Pokies and Slot Machine Information

Gaming expo exhibitor - pokies manufacturer IGT

September 26, 2006 on 8:07 pm | In Australasian Gaming Conference |

Worlds largest slot machine manufacturer.

Exhibitor in a nutshell:
Display area : large.
Gaming machine selection : very large.
Staff knowledge/approachability : good-excellent.

With a huge range of machines on display, and the new Wheel of Fortune jackpot game finally here, its looking good for IGT. The new range of Blue Chip games are such a large upgrade over previous games, that you really need to play them to understand the difference. Larger, clearer graphics, nice scrolling and interactive touchscreens all make for a greatly enhanced slot machine player experience - and thats really the bottom line.

The only downside to some of the games was the positioning of the note acceptors. When they are mounted low and right on a machine, its easier for the notes to drop to the floor if they are rejected on insertion.

The new “Money Chimes” linked jackpots are based on the blue chip hardware and software. We found it was just fun to play for the progressive jackpots, once again with touch screen interactivity and smooth, pleasing graphics.

What really pleased though was the Wheel of Fortune jackpots - there was a real element of competition with other players on the same bank - even though a jackpot could be summoned at will with the assistance of the friendly IGT staff. The jackpots are multi-level, and graphically exceptional.

Another preview of the future was found in the 10 game product (available for New Zealand). Players can choose any of ten different games on the same physical machine. There are many advantages - one of which being that players are happier if they don’t have to move around.

As with other manufacturers, there were some updates to older games alongside the all new ones. This vendor appears to have more licenced concept content for its slot machines - licenced from television shows. Whether this translates into higher player revenue is unclear.

Overall rating: 4.5 / 5 stars. If you have pokies in your venue, you need the Wheel of Fortune jackpot games.

Wheel of Fortune is a registered trademark of Califon Productions, Inc.