New technology will bring big changes to Connecticut casino floors in the months ahead.
Officials of both Connecticut casinos — Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun — were in Las Vegas recently for the Global Gaming Expo. And they came away impressed with the latest slot machine technology.
“Game manufacturers have outdone themselves,” said Robert Soper, president and CEO of Mohegan Sun. “The digital content is awesome.”
Manufacturers filled the 286,000-square-foot Sands Expo & Convention Center with games that are bigger, faster and brighter. The goal is to create an experience that’s more interactive and immersive.
Manufacturer WMS, for example, has reimagined the Wizard of Oz game to lead players on a trip down the Yellow Brick Road to make new friends — like the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion — and perhaps gain entry to the Emerald City. Various reel combinations trigger scenes from the 1939 Oscar winning film’s more recent colorized version on a huge display. At 400 coins per max play, this penny machine is far from penny ante. But the promise of 50,000 coins at the end of the rainbow is alluring. And the journey is engaging. The film marks its 75th anniversary in 2014.
Larger display screens abound, many of them feature a new curved design. A massive video fish tank over a bank of games invites players to spin their way to landing ‘the big one.’
The new games want players to use all their senses. Improved speakers deliver music, dialogue and sound effects. Larger, deeper chairs rock forward and back as well as side to side to enhance the journey or help deliver a sense of terrain-shaking action.
While much of the rhetoric at the conference and trade show was about attracting a younger demographic, the range of new games relies heavily on vintage film and television themes for inspiration.
A block-long line of Baby Boomer attendees waited patiently for Adam West’s autograph. The original Batman and a replica of the 1966 Batmobile were at the entrance to the Aristocrat exhibit, promoting the Australian firm’s new Batman game.
Nearby, a Back to the Future game was drawing attention. Its massive display included a model train running around a track pushing the hero’s DeLorean auto. The enormous head of a toothy dinosaur made the case for a new Jurassic Park game. A refreshed multi-level version of the popular Monopoly franchise was on display along with a NASCAR-themed game. Other new offerings salute classic rockers ZZ Top and the Rolling Stones, complete with a ‘wild licks’ feature in which a tongue swoops across the reels turning icons wild.
Games based on a pair of blockbuster films by James Cameron — Avatar and Titanic — were being heavily promoted. An entire village of blue people offered shoppers a unique photo opportunity.
The game most likely to appeal to the coveted new demographic, however, is The Walking Dead, based on an AMC television series of the same name. The promoters at Aristocrat dressed up a corps of young men and women as zombies and had them mingling with often shocked customers on the show floor. Nothing says ‘buy me’ like an encounter with the undead.
Patti Hart, CEO of game maker IGT, appeared on a panel during the conference and positioned her company as a multi-platform supplier with big plans for the mobile and Internet markets.
With about a million slot machines spread across the U.S., game makers and casinos alike fear market saturation. That’s one reason game makers are diverting more of their R&D budget to developing mobile and Internet games that they hope will attract a new generation of clients. The idea is these online gamers will eventually be drawn into the casino floor and find what one panelist called “a gaming experience on steroids.” The games they’ve enjoyed playing online will be waiting — with enhanced sound, light and motion that goes beyond what they could experience on a smartphone. And a wide range of amenities unique to brick-and-mortar casinos — restaurants and lounges, pools and spas, shopping and entertainment — will be nearby.
While the new games were already appearing on some Las Vegas casino floors, it’s not clear how long it will take before they arrive in Connecticut. Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun officials said some deals had been cut and others were being negotiated, but no details were available.
Soper said Mohegan Sun would like to change out about 20 percent of its floor each year. But in this tough economic climate, a change out of 8 to 10 percent seems more realistic, he said.
Timothy Walker, a member of the Foxwoods board, said shoppers for Foxwoods were in town a week early to talk with vendors ahead of the show. Big changes are already underway at Foxwoods’ Great Cedar gaming area. The oldest of the casino’s three gaming areas needed an overhaul of its power system to handle the newer machines, Walker explained. Final decisions on what machines go where are still to be made but he said players can expect an exciting new experience when the Great Cedar area reopens, likely before Thanksgiving.
The new gaming consoles are taller and larger than their predecessors. While the rule of thumb used to be 30 square feet per machine, new models are demanding almost 50 percent more room. One concern of casino design experts is that the tall machines may block sight lines and interfere with signage. There are also concerns the growing space requirements may reduce the number of machines a casino can handle.
That’s not a concern in Uncasville, said Soper. Mohegan Sun has about 5,500 machines on the floor and there’s room for more. The casino has had as many as 6,000 on site but the number is driven by the needs of players.
