Amid the cacophony of the G2E floor earlier this month, Chicago manufacturer Incredible Technologies displayed a row of its almost ancient arcade games near its “disruptive” new slot offerings.
The contrast underscored the philosophy of the 40-year-old company: “Good games drive this business,” said Dan Schrementi, president of gaming. “We know what it takes to make a good game.”
The historical lineup included the firm’s first coin-op game, Capcom Bowling (1988), which allowed up to four players to compete, and Golden Tee Golf, which debuted in 1989 and is still evolving into new versions annually, while offering worldwide online tournament play with real-money prizes. Schrementi said Golden Tee is among the leaders for all-time coin-in among arcade games.
IT slot machines hit casino floors in 2011 and the company’s newest offerings continue to reflect what Schrementi described as “disruptive concepts that only a smaller company can do.” For example, the Super Sync progressive allows an operator to offer linked progressive jackpots between $10,000 and $100,000 across all IT games without any up-charge. The second generation of IT’s Skybox cabinet, 10 feet tall with dual 43-inch screens, is available in the core for-sale category rather than the lease-only option from other companies. “It’s the only for-sale vertical dual-screen cabinet that’s not a premium game. It looks and competes like a premium game, but it’s a core product,” Schrementi said.
Also, operators can offer IT titles on multiple cabinets. The company’s Crazy Lock game runs on one piece of software that provides two versions of the game, each with its own artwork, sound, and animation. The G2E display had one version displaying an Americana theme, with a George Washington figure picking up dollar bills in an Oval Office; the other version had a hip-hop theme, with a King of Bling DJ and cool feline picking up diamonds. The operator picks which version to place.
IT also previewed its new Prism Spark cabinet, due to be launched in 2026. It is a core for-sale portrait cabinet with a 43-inch curved screen and a 27-inch topper with an integrated light show.
“We’re doing a lot of things like this to try to attract more players and give operators a little more flexibility,” Schrementi said. “We’re known for innovative gameplay, unique game mechanics, trying things that maybe the bigger guys wouldn’t try.”
IT still produces arcade games through its amusement division and Schrementi said arcade games and slots share the goal of attracting players. “You’re competing for people’s attention, which is really hard in this day and age,” he explained. “It’s our job to make sure that a game compels you to sit down and compels you to stay there.”
IT, which is privately owned, is licensed in 250 jurisdictions covering most of the United States, and in Canada, Mexico, France, Netherlands, and the Caribbean islands. The company produces Class II, Class III, and HHR slots.
Online casino gaming in the United States is “a huge push for us,” Schrementi said. “We own our own igaming content and our own remote game server to deploy that.”
In addition to expanding its studio talent, he said, IT compiles data to pinpoint what game elements players particularly enjoy and why. “Data intelligence on the game design has been a big differentiator” in IT’s development, he said.
“We need to make good games,” he added. “We’re going to do so on innovative compelling hardware with the goal of offering diversity of vendors to our customers.”
