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Beyond turning a popular comic book series into a smash hit movie, what’s the best way to ensure you’ve got a ready-made group of people to watch your product even before the first trailer hits? The answer is to produce a movie based on a video game.
Regardless of whether the premise works or the delivery is up to scratch (think about what went wrong with the Street Fighter movie), movies about video games always do well at the box office because they have an existing fan base. Thanks to years of hype, development and interaction, the top video game titles are global hits and fans will often consume as much related content as possible.
Whether it is t-shirts, action figures, costumes or mobile apps, leading console games are great money spinners for Hollywood directors. Naturally, if this idea is true for filmmakers, then it should also be true for gaming companies. Casino products such as slot machines have evolved immensely over the last 40 years. In fact, while it was once the case that the biggest venues in Las Vegas used mechanical mechanisms to roll the reels, the leading operators now use digital technology to power their slots.
Moreover, thanks to the advent of online casinos, slots have been given a new lease on life. Today, the average video slot or online slot has an inbuilt series of bonus games, video sequences and animations, all of which have made it possible for developers to partner with various cultural icons.
Slots and Comics: A Perfect Match
Indeed, one of the most successful pairings in the online slot world over the last decade has been the association between slots and Marvel comic characters. From the Incredible Hulk to Spiderman and Iron Man, online software developers have taken all the best elements of these comic and cinematic creations and used them to inject a sense of energy and entertainment into their products.
Moreover, online casinos have used said games as hooks for prospective punters. When the average customer sees a character they’re familiar with it makes them more likely to ante-up and test out the game, and now video games are being touted as the next potential lure.
Much like comic books and other cultural icons used for slot games, such as singers (Elvis, for example) and TV shows, video games could be used to appeal to the next generation of gamers or the so-called “millennials.” An article in the Washington Post has already posited the idea in relation to Las Vegas casinos, but it’s also an idea that could work extremely well in the online arena. Indeed, throughout the history of slot machines the styling, structure and overall themes within the genre have moved to reflect the culture of the time.
Slots are Cultural Consumers
As we’ve mentioned, slot games were once mechanical and bore the images of Elvis or popular TV shows such as Wheel of Fortune. However, as technology has developed and cultural ideals have shifted, slots have become digital and commonplace online. That in turn has allowed developers to link games to popular movies or products enjoyed by the masses.
Because of the inseparable connection with slots and popular culture, it makes sense to suggest that video games could be the next medium to become a part of the slot community. In fact, while there’s no doubt that video game slots could attract millennials to ante-up, the benefit could also be mutual. By exposing seasoned slot players to sights and sounds from games such as Halo, it could bring a whole new demographic to the gaming arena.
Great Gaming Options for Slot Spinners
Of course, not all video games could cross the gaming divide. For example, the latest pricing and preview for Street Fighter V reveals an impressive looking game and a definite improvement on the original. However, fighting games don’t really have the necessary complexity or range of characters to fill a slot machine with interesting options. Fortunately, the gaming world is such much more than fighting games and that means there are dozens of intriguing possibilities out there, including the following:
Tetris – The classic game of falling blocks not only has structural similarities to slot machines (the symbols rolling in are likes blocks falling), but the range of colours and shapes lend themselves extremely well to the types of icons that are used in most online slots.
Guitar Hero – Sharing a similar structure to Tetris (players must react to different coloured icons travelling down the screen), Guitar Hero would also make a fantastic slot. Aside from the reasons given for Tetris being a great option, Guitar Hero is filled with animations and music, both of which are integral parts of the slots world.
Super Mario – Finally, it would be remiss of slot developers to forget about Super Mario when making a video game slot. The plucky plumber is a gaming icon and any slot imbued with his image would be a massive hit. Naturally, this concept could be taken a step further with some of the latest gaming icons, such as the Call of Duty cast or the Metal Gear Solid snipers.
The graphical complexity of these games is hugely impressive and would certainly make any slot based on them an instant hit. For example, if you check out the most recent trailer for Call of Duty Black Ops 3 or the Metal Gear Solid V review, you’ll not only marvel at the impressive imagery, but you’ll instantly see that they would lend themselves fantastically well to many common slot features, such as embedded video clips, sounds, and symbols.
Whether or not the next generation of gamers and casino gamers will flock to slots in the same way that previous generations have is unclear. However, if there’s one way in which they could be encouraged to do so, it’s with video games.