The spotlighted Jimi Hendrix quote, displays of iconic rock album covers, and curios including what looks like a handwritten Bob Dylan set list beg the question: Why are they adorning the AGS booth at G2E?
Because the company’s display consisting entirely of new offerings deserves center stage, explained Nikki Davis, director of marketing communications. “We set it in a rock-and-roll theme. We like the energy.”
Headlining the AGS show are two new slot cabinets and multiple new titles that result from a three-year initiative to develop the company’s next generation of products. Jackson Floyd, vice president of slots, said the company made “massive enhancements” in platform, hardware, and theme portfolio.
Two additions to the Spectra line of cabinets are debuting at this week’s Global Gaming Expo and are expected to build on the success of the Spectra 43, which Eilers has ranked as the industry’s top-performing slot cabinet for nine months straight. The Spectra 49, a for-sale model with a 49-inch curved monitor, is launching with Rakin’ Bacon Odyssey and Rakin’ Bacon Sahara, new iterations of the most popular AGS slot line. The Spectra 43 Premium boasts specialized lighting and a billboard-style digital display plus a new twist on the hold-and-spin game mechanic.
With the Spectra 49, “our goal is to be the No. 1 performing cabinet in the industry on core,” Floyd said. “With the early performance we’ve seen, it looks like we’re going to achieve that feat.”
The Spectra 43 Premium, expected to become available by the end of this year or shortly thereafter, will spotlight brand extensions of Triple Point Treasures and Fu Nan Fu Nu. “That’s really exciting for us to continue our growth of momentum in the premium space, leveraging the Spectra platform and some of our best brands,” Floyd said.
Spectra was designed to be the most serviceable cabinet in the industry, he said. The back allows easy setup and connectivity; security features include seven entry-recording intrusion switches.
Floyd said AGS totally redesigned the game engine, giving game developers a platform that allows the most creative content possible.
“Over a couple of years, we’ve been building up the infrastructure for our R&D team in terms of our theme portfolio,” Floyd said. “We’ve scaled up from basically three to seven theme-development studios. So we can bring a ton more content to market this year versus last year. With our diversity of content and the sheer number of themes, our portfolio has gotten a lot bigger and it’s allowed us to be a lot more creative.”
Product manager Will Foster said Panda Empire, one of the Spectra premium games, includes an innovation for the hold-and-spin slot mechanic. When the feature is triggered, any panda symbols “come alive” and increase potential payouts. “Players aren’t just rooting for cash-on-reel symbols in a standard hold-and-spin. Now they want these panda characters to land,” Foster said.
“Our whole focus is to have the number-one and number-two cabinets in the market with our Spectra 49 and Spectra 43,” he added. “In every cabinet segment, we want to have that diversity to reach multiple player demographics.”
On the table-games side, AGS shines the spotlight on new features for the Bonus Spin Extreme side bet. Bonus Spin Xtreme allows operators to link all table games – including blackjack, craps, roulette and proprietary games – to the same jackpot pool, requiring only one seed. The bonus spin has numerous payouts, but the top jackpot had been limited to one rare event, such as the seven-card royal flush in pai gow poker. The new version allows players to qualify for a spin with a more common occurrence, such as a dealt pair in a poker derivative or a crapshooter rolling an 11 on the come-out.
“It’s basically a combination of two progressive platforms into one,” said John Hemberger, senior vice president of table products. “We still have the wheel spinning for everybody, but we also have the traditional method of winning, which is getting a rare card combination like a royal flush. You’re giving players more options to attain these progressives.”
He added that even with the additional options, the odds of hitting the jackpot haven’t changed. Operators choose which event triggers a spin. In blackjack, options include a natural 21 dealt to a player making the Bonus Spin bet, a dealer 16 on the first two cards, or a dealer bust totaling 26. The jackpot is funded by a portion of Bonus Spin Xtreme bet.
