Modern online casino games not only play brilliantly, but they look fantastic. When visiting a top online casino, you are spoiled for choice in terms of games. A huge amount of time and effort goes into developing casino games, with slot games being a good example. There are many aspects that go into creating an online slot game, and the influences from different areas, such as the gaming subculture, can be seen in modern slots games.
Visuals and Graphics
According to bestcasino.co.uk, visuals and graphics are an important factor for players when they are choosing slots games. Providers tend to put a lot of focus on this area and the influence of video games on slots can be seen in the titles that they have released in recent years.
Traditional slot games featured three or five reels with fruit symbols such as cherries, lemons, melons, grapes, and plums. This led to many slot games being known as “fruit machines.” Bells and the bar symbol were also common in the early slot machine games.
However, as slots have moved online, it has allowed developers to use computer graphics to produce slot games that look a lot like video games.
Some of the most popular online slots like Gonzo’s Quest have been hugely influenced by gaming culture. This is evident by the visuals and graphics used in the game. Gonzo himself appears as a cartoon character on the side of the slot, much like a character you would control in a video game. The reels are replaced by blocks, and they fall away to be replaced by other blocks, featuring different types of ancient carvings. Behind the blocks, you will see a tropical jungle location, complete with ancient ruins and this combines with the blocks and the Gonzo character to produce a slot that is visually influenced by gaming culture.
Gonzo’s Quest is not the only slot game that is influenced graphically by gaming culture and many more of the world’s leading slots games take visual ideas from video games. For example, the hugely popular Book of Dead is a throwback to some of the great adventure video games with Egyptian themes, such as Tomb Raider and Assassin’s Creed.
Sound
When presented with a choice of slots games at an online casino, the potential sound when playing the slot is not the main priority. In most cases, the visuals are what catches your eye when you are browsing the slot catalogue at an online casino.
However, the importance of sound should not be underestimated when playing slots games. Sound plays a key role in the success of video games and the same applies to online slots games.
When you have good audio which enhances the visual side of the slots, it adds a great deal to the overall theme of the slot game. The best online slots have music soundtracks or sound effects that compliment the theme of the slot, and it is another example of the influence gaming culture has had on slot games, as soundtracks have been a key component of video games for more than thirty years.
Video Game Based Slots
Such is the influence of gaming culture on slots games, we now have slots based completely on video games. Tomb Raider is one of the biggest video game franchises of the past 20 years and has sold millions of copies worldwide.
Rather than attempting to create a slot game like Tomb Raider, Microsoft decided to buy the rights and create a Tomb Raider slot. There are images of Lara Craft in various poses on the reels along with ancient artifacts and animals. Tomb Raider is not the only video game franchise to be developed into an online slot game for real money. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is another example of a hugely popular video game franchise that has been used to create a slot game.
Hitman has also been developed into an online slot with the main character, Agent 47, featured on the reels as a symbol. The attention to detail when making the switch from video game to slot game is superb and fans of the Hitman video game will enjoy playing the slot.
Other video games that have been successfully made into slots include Resident Evil and Street Fighter. The latter allows you to choose a character to play with, exactly as you would when playing the video game. In fact, Street Fighter is based so closely on the video game, you can even play the car smash bonus game.
Final Thoughts
It is clear to see how gaming culture has heavily influenced many online slots. From visuals and graphics to sound and theme, online slots have a strong link to gaming culture. iGaming and video games are intrinsically linked, and providers will continue to deliver titles that are influenced by video gaming culture in order to keep their brand recognizable and competitive.
