With new machines come new features...

[rupan777]

Hi everyone,

Today I wanted to write about some new features that are appearing in newer machines these days. I noticed that there is an approximately three or four month lag between when new machines are released and when you guys actually get them so I hope that this information will be of use.

Exhibit 1: Instant Big Bonus Round Entry

Wow, that sounds like some kind of lawyer jargon, eh? Anyway, this mode has been used in many recent machines: Bisty's CR Neo Genesis Evangelion, Daiichi's CR Sea Legend, Sankyo's Yoon-Son Ah, etc. This mode appears in most machines by getting some combination of numbers/characters (for example, in the above machine CR Sea Legend, by getting 1-2-3 in the middle vertical line) or "reach eye". The machine, at these points, will allow the player into an automatic big bonus (kakuhen) round. NOTE: you do not collect the initial jackpot payout, only entry and any payouts that occur thereafter.

Exhibit 2: Instant Chance Round Entry

This system is like the above but instead of entry into the big bonus mode, the player can gain entry (but, again, not necessarily payout) into a special high chance round, similiar to the 100-spin chance rounds that occur after exiting a big bonus round. This system is "borrowed" from pachislo and has appeared in machines before but its appearance has increased recently. One example of this is Kyoraku's popular Ultra Seven machine. When a certain combination of "yokoku" events occur during normal play, the machine can enter into three higher chance modes listed in order of odds of winning, lower to higher: communications room mode, raincloud mode, Moroboshi Dan mode. All three of these modes have a finite number of spins but, again, have higher odds of winning.

Exhibit 3: The Wing-Type/Digital Pachinko Hybrid

I don't know if this will be a trend but it has popped up every once in a while. The most recent example of this hybrid is Sankyo's CRF Treasure Ship:

http://www.sankyo-fever.co.jp/machin...le/tb/top.html

If you notice the top part of the playfield, above the digital display, there is a wing mechanism similiar to CRF Aqua Paradise, CR Big Shooter, etc. When the white "lucky" cat in the middle reel stops in the middle line of the screen, the wing opens up for about one second allowing a 10 ball? payout for each ball that can be shot into that area of the playfield. Also connected to that, if a ball gets deposited into the "lucky gate" in that area as below:

point1_18[1].jpg

the player can get a "lucky ticket" which, if enough are collected, can be exchanged in the game (they are not real paper tickets ) for high chance reaches, extra bonus redraws, etc.