Aristocrat Gaming will show off five new slot titles at the 35th Indian Gaming Tradeshow and Convention this week, but they aren’t the whole story.
“We’re bringing individualized and well-thought-out Class II games to the Class II market,” said Jon Hanlin, the company’s senior vice president of commercial strategy and business analytics. “(This show) is really a chance for us to display everything that we are bringing from a portfolio perspective to our tribal partners. Tribal gaming is so vital to us as a business, but more important to that community as a whole” because it provides money for tribal necessities such as schools, health care, and infrastructure.
The new slot titles, all released in roughly the past three months, are:
- Wild Wild Buffalo, a high-volatility game with six progressive levels.
- Buffalo Link, a combination of two popular Aristocrat brands.
- Game of Thrones King’s Landing, a medium-volatility game with a randomly triggered base-game feature with wilds, credit prizes, and growing reels.
- Buffalo Instant Hit, a Class III stepper game with an instant-hit feature.
- Grand Bars, a Class III stepper game with multi-level jackpots.
Hanlin was upbeat about the gaming industry’s future after more than a year of dealing with COVID pandemic effects. “In general, the North American gaming industry has bounced back. The casino markets and the regional (gross gaming revenue) have been an amazing story.”
Aristocrat continued to develop games and keep its supply chain despite the pandemic.
Hanlin said the company is “really, really excited” about Wild Wild Buffalo, which can be set up as a progressive linked to other machines in the casino or to machines in multiple sites. Multi-site jackpots start at $500,000; single-site jackpots start at $10,000. He said it’s the first Buffalo game built for Aristocrat’s for-sale business.
Both Wild Wild Buffalo and Game of Thrones King’s Landing are on Aristocrat’s Neptune Double cabinet, which features stacked, curved, 49-inch monitors, 4K graphics, a virtual-button deck, and adjustable sound chair.
Hanlin said the theme of King’s Landing ties into the final season of the popular HBO series and features straightforward game play.
Buffalo Link is the industry’s most popular game and features the Hold & Spin functionality also found in Aristocrat’s Lightning Link and Dragon Link lines. It has the Buffalo line’s first 2X and 3X multipliers on the last reel and a mystery must-hit-by bonus, which awards free games or a Hold & Spin bonus. Buffalo Link comes on the new MarsX Portrait cabinet, which has a curved 4k display, 4.1 spatial sound, virtual-button deck, and wireless USB charging for mobile phones.
Buffalo Instant Hit and Grand Bars, two new Class III stepper games, come on the RELM five-reel cabinet, which includes a mechanical bell, high-def top glass and meter display, working chrome handle, and mechanical button deck.
Buffalo Instant Hit offers player-selectable denominations of one, two, five, and 10 cents, with a 60-credit minimum and 300-credit maximum. The award for an instant hit comes either in credits or a wheel bonus. The wheel spin awards credits or a progressive jackpot.
Grand Bars offers a single-machine or sitewide jackpot that resets at $5,500. Player denominations are one, two, and five cents, with a 50-credit minimum and 250-credit maximum.
Hanlin said stepper slots tend to be more “gambler-centric” than video slots, which often feature multiple screens and video effects for players who want extra entertainment.
In addition to the new slot titles, Hanlin said the Aristocrat booth will showcase the company’s cashless wallet and a suite of loyalty products.
“Cashless is the new frontier,” he said. “TITO changed the industry and eliminated coin, which was a pain to deal with. Cash is now that. (Cashless) is something I think every casino across the country, post-pandemic, is looking at.”
Aristocrat is in Booth 1323 at the tradeshow, sponsored by the National Indian Gaming Association.
