Even before the advent of the internet, slot games had come a long way from their mechanical origins. From the incorporation of electromechanical parts to a full switch over to digital, Slots have developed significantly over the course of a little over a century.
The games on offer now, if you look to play Slots online at Virgin Bet, look pretty different to the original slot games pioneered in the 1890s. So, read on to find out just how slot games have developed and what sort of features the digital age has helped to add.
The transition from mechanical to video Slots
The first step towards the online slot games of today came in the 1970s, as casinos began to phase out mechanical slot machines. These were often temperamental and were prone to influence from outside factors, thanks to the presence of their physical reels and internal mechanisms.
Video Slots quickly took over, with the internal workings of the cabinet replaced with a computer and the reels replaced with a screen. Rather than relying on the mechanism of a physical lever and reels, these games determined their outcome through a random number generator (RNG).
Random number generators are complicated computer algorithms that generate hundreds of numbers in a random, unpredictable sequence every second. Each number corresponds to the position of a symbol on the reels, with a set of numbers locked in at the moment the player initiates a spin.
The shift to online Slots
During the 1990s the casino scene began exploring the possibilities of the internet, like many other industries. As slot games has already almost entirely shifted to a digital form of presentation this made the jump online even easier.
Freed from the constraints of having to design for physical game cabinets, developers soon began to explore even more variations on the classic Slots formula. While graphics in the 90s were a lot less advanced and rather more pixelated, technology evolved quickly over the course of the next couple of decades.
Mobile devices also came onto the scene not long after, offering players the chance to access games from any device with a strong enough internet connection.
Innovation in themes and features
The biggest trend that has marked slot games in the digital age is the sheer amount of innovation. Developers can create games with far more variety in gameplay and features than ever before, leading to an abundance of options for players.
In terms of theming, modern slot games can utilise advanced sound effects, animations and graphics to set themselves apart. For Slots based on popular TV series and films, actual footage is often incorporated as part of the theming, as well as high-fidelity images of the characters and other iconic elements.
One feature that has especially taken off in online Slots is the Megaways format, which features reels that can show between one to seven symbols depending on the outcome of a spin. This offers an even greater degree of randomness and variability than traditional slot games.
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The digital revolution has pushed forward slot games and casinos in general, with games now offering an even wider variety of gameplay mechanics, theming and additional features.
