The Baron follows in the footsteps of the company’s award-winning predecessors, with technological innovations like never-before-seen integrated dynamic lighting, advanced display monitors, and a contemporary, sleek design.
Victor Duarte, EVP of Gaming Product at Aristocrat Gaming, says the cabinet will stand apart on crowded casino floors, and invite in players. The Baron will make its tradeshow debut at the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) in Las Vegas this October.
Duarte says it was two years ago when they started to look at concepts for The Baron. Now the exciting part really begins – looking at player reaction when they walk up to it, sit down and try it out.
“We really leaned into our industrial design process,” he says. “We focused on creating something unique, an evolution from things that we’ve done in the past. What’s unique about this cabinet is that it has an asymmetrical design. On the left-hand side, is what we call a chimney, which is splashed with LED lighting, and creates a very different look from other cabinets in the market today.
Another feature of this design is that the left-hand side is open, which looks like everything is floating – the monitors and the button decks are floating. So the asymmetrical design unlocked a lot of different opportunities for lighting and appearance that were taken advantage of.”
Additional LED lighting borders the monitors and button deck, working in tandem with the backlighting on the chimney, the first cabinet to have that feature, in color coordination with game play and game themes. All of that creates an aura, Duarte says.
“You’ll be able to notice this machine from 30 feet away,” he says. “From 10 feet away you’re going to want to sit down and try it out.”
The placement of dual 27-inch ultra-high-definition 4K display monitors emphasize player comfort and ergonomics, Duarte adds, with best-in-class graphics. The 27-inch LCD topper integrates play and jackpot features.
The sound experience has also been improved – The Baron comes equipped with a discreet soundbar with five channel audio, plus two top monitor speakers and a subwoofer in-cabinet for the surround-sound experience.
“It’ll bank differently than other cabinets, so when a player comes up to it, or the slot manager looks at the machines on the floor, they’re going to have different sightlines than they would have with other cabinets,” Duarte says. “We also upgraded our video displays with a wide color gamut and other features that improve the contrast of the video displays.
Duarte says Aristocrat Gaming goes into game hardware design with casino operator and individual player feedback and expectations foremost in mind.
“With operators, they’re obviously looking for something to perform,” he says. “This is a durable asset that they’re acquiring. They’re expecting it to be on the floor for a long period of time, so they want to make sure they’re making a good investment, and the games are going to perform.”
As they shared The Baron with casinos, operators wanted to see the cabinet opened in order to understand serviceability and the location of the different components. The feedback in this regard was very positive.
Another key selling point with operators is knowing Aristocrat Gaming will support the cabinet over its lifecycle with compelling games.
The Baron launches with three new Game Sales titles: Buffalo Gold Cash Collection, Ju Cai Jin Gui Dragon and Ingot, and Bao Zhu Zhao Fu Ignite Blue Prosperity and Red Prosperity.
The dual screen enables the teams behind game development to really flex their creative muscles, giving them a canvas to present content in the best way possible.
“We had studios come in with different concepts that they believed would work on a dual screen cabinet,” Duarte explains. “And then we selected the best to launch with. We believe we have the best collection of studio talent and some of the strongest franchises in gaming, like Buffalo, that we have a huge amount of success with.”
The overall objective is to attract and retain players. “Players seem to locate new hardware on the floor, and if it has a compelling look and feels new, they’re more inclined to walk up and see what’s there. Hopefully, they have a good experience with our games and they come back. Players are consumers, and they like interesting new technologies. That’s what we do in hardware, and then really entertain them with the best games.”
