Products NEWS AND UPDATES CASINO SYSTEMS & SLOTS Title: UHP Portal Apps
Company: WMS Gaming
www.wms.com
In an effort to provide casino executives with the tools they need to continuously engage players on their slot floors, WMS recently introduced the latest floor-ready product and platform innovation - the Ultra Hit Progressive (UHP) Portal family. As the company’s first commercially available Portal family, with others to debut throughout 2011 and into 2012, UHP will enable operators to competitively differentiate their casino floors while providing unprecedented player experiences.
UHP themes are mystery-triggered, multi-level progressives that can be integrated with a large selection of WMS video and mechanical reel base games. The UHP themes advertise imminent jackpots on the base game screen, in the gaming cabinet’s top screen, as well as on optional strategically located signage. As coin-in increases and the progressive triggers are approached, robust visuals are displayed and ambient sounds are amplified to celebrate the big win across the banks of eligible games.
The first theme in the UHP Portal Family that is currently available for the slot floor is Jackpot Explosion. Lava fills a volcano on the top screen while lava rises around the reels on the primary screen as coin-in builds. Excitement intensifies at the bank level until the volcano dramatically erupts, awarding one lucky player one of four progressive awards. Piggy Bankin is the second and soon-to-be released theme in the UHP Portal family and features coins piling into a piggy bank that grows larger and larger, shaking, swelling, cracking until it ultimately reaches critical mass and explodes - awarding one lucky player a progressive award.
Early results have shown that WMS UHP products experienced an average 30-40 percent increase in coin-in at select locations, compared to other games without UHP. UHP Portal technology has already received regulatory approval in three commercial casino markets (Iowa, Mississippi, BCLC), as well as multiple tribal approvals in California, Connecticut and Michigan. By year-end, regulatory approval is expected in up to six additional commercial casino markets with more tribal gaming approvals.
The Ultra Hit Progressive Portal family is an integral part of the WMS WAGE-NET Networked Gaming solution. First showcased at G2E 2009, the WAGE-NET Portal Application Suite leverages the flexibility of networked gaming functionality to extend the life cycle of base game themes by adding new entertainment experiences on slot machines connected to the network. Operators can mix and match WMS video and mechanical reel base games with secondary integrated bonus applications designed to keep themes on the floor longer, boost game performance, and deliver a superior experience to their players, but they also provide hundreds of new
“When we began creating the UHP games such as Piggy Bankin and Jackpot Explosion, the features that we were excited about were the audio and visuals with increasing coin-in and the eventual celebration moment, and the energy this would create on the casino floor. For players, this creates more excitement and intensity as they see the volcano filling up with
“These features show players that machines are closer to triggering and that makes them want to continue playing.” Robin Littleworth, WMS
lava in Jackpot Explosion or the piggy bank expanding and cracking as coin-in increases in Piggy Bankin. These features show players that the machines are getting closer to triggering, it’s an active bank, and that makes them want to continue playing. It drives an excitement level that can eventually permeate the casino floor."
Robin Littleworth, Senior Director Game Studios, WMS.
ways for a casino to differentiate their floor. The UHP configuration allows for the return percentage allocated to the jackpot to be high, which is often key in a player’s decision to continue to play a game and allows for an exciting and rewarding experience.
Other Portal application families that WMS will debut in the near future include Winner’s Share, MetaScreen and Mega Multiplier. Winner’s Share adds a secondary bonus opportunity on top of video or mechanical reel base games to provide one player with an exciting progressive game experience when the bonus is randomly triggered.
Winner’s Share debuted at G2E 2010 with the Peng- Wins theme, in which a penguin slides, bounces and slips through an interactive environment, while the player collects credit card awards from one per cent to 200 per cent of the progressive jackpot.
G3 I JUNE 2011 I PAGE 54
MetaScreen provides a true competitive slot experience with the debut of Pirate Battle, a 2-vs- 2 COMMUNITY GAMING theme available exclusively in banks of four Bluebird xD cabinets with special 32- inch overhead monitors . The monitors join to form a massive, singular screen on which a bonus canon battle randomly occurs, as red and blue teams compete for credit and progressive awards.
Finally, the Mega Multiplier Portal application family, featuring bonus action powered by a real-time physics engine and several unique looks that can be swapped out on any gaming machine connected to the Mega Multiplier Central Game Controller. Mega Multiplier randomly awards players credits they can store and use to trigger the Portal application at any time they choose to launch a pinball into the top screen for a chance to multiply their stored credits up to 100 times.
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