From legendary names to arcade-style thrills, Bally Technologies continues to redefine the relationship between player and machine
A parade of pop culture icons will be greeting visitors to Bally Technologies’ Stand 1003 at G2E Asia—led by Michael Jackson King of Pop in a dazzling, music-filled experience packed with mystery wilds and free games bonus events that unfold to the hit sounds of the late superstar himself.
Bally is selling more games outside of North America than ever before—about 20% currently, from only 6% less than a decade ago—and is investing heavily in the Asia-Pacific region to push those numbers further. The portfolio of licensed titles the company is amassing, led by names that are recognized the world over, like Michael Jackson, “Grease” and Betty Boop, are seen as integral to that effort.
Michael Jackson King of Pop, fitted on the new Pro Series V22/32 cabinet, is highlighted by a player-activated U-Spin Platinum Record Bonus and video clips of the legendary singer performing some of his greatest songs—“Bad, Beat It, Billy Jean, Dirty Diana” and “Smooth Criminal”—the experience delivered with the power and immediacy of the Pro surround-sound chair.
“Grease,” inspired by Paramount Pictures’ film musical about American teens in the 1950s, is Bally’s first “double-play” game. Available on the innovative new ALPHA 2 Pro Hammerhead cabinet, this wide-area progressive features two 25-line games, enabling the player to play two games at once.
Also on the ALPHA 2 is Betty Boop’s Fortune Teller, the new follow-up to the hit Betty Boop’s Love Meter. Fortune Teller offers 15 bonuses at any bet, plus the U-Spin “fortune wheel,” and it also features the innovative U-Choose bonus that lets players select their preferred bonus.
“Grease” reached an installed base of 127 units in the company’s most recent quarter, pacing overall WAP revenues to a quarterly record. Total revenues were up a robust 20% year-on-year to US$229 million, fueling a 22% increase in EBITDA to $74 million. Sales of new machines were up 24% to $79 million, driven both by higher unit sales and a 10% increase in the average sale price per unit.
International sales were a big part of the quarterly story, comprising 29% of total shipments of new machines. So it is no surprise that Asian-themed titles will occupy significant space at Stand 1003 as well. Among the highlights: Blazing Dragon, Moon Dynasty, Rainbow Dragon, Tiger Treasures and Lucky Dragon, all on the Pro V22/22, and Sakura Festival and Dragon on the Pro V32. Beijing Treasures and Great Wall of China, among others, will be shown on the innovative Pro Curve cabinet, with its curved LCD that emulates spinning reels on a video slot.
Bally is also showcasing a couple of exciting, colorfully themed mystery progressive links, Golden Empire and Jeepney Joyride, developed locally for the Macau and Philippines markets, respectively. Both link over stand-alone video slot machines, enabling players to win one of three or four randomly triggered progressive jackpots, depending on how operators configure them. No maximum bet is required to win.
“All That Jazz,” also featured on the Pro V32, sports a revolutionary iDeck feature called U-Play, in which players actually touch and play virtual piano keys. Players attempt to follow a melody by playing the keys. Every note is converted into numbers, which populate four bonus reels. At the end of the song, the reels are spun to reveal the base-game prize.
This kind of palpable, arcade-style player interaction, which has become a hallmark of Bally’s unique approach to game development in recent years, will also be shown on Fish’n for Loot and Total Blast via the mechanics of U Shoot: a bonus game feature in the form of a virtual “shooting gallery” in which the player touches the iDeck touch sensitive control panel to create weapons for “shooting” at targets on the main game screens.
In the same spirit, Bally is bringing to Macau the timeless arcade favorite SKEEBALL. Fitted on the Pro V32 cabinet, it includes a bonus feature in which players touch and slide to “throw” the SKEE-BALL and win “tickets” that enable them to “Pick a Prize” on the game, revealed in credit awards.
Visitors also will be treated to live demonstrations of iVIEW Display Manager (DM), the interactive communication tool that has taken slot floors by storm with its “picture-in-picture” player-user interface. Backward compatible on any gaming machine with a touchscreen display, iVIEW DM lets casino operators deliver self-service player-account access, value-added marketing messages and secondary bonus games on the main game screen without interrupting play.
Another show-stopper will be the Elite Bonusing Suite, which combined with iVIEW and iVIEW DM adds dramatic new levels of excitement and anticipation to the slot-play experience in the form of floor-wide interactive promotions, second-chance win events and the ability for players to earn rewards, all without interrupting play on the base game.
With the strategic acquisitions in recent months of Macroview in the mobile gaming space and the Internet technology platform Chiligaming, Bally has signaled it intends to be a major player in cyberspace, and the company’s Bally Mobile team also will be on hand at G2E Asia to give live demonstrations of several new cloud-based custom mobile apps and mobile Web sites for players and internal-facing apps for casino employees.
