The late 1800s must have been an extremely uneventful period in time that people had to find ways to entertain themselves. However, the same boredom that bred discontent was the same catalyst that encouraged an entrepreneurial American by the name of Charles Fey to create one of the most important gaming machines ever made the slot machine. Touted as the Liberty Bell, this slot machine is considered as the pioneer of modern American slot machines, with its basic, functional design. In fact, its classic design and workmanship is still being used in the mechanical gaming devices of today. Nobody would have thought that three simple reels holding 20 various symbols would ignite a trend that seems to grow stronger everyday. The original Liberty Bell also had a bell that chimed loudly when a player hit the winning combination. While Mills had the bell removed, the bell was subsequently used in modern-day slot machines. Due to the Liberty Bells wide success, it underwent further modifications to adapt to the demands of the times. The advent of the electronic age brought about a massive modernization with slot machines, and the first electronic slots were introduced in the 1960s. More secure (and less vulnerable to cheating) than the mechanical models, these electronic machines were able to give much larger prizes to players due to their ability to give as many stops as they wanted. By 1975, the first video slot was born in Las Vegas, introduced by Walt Fraley. Called the Fortune Coin, this early model of the video slot had only three basic elements namely, "a solid state logic assembly, a television set, and a hopper." Throughout the decade, the video slots slowly made their presence known in the gaming industry, and were not well-received by many at first. The reason for this was the fact that players could not physically see the reels spinning for themselves, which led them to wonder whether they really could win. However, this all changed in the 1980s, with the introduction Draw Poker, IGTs video poker machine. In the years that followed, the trend towards gambling video machines swept the gaming industry, and the once overlooked video slots gained a newfound popularity. Newer video slot models, such as the multi-line, with better technology were introduced, and huge rows of the modernized one arm bandit now fill casinos all over the world. Video slot machines are an entertainment package in itself, showcasing not only the well-loved games of slot, but a whole array of sights and sounds, featuring characters and music from our popular culture of today. |
