If there were a statute of limitation on slot themes, the Global Gaming Expo floor at the Sands Expo and Convention Center would have had some gaping holes earlier this month.
Despite all the hue and cry about marketing for millennials, those with a taste for nostalgia will be plenty satiated in the coming months. Observe some of the themes rolled out:
Everi’s Singin’ in the Rain: It has been 65 years since Gene Kelly splashed through puddles in Singin’ in the Rain, but at G2E the late actor’s wife, Patricia Kelly, appeared on the convention floor, signing autographs and handing out DVDs of the movie, in connection to the slot rollout.
Scientific Games’ James Bond 007: At G2E, the company launched the first three titles in a new Bond series that eventually will highlight all 24 feature films and six different actors who have portrayed Ian Fleming’s debonair British agent. There also will be plenty of villains and Bond girls from the franchise, which dates to 1962.
IGT’s Alfred Hitchcock machine: It has been 54 years since seagulls, sparrows and crows terrorized California town folks in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds. Slot maker IGT, which created the Alfred Hitchcock game, asks itself several questions when evaluating brands, said Kurt Larsen, vice president for premium game studios.
“Is the brand recognizable? Is it fun? Is there some nostalgia behind it?” Larsen asks. “And most importantly, does it offer a strong narrative that IGT game designers can play off of to make a compelling game?”
For the Hitchcock game, IGT enhanced the visuals through black-and-white photography, music from the TV spinoff Alfred Hitchcock Presents and video from The Birds, Vertigo and Psycho.
Everi Games might lay claim to being the nostalgia king, acquiring licenses to The Brady Bunch, Willie Nelson, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Singin’ in the Rain and Knight Rider, the 1980s action show starring David Hasselhoff.
The Brady Bunch machine, for example, has a “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!” bonus round – a famous complaint about inequities in attention, made by middle sister Jan. The show aired from 1969-74.
“We really felt there was something iconic about that ‘70s feel,” said Linda V. Trinh, vice president of marketing for Everi. “But we feel that even younger generations know about The Brady Bunch.”
There’s a certain amount of gut feeling in selecting a theme, Trinh said.
“The passion of our team is where the spark comes from,” she said. The company also has modern-day titles ready to hit the floors, including Penn & Teller and Discovery Channel’s Shark Week.
The company also had a hit in 2016 with Casablanca, from the 1942 movie starring Humphrey Bogart.
Meanwhile, the skill-based gaming segment – which some say is designed to attract millennials – also isn’t afraid to reach back for a familiar theme. Gamblit Gaming displayed a large-screen version of Pac-Man, and Konami has rolled out Frogger. Pac-Man first hit video arcades in 1980. Frogger came in 1981.
One version of the game, called Frogger: Get Hoppin’, was tested at the MGM Grand Level Up gaming lounge and other locations earlier this year.
With all kinds of shows still unmined – both from television and the movies – I don’t think the slot manufacturers are going to stop drawing from this well anytime soon. That’s fine with me. I myself would suggest some themes to them, but I learned long ago: If I, a journalist, has a casino idea, there’s a very good likelihood someone in the business, perhaps even multiple people, thought of the same thing years before I did.
