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WMS Gaming Continues to Expand Innovative Technology14 October 2009
WMS Gaming knows no boundaries when it comes to developing slot games that take the playing experience to entirely new levels of entertainment. The company has proven that with the four innovative categories of games it has released in recent years: Community Gaming, Transmissive Reels, Sensory Immersion, and Adaptive Gaming. The titles and themes WMS has created using the technology changed the way people play electronic gaming devices. What's more, they are appealing to the younger generation of gaming enthusiasts who grew up with in-home, portable, and arcade video gaming experiences and were searching for a more engaging, entertaining, and challenging way to play slots. Rob Bone, vice president of marketing for WMS, which has its corporate headquarters in Waukegan, Illinois, knows this better than anyone, which is why he is so enthusiastic about the company's plans to continue to expand the technology. "We didn't know if all four of the categories would be successful, or for that matter any of them, but all of them have proven to be very successful," Bone said. "Now we're in a unique situation to come out with the next generation offerings. "We're really starting to blow out what the experience can be by expanding to the sixth, seventh, and eighth title within each category." The growth is an evolutionary process for WMS according to Bone, who said: "The early form of community gaming was just communal interaction. Now we're going into competitive and collaborative experiences." "We released Sensory Immersion with Thrill Seeker Top Gun slots," he continued. "Now we're using it to create a journey using The Wizard of Oz and Time Machine themes. I think it has really given us a big white canvas to kind of direct how we want to take these experiences to new heights." The first generation of Adaptive Gaming was Star Trek, which incorporates episodes from the classic cult TV show and allows players to progress through the ranks and save their progress through the use of a personal pin number and their slot club cards. "The obvious benefit to the player is unlocking new content as they achieve certain accomplishments while progressing through the game," Bone said. "But one of the big success factors that we've seen in the time frame of Star Trek is the whole prospect of status and affiliation. "It's just not going from one episode to the next, but it's increasing your rank along the way. The multiple dimensions associated with Adaptive Gaming's performance factors really start to unfold." Orrin Edidin, the new president of WMS Gaming, recognizes that Star Trek was an ideal theme for Adaptive Gaming, but he left the door open for future expansion of the category using the company's long-term licensing agreement with Hasbro, Inc. "When you consider other types of themes and games, it doesn't necessarily have to be TV shows in which players can be taken through episodically," he said. "The Hasbro brand Clue, which is a game with which we're all very familiar, is something we may be able to do episodically through Adaptive Gaming." This article is provided by the Frank Scoblete Network. Melissa A. Kaplan is the network's managing editor. If you would like to use this article on your website, please contact Casino City Press, the exclusive web syndication outlet for the Frank Scoblete Network. To contact Frank, please e-mail him at fscobe@optonline.net. Recent Articles
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