The electro-mechanical slot machine was invented in 1964.
Bally Manufacturing released the "Money Honey" machine that proudly had some exciting new additions to separate it from its predecessors. The insides relied on electronic parts rather than the traditional springs. Furthermore, they added lights, sounds, a hopper for coins, and the choice to wager more than one coin.
The first video slot machine hit casino floors as early as 1975.
Walt Fraley made history by inventing the first video screen game, called "Fortune Coin". Unfortunately, players proved to be a bit skeptical about the technology and the games were not very popular. Gamers did not trust the new virtual reels, and still preferred the popular spinning reel slots.
In 1976, International Game Technology stepped in.
Luckily, International Game Technology (IGT) understood video slot's potential and advantages. They decided to purchase the Fortune Coin manufacturer and used their own unique technology to design a host of exciting new games. This proved to be a very wise choice and they grew to be the 2nd biggest slot designer, their focus remaining video reel slots.
Video poker finally became popular in 1979.
After video poker was invented, it was only a matter of time before all video slots to become more popular. Players quickly cottoned on to video poker machines and many other designers and manufacturers now started to introduce the 1st wave of video slots.
Innovations, bonus games and linked progressive jackpots have been improving ever since. Although there have been no major breakthroughs, slot machine manufacturers have been constantly working and adding on new and exciting features to video slots, ever since the eighties. An exciting addition has been the linking of jackpots to wide network progressives as well as the invention of the bonus game. By linking jackpots to progressive networks, casinos can now easily offer multi-million dollar jackpots that grow and are hit frequently. |
