We all love playing Wizardslots, but not many of us know about the machine’s history. Slot machines have seen a long and fruitful history, but how did it all begin, and is there a history to it all? This article is going to answer this question for you by taking a look at three things you must know about the history of slots:
- The origins of slot machines
- The slots of today
- The slots of tomorrow
So, where did it begin?
The origins of slot machines are not quite as obvious as they may seem - in fact, historians have been furiously debating the humble beginnings of our fruity friends. Well, really it depends on what you mean by slot machines. The first ‘coin in slot’ machines didn’t actually involve gambling at all – in fact, they were used to activate toys such as horse races.
However, if we’re talking gambling slots, the origins lay in 1895 when the first 'true' slot machine was created by Charles Fey in San Francisco. The key feature of this great pioneer was automatic payouts for winners - this truly was cutting edge technology in the 19th century.
20th Century Slots
Let’s be honest - most of us have never actually ever used a mechanical slot machine. What today’s generation are familiar with is what is called an 'electromechanical slot machine', which first arose in 1963. Some might argue that the sensation of pulling the lever and hearing the clunky mechanisms added a humble charm to mechanical slots – but the winds of change swapped levers with buttons and mechanisms with circuit boards. Digital slots are what we see most of all today, but these can exist in two key forms – casino slots, and virtual slots. In this day and age, virtual slots are shining bright, promising the ultimate gambling experience with innovations never seen before.
The Future of Slots
Slot machines truly have transcended their name – these days you more likely to come across the virtual form of them, which exist on various platforms including
- Mobile Phones
- Desktop and Laptop Computers
- Tablets
However, technology is moving faster and faster at an exponential rate, so these slot machine formats are likely to be out of date sometime in the not-so-distant future. We predict this is going to be in the form of virtual reality – it’s already been done, and with all other forms of entertainment pointing towards VR, we see no reason why slot games won’t do the same.
A Fruitful History
Overall, slot machines absolutely have a history, a fruitful one at that. Slot machines started as rudimentary mechanical devices, slowly developed into electromechanical and eventually digital – yet all this time, the true nature of the classic slots experience has remained. We can’t wait to see what the future of slots has to hold!