The venerable slot machine is undergoing a generational shift: for more than a century, since its invention by a German immigrant named Charles Fay in the 1890s, all a slot machine required was cash, faith, and the ability to pull a lever or push a button.This evolution is discussed in detail on the original site.

But now a new class of machines, aimed at attracting younger players who grew up playing video games, demands something else: skill.

Adding an element of hand-eye coordination, however simple, is just one way slot makers are striving to broaden the appeal of the insistent ringing devices that have proven so popular with older players. In addition to new devices that offer extra rewards for game-playing dexterity, manufacturers are developing joint games that link a group of machines popular with those under 40.

Upcoming slot machines with joysticks are expected to be particularly popular in the industry, as are many Internet games that allow users to link up and play against top10gambling.net.

Industry research shows that with casino gambling legalized in dozens of states and cable TV channels turning top poker players into celebrities, 21- to 40-year-olds are less morally resistant to gambling than are baby boomers and their parents. Young people are heading to Las Vegas and other gambling hot spots in droves.

The problem for the industry is that they spend far less time in casinos than older players.

Younger players come to town to party," says George Maloof Jr., president of Palms Casino Resort, a popular Las Vegas hangout for people under 40. 'They drink, go to nightclubs, go to after-hours clubs, and check out the pool scene. Gambling is generally not their main concern.

But gambling, especially playing the slots, still helps pay the bills. Slot machines are sometimes called "beautiful vaults" in the industry because they bring in nearly three-quarters of the approximately $60 billion in gambling revenue generated by U.S. casinos.

Manufacturers therefore aim to provide casino operators with the money machines they need to justify the billions of dollars they have spent and continue to spend to expand existing facilities or open facilities in new markets.

Editor's Pick.

Monica Lewinsky's Reemergence as a Model

Why Landing Upright on the Moon is Hard

If You Only See One Bieber Movie This Year...

Frank Legato, editor-in-chief of the trade publication Global Gaming Business, said, "With all this growth, every casino has to bring in new players. It's important to keep bringing new players into the casinos, not to recycle players already there."

Most of the more than $1 billion that the approximately one million slot machines in the United States typically earn in a single day goes to winners. But depending on the casino and whether it is a penny, nickel, quarter, or dollar machine, about 5 percent to 10 percent stays with the casino.

Slot makers need to figure out how to train these young players. They need them for the bottom line."

Tim Stanley, chief information officer for Las Vegas gambling giant Harrah's Entertainment, which operates dozens of casinos across the country, said one problem for the industry is that younger customers, even if they do gamble, tend to choose less profitable table games over slot machines. He said one problem for the industry is that younger customers, even when they do gamble, tend to choose less profitable table games over slot machines.

Image.

Software quality engineer Carl Jacobson tests a pong-based slot machine at Bally's game development office in Huntington Beach, Calif.

Credit.Stephanie Diani for The New York Times

Slot makers acknowledge that they are in the early stages of their efforts to attract younger players. Furthermore, they do not want to discourage their primary users. They continue to create games aimed at reaching what they perceive to be the industry's most coveted users: women between the ages of 55 and 65 who have time to spare and money to spend.

Still, a new generation of machines is beginning to displace the boxy, chrome-plated devices that have dominated the slot floor for decades.

These machines are loaded with features such as surround sound, flat-panel display screens, and the vivid images found in today's video games. One of the most popular is a slot machine based on the movie "Top Gun," created by WMS Gaming of Waukegan, Illinois.

According to slot makers, joysticks are right around the corner, and in the next few years casinos will begin investing in networked gaming systems that allow for the mix of gambling and head-to-head gaming popular in online computer games such as "World of Warcraft" and "Halo. Industry experts predict that casinos will begin to invest in network systems that allow for a mix of gambling and head-to-head gaming, popular in online computer games like "World of Warcraft" and "Halo.

We can't make slots with a 55-year-old woman who comes to the casino a few times a month in mind," said one industry expert, who asked not to be identified. 'If we don't appeal to the new bucket of players, we're dead.

At Showboat Casino in Atlantic City, the younger generation is particularly attracted to co-op machines, says general manager Jay Snowden, 31.

Slot makers face conflicting demands in trying to appeal to the widest possible demographic. They have long made games that appeal to those who want to dawdle in front of a machine with no physical or mental strain. Younger players, however, are looking for games that are more challenging.

After years of solitude on Gameboys, TVs, and computers, young people want real human interaction," says Joseph S. Weinert, an analyst with Spectrum Gaming Group, an Atlantic City-based consultancy. That's why poker is so popular alongside other table games."

Still, the generation that grew up with digital electronics isn't going to turn its back on them. In an attempt to appeal to a younger generation of gamblers, Las Vegas-based Bally Technology has struck a deal with video game pioneer Atari to develop a series of skill-based slot machines, starting with a pong-type machine. Launched in May, the games include a paddle control knob that players use to reach the bonus round.

But skill will only take players so far, as these machines are still tuned to pay out less than they earn.

Barry unveiled Atari's second title, Breakout, last month in Las Vegas, where the casino industry gathered for its annual trade show.

Brian Colin, 24, a regular customer at the casino, said he rarely sits down at a slot machine, and that too only for 20 minutes when he is "drunk and really bored." When he is usually in the casino, he plays poker, blackjack, or craps.

When Breakout comes to the casino, he said, "I'd love to give it a try."

Bally Vice President Marcus Prater said both Pong and Breakout were designed by "Southern California guys in shorts and flip-flops" who work at a studio the company established in Huntington Beach, California.

Similarly, International Game Technology, the industry's largest slot manufacturer, turned to another outsider, Silicon Valley industrial design firm Whipsaw, to create the more sophisticated slot machines it unveiled at last year's trade show.

Dan Harden, president of Whipsaw, said, "We're talking about a different language, a completely different machine. The idea is to redesign the machine that drives the gambling industry to appeal not only to the "Cadillac generation" but also to the "BMW generation," Harden said.

Useful Resources

The World’s Most Passionate Gambling Nations

Come scoprire il segreto per scegliere una slot vincente