How the graphics of slots have evolved over time
The history of the global gambling industry is truly fascinating, especially when you consider the many twists and turns that have dotted its narrative up to today. Something that may surprise quite a lot of people is the fact that casinos as we know them today have only really been around since the 1600s, with all gambling taking place before then being unregulated and a lot less controlled by the authorities.
Whilst the population of the world were gambling heavily before this, it was after the emergence of the first casino in Venice that the casino gambling industry properly kicked off. Roulette was the first game to really capture people’s imaginations, proving to be the catalyst for the emergence of super casinos across Europe. It was slots, however, that really changed things, read on to find out about how the graphics of slots have evolved over time – click here.
A time before slot graphics
A man called Charles D. Fey is responsible for the world’s first ever slot machine, with the Liberty Bell machine being invented back in the late 1800s. By today’s standards this slot was incredibly simple, having only a handful of symbols and 3 reels, however at the time it proved to be incredibly popular, spreading across California like wild-fire.
It is difficult to really talk about slot graphics back then, because they were completely limited to what people could paint onto the mechanical reels.
The Las Vegas slot gambling boom of the 60s
Although they pretty much instantly became incredibly popular, the earliest slot machines didn’t really look that inviting, but this all changed at the start of the Las Vegas slot gambling boom of the 60s. Developers were intent on making their games look as dazzling as possible, utilizing vibrant colours and inviting graphics for the first time.
This was also the point where more of the classic slot icons such as gold BARS and lucky 7s were invented, helping to make the reel spinning action a lot more exciting. We guess you could say slot graphics technically originated here, however developers were still incredibly limited due to the mechanical makeup of slots.
RNG and video slots
At the start of the 1980s developers made a breakthrough that allowed them to use digital screens to hold the reels for the very first time. The RNG, or Random Number Generator, was the final piece of the puzzle, and it solved the problem of how to make sure the reels would spin randomly on a digital screen.
Now developers could actually work on the graphics of their slots for the first time, and the results were tremendous!
Online slots and the trend towards HD graphics
When online slots first arrived on the market in the early 2000s people were incredibly excited, however the graphics themselves were still quite basic. Fast forward two decades and HD online slot graphics are the name of the game, with most major developers using them.
