Big Time: Large-format slot machines are all the rage these days

It was once referred to as Big Bertha – a catch-all term for novelty slot machines that were ridiculously large. At one time, slot manufacturers competed with each other to produce this style of game, which cost up to 10 times what a normal slot machine cost and was normally upwards of 10 feet tall and 6 feet wide, with outrageously large reels run by 5-horsepower electric engines.

These days, you can still find the giant reel-spinners, which were always considered novelty items to draw customers to a certain area for an expensive handle-pull and a photo op. Typically set at a low return-to-player percentage, the odds of winning on the early ones were astronomical. They were there because they drew a crowd.

Today, that same principle applies, but the new “large-format” machines combine attention-grabbing size with a variety of games and cabinet styles, and program math that makes players actually want to sit down and play. Advanced video technology has replaced those old reels with ever-more-giant high-definition video monitors, in multi-line video game styles that use that real estate for any number of entertaining bonus features.

In short, these are games designed not for photo ops, but to be played.

In addition to the super-big games, suppliers offer incredible variety on these super-sized cabinets, which range somewhere between the normal upright and those older giants. The standard 42-inch portrait monitor balloons to 55 inches or higher on these cabinets, which, unlike the Big Bertha style, can normally be placed almost anywhere on a slot floor. Hardware like dual bash buttons and bench seating allows couples to enjoy the same games they play solo on the standard cabinets.

IGT has placed its venerable Wheel of Fortune franchise on the king-sized Megatower cabinet, but it’s the same game as the small cabinet. There are complete libraries on the stepper S3000 XL and the Video Poker XL cabinets.

For Konami, it’s the Concerto Opus and its 65-inch monitor. Scientific Games offers the TwinStar Wave XL, with an oversized curved cabinet; for Aristocrat, it’s the Behemoth and the Edge XL.

And AGS, which arguably started the latest super-sized trend with its hit Colossal Diamonds on the horizontal Big Red cabinet, is about to launch its own new super-sized cabinet in the Orion family.

So why has just about every major supplier carved out a space in its product roadmap for large-format slot machines?

“Large-format games are appealing in our industry because they capture attention, provide unique content, and infuse a certain excitement, especially for bonus feature events,” says Steve Walther, senior director, marketing & product management for Konami Gaming. “Bigger screens mean bigger reels and symbols, which inherently carry greater visual impact. Guests take notice and gather around to watch the action unfold.”

“Large-format slot machines are a different way to engage and excite players by creating an experience that they can’t get at home,” says Cathryn Lai, senior vice president of products and marketing for Scientific Games. “By creating hardware where a player can be immersed in the full visual display field of a larger screen, they feel they are part of the game.”

Some compare the experience to going to the movies, as Aristocrat did when previewing its Cinema cabinet last year. “We called it the Cinema very specifically, because it separates the player from the screen a little more than you would see in a slot machine,” says Jon Hanlin, Aristocrat’s vice president of commercial strategy, gaming operations. “It has bench seating set back from the screen, and the screen was set almost on a docking station away from the person, so it had a more cinematic feel.”

Mark DeDeaux, senior director of slot products for AGS, says that slot machines in general have been getting larger for decades. “If you look at the trend of slot machines over time, they’ve grown,” he says. “I think what you’re seeing is kind of a revolution around the fact that the technology industry, and consumer electronics in particular, are offering higher quality, higher resolution, larger screens, bent screens—and I think that’s had a big impact on the gaming industry as a result.”

“Our customers are focused on creating more personal gaming spaces for their players, attracting new players and maximizing slot revenue,” says Mike Brennan, vice president of product management at IGT. “Large-format cabinets are one way to achieve those objectives. Players seem to be drawn to large-format slots for a variety of reasons—novelty, game theme, and buddy-style chairs are all considerations.”

Better Content, Better Math

Of course, the primary reason large-format games are surging is that players are flocking to them. That wasn’t normally so with the old-style Big Bertha, which were simple three-reel mechanical games invariably set at a low payback percentage.

The new giants typically offer the best content the suppliers have to offer, with features and program math designed not for hit-and-run play, but for the same time on device that keeps players returning to the standard-sized versions.

“IGT offers some of our most successful brands on large-format cabinets,” says Brennan, “including a range of Wheel of Fortune games on the Megatower cabinet, a library of spinning reel games on the S3000 XL, and now video poker titles on the Video Poker XL cabinet. Later this year, we plan to introduce the first of three The Price is Right games, The Showcase Showdown, on the Megatower Universal cabinet, which stands 11 feet tall.”

“There’s definitely more of a sense of having a normal slot experience on it, a regular RTP,” says Aristocrat’s Hanlin. “Among our previous large-format cabinets, we’ve had a lot of great titles on the Behemoth. We actually made a bespoke title, Big Bang Theory, strictly for that cabinet, and we’ve released an exact replica of Lightning Link on Behemoth as well.”

The super-sized Lightning Link—one of Aristocrat’s biggest hits—is being placed on the ends of banks, anchoring back-to-back banks of the normal-sized game, all linked to the same progressive. “It gives our operators a chance to get creative in setting up a game,” says Hanlin.

DeDeaux says AGS’ Colossal Diamonds on the Big Red cabinet uses hybrid math in a traditional three-reel setup. “If you look at the industry as a whole, there are a lot more multi-line, multi-coin, multiple bet levels across a lot of the larger form-factor games in the industry,” he says. “You’re seeing a lot more of three-reel stepper and multi-line, multi-coin video starting to collide. Colossal Diamonds is a result of that.”

He adds that Colossal Diamonds stands alone among the super-large games because it’s “probably the only one out there that’s actually wider than it is tall. There’s something about that view, landscape versus portrait presentation, that has a lot of appeal—the branding of it, the bright red, and the three reels on the 42-inch monitors. You almost can’t tell that those are three 42-inch monitors making up the reel set.”

DeDeaux says AGS is working on new games for the Big Red cabinet that will use those big monitors for different kinds of bonusing. “Being able to synchronize across those three screens is a big key to make that happen,” he says. “You really can’t have a bonus event on one screen (on Big Red); you’ve got to have all three screens synchronizing. We’re working on some content to support that.”

“Large-format product has definitely benefited from an increased emphasis on quality content,” says Konami’s Walther. “These machines are often found in prominent positions and create a lot of buzz, but for any market that relies on local recurring traffic, the math and mechanics behind the machine are essential to its profitability over time.

“When Konami released its first oversized cabinet, Podium Goliath, it was designed to leverage a vast library of proven Podium content, including China Shores, Dragon’s Law, and Quick Strike. (We) took a similar approach at the release of Concerto Opus by equipping it with substantive titles for recurring play and value over time.”

The major suppliers have used hardware and technology to exploit that quality content. “Having the ability to extend game play across multiple screens or build arrays or reels that fill up an entire portrait screen have really enhanced and pushed the innovation of new game play mechanics,” says Scientific Games’ Lai. “And being able to synchronize content across multiple screens on a large format enables more community play.”

Community play, in fact, is a big part of the appeal of the new games. It’s why suppliers are using bench seating and dual bash buttons almost as standard hardware on the big games. “Bench seating has been around for a while… that’s something that players love,” says Hanlin at Aristocrat, “to be able to sit with their partner or spouse, or a friend, and have a shared experience where you chuck in a $20 and each take a spin… It’s a hallmark of slot play. Evolving that experience with increased technology and more innovative game

play is just following the trend of the overall market.”

“Over time, we’ve seen large-format machines expand in popularity to a variety of audiences,” adds Konami’s Walther. “To accommodate these audiences, the Opus is equipped with dual spin buttons and cup holders on either side. Opus also features a custom TouchDash touchscreen button panel that fills the dashboard with multi-color lighting effects programmed to the game, for an added measure of engagement and excitement.”

“People are looking for human connection now,” says DeDeaux at AGS. “Everyone’s dialed in on social media. With these games, you can see it when you walk by and see multiple people standing around and cheering, rooting for the player to hit a win.”

“We’ve found that companion seating does have a positive impact on coin-in,” adds SG’s Lai. “Players like to feel comfortable, and often if they are able to play with a companion, you get a higher share of wallet.”

All of the suppliers say a critical factor in the popularity of the large-format slots has been the arrival of 4K-resolution monitor. “When you start getting larger than that 42-inch monitor, 4K is really critical,” says AGS’ DeDeaux. “We have, on our product roadmap, some products coming that are larger form factors, and we are using 4K resolution to make sure we get that really nice quality picture. 4K resolution, along with the consumer industry making bigger monitors, has made room for this genre of games.”

In addition to the 4K monitors, a big wheel helps. Says IGT’s Brennan, “Large-format gaming machines have proven to appeal to a wide range of players, not just couples or novice slot players.  The Megatower’s giant wheel is another feature that is known to attract very large crowds when players activate it during the signature Wheel of Fortune bonus.”

Format for the Future

The old-style Big Bertha games had an inherent drawback when it comes to growth—they were so big and bulky that operators had to carve out a special location for them – and, for the most part, one or possibly two of them in a casino was all a slot manager wanted.

But the new style – call it Bertha’s little sister – provides a lot more flexibility for the operator.

“Where we’re headed with this space is something like our Edge-X cabinet,” says Aristocrat’s Hanlin. “It’s a large-format cabinet in the sense it has the bench seating and the dual bash buttons, and a big presence, but it’s not huge. You can bank it in threes and fours or two back-to-back, and it doesn’t take up as much space as a lot of products with that kind of footprint.”

“I’m bullish on the bankable large-format game,” Hanlin says. “I think that’s really a market all of us are targeting.”

“I can’t imagine it slowing down,” AGS’ DeDeaux says of the large-format craze. “There’s a question as to how big it all gets, but I think the average size will increase over time. I don’t know that we’re going to get much bigger than some of the big stuff that’s out there – Big Red, for example – but I certainly think we’ll see the average size going up. We have some exciting stuff coming on the Orion form factor that is larger-format (although) not quite as large as the Big Red… We have multiple concepts we’ll be releasing, and a lot of that will be released at G2E this year.”

“IGT is very optimistic about the future of the large-format market segment,” says Brennan. “It continues to be an area of strength in our portfolio and an area where we continue to reinvest. In my view, the industry hit a bit of a saturation point a few years ago with large-format cabinets without much diversity. I see that trend shifting, however.

“We believe (IGT) can give customers genuine value and specialization if they are able to give up a bit more floor space to accommodate a jumbo cabinet.”

“The lines between standard and large-format games are becoming blurred,” says Scientific Games’ Lai. “The definition of a ‘jumbo’ cabinet used to be very clear… now, standard core cabinets are growing in size with displays that are 49 inches or more. As casino floors continue to be flooded with larger machines and spectacle bank configurations, each new product will need to be visually competitive to be able to cut through the visual noise and attract players. Therefore, we believe there will continue to be some appeal to add bigger and more unique form factors to help differentiate on casino floors.”