Spinning reels, like the crane’s claw at the seaside, or trays of toppling coins teetering as they move back and forth on a pusher, convey a powerful visual message to the player. They understand immediately the randomness of the game and can trust the electro-mechanical workings that bring it into play. Somehow a flat video screen does not elicit the same comprehension. Too many hidden things can be built into a computer programme…

Understandably, this slight distrust in technology affects older players more than younger ones, who have been brought up in a digital age. As Craig Beer from Empire Games points out, “Some players trust reel games, and like anything in life they will stick to what they are comfortable with.”

But it is not just that as Reflex Gaming’s Quentin Stott explains, “I think there is a type of player who enjoys the challenge of learning game features which are more associated with a hi-tech reel-based game than a simpler video-based offer. Whether the industry can entice these players onto video, and make the delivery commercially viable, remains the challenge.”

Kevin Weir from Electrocoin sums up, “With lo-tech -it is a trust issue but with hi tech, I think the attraction for a lot of players is about the layout of a feature game.”

He continues to point out that the longevity of reels in the two sectors will also be very different. “In the lo-tech sector, I think reels could be phased out quite soon in favour of video. As for the hi tech market, they may be phased out as some point in the future but not for a long time yet.”

One solution is to create hybrid slots – that offer both reels and video. “The opinion is that this can cater to both markets. It is not certain whether this will remain just a trend or establish itself in the market,” says Johannes Weissengruber, CEO of Apex Gaming.

He continues: “Reel games played the dominant role for slots for many years. There remains a market for such games although I believe that its market share will continue to fall. Multi-game video slots will continue to be the preferred machine to play on in the market. The next generation that has grown up with excellent video features (Xbox, Wii, etc) – expect higher graphics – and this will further increase the ratio video to reel.”

There can be no doubt that creating gaming machines on a video format allows for increase creativity plus much easier mass production, as Craig Beer points out,

“Obviously the more boundaries you push with video then the more time-consuming and the more costs are incurred, however production costs are eventually diminished if you are able to remotely download a game to the terminal.”

The costs to the operator are still relatively high to purchase video gaming machines however. As Quentin Stott explains, “The cost to us as a game developer isn’t the main issue to my mind, it is the cost of purchase to the customer which increases. This is down to the build costs associated with twin screen, PC based machines, usually housed in a metal cabinet.”

This is why in some countries, such as Germany, new ways of purchasing video AWPs have been explored with some success. For example, renting rather than selling machines ties the operator in for a longer period. And as the machines are able to provide several games within one cabinet and have new games downloaded on a regular basis, the workload for an operator is greatly reduced, as there is no need to remove one bulky machine and replace it with another.

Ariston is a family-owned German manufacturer of AWPs that exclusively supplies the domestic market. Ariston is both manufacturer and operator – therefore the family and employees have a host of information of what makes a winning AWP in Germany. So, it is interesting to note that the first AWPs they have certified to the new regulations are reel-based! The Piratenbraut (Pirate’s Bride) and Captain Jack. These were certified only a few weeks ago so are very new to the market.

Although the market has radically changed to multi-game in Germany, Ariston has found that there is still a demand for reel-based machines, particularly in bars and restaurants.

A similar story seems to emerge in the UK. Single sites remain among the strongest advocates for reel-based AWPs. As Kevin Weir says, “Single sites favour reels. The hi-tech game that single sites prefer work better on an analogue platform than digital. The space afforded on a glass still presents a better and clearer game for the hi-tech feature based game.”

Quentin Stott believes that although the low stake gaming sector has had more success with video, it will still take time to convince everyone. “All sectors of the UK market have traditionally had reels and therefore, I personally think that there are players in all low stake low jackpot market sectors who still enjoy reels. The move to increasing the quantity of video based gaming products in the low stake gambling arena will come down to commercial viability as much as anything else.”

Craig Beer agrees, “I can’t see reel-based games disappearing completely from the UK. The cost to implement a 100% video product base will be too high for most market sectors, and video at present doesn’t compare with some popular legacy products especially lower stake and prize games seen in FECs,” he says.

It seems clear that the reservations expressed in some quarters over video AWPs will disappear over time, as older players diminish in numbers or become more used to seeing and playing video gaming machines. As for the more exciting game play that can be found on hi-tech AWPs, for the time being, this does not appear to be successfully replicated on video and the purists will always prefer the realism of the spinning reels and flashing lights that constitutes a classic pub AWP.

The reel-based AWP will be here for some time to come – particularly in the more established markets, such as the UK and Germany. Players will insist on it, in the same way that they insist on bingo machines in Belgium, because it is part of the comforting, familiar experience of visiting the pub, just like the beer, the décor or the bar snacks. But where the location is secondary to the gambling – then video will continue to win out because of the wealth of options it offers.

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