Feb 7, 2008 5:48 pm US/Eastern
New Slot Machines Made To Attract Young Players
CHICAGO (KDKA) ―
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The slot machines being developed for younger players are a far cry from your grandma's slot machines.
KDKA
There's a whole new generation of slots aimed at attracting younger players and Pennsylvania is one of their biggest markets.
WMS Gaming in Chicago is one of the biggest developers of slot machines and they're trying to make games that appeal to a younger crowd.
Rob Bone, marketing director for WMS, says younger people tend to play table games. WMS and its competitors want to change that by attracting people who grew up with video games.
One of the biggest hits for WMS is the "Top Gun" slot machine.
"We've got the two speakers up front - giving you a lot of directional sound - but inside the chair itself - we've actually got two tweeters in the head rest," Scott Herrington, a WMS Gaming official, said.
The chair actually vibrates as jets on the screen rush by.
An even more successful game is based on "The Wizard of Oz." Rather than watch reels spin, players touch the screen.
In their "Star Trek" game, you work your way to certain levels but if you leave the game and come back, you don't have to start all over - it remembers you.
"I come back to that particular machine or any machine at any casino - I insert my ticket back in - it takes me right back to where I left off," he explained.
Spinning reels haven't totally disappeared. In a "Super Money Grab" machine, based on Monopoly, there's an animated touch screen along with old-fashioned reels.
"Giving them an opportunity to interact with the screen - which has never been available to them before," he said.
Something else that's new is something called "community gaming."
"All of these are stand alone slot machines - this particular one is 'Fortunes of the Carribbean,' 'Venice Riches' and 'Austrailan Gold.' But they also all have the opportunity of having a common bonus," he said.
Plasma monitors are hooked up to banks of slot machines and every so often everyone connected to the plasma is eligible for a bonus.
WMS Gaming still makes more standard slots, but hopes their new machines will win over even reluctant older players.
"You fear what you don't understand. Once you understand it - and you understand how it's an enhanced experience - they will 100 percent adopt the new technologies."
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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