Konami’s new vision may be to pursue mobile games aggressively but that doesn’t mean it has forgotten one of the biggest markets for today’s gaming world: casino players. Konami already has an impressive line of slot titles but the Tokyo-based company is showing no signs of ending its love for manufacturing casino machines.
Just last year, Konami launched two slot machines themed after Dungeons and Dragons namely “Conquests and Treasures” and “Enchanted Riches.” According to the games’ description, both have a 4-level progressive feature, free spins, and Xtra Reward features.
4-level progressive is a fancy term used by game developers for bonus rounds, which can be triggered after playing a slot machine for a certain period of time. Bonus rounds usually yield bigger winnings than the payouts given by regular spins.
Free spins are pretty much self-explanatory. They award free games, and can be unlocked when a player hits 3 specific icons from a single spin. Xtra Reward, on the other hand, is Konami’s original slot feature that is offered to players who bet big.
According to G3 Newswire, guests actually waited in line when the game was first launched at the Valley View Casino and Hotel in San Diego. Apart from cool prizes from the event organizers, each guest was given an official action figure patterned after the slot machines’ fire-breathing dragon model.
“The players we see this day and age are out looking for entertainment, and there’s a lot of entertainment value in the new Dungeons & Dragons slot machines,” said Randy Reedy, the Vice President of Valley View’s slot operations. “They really enjoy the experience. Just watching them, they get excited about additional bonuses within the free spin feature, which takes them to the progressive functionality. It’s very fun and interactive.”
Today’s young gamers are usually the target market for slot makers. This is evident with UK-based entertainment outfit Betfair, having popular games that carry with them the commercial licenses of DC Comics and several other movie franchises. There are already enough slot machines tailored for the more mature audience so slot developers are now trying to expand their market by attracting the younger demographic.