The Changes and Progress of Slot Machines

It has been more than a century already since the first slot machine was invented by Charles August Fey - the Liberty Bell. The important developments of slot machines occurred between the late years of 1970 and the present.

Rest assured that we would be witnessing much greater changes and developments in the coming years because technology will not stop advancing thus allowing the possibilities of more ideas for the world of slot machines.

The following is the timetable of the various changes and developments that have happened to slot machines.

1897: The year that the Liberty Bell, a mechanical slot machine, was invented by a car mechanic named Charles August Fey. Liberty Bell has three reels with four symbols on every reel and the jackpot is 50 cents.

1898 - 1909: The popularity of slot machines grew. A number of new companies start to make similar machines like that of Liberty Bell but the appearance is a little bit different from the original. Since the demand for new games became high, the industry of slot games is constantly growing.

1909: Slot manufacturers experienced a setback because many campaigners for anti-gambling were able to get the games banned. But this was just a momentary setback.

1964: The introduction of the electro-mechanical slot machines by Bally Manufacturing occurred. These machines have electronic parts. Lights, sounds, coin hopper, and the choice to bet for multiple coins are added.

1975: The pioneering video slot machines were released. It is a video screen game called Fortune Coin that was invented by Walt Fraley. Slot players are a little bit hesitant about it and they still prefer the spinning reel slots to the virtual reel slots.

1976: The International Game Technology or IGT procure the Fortune Coin manufacturer. IGT uses the Fortune Coin technology to create new slot games. They became the second biggest slot manufacturers that focuses on the video reel slots.

1979: With the invention of video poker, the popularity of video slot machines grew. Players get a hand on video poker machines quickly that led to the introduction of the first generation of video slot machines.

1980 - Today: More innovations for the slot machines are being made such as the linked progressives and bonus games. The famous slot machine makers are continuously adding new and very exciting features to the current video slots. The linking of jackpots was made possible. It has the capability of giving out multi-million dollar jackpots that grow quickly and being hit more often. Bonus games are also added to the features of slot machines for more excitement and thrill.

Video slot machines have already come a long way if compared to the Liberty Bell. And slot machines will surely continue to grow and progress in the coming years.