Scientific Games designed its towering Mural slot cabinet with a specific goal: giving players an experience they can’t get by playing online from home.
When the first units are put into service next month, casino visitors will find 12-foot-tall machines boasting two 55-inch display screens with 4K resolution, immersive sound and videos, a touchscreen interface, even wireless charging for smart phones.
Willy Wonka – Dreamer of Dreams
“This is a larger-than-life experience,” says Matt Wilson, executive vice president and CEO of Gaming for Scientific Games. “This is a type of experience that players can’t get on their smart phone or home television. It’s a unique, oversized cabinet that they can be immersed in.”
He says the cabinets are the tallest on the market – so visible from across the gaming floor that they don’t need signage above them.
The company chose the Mural name as a reference not only to the cabinet’s size, but also to the artistry in its games. The first titles available in the Mural concept are Willy Wonka – Dreamer of Dreams and 88 Fortunes – Emperor’s Coins. Other games will become available, including Wizard of Oz – Yellow Brick Road and a version of Reel ’em In.
Wilson, a native of Australia and 16-year veteran of slot manufacturer Aristocrat Gaming, joined Scientific Games at what he drolly calls “the perfect time” – in March 2020, just as casinos across the United States and elsewhere began to shut down because of COVID-19.
“We used the time to be ready for when the casinos reopened,” he says. “We knew the casino industry was going to be healthy and vibrant again. People have been gambling for centuries, and that wasn’t going to change just because of a pandemic.”
Although the closures lasted longer than initially anticipated, Wilson says, the company focused on being ready for the gaming industry’s recovery and players’ return to casino floors. That included listening to a variety of viewpoints, including from operators, players, and workers who service the games.
“We thought about every angle and every stakeholder in the design process,” Wilson says. “What (operators are) really looking for is a way to merchandise their floor, to make creative little areas that attract the eye of the player. This is the tallest, most elaborate cabinet we’ve designed.”
The Mural is configured for four machines in a row, but it also can be set up as a standalone unit or in groups of two or three.
88 Fortunes – Emperor’s Coins
One challenge of such a large cabinet is ensuring players’ comfort. “We dialed in the ergonomics to make it more player friendly,” Wilson says. For example, the bonus-spin display appears on the upper 55-inch screen and the back of the player’s chair flexes to allow easier viewing.
While “content is queen” with slot machines, Wilson says, “the player has to be comfortable with the device from an ergonomic standpoint.”
During the design phase, the necessity of working remotely led to virtual around-the-clock collaboration through Scientific Games’ global network.
“We had a very compressed timeline. We knew the casinos were going to come back online, so we wanted to get this out quickly,” Wilson says. “We designed it through this follow-the-sun mentality,” spreading the work among teams in the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States. “You’d have the UK teams working on it; they’d hand it off when they left work to the U.S. team, who’d work on it through the day, then hand it off to Australia.”
“With the vaccines in peoples’ arms, we’re seeing a huge migration back to casinos from consumers.”
About 50 units will be available in May at casinos in California, Nevada, Oklahoma, Florida, and Michigan. “We’ve got a lot of customer interest,” Wilson says. “It’s probably the most anticipated product we’ve ever launched as a company.”
Scientific Games plans to show off the Mural cabinet and its other offerings at the National Indian Gaming Association Tradeshow and Convention, scheduled for July 19-22 in Las Vegas, and at the Global Gaming Expo, scheduled for October, also in Las Vegas. In the meantime, the company plans a mobile marketing program for the Mural cabinet, using trucks that convert into showrooms. Wilson says about 17 stops are planned throughout the country. “We want everyone to see this now.”
