skybox, and of course, there will be tons of new content, the result of a lot of work, reimagination and planning, in new games not only matched to the Prism Skybox, but to the Prism Element and the Prism VXP, with its motorized moving monitor.

“Last year was a commitment to reintroducing our company to the market,” Schrementi says. “This year is proof that it all worked. So, the slogan we have going into the show is ‘Tee’d Up.’ It’s a double meaning for us; we find ourselves saying it a lot, because we’ve got everything lined up where it needs to be to grow and hit our targets. That’s one exciting part of it.

“On the other hand, we’re starting the celebration of our company’s 40th anniversary in 2025, and additionally, Golden Tee Golf is celebrating its 35th.”

To recognize the company’s history in the Chicago suburbs, IT is building a Chicago sports bar in its booth with “Midwest hospitality.” Historical pictures will be displayed around the bar, which, of course, will include two Golden Tee Golf games—one, the original arcade version, and the other, the modern unit equipped with the 4K monitor.

“For a long time we kept Golden Tee separate from gaming talk,” Schrementi says. “What we realized a year ago was that our customers want to be involved in it. They want to buy it for their casino, for arcades, break rooms. They want to say they know the Golden Tee people. We’ve decided to embrace that. The trade show for us is this blend of those two stories.”

New SkyBox, New Titles

IT adds to the Prism series of cabinets with the G2E launch of Prism Skybox. It features twin 43-inch monitors—the bottom monitor curved—and the immersive presence of its predecessor, the Infinity Skybox.

“The Prism Skybox is a nod to our history, and what put us on the map—we were the first to do the large-top-box, large-format cabinet—but this is the new generation of Prism.”

That first tall cabinet, Infinity Skybox, can still be seen on casino floors. The new cabinet is designed to join the Prism Element in a pair of next-generation cabinets.

“This cabinet is designed to complement the Element,” Schrementi says. “While the Element is elegant and very simplified in its approach, this is the next level of the same type of themes, but with a more premium look and something that’s designed to stand out.”

Schrementi says the Prism Skybox broadens the large-format category itself. “This is the first dual-portrait game with a curve on it that is not in the premium category,” he says, “so essentially, we are forging new territory again, offering this as a for-sale cabinet that is very premium in nature. It is a disruptive approach to business, which is what we like to do.”

The G2E launch of Prism Skybox also will see the debut of the launch games for the cabinet, Crazy Money Break ‘N’ Bank and Treasure Lock. Both games take full advantage of the oversized Prism Skybox presentation.

Crazy Money Break ‘N’ Bank brings back one of IT’s most beloved game families, the cabinet’s high-definition monitors adding entertaining animation surrounding the game’s two “pots,” piggy banks made up to look like Washington (“Gorge Washington”) and Lincoln (“Baberaham Lincoln”). You “pick your pig” at the beginning of play.

The piggy characters are hilarious in themselves—“Gorge” with a wig and tri-cornered hat, “Baberaham” with top hat and beard—but the game follows the brand with cash-on-reels stacks of cash marked by cartoon Founding Fathers on various bill denominations.

This version utilizes the “SkyWheel,” a large wheel that grows to occupy both monitors when the bonus is triggered. Slices on the wheel include credit prizes and the four jackpots, with a $10,000 “SuperSync Progressive” as the top prize.

The SuperSync Progressive is being introduced by IT this year. It is a local-area progressive linking up to 100 IT games, spanning different game families. The top prize is available at all bets.

There also is an interactive Money Catch bonus, a signature of IT’s “Money” games. In this case, when that bonus is triggered—through the inner of the two concentric wheels on the SkyWheel display—the screen switches to a scene with dollars flying through the air.

The wheel spin determines how many grabs at the flying bills the player gets in a set time period. If picks are left at the end of the feature, they go to the piggy bank to conclude their picks with an anticipation-building prize reveal.

“The Money Catch is one of our best bonus games,” says Dan Whelan, IT’s vice president of product development. “We wanted to bring it onto our new Prism Skybox to harken back to the Crazy Money Deluxe game we made years ago. This reinvigorates that game with a new play mechanic.”

The other launch game for the Prism Skybox is Treasure Lock, a three-pot game with a more volatile program than Crazy Money. Three metamorphic pots lead to an enhanced Lock & Spin bonus. The “pots” are portrayed as transparent vertical chambers that fill up with coins as game play progresses until one or more burst to trigger the Lock & Spin hold-and-re-spin feature.

The pots are “Multiplier,” which multiplies select cash-on-reels symbols up to 5X; “Saver,” which triggers a three-spin extension when the feature would otherwise end; and “Wheel,” which triggers a spin on a wheel that includes the four jackpots, including the top SuperSync Progressive.

The Lock & Spin feature can be triggered by any or all of the pots, but Treasure Lock introduces another new IT feature, the Bonus Supercharger. When triggering the Lock & Spin feature with one or two pots, the player has the option of buying the remaining features. An additional wager triggers one or two other pots, and a second chance wager is offered to complete the bonus trifecta if one pot is left outstanding.

Prism Family

The launch games for the Prism Skybox will accompany show-debut games on the other two cabinets of the Prism family. On the Prism VXP is Ascending Fortunes (base games Pagoda Rising and Jewel Oasis), which includes a progressive free games feature. The five meters are displayed above chambers of coins and gems.

Colored gem scatters on the reels grow each chamber. As one or more of the chambers nears the top, the entire top screen moves upward, indicating an approaching bonus event.

The chamber levels remain in place when play has ended, giving players a chance to shop around for the ideal bonus event. However, the operator has the option to disable the meters displaying numbers, so those levels will not show.

Also highlighted on the Prism VXP will be Temple Falls Jungle Adventure, featuring two treasure-chest bonus pots that trigger one of two features. The Coin Collect bonus awards 10 free spins to accumulate coins, credit prizes or a wheel symbol that triggers a spin for jackpots. The Symbol Upgrade bonus can expand the array with up to three extra reel sets. With symbol upgrades and multipliers, reel sets grow more profitable as you climb upward.

IT will launch several new games on the Prism Element. Heading the list are Bonus Builder Emerald Spins and Lockin’ Wheels Spicy Spins.

Bonus Builder employs a unique pot feature. Three unique levels each hold three free-spin enhancement “pots.” One pot marked “Ways” adds additional ways to win during free spins. “Spins” increases the number of free spins, and “On Reels” removes the poker symbols for a free-spin round with higher-value symbols. Pots may grow during paid or free spins when their respective colored wild clover scatter lands on the reels.

Also on the Element is 3 Doves, a volatile game designed for avid gamblers. IT will introduce a second version of the game family at G2E. In a great presentation, the three pots are shown as baskets carried by in-flight doves. The baskets are marked “Extra Wilds,” which adds wilds (and can also add +1 Free Spin) to the reels, “Player’s Choice,” which allows players to place wild symbols on the reels; and “Random Expands,” which adds rows to the initial three-by-five array, raising the ways to win from 243 to a potential 100,000 ways to win, including wild scatters.

Lockin’ Wheels Spicy Spins will debut at the show with a giant wheel and three flaming pots. The pots add enhancements to a Lock & Spin bonus with “Extra Spins,” “Double Reels,” and “Wheel Upgrade.” Extra Spins resets the feature with four spins, as opposed to the traditional three. Double Reels expands the credit collection space, and Wheel Upgrade enhances wedges on the wheel. During the bonus, a wheel spin is awarded for each column on each array that fills with scatters—up to 10 spins on the bonus wheel in a single bonus event.

IT’s booth will wrap all these innovations in a theme that is very Chicago. Schrementi says I.T. wants to demonstrate his team’s Chicago roots. “We’re the only slot company in Chicago with our roots firmly planted here,” he says. “We’ll have a lot of Chicago accents at the booth. We want to show that we’re proud of our Midwest roots.”

Oh, and at the Chicago sports bar? Genuine, authentic Chicago-style hot dogs during the company’s happy hour. They’re having the ingredients shipped in, and will make them there for customers to nosh while looking at the games.

The Golden Tee team also will be there. Schrementi says the Golden Tee game is increasingly a part of the casino industry. “We have special events to bring the two industries together. We had the Golden Tee World Championship this year at the Palms. We are talking about Golden Tee more and more when we’re talking about gaming, because our gaming customers want to be involved in the Golden Tee story.”

As far as the Incredible Technologies story, Schrementi says now that the company’s games have reached a 3-5 percent footprint on gaming floors, the goal is to make the product the best it can be within that footprint.

“We’re happy at 3-5 percent, but we want to have the best products within that; we want to be at the top of the charts and positive fair share,” he says.

“We may be one of the smallest teams, but we want to be the best team in the business. The proof is in the results.”