Scientific Games to showcase slots featuring James Bond

By DAVE MCNARY
REUTERS

LOS ANGELES — The owners of the James Bond franchise have struck a multi-year licensing deal with gambling products specialist Scientific Games Corp., which will lead to the super-spy’s image being used on casino slot machines.

The exclusive agreement was announced Wednesday between Las Vegas-based Scientific Games with Eon Productions Limited, Danjaq LLC and MGM Interactive, a subsidiary of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The deal gives Scientific Games the rights to leverage all past and future James Bond films, as well as the film’s talent portraying James Bond.

Scientific Games said it expects to showcase the first James Bond-themed slot games at the Global Gaming Expo on Oct. 3-5 in Las Vegas. That means the first machines could begin appearing in casinos next year.

Created in 1953 by novelist Ian Fleming, Bond was a frequent patron of high-end casinos in the books and two dozen films that followed — including two versions of “Casino Royale.”

Seven actors have played Bond, starting with Sean Connery in 1962’s “Doctor No,” followed by David Niven in 1967’s “Casino Royale,” George Lazenby in 1969’s “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service,” Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig. It’s unclear whether Craig will sign on for another Bond film after starring in the last four.

Scientific Games Chief Executive Officer Kevin Sheehan said, “The Bond franchise is clearly a long sought-after and incredibly exciting brand for our industry. James Bond is synonymous with action, excitement, and next-generation technology. We look forward to harnessing the power of the Bond brand to drive innovation across the company in the years ahead.”

Ronald Perelman, chairman of Scientific Games, said, “We have been excited about this license opportunity for a very long time and are thrilled that Kevin Sheehan and his team at Scientific Games were able to secure the exclusive licensing rights.”

Variety reported in 2015 that another studio could supplant Sony as MGM’s distribution partner for the franchise. Sony’s has handled distribution on “Casino Royale,” “Quantum of Solace,” “Skyfall” and “Spectre.” “Skyfall” was the highest-grossing 007 film in franchise history.

Danjaq LLC is the holding company responsible for the copyright and trademarks to the characters, elements, and other material related to James Bond on screen. It’s currently owned and managed by the family of Albert R. Broccoli. Eon Productions is a sister company of Danjaq and the production company responsible for producing the James Bond films.

G2E 2016 Preview - 7 - Scientific Games

Scientific Games is probably one of the most diverse companies exhibiting at G2E this year. The manufacturer has roots in several well known gaming companies - Bally, WMS, Shuffle Master and Barcrest.  A year ago the new conglomerate arrived at G2E with a mind-boggling collection of games reflecting the diversity of of the legacy companies which merged to form SG. This year the collection of games will be no less mind-boggling, but the products reflect the efforts of a fully integrated Research and Development team...a team with more than 40 game design studios across the world and a staff of more than 700 game development specialists. Quick Hit games with the new Quick Hit Ultra from the Las Vegas team, Vegas 7's from the Reno branch, Crystal Forest and Black Knight from Chicago, Dancing Drum and Tree of Wealth from Asia, and the Lock it Link games from Australia -- all prominently displayed on three new platforms.

Scientific Games

Booth 1126

When I looked at the press release from Global Gaming Business Magazine, the source of my information for all these previews, the game that caught my attention - possibly because we're in the midst of Oktoberfest - and the one I'll be wanting to see at the SG booth is a remake of an old WMS title. The new version is called Bier Haus: Heidi's Haus.  I don't know anything but the title, but I know from past experience that this game will feature the popular mugs and jugs and German polka music and will be fun to play. 

A title that has been released in Australia and has proved very popular there is the Lock It Link, a two level progressive system with base games Bright Lights and Girl's Best Friend. The base games feature the Lock It Link Heart respin feature. If less than 3 triggering figures for the progressive bonus land, they lock in place and the reels respin for a second chance to trigger the bonus. The games were  stars of G2E Asia in May and the company expects similar interest at Vegas G2E 2016.

Other new titles to look for are the Tree of Wealth series from the SG Asian studio launched with the title Jade Eternity. Other Asian games are Little Dragons, Dragons of the Four Seas, Golden Wheels, and Sun Warrior.  Quick Hit fans will want to look for Quick Hit Red Super Wheel and Blue Super Wheel. Scientific Games will also show titles from third party design studio High 5 Gaming: Shadow Diamond Eve and Shadow Diamond Dawn.

There's more. New versions Bally's Black Gold and Hot Triple 7s. The first stepper versions of the Bally video multi-progressive FuDao Le and WMS's 88 Fortunes. Blazing Dice, Gold Slinger, Hot Hands, Tumbling Dice, Power Gems (Egyptian and Indian.) Games previewed last year and still being previewed at G2E are the legendary comedy Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Space Invaders with a skill based bonus.

The heart of SG's offerings will be a group of the strongest licensed brands of any manufacturer in the business according to Frank Legato. Some titles launched at last year's G2E are now reaching the casinos where we play. Kooza, with the Cirque du Soleil theme recreates the characters from the circus-themed road show including "The Trickster."  Other branded licenses introduced last year and now entering the market are Michael Jackson Icon, Monopoly Money, Cher Live, and the Godfather. How the audio on the Michael Jackson and Cher themes will clear the YouTube censors when the games are filmed remains to be seen.  Another game previewed last year and perfected for this year's exhibition is The Simpsons. 

Joining these improved current brands will be Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, and National Lampoons's Vacation. On the TV band side is The Bachelor. An entertainment highlight will be Cash, featuring the music of country legend Johnny Cash. A clever touch, according to press releases, is found in the four levels of jackpots. They are marked by images of Cash at different stages of his career - from his early days at Sun Records until his time as the elder statesman of American country roots music.  There's something for everyone. There is even Wacky Races based on the 1968 - 71 cartoon series.  

Well, that's a lot to take in, and I'm sure it's just the tip of the iceberg. Plan on spending more than just one day at G2E this year...it'll take a while to see it all.  And stay turned for another company's preview tomorrow.

G2E 2015: Scientific Games Highlights

If any of you reading this have ever been to G2E in Las Vegas, you know there is so much going on that there’s no way to take it all in and remember it all. When you get back home and look at what you filmed and what other YouTubers have shared of their experiences on their films, you realize there is so much, much more that you could have done and seen - and you wish you could go back and do it all over again.  At least that’s the way I feel. 

Well, I don’t film videos, but I’ve watched a lot of great games and demos by other players on line, and today I want to direct you to some of the best that have already been put up on YouTube to entertain the rest of us. The list will not be complete because as the videographers edit the films they shot at G2E, they add more to their play lists. You will need to bookmark those sites and return every few days to see what’s new to have the total experience. I will also comment on others in the next few days.

If you haven’t watched other players’ games before, you’ll find that the YouTubers generally fall into one of two categories: the ones who film to educate and the ones who film to entertain. Sometimes they manage to do both. If I want to be educated, to learn about different slots and how to play them, the two filmers I turn to are Random$$Slots and ShinobiYT, two of my very favorite YouTubers with very different personalities and very different ways of explaining slots. Shinobi explains what is happening and what to look for in your game as if talking with a friend about the game. He didn’t make it to G2E this year so I won't be showing any of his films.

Random explains not only what is happening, but he frequently explains why it is happening. No matter how much you think you know, you will learn something more if you study his explanations. Random$$Slots is posting his G2E videos at digdia.

Random$$Slots does not talk to you about the slots you are watching as you are viewing them, but he gives you a lot of information anyway. He always films the pay tables, and his comment pages will often have long paragraphs of explanation about the games. He will add editorial comments to the films sometimes and and will point out features to watch for to increase your understanding. He also answers questions posed by his viewers on his comment page. 

If you were a student of game theory, you would want him for your professor. He will give you more than just game play. If you are interested in things like the keynote address at G2E or the other conference discussions on topics such as skill based games that you were not able to attend, you can view his films of them from his site at digdia.com. Random’s slot play films will include a lot of information shared by the manufacturer’s reps he films. You watch Random$$Slots games if you want to be educated while having fun.

If you want to be entertained when you watch the new slot games and demos, there are a number of good sources. I am not able to name them all - there are too many — but I’ll talk about a few who have filmed some excellent video at G2E this year.  If you want to watch someone who can get you excited about a new game, you probably want to watch Brent’s Lucky (& Gay) Slot Channel.  

Brent and Random both have films of the new Cher Live slot machine. The approach to filming this new game illustrates the differences in personality of the two filmers. 

You can watch Random’s game HERE. In his film the company rep explains and illustrates the various features of the game, and you finish with a good idea of what to look for when you play.

Brent, like most slot players doesn’t worry about all that. He jumps right into the game and plays for fun without worrying about the optimal way to play, and he and his viewers all have a great time. You can watch his game HERE.  And that’s the beauty of watching YouTube videos - whatever your style, there’s a filmer out there that will show you what you want to see.

The Cher video is a new one by Scientific Games, which also owns WMS and Bally. Other Scientific Games you might want to look for include the Rocky Horror Picture Show, Margaritaville, and Caddyshack.

One final video from Scientific Games (formerly Bally) that I want to show you before we move on to other companys’ new games is the new Bart Simpson game. Everybody who is a YouTube viewer or a slot fanatic knows and loves Dianaevoni. Diana is friendly and enthusiastic and is always a lot of fun. She has recorded a demo of the Simpson’s game that you can watch. The game has not been released yet, but you can bet Diana will be one of the first to play it when it is.  Be sure and watch how Bart’s hand interacts with the player's during the bonus.

G2E Preview - Part 6: Scientific Games (Bally, WMS)

When we talk about Scientific Games in this preview, you need to know we are also talking about Bally, WMS, Shuffle Master, Barcrest and Williams Gaming. Within the last 13 months, Scientific Games bought WMS for $1.5 billion and Bally Technologies for $5.1 billion.  So for the first time at G2E, ALL of these brands will be together in the same booth at the Sands Convention Center for this year’s Global Gaming Expo. The 26,000 square-foot, multi-level exhibit will feature products from the company’s gaming, lottery, and interactive divisions. You won’t want to miss it. Or maybe I should say, with an exhibit that big, how could you miss it!

Scientific Games

www.scientificgames.com

G2E Booth #1126

I know next-to-nothing about the gaming cabinets that house the slot games we play, but press releases are touting the new SG TwinStar Cabinet debuting the new Arg05 state-of-the-art platform. It will combine the best technology from both Bally and WMS they say, and it will support gaming content from both companies. New games have been developed for the TwinStar. Titles include Quick Shot, Steam Dream, and Hot Blooded. Some old favorites like Gold Fish, Quick Hit, Kronos, and Zeus will also be found in the new cabinet.

Last year at G2E, Scientific Games announced its partnership with Playboy and Pitbull. This year you gentlemen can enjoy a little eye-candy with the new Playboy Don’t Stop the Party! a progressive video slot featuring Playboy Playmates. If you prefer, you can enjoy Pitbull with three hit songs and a five level progressive jackpot, including a life-changing progressive on the Bally Cash Connection link.

If you like three-reel slots, tune in to the music of Jimmy Buffet and Margaritaville. The slot will include six bonuses and plenty of music, along with show concert clips, crowd shots, and plenty of the fun associated with Margaritaville. If your musical tastes run more to Cher, Scientific Games has you covered there too. Cher will be entertaining you with five hits, as the Concert Wheel awards credits and free games bonuses: Believe, Turn Back Time, It’s in His Kiss, All or Nothing, and Strong Enough.

Here’s a new theme for you Tim Curry fans who used to act out character roles in the midnight showings of the Rocky Horror Picture Show when you were coming of age. The cult classic is now a slot with five Time Warp game-based features and a wheel that awards credits, jackpots, or free spin bonuses. The game also includes many of the songs from the movie to keep you singing along.

Warner Brother’s classic comedy Caddyshack will also be debuting at G2E featuring clips from the movie starring Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, and Bill Murray for your gaming entertainment.

Additionally, Scientific Games will debut five follow-up titles for its hit licensed game library: Michael Jackson Icon, Wizard of Oz Not in Kansas Anymore, Elvis Lives, Friends I’ll Be There for You, and Titanic Heart of the Ocean.  

Scientific Games currently leads the industry in mobile and web solutions for lotteries. In addition they  provide 2000 Electronic Game Machines to the Oregon Lottery. They are now the world’s largest installation of Wide Area Progressives systems to table games within a single operator. Their breakthrough lottery retail technology will be on display at G2E with the PlayCentral HD, an interactive self-service kiosk for lottery instant and draw games, and high frequency draw games where allowed by law. The LCD touchscreen offers features like debit and credit card payments and ticket validation.

A bit of trivia while we’re talking about Wide Area Progressives: Bally’s Titanic made the news this July when Thomas Babcock, a 59 year old gamer from Ohio, won the WAP on his 3rd or 4th spin at the Sky City Casino Hotel in New Mexico. It was the largest jackpot ever hit on a Bally machine: $3,755,501.19.

Here’s something else new for Lottery play from Scientific Games. The company is combining its LinkedPlay holographic instant game concept with three WMS slot brands to create all new instant games. Players scratch off the play areas of Jackpot Party, Gold Fish, and Zeus Instant games to reveal familiar symbols from these popular games. The company is the first to use holographic  play symbols under an instant game scratch-off coating they say. 

Like the other exhibitors at G2E, Scientific Games has products for casino management as well as casino play. Bally Systems adds cutting edge solutions to SG’s lineup. They’ll be demonstrating BetVIEW, a secondary wagering application, BallyVIP, Bally Servico, Business Intelligence, Bally CoolSign, and Business Intelligence - all of more interest to management than gamers. They will also be featuring Tournaments Express, a stand-alone tournament system designed to offer slot tournaments on more than 100 different cabinets from various manufacturers. It quickly converts stand-alone games to tournament games and back.

SG will also be introducing 12 proprietary table games and several Shuffle Master progressive table games incorporating new software. The company’s Shuffle Master will feature the Safe-Bacc, a machine that combines a a shuffler and card-reading shoe into one device to increase game speed and improve security on baccarat tables. There are several other machines on display which will  improve action on the tables.

Scientific Games continues to provide innovative electronic table games (ETS). Heading the ETS segment this year will be a new game: Tablemaster Fustion - Playboy Bonus Blackjack. This one-of-a-kind blackjack game features the first ever licensed brand ETS product that incorporates a community “slot-like” bonus round and highlights the beauty of four Playboy Playmate dealers. More eye candy for you guys.

The most interesting mechanical device I read about was the one I found on Bally Technologies’ web site   https://www.ballytech.com/games/Take-'n-Play  It’s called the Take and Play.  The Take and Play is a mobile game system that allows players to leave the machine they’re playing and take their game with them through use of a hand-held tablet. The game still takes place on the original machine, but it is unavailable to other players. The player with the tablet can take his favorite game anywhere playing privately at any location the casino approves.

I first wondered why anyone would want to leave his game to play in another area of the casino. But then I had second thoughts. I can actually think of a lot of uses for the Take-’n-Play. I’ve known many Konami players who complain when they win the bonuses with “hundreds and hundreds” of spins. With a Take ’n Spin, these players could take their tablets with them for a restroom break, or they could get a drink without worrying about leaving their games unattended and their credits unguarded. Heck, if you had a room at the casino and that was one of their approved areas, you might even be able to get in a 15 minute cat nap while your hundreds and hundreds of spins were being played out.  I don’t know about you, but I’ll be looking for the Take ’n Play when I visit G2E next week.

Remember Scientific Games, Booth 1126, is also Bally and WMS. Take a look.