There's a very good chance you may not be familiar with Novomatic, a betting firm out of Austria founded by Johann Graf. The company is one of Europe's largest gaming firms, with distribution in more than 80 countries and a strong on-line gaming presence. Novomatic was established in 1980, and since 2012 the newcomer to the gaming group has had a base in Mt. Prospect, Illinois, 20 miles from downtown Chicago. The company is said to be purchasing a majority stake in Ainsworth. Their US development team has been working hard to create entertaining games with an American focus, and G2E will give the fledgling company the chance to show how they have evolved. We'll be seeing a lot more of this company in the years to come.
Novomatic
Booth 1259
The big hook to draw visitors into the company's booth this year will be The World Championship of Slots. This is not your grandmother's slot tournament. It's not Everi's tournament either. Novomatic has hired an Emmy award winning producer and director to produce hour long episodes of the World Championship of Slots Experience (WCOS) for the Game Show Network. There will be 16 episodes in all. Each will be shot in a host casino (including G2E?) where there will be qualifying tournaments for gamers wanting to get on the show. I haven't read dates and locations anywhere yet (I'll let you know if I find out anything), but press releases say that the opportunity to gamble and be seen on TV will give players a unique reason to visit their preferred entertainment destination. There will be a grand finale, but I've yet to learn when or where it will be held and what prizes will be awarded. It could be that a preliminary competition will be held at G2E...unless the size of the crowd is prohibitive. It would certainly draw attention to Booth 1259, wouldn't it?
According to Global Gaming Business Magazine, there is an element of skill and strategy involved, a built in "gamble" feature which allows players to raise their stakes for a chance at the winning jackpot. Even if they are far behind other players. If there's a big enough jackpot at the end, a player can "bet up" to try to unseat the leader. We might want to visit Novomatic's Booth to learn more about how this will work. GGB Magazine says the competition gives the casinos a new way to market, and a new entertainment experience for the players. Casino operators can select titles from a WCOS portfolio and can customize a tournament by picking base games from among their top performers on the floor. And it's all done on live TV.
WCOS is not the only thing Novomatic is bringing to G2E. Players are "Very Important People" to the company, and one way they are showing this is with the VIP Lounge. The VIP Lounge is designed to envelop the player in a plush, lounge-style seating environment, ergonomically designed for comfort. The Lounge is adjustable for optimal reach and leg room and for the perfect viewing angle vis a vis the two 32-inch HD LED screens. "You don't have to lean up; the buttons are in the chair. You can lean back, have a drink, almost like being at home in your favorite gamer chair." And its coming to North America with new gaming content.
Two of their new games were unveiled at the ICE show in London earlier this year: Full Moon and Eclipse. Two other games in the series to be presented later are Break of Dawn and Midnight Heat. Full Moon is a five reel 50 line medium-high volatility game (infrequent hits but big pays) with a top prize of 250x bet. A wild wolf substitutes for all symbols except the moon scatter symbol that can trigger up to 20 free games. Eclipse is a six reel, 50 line game set for high volatility with payouts 1000x the bet and a single line. The moon substitutes for all symbols with 3 or more scattering and triggering 10 free games. There is a randomly chosen special expanding symbols that grows horizontally to adjacent reels and pays both left to right and right to left.
There are 20 new game titles in all. They include Black Jaguar, Dancing Dragon, Orca, Asian Fortunes, Pure Jewels Extreme, and JackPOP. The design team is excited about the new series called Four Seasons. Each is a 5 reel, 40 line title themed around a beguiling Queen for each season. Each offers a distinct play experience, so whether you're a serious gambler or a more casual player seeking entertainment and time on device there's a season and a lady for you. Winter is a low-volatility game where the Winter Queen, the Polar Bear, Husky, and the Ice Bird may appear in blocks on reels 1-3, 2-4, and 3-5 (big symbols). Summer features the highest volatility of the set with special stacked symbols that appear during the bonus and before each game. If the symbol covers two non-adjacent reels it expands horizontally to cover all the positions in between. No details were given about the other two seasons which have not been shown yet.
In the international section of the booth, the GAMINATOR Scorpion will make its first appearance at G2E. What's the gaminator? -- a fancy aesthetically designed cabinet with advanced technology. Attending G2E will be company representatives from the company's Latin American subsidiaries including Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay and Peru as well as from Europe and Asia. The booth will also be set up to allow Greentube and Bluebat to showcase their latest online, mobile and social innovations. Novomatic Lottery and Novomatic Sports Betting Solutions will also be demonstrating at G2E.
Sounds like there'll be something for everyone at Booth 1259 this year. Take a look and see for yourself at G2E.
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