Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | July 2008 52 I f slot machines were fairground rides, then WMS products would be a rollercoaster.Players get all the nail biting thrills of a big dipper thanks to wild action, exciting bonuses and real life animation via Transmissive Reels™ technology. Unlike a fairground big dipper, though, WMS promises that players end their journey on a high, rather than coming back to earth with a bump. In the same tradition of slot entertainment, Orion Gaming, the Dutch company purchased by WMS in 2006, offers a catalogue of standalone progressive and high volatility games that should be a hit in the Asia Pacific market. WMS and Orion displayed their latest innovative slot products at last month’s G2E Asia 2008 at Venetian Macao. Money Burst™ is an exciting series in WMS’ Innovation category. It features a new reel layout, 60 lines for 30 credits,and clumpedwilds,built for the hyper-volatile experience WMS says modern players want. This series is available in two new themes: Glitz™ and Dean Martin’s™Wild Party™ . The first two reel columns are only two symbols high and all 60 lines go through these four symbols.Utilising only four symbols means the number of coinciding wins is greatly multiplied when one occurs, explains WMS. Clumped wilds on reels three to five and the combination of traditional reels and individual reels further magnify volatility and anticipation, offering a heady mix of near misses and big wins. This interface also represents clear value for money to players, with a discounted pay structure offering 60 lines of action for 30 credits. Rotating Wild™ is a new Innovation series from WMS combining a traditional reel spin with a rotating spin where reels physically rotate around wilds. It’s all designed for heightened anticipation and entertainment. Two new themes just launched are Houdini™ and High Speed™ . WMS says the interface is revolutionary, featuring round reels in a 5 x 4 x 5 layout, and offering a newpay line structure that keeps the player engaged until the end of every spin. The company says the Rotating Wild feature creates more opportunities to win and amplifies the excitement of each near miss. Each theme in the series has a free spin bonus in addition to the Rotating Wild feature. Spinning Streak™ is a WMS series that gives players the ability to holdwinning symbols and try for more on the same spin. Reel Rich Devil™ is one of the first products in the series and theother launch theme is Survivor™ , based on the popular reality television show. The games are part of WMS’ Innovation category, and the format, featuring groundbreaking five-reel video with 15 independent reels, is built on CPU-NXT™ computer technology Thanks to those 15 independent reels, every time a winning combination is made, reels with winning symbols lock and all others re-spin to try for additional wins.If additional wins occur,the reels that form the new pay lines will be held in place, and the remaining reels will continue to re-spin. This process continues until there are no more new wins. Once that happens, all wins are evaluated at the end and normal game play resumes. Bruce Lee™ , the latest installment in the Transmissive Reels gaming category, focuses on the legendary Hong Kong-born star of cult martial arts action films such as Enter the Dragon. Widely regarded as the most influential martial artist of the 20th century, Bruce Lee’s legacy is now enhanced with an exciting WMS game utilising Transmissive Reels gaming technology which combines the best of mechanical reels and video in one cabinet, next generation graphics and classic movie footage. Thanks to this high quality video technology, players can live every kick and punch on the way to winning free spin and picking bonuses, as well as multiple progressive awards. X-Treme Reels™ is an exciting 3RM multi-line, multi-coin game offering two bonus reels that can multiply line pays up to 100x. When players make a bonus bet of five credits per line with all ten lines played, the fourth reel becomes active so that any line wins on the first three reels can be multiplied by a multiplier on the fourth reel (2x, 3x, 5x, or 10x). Players making the X-Treme bet (ten credits per line) activate both the fourth and fifth bonus reels.With that bet,line wins can then be multiplied by both bonus reels up to 100 times. Current themes available are: Colossal Jackpots™, Super Huge 7s™, Cajun Fire™ , and Digging for Gold™ . Innovative Spins True to form, the latest products showcased by WMS at last month’s G2E Asia featured creatives themes and eye-catching graphics. Also on display were the latest high-volatility offerings from Orion Gaming New Games