AUSTIN, Texas & LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Multimedia Games Holding Company, Inc. (Nasdaq: MGAM) (“Multimedia Games” or the “Company”) invites customers and players to PLAY LOUDER™ as it brings the distinct sense of Austin to the twelfth annual Global Gaming Expo (G2E®) from October 2-4, 2012, in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Sands Expo & Convention Center (Booth #1165). The Company’s new products on display at G2E 2012 draw on the creativity and technological savvy of its Austin, Texas roots which combine to deliver an innovative and highly amplified gaming experience. Multimedia Games will demonstrate an expanded reach for its award-winning TournEvent® slot tournament system, new content and game mechanics that add to its portfolio of player-popular video and mechanical reel gaming machines and new titles for its successful High Rise Games® series of premium participation games.
Patrick Ramsey, President and Chief Executive Officer of Multimedia Games, commented, “Continuing to build a diverse portfolio of great games and technologies that address all U.S. gaming markets is a critical element to our long-term growth and our showing at G2E 2012 will clearly demonstrate that our targeted investment in product development is delivering results. We’re committed to developing distinct new gaming experiences for our customers and their players. Our display this year at G2E will include 31 innovative new titles which highlight our ability to create the differentiated play features, enhanced art and dynamic sound that players love. In particular, Multimedia Games is taking our TournEvent® of Champions™, which has been a huge success already in several states, nationwide in a year-long event that will culminate at G2E 2013. We will also extend the excitement of our High Rise Games series with two great new games and will showcase our re-designed Player HD® cabinet featuring new lighting effects. Finally, we are excited to bring a slice of Austin fun to the show with daily live performances by Austin-based band Micky and the Motorcars.”
G2E 2012 Kicks Off Nationwide TournEvent of Champions
TournEvent – named one of Casino Enterprise Management’s “Top Slot Floor Technology Products” in 2010 and 2011 and recognized by Global Gaming Business as a “Best Consumer Technology” in 2010 (3rd place) and 2011 (Honorable Mention) – will once again capture center stage at G2E. Offering industry-leading functionality that has revolutionized the slot tournament experience, TournEvent 4.0 enables a dynamic and interactive tournament at the touch of a button and enables operators to create unique team slot tournaments for the first time, offering a variety of customizable configurations based on the number of players, mechanics of team advancement, rankings and tournament prize awards.
Multimedia Games has recently leveraged the growing number of TournEvent installations in California and Washington to create a pair of statewide TournEvent of Champions slot tournaments. These events included multiple pre-qualifying rounds at participating casinos that whittled thousands of contestants to approximately 300 top contenders at each property who competed in final qualifying rounds. The local winners in California competed for the top prize and state-wide bragging rights aboard a Celebrity Wine Tour cruise. Local winners in Washington, who were selected from over 10,000 players at 13 casinos, received cash, roundtrip airfare to Las Vegas and a suite at the Venetian Las Vegas Casino, along with a chance to compete on October 3, 2012, for the top prize and state-wide bragging rights. The Championship event begins with round one on the G2E show floor in Multimedia Games’ booth (#1165) at 4:00 p.m. PT and will continue at 6:30 p.m. PT in Lagasse’s Stadium at The Palazzo.
With the growing availability of TournEvent – currently in over 100 casinos in 22 jurisdictions – Multimedia Games is ready to take the TournEvent of Champions nationwide. Kicking off at G2E 2012, the National TournEvent of Champions will begin at participating casinos in January 2013 and the Company’s TournEvent of Champions tournament bus – which will debut on the show floor at G2E 2012 – will roll across the nation to help promote and celebrate local semifinal events taking place between March and September. The nationwide TournEvent of Champions culminates at G2E 2013 where the championship event will crown the nation’s best slot tournament player.
Mr. Ramsey added, “The incredible buzz generated by TournEvent of Champions in both California and Washington State as well as the overwhelming demand for our TournEvent slot tournament system made it clear that we needed to offer our customers an unparalleled slot tournament experience on a national level. Our team has created a fantastic turnkey solution that leverages the power of TournEvent to generate instant floor-wide buzz and help improve floor performance at our customers’ facilities. We encourage all G2E 2012 attendees to stop by the Multimedia Games booth to experience the power of TournEvent and sign on to bring the excitement of our upcoming nationwide TournEvent of Champions to their casino floor. The nationwide TournEvent of Champions will roll across the country in 2013, bringing increased gaming revenues to participating casinos and unmatched player excitement.”
Demonstrating an Expanding Portfolio of New Games and Proven Series
Multimedia Games continues the success of its development efforts with a variety of new games that address all gaming markets. These games include:
- Side Action® Scratch & Win™: Building on the success of the Side Action® series, which adds a secondary game that plays out simultaneously with the traditional base game, Multimedia Games will debut a new base game, Summer Days™, with Side Action Scratch & Win. Based on universally popular instant scratch and win lottery tickets, in the Side Action Scratch & Win game, players increase the number of tickets they play as they increase their bet per line up to a maximum of five tickets.
- Smokin’ Hot Jackpots™ Series: Debuting with six unique 3-reel mechanical game themes – including Top Shelf®, Tiger 7’s®, Double Jackpot®, Smokin’ 777®, Flamingo 7’s® and Gold Standard® – the Smokin’ Hot Jackpots series from Multimedia Games features a linked 11-tier progressive with a unique 24” top box that offers 2x Wilds at all bet levels.
- Wild a Go-Go™: The sequel to Multimedia Games’ most popular title, Carnival in Rio®, Wild a Go-Go takes players back to the 1960’s every time they enter a bonus round. This 4x5, 5-reel video game features psychedelic graphics, energetic music and live-action dancers as themed, animated stacked symbols.
- Flash Point™: A 5-reel, 50-line video game, Flash Point is a departure from 70’s style casino games, offering a gritty, bubbling-hot fire theme that stands apart from the crowd with edgy audio and video elements. The Flash Point Bonus offers guaranteed big wins of at least 10x the total bet with every free spin bonus trigger.
- Good Luck Charm™: The first fully-customizable game from Multimedia Games, this 5-reel, 50-line video theme allows players to choose from one of four lucky charms (shamrock, star, horseshoe and rabbit’s foot) which then determine the theme of the game screen and the wild symbol during game play.
Growing Portfolio of Popular Premium Participation Games
Building on the successful recent launch of its first premium participation products, Multimedia Games is also expanding its High Rise Games portfolio at G2E 2012 with two new titles that will further leverage the uniquely designed gaming cabinet – which features a vertically oriented 37” LCD top-screen – to again deliver a visually thrilling player experience. Since its initial commercial launch in March 2012, the installed base of High Rise Games has grown to 97 units placed in eight markets as of June 30, 2012, with strong performance in all markets to date.
Ramsey commented, “Our High Rise Games cabinet and five initial game titles continue to generate solid results on customers’ slot floors and we are excited to demonstrate new premium participation game titles this year. We’ve successfully entered this growing segment of the slot floor and believe that the exciting base game play and innovative bonus rounds of High Rollin’™ and Wild Rainforest® with MoneyBall® offer compelling and distinct gaming experiences that will appeal to slot players. The new games for the High Rise Games series complement our existing product portfolio and further our ability to address a wider range of customer needs.”
The two new High Rise Games series games debuting at G2E 2012 are:
- High Rollin’: Designed to remind players of vintage Vegas classics, this 5-reel, 30-line video reel High Rise Game brings back three of the Company’s most popular 3-reel mechanical titles (Lucky Cherry™, Smokin’ 777 and Top Shelf) in the bonus rounds to provide traditional appeal in an all-new package. The High Rollin’ Bonus is triggered when three Bonus symbol land scattered on reels 1, 3 and 5, and the player is presented with one of the three bonus games. During bonus round play, the visually striking top box transforms to match the game – cherries during the Lucky Cherry bonus, flames during the Smokin’ 777 bonus and ice cubes during the Top Shelf bonus – and displays the big win celebration at the conclusion of the bonus round.
- Wild Rainforest with MoneyBall: Introduced last year, MoneyBall returns to G2E with a popular Multimedia Games base game theme, Wild Rainforest. The visually stunning MoneyBall Bonus adds a perceived skill element, which is triggered when three MoneyBall symbols land on the reels. Players are awarded three shots on one of four differently themed top box play screens that mirror the action of a pachinko machine and combine stunning animation elements. Players can select the direction of the launch and watch as the ball hits pins, bumpers, multi-ball triggers, 3x fireballs or a ball lock, which transitions to an additional 3-reel or wheel spin mini-bonus.
Ramsey concluded, “Multimedia Games is making great progress with the expansion of our product portfolio by creating attractive, differentiated games and themes that address our customers’ needs. We are bringing to G2E 2012 our unique brand of Austin, Texas fun and are confident that the over 100 games on display at the show will deliver on our promise of helping our customers generate a solid return on their purchase or placement of our games while adding a new level of fun to their slot floors.”
Product names mentioned in this release are trademarks of Multimedia Games and/or its wholly owned subsidiaries, except for “G2E,” which is a registered trademark of the American Gaming Association and Reed Elsevier Inc. Used with permission.
About Multimedia Games Holding Company, Inc.
Through its wholly owned subsidiaries, Multimedia Games Holding Company, Inc. (“Multimedia Games”) develops and distributes gaming technology. The company is a creator and supplier of comprehensive systems, content and electronic gaming units for Native American gaming markets, as well as for commercial casinos and charity and international bingo markets. Revenue is primarily derived from gaming units in operation domestically and internationally installed on revenue-sharing arrangements. Multimedia Games also supplies the central determinant system for the video lottery terminals (“VLTs”) installed at racetracks in the State of New York. The company is focused on pursuing market expansion and new product development for Class II, Class III and VLT markets. Additional information may be found at www.multimediagames.com.
Cautionary Language
This press release contains forward-looking statements based on Multimedia Games' current expectations and projections, which are intended to qualify for the safe harbor from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The words "believe", "expect", "continue", "intend", "plan", "seek", "estimate", project", "may", or the negative or other variations thereof or comparable terminology as they relate to Multimedia Games and its products, plans, and markets are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and projections of future events.
These forward-looking statements reflect the current views, models, and assumptions of Multimedia Games, and are subject to various risks and uncertainties that cannot be predicted or qualified and could cause actual results in Multimedia Games' performance to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the ability of Multimedia Games to maintain strategic alliances, increase its unit placements, installations or installed-base, grow revenue, garner new market share, secure new licenses in new jurisdictions, successfully develop or place proprietary product, comply with regulations, or have its games approved by relevant jurisdictions. Please refer to the Company’s most recent Form 10-K and subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a further discussion of risks and uncertainties. All forward-looking statements made herein are qualified by these cautionary statements and there can be no assurance that the actual results, events or developments referenced herein will occur or be realized. Readers are cautioned that all forward-looking statements speak only to the facts and circumstances present as of the date of this press release. Multimedia Games expressly disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.