High-tech slots meet old-school themes at G2E

Show attendees play Clue-themed video slot machines in the WMS Gaming booth during the first day of the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) convention at the Sands Expo Center Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2011.

2011 G2E Day 1

Tala Marie deals a game called Cincinnati 7 Card Stud at a Shuffle Master booth during the first day of the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) convention at the Sands Expo Center Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2011. Launch slideshow »

The theme of this year’s Global Gaming Expo could have been “back to the future.”

Slot machines unveiled Tuesday at the nation's largest casino industry combine 21st-century technologies with themes from eras long ago. Simply put, innovation is powering nostalgia on the casino floor.

Game manufacturer IGT opened the G2E trade floor with a presentation by actor Dan Aykroyd to launch the company’s release of a Ghostbusters slot. Bally Technologies is betting that a Michael Jackson-themed machine will be its next big hit.

WMS debuted a handful of slots based on classic 1980s board games that remain true to their roots: In Battleship, players sink one another’s ocean liners. In Clue, gamblers accuse opponents of killing Mrs. Peacock in the library with a candlestick or Mr. Green in the lounge with a revolver.

“There are a lot of people who grew up playing these games,” WMS spokesman Rory Shanahan said. “Now they can experience them in a different way.”

Casinfo, a gaming software company, demonstrated a program that allows casinos to offer traditional slot play on an iPad. A customer can bring his or her own tablet to a property, plop down in a chair or by the pool and gamble. The program synchs with a casino’s computer system and offers gamblers real play for real dollars.

While many of the games have roots in the past, their mechanics are strictly modern. In fact, the slot machines that will roll out on casino floors in the coming months bear more resemblance to contemporary video gaming systems than classic one-arm bandits.

WMS, for example, introduced a new sensory chair that moves in tandem with action on a slot machine’s screen. Featured as part of a new Aladdin slot, the chair takes players on a magic carpet ride. It tips and leans as a player’s avatar flies through the desert.

Bally debuted an iDeck technology that allows players to participate in an arcade-like shooting trials. In Total Blast, for instance, gamblers can drag their finger across a digital screen to blast rockets into alien spacecraft. Money isn’t awarded for accuracy, but players earn cash for hitting the bonus. If they play well enough, the machine displays their name on a high-score board.

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