What slot games and/or technologies impressed you at this year’s Global Gaming Expo?  Jim Wilson, director of gaming operations, Southland Park Gaming and Racing, West Memphis, Ark.

The holographic technology that Interblock displayed was probably the most intriguing and impressive thing this year. Their claim to be able to convert any machine to the technology could be big for them. WMS Gaming had some interesting games including the Willy Wonka and Spiderman games. Spielo International had some good looking games including the Bejeweled and Plants vs. Zombies themes that are a take-off on the successful phone and tablet applications. It will be interesting to see if any of the other manufacturers go down this road.

 Johan Mirkovic, director of slot operations, Station Casinos, Las Vegas

I believe each vendor displayed great product throughout the entire floor and the following vendors had promising product.

Interblock Gaming for their bartop machines in which included MG such as Sic-Bo, Double Zero Roulette, Craps, Baccarat, and video poker. Incredible Technologies’ slant box with progressive video poker themes and video slot themes looked very promising. AGS’ upright GT5000 and slant box SL7000 also had very promising themes. Future Logic’s Gen-3 printers are great. Cadillac Jack’s upright box DV1 is very comfortable and I believe players will love it. Novomatic’s upright box Admiral Series was great as well. Ainsworth had very promising themes; their slant box was very comfortable and attractive; I believe players will enjoy it.

IGT’s UGA (universal game adaptor) service window caught my attention with what this feature can do. Operators can enjoy many service options through this feature, especially the W2G option where the patron can acknowledge their taxable win and download the credits immediately to the game. As always IGT has introduced their leased product in which following themes-CSI, Wyland, Star Wars, Dolly Parton, Family Guy, and Little Green Men-will attract good play.

AC Slots’ Axcess upright box offered great themes. The slant box has not been yet approved and it is going in front of GLI in November; it did look great.

As always, WMS’ product attracted many operators with their new BB3 box that comes with CPU3 platform. WMS leased themes, especially Wizard of Oz on the XD game field box looked great. Other themes such as; Monopoly Legends, Cheers, Kiss, The Lord of Rings, Rapunzel, Top Gun, Spider Man, and Willy Wonka & Chocolate Factory will keep players busy.

Bally’s new themes; Champion of Rome, Thunderhorn, Heavenly Empress, and Roaming Reels looked promising and we will see how they perform. As for the leased product, NASCAR and Pawn Stars were the home runs. Aristocrat’s new Wonder 4 was attractive. Leased products Caribbean Treasures and Crazy Taxi on the big screen caught my attention. Konami’s new themes; Fortune Chaser, Full Stream Express, and Dragons Victory - 4 level progressive looked promising.

Aruze displayed very promising lease products and many themes were great, especially Aladdin where guests can rub the lamp in the bonus round. Ali Baba, Franken Mama, The four Heavenly Kings, Knight of Lamacha, Shenlong Fever, Fortune Festival, Rich Lite, and Amazon Fishing will keep the players busy. Spielo has a great upright box (ProdiGi Vu) with excellent themes - Zuma, Cash Fever-Love Fever, Plants vs. Zombies and Deal or no Deal.

Multimedia Games had great themes; Money Ball, High Rollin, Ice on Fire, Smokin’ Hot Jackpots, Desert Sky and Outback Dreams. Their slant box was by far the most attractive and comfortable out of everyone.

Just a great show all the way around.

 Warren Davidson, slot director, Coushatta Casino Resort, Kinder, La.

There were a number of interesting new games at the G2E show this year. I was pleased to see the Dolly Parton games from IGT. Having a game with a recognizable theme that hits my target audience and doesn’t require a daily fee is something I am excited about. IGT also presented a few leased game products that look promising, like CSI and new versions of Wheel of Fortune which have always been strong.

The newer platforms from Bally have also proven to be winners and we saw many games that we want to try on our floor in both purchase and lease categories. Bally has done a great job in turning slot play into an experience, first with Michael Jackson and now with NASCAR. From WMS we are interested in Willy Wonka and their new Blade cabinet. New versions of Wizard of Oz and Monopoly from WMS should continue the success of these brands. With our large slot floor we also look to many of the smaller companies to round out our mix and have found great success with games from Incredible Technologies. This company is able to move fast and we liked what we saw in their booth this year.

 David Rohn, director of slot operations, Wildhorse Resort & Casino, Pendleton, Ore.

VGT’s Coin Flip class III game.