Elvis Slot Machine
As the voice behind the most legendary song to ever celebrate Sin City, Viva Las Vegas, Elvis Presley would be glad to learn that his likeness never left town.
If you've ever taken a stroll through a Las Vegas casino, or any casino in the United States for that matter, chances are you've passed by a bank of slot machines bearing The King's iconic image. Several slot machine models have been built around the Elvis Presley theme over the years, including no less than five distinct designs released by major casino game manufacturer International Game Technology, IGT.
The reason for this emphasis on Elvis branding is abundantly clear to anyone who grew up during the 1950's and 1960's. Over that time period Elvis Aaron Presley revolutionized the world of recorded music, fusing elements of country, rhythm and blues, and African-American gospel to create a sound all his own.
Known as rockabilly, and eventually rock and roll, Presley's music captivated a generation of young Americans with catchy tunes like "Heartbreak Hotel", "Hound Dog", "Love Me Tender", and "Don't Be Cruel".
While those classic songs alone would cement any artist's discography, Presley released all four hits in 1956 alone. Over the next decade he would claim the crown as the undisputed King of Rock and Roll, embarking on a successful side career as a Hollywood actor to boot. By the time of his unexpected death in 1977 at the age of just 42, Presley had become a global superstar second to none.
Wheel of Fortune
Double Diamond
Lobstermania
Cleopatra
Ghostbusters
Lord of the Rings
Bridesmaids
Footloose
The Dark Knight
Family Guy
The first IGT slot machine bearing Presley's name and image, simply titled ELVIS, debuted in Las Vegas in 1998. Over time, three more versions of the game have been introduced by IGT:
- Elvis: The King
- Elvis: A Little More Action
- Elvis Multi-Strike
Commenting on the company's Elvis: The King game in 2011, senior vice president of IGT's MegaJackpot division Tom Mikulich proclaimed the latest version to be an improvement over previous offerings:
"This is probably the best Elvis game IGT has done yet."
The following walkthrough will touch on the basic elements of each IGT manufactured Elvis slot machine you can expect to find on the casino floor.
Gameplay Features and Mechanics for ELVIS
The original ELVIS slot machine introduced in 1998 was IGT's third entrance into the branded machine market, following the highly successful debut of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy games. Fittingly, ELVIS is a three reel, three coin spinning reel game which used a $0.25 base credit.
Combining full stereo sound with a liquid crystal display, LCD, video screen, the ELVIS machine was designed specifically to capture the sights and sounds of Presley's career. By integrating actual video clips into the game's bonus rounds IGT ensured that the game would transport players from the casino to the concert hall. In fact, clips from Presley's famous 1968 comeback special were included in the bonus games along with footage of The King performing at the Aloha From Hawaii global broadcast in 1973.
Among the classic songs included on the original ELVIS machine were Hound Dog and Don't Be Cruel to Jailhouse Rock and Heartbreak Hotel.
Another treat for diehard Elvis fans was built into the game's progressive jackpot meter, as each of Presley's 14 gold certified records represents a different bonus amount. By landing three record symbols on the reels, players triggered a bonus round featuring audio and video clips of songs.
The senior vice president of product development for IGT at the time was Jean Venneman, and she described the creative process which eventually spawned several generations of Elvis themed slot machines:
"I was involved in the very first conversation about investigating the creation of an Elvis-branded game. It just hit us. Elvis is such a broadly known icon, and his appeal is timeless. And he had such an association with Las Vegas that he particularly appealed to the gaming audience. It seemed to make sense.
With "Wheel of Fortune," we had gotten our feet wet in mechanical top-box features with the wheel, and with "Jeopardy!" we created a light-box bonus. For Elvis, we came up with the concept of marrying bonus features to musical clips of a song. Nothing like that had ever been done."
While the original ELVIS machine is a bit outdated nearly two decades following its release, according to IGT a few hundred units are still operational throughout Las Vegas and nationwide.
Features & Bonus Games for Elvis: The King
The most commonly played Elvis themed slot machine out there today is fittingly titled Elvis: The King.
Using the standard five reel, 25 pay line structure, this video slot machine includes a long list of IGT's signature slot offerings. Special symbols include wilds and scatters, and the appearance of either on your screen is likely to generate a winner. The primary scatter symbol in this game is a golden TCB sign, celebrating Presley's backing band Taking Care of Business.
One thing to keep in mind, however, is that Elvis: The King requires an additional investment of 15 credits per spin to pay to fund the plethora of features and bonuses found in the game. This bumps the minimum credit requirement to 40 per spin, but when you factor in the sheer amount of features included in the game, the premium you'll pay is definitely worth it in the end.
Among the interactive in game features you can expect to encounter while playing Elvis: The King are:
- Heartbreak Hotel – A second screen pick a win style side game
- All Shook Up – A free spin bonus feature based on Tumbling Reels
- Viva Las Vegas – A free spin bonus feature utilizing a roaming wild symbol
- Burning Love – This feature turns reels one, two, and three into all wild symbols
- Jukebox – Players are granted access to all three bonus rounds
The Burning Love bonus feature is known as a reel bonus because it can appear for players at any point in the game. When flames suddenly appear on the sides of your middle reels, you'll know you've entered the Burning Love bonus. Elvis' face will appear on screen as well to congratulate you, before turning one, two, or three reels completely wild.
The rest of the bonuses listed above are known as screen bonuses, and they're be activated after you land three golden TCB scatter symbols anywhere on the reels. This triggers a special jukebox feature, through which players can select the bonus game of their choice.
The Heartbreak Hotel bonus is a simple choosing game in which Elvis enters the titular hotel carrying a random number of hearts. Each floor of the hotel holds seven doors, and your job is to choose the one you think holds the highest multiplier. Find Elvis hiding behind the door and you'll earn all of the available multipliers at once, but a broken heart symbol ends the game.
Selecting the All Shook Up bonus game leads players to a free spin round which uses IGT's Tumbling Reels technology. A fan favorite, this feature removes winning combinations as they appear so you can continue to earn additional credits. When you manage to hit five of these combinations during a single round of All Shook Up, the reward is a generous 5,000 credit bonus.
The Viva Las Vegas bonus game awards players with a preset number of free spins. The Wandering Reel randomly turns entire reels wild for that spin, and landing the poker chip symbol anywhere on the reels is good for additional free spins.
Features & Bonus Games for Elvis: A Little More Action
In order to satisfy demand for the increasingly complex games slot fans have come to expect, IGT updated their original game to create Elvis: A Little More Action.
This five reel, 50 pay line video slot machine took its name from Presley's 1968 hit A Little Less Conversation, suggesting to players that the game offers the same thing The King sang about: a little more action.
The reel symbols for this machine are very Elvis-centric, including a wild symbol of Presley singing on stage, and others showing him playing guitar and dancing. Along with the themed symbols, the reels on Elvis: A Little More Action depict the standard ace, king, queen, jack, 10, and 9 symbols known to slot players everywhere.
As one of IGT's new generation of video slot offerings, Elvis: A Little More Action is loaded with entertaining features. Players will enjoy the inclusion of wild, stacked wild, and scatter symbols, each of which adds a sense of variety to the game by turning losing spins into big winners.
For this game, the scatter symbol appears with the words ELVIS BONUS and only appears on the second, third, and fourth reels. By landing three of these ELVIS BONUS symbols in the center reels on a single spin, players trigger the Action Free Spins Bonus.
This bonus game begins by allotting players five free spins, but with a little luck on your side, you can retrigger free spins up to 255 times.
Betting increments for Elvis: A Little More Action begin at $1.00 and climb to $5.00 per spin.
In 2005 IGT released Elvis: Multi-Strike, seeking to update their lineup to reflect current industry trends. This meant that Elvis: Multi-Strike was adapted to become a five reel, 60 pay line video slot game to increase action.
A number of clever symbols are used within the game, each one harkening back to the days when Elvis Presley reined as the undisputed King of Rock and Roll. From Presley's highly sought after signature and a silhouette of his home Graceland, to the guitar and microphone he used to entertain adoring fans, the symbols included in Elvis: Multi-Strike are perfect for true Elvis fanatics.
The letters E-L-V-I-S are also used as symbols in the game, and if you're lucky enough to spell out Elvis on the reels, a generous payout of 10,000 casino credits is your reward.
Based on the popular multi-strike concept Elvis Multi-Strike divides the game into three distinct levels based on 60 pay lines. The first level covers pay lines 1 through 20, or the bottom set of reels. The second level covers pay lines 21 through 40 and the middle set of reels, while the third level covers pay lines 41 through 60 and the top set of reels.
Players can advance through the levels by winning a spin, or by taking advantage of the Free Ride feature by landing three Rockin' Respin symbols, and their next spin will activate the corresponding pay lines. As you progress through the levels, all wins on the second level are multiplied, while all wins on the third level are quadrupled. A losing spin resets you to level one to begin the journey again.
This game features two entertaining bonus games, described below.
The Photo Memories Bonus can be activated by landing two Rockin' Respin symbols anywhere on the reels, so long as a Photo Memories Bonus symbol appears on the first or second reel. This bonus game consists of a simple spinning wheel, so you'll need to do nothing more than sit back and spin away, gobbling up multipliers and credits until your luck runs out.
The second bonus game for Elvis: Multi-Strike is the Fan-O-Meter Bonus. This game is triggered whenever three Fan-O-Meter Bonus symbols land anywhere on a wagered pay line. After that you'll see five TV sets, each showing a different clip of Elvis performing in his heyday. While you soak in some of The King's best songs, the audience will cheer in the background, moving the Fan-O-Meter inch by inch. The more cheers you hear the better, as a topped out Fan-O-Meter means a wealth of credits and multipliers for you.
The betting increments for Elvis: Multi-Strike begin at $1.00 and escalate to $5.00, and the game is available in the Cash Ball / Non-Progressive, Progressive, Mega Riches, and Penny Riches formats.
Elvis Slot Machines: A Summary
From the Elvis impersonators lining the Las Vegas Strip on a nightly basis, to his starring role in Viva Las Vegas, Elvis Presley and Sin City go hand in hand. The King of Rock and Roll was a natural fit for IGT's innovative themed slot machine line back in 1998, and today players entering a casino floor anywhere in America will likely spot an Elvis slot during their trip.
Whether you prefer the slower pace of the original ELVIS slot machine or the nonstop interaction and entertainment provided by the Elvis video slot lineup you should be able to find a gam you enjoy in the Elvis line of themed games.