Last year, Aruze Gaming America broadened its slot portfolio with the Cube-X cabinet, a millennial-friendly slot format designed with an ergonomic and aesthetic appeal to the younger demographic—and an ultra-fast processor driving intensified lighting, high-definition LCD touch-screen monitors and button panels, and customized LCD toppers.
This year, the company is doubling down on the Cube-X in a new premium cabinet. Cube-X Vertical features a 42-inch vertical monitor in a brightly lit upright presentation. It is being launched with a pair of games, Tower Stack Lion and Tower Stack Dragon.
Both games use the extra-long top monitor—a full 10 inches larger than standard vertical portrait monitors—to display three individual four-by-five reel sets, stacked vertically. The player can activate up to all three of the 50-line “frames,” for 150 paylines on every spin.
Betting the “Plus Factor,” an ante wager, adds a selectable play area according to reel angle, and turns all symbols on the fifth reel wild.
While the first two Tower Stack games will be available for purchase in the third quarter, five in the series will be shown at Global Gaming Expo—the other three are Tower Stack Feature Panda, Tower Stack Feature Rose and Tower Stack Bison.
The company also will display half a dozen titles in the new Cube-X Ultimate cabinet, the slot-maker’s first stepper cabinet incorporating a mechanical bonus wheel.
The base games incorporate Aruze’s “Radiant Reels,” with large reels dynamically illuminated by multi-colored LED lights within, spinning at variable speeds that build anticipation for winning combinations. A 24-inch LCD monitor sits over the base game for bonuses using “photo-realistic color,” 3D technology and customized sound with a built-in subwoofer.
The company is showcasing the Cube-X Ultimate with six titles in the “999.9 Gold Wheel” series—Super Vault, Diamond Desire, Money Rush, Royal Crown, The Gold Legend and Bags of Cash.
They are all equipped with roulette-style wheels and styled to closely resemble the most well-known wheel game in the business, but in a for-sale cabinet. All feature four levels of progressive jackpot that are included as slices on the big bonus wheel and won through the wheel-spin bonus.
Cube-X Innovator
Aruze’s core reel and video slots are being displayed at G2E in a number of different form factors, including 15 titles on the Cube-X Innovator, a stepper platform utilizing a next-generation processor board and operating system, a 24-inch high-definition top monitor, and LCD toppers and button panels.
As with Cube-X Ultimate, the platform features Radiant Reels.
Highlighted Cube-X Innovator titles include Infinite 7 Diamond, a five-reel stepper with the top monitor and reel backtrop displaying a beautiful interstellar scene, behind a basic multiple-7 game in which 7 combinations initiate free spins.
Other standouts are Beautiful Dancing Dragon Spirit, a five-reel slot with great artwork and up to 420 free games with all wins doubled; Gold on Gold, a three-reel game with an animated gold-bullion picking bonus; and the Burning Hot Jackpot series, in which the top monitor determines the number of free spins through a roulette display around a central character (there is Burning Hot Jackpot Apex Tiger, Howling Wolf, Aztec Sol and The Great Inca).
There is no shortage of traditional reel-spinners in the Cube-X Innovator series, either. There are two Red Dice games—Red Dice Wild and Red Dice Wild Deluxe. The latter is a three-reel, five-line stepper with a wild die symbol multiplying up to 36X when substituting in a win.
Video and Stations
Aruze’s core video series will also be on full display at G2E, including a total of 23 titles. Highlights include several Asian-themed games such as Fu Jin and Raijin, which feature beautiful artwork, high volatility and free-spin bonus events.
The “Coat of Arms” series (Coat of Arms Griffin, Coat of Arms Pegasus, Coat of Arms Guardian) promotes high wagers through a “Feature Boost” ante bet that increases the number of free spins and adds more paying symbols to the reels.
A group of four “Extreme” games (Extreme Dragon, Phoenix, Kylin or Tortoise) feature an “Extreme Level” with increased winning symbols on the reel field, and four progressive jackpots won through a picking bonus.
Aruze’s display also will include games in the popular Ultra Stack series and the five-game “Happy Festival Chinese Gods” series.
Finally, the “G-Station” series of multi-terminal e-table games grows this year with Big Wheel Premium. It is essentially an automated Big Six wheel linked to five electronic wagering stations. The game joins a new version of Aruze’s popular Shoot to Win Craps and other baccarat and roulette electronic tables.
“Aruze’s motto, ‘Designed to Engage Players,’ is evident in every electronic table game in its portfolio,” says Michael Maley, product specialist at Aruze. “Our multi-terminal machines spice up casinos with their sophisticated designs and grandiose scale.”
The e-tables will contribute to a total of 180 games at the Aruze Gaming America’s booth 2659 at G2E. “We are extremely excited for this year’s G2E,” says Maley. “With the Cube-X Vertical and the newest title on our popular G-Station platform, Big Wheel Premium, we are sure to amaze all of our customers.”
