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The original patent on virtual reels was granted in 1984 and is known in the industry as the "Telnaes patent" https://patents.google.com/patent/US4448419A http
by joezydeco 9y ago
The original patent on virtual reels was granted in 1984 and is known in the industry as the "Telnaes patent"
https://patents.google.com/patent/US4448419A https://patents.google.com/patent/US4448419A
The original design of virtual reels was more about decreasing the jackpot odds, since a high-payout combination was no longer bound to the physical stops on the reels. Machines that offered higher jackpots were more appealing, and also gave birth to things like progressive jackpots and progressive networked games.
It also made IGT (the owner of the patent) a giant in the industry. Many workarounds were tried and typically failed in the lawsuits that followed. The most successful deviation was the "bonus game" where a particular symbol set would trigger a small video game or some other activity that had its own paytable independent of the main slot paytable.
The psychological design of near misses didn't show up until probably a decade afterward, but since '419 is now expired it's become the new secret sauce of slotmakers.
- AgentME 9y agoUsing a random number generator to pick the spot a wheel stops spinning is enough for a patent?
- sirclueless 9y agoThat's the title, but the main innovation was using a random number generator to choose from among more positions than symbols that the physical wheel possesses, thus allowing different odds for different symbols. The interesting bit comes from claim 8 and 9: > a random number generator for selecting one number from a plurality of numbers each representing one of said different angular rotational positions, said plurality of numbers exceeding the number of rotational positions of said reel such that a plurality of numbers represents some of the reel positions; and ... > assigning a different quantity of numbers to each position to obtain the win odds desired.
- joezydeco 9y agoYou have to remember this was invented in 1982. Using RNGs, stepper motors, and mapped tables was certainly enough for a patent in that era.
- paulsutter 9y agoI used to program in 1982 and these things were completely obvious at that time. However, you can patent almost anything, both then and today. Patents are more of a process than a science.
- joezydeco 9y agoYou could have made a fortune selling this to a slot manufacturer in 1982. So why didn't you?
- paulsutter 9y agoBusiness is about understanding customers, not code. I was a 16 year old kid in West Virginia.