For a long time, people have gambled with slot machines, and that is why, for me, this kind of game is very fascinating. It is amazing how over the years slot machines have transformed from mechanical devices to digital ones. This essay is all about the development and changes that have been made with the slot machine, and the transformation has us using the word “slot” for the kind of machine being used now.
The slot machine came into existence during the 1890s and 1900s. After Charles Fey invented the Liberty Bell in 1895, the machine started to become popular. Fey was a mechanical genius from San Francisco who made the first machine with spinning reels. The Liberty Bell machine offered far more combinations than earlier machines. It also had something no other machine had—Fey’s famous Liberty Bell ringing device to signal a jackpot win. That ingredient and the three-reel setup seem to have created the strong skeleton onto which the many styles of modern slot machines have been built.
The demand for innovation in the slot machine world increased with their popularity. Manufacturers of the early 20th century started to experiment with new designs and features. One of the most famous new developments at that time was the fruit machine. This took the already popular slot machine and changed the traditional symbols into vibrant fruit icons. Many of these machines used a payout method that dispensed chewing gum or candy, getting around the anti-gambling laws at the time. But all the same, it’s a slot machine, after all: put in a coin, pull the lever, hope for the best.
The slot machine took an essential turn in the 20th century. It did so in a very literal sense: the mechanics of the machine changed. The first electromechanical models emerged in the 1940s and grew increasingly popular through the ’50s. With these new machines came greater possibilities for the “games” of chance—now, up to three or five paylines appeared on the front of the machine, an illusion of complexity that served to draw in players. (The paylines are upside down “3-in-a-row!” was a game that transcended words….) And then, in the 1960s, came the great leap in complexity: the midcentury electromechanical machines were superseded by fully electronic ones.
Another enormous leap forward marked the late 20th century—with the dawning of digital technology. Fortune Coin Co. was the first to dabble in this newfangled technology, developing the first video slot machine in 1976. Instead of using “reels,” the video slot machine used a computer screen that simulated the way a physical slot machine spun its symbols. This was almost like replacing a pinball game with a digital facsimile of pinball. One big bang in hardware engineering took you from the pinball paradigm to the first slot machine.
Gambling went from mechanical slots to digital gaming, transformed by the internet. Casinos came online in the 1990s and straight into homes. And up went the “slot” sign on computer desktops. But transformation didn’t stop there, as the casino gaming industry ratcheted up its presence in digital spaces and took the imagination of players everywhere. Over the next decade, game designers and the casinos they served let virtual gaming spaces mimic and sometimes go beyond the presence of physical machines. And what a presence it is. Covering nearly every pace in popular culture, digital “slots” are now a virtual presence. Play them, and you might find yourself in ancient Egypt or at a Las Vegas casino.
The development of slot machines has certainly not slowed down in recent times. They have only evolved to stay in touch with the rapidly changing times. The advent of modern mobile technology and artificial intelligence has changed the way people play and interact with slot machines. Favoring handheld devices such as tablets and smartphones, most players now conveniently access slot games from these portable gadgets. The keyword “slot” surely has the power to keep people entertained even in a world where restrictions on where and when to enjoy such diversions are continuously being lifted. And the appearance of the artificial intelligence growth trend line that is not slowing down at all has made the slot machine even more innovative. It now can better adjust itself to a player’s gaming preferences and behavior.
The Future of Slots Is Bright and Bold! Soon, players will come across products of VR and AR that would change their interaction with these gambling machines. These are opportunities for which technology allows the real world and the virtual one to be almost completely eradicated, both through whoever uses these technologies being fully immersed in them and able to interact with all things around it. In this virtual world, inside the reels and through a portal to that graphical place) players will see gambling in an entirely new way. Virtual worlds exist outside of space. In it, [is a place] that can be central to the culture of skepticism,” said Eric Meyerhofer, CEO Gamblit Gaming: brand new stand-alone gaming and virtual reality product segments.
To sum up, the evolution of slot machines is a remarkable story. First, there were mechanical wonders that fundamentally used the concept of “slots” for their operation. Then came electrical and eventually-revolutionary digital variants, all leading to today’s high-performance gaming machines. For more than a century now, the word “slot” has been inseparably linked to the notion of gambling and has, almost by itself, carried all the connotations associated with that word. And as long as gambling and our dealings with chance remain a considerable part of human nature, the fascination with slots and slot machines will continue.