Amazing new slots

12 November 2015

By John Grochowski

One of the goals of slot machine designers is to get you involved in the game, to make the game entertaining so you’ll stay in your seat even when the wins aren’t coming. “Interactivity” has been a buzzword in the industry ever since the dawn of video bonusing slots, and getting you to be an active participant is something the slotmakers strive to achieve.

In its new TMZ slot that was on display this fall at the annual Global Gaming Expo at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas, International Game Technology doesn’t just want to make you an active participant. It makes you part of the game.

IGT partnered with Warner Bros. to develop a game based on TMZ, the entertainment news and celebrity gossip website and TV show. There’s a camera built into the machine, and when you sit down, it takes your picture and voila! You’re part of the TMZ team. Your photo is used as a reel symbol, in the background imagery and in bonus events.

In a demo, of the Celebrity Spin Cycle Bonus, I – or someone with my face – was at the wheel of the red car for the announcement, “Uh-oh. The cops have pulled you over for going 90 in a 30.” Then it was off to the races for my free spins and breaking news and the announce told me, “Celebrity Spin Cycle – where being bad feels so good.”

When the credits mount, whether through the Celebrity Spin Cycle, TMZ Tip Cycle Bonus or Breaking News With Wilds, you’ll feel good about being part of the game, too.

IGT, the world’s largest slotmaker, merged last year with GTECH, which has had a presence in the U.S. slot market, notably with Sphinx and Deal or No Deal Games, but which has been a much larger presence in Europe, especially in lottery markets.

One thing GTECH brought to the table was the amazing 3D imaging it introduced two years ago with Sphinx 3D. There have been other attempts at 3D over the years, but this is the real deal, so good I feel like reaching out to snatch the flying gold coins out of the air after big wins.

The technology has been branded True 3D, and while you won’t see it on every machine, it brings some pizzazz to premium products. Wheel of Fortune has been a long time favorite with many successful incarnations for IGT, and it’s back with a 3D Puzzle Bonus. True 3D makes the virtual wheel and the letter puzzle really pop.

And to get back to interactivity, the pirate-themed Reef of Riches game takes that customer interaction right into the periods when no one is playing. In addition to the 3D that’ll make you want spirit away the pirate treasure, Reef of Riches includes a motion sensor, and when an empty game senses a potential player in the vicinity, it goes into attract mode.

The main characters in the game are a black-bearded male pirate and a buxom blonde female buccaneer, and it’s the blonde who takes the lead when the machine senses someone nearby. As I stood just off to the left of the game’s chair, she strode forward and called out, “This is your lucky day. I’m looking forward to playing with you! Yo, ho, ho! Come here and sit down!”

How could I possibly not take a seat? That the game was fun, with plenty of bonuses to go with the pirate imagery, kept me lingering, but I just had to check it out.

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