Microgaming is a leading software provider to the online gaming industry. It was a pioneer in this field and today offers more casino games and powers more online casino sites than any other software provider. Microgaming has been able to retain its number one spot through constant innovation. Two recently released online slot games demonstrate how significant the innovations are.

A few months ago Microgaming released its much hyped branded slot game Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings, popularly abbreviated to LOTR. This was based on the first part of the trilogy of immensely popular Hollywood movies. These movies had been applauded for their cinematic excellence and it was natural to include some of the best clips from the movie in the LOTR slot game. Some other software providers had already included movie clips in animations during payline wins and bonus games and therefore Microgaming had to do it differently and on a much larger scale. And Microgaming wanted to show the clips in every spin.

Therefore Microgaming developed a feature that it called Cinematic Spins. It was the first time that such a feature has been used in online slot games. When the player clicks the Spin button the reels spin for a while before coming to rest. Usually the player sees the reels spinning, and this does get irritating spin after spin. Cinematic Spin allows the reels to fade away during this spinning process. This leaves the screen clear and unhindered. A popular clip from the Fellowship of the Rings is then played on the screen. When the clip is over the reels reappear and come to a stop. The slot game then progresses in the normal manner.

The second innovative feature was introduced in a couple of slot games released in November 2010. These games were Reel Gems and Retro Reels and the feature was the Re-Spin feature. Re-Spins have been used in the past in bonus games. Usually they hold a specified reel and spin the others allowing players to win additional payouts without staking any additional amount. But this innovative Re-Spin feature was different.

This Re-Spin feature made the slot game more interactive. The player could decide which reel to Re-Spin, holding the remaining reels. If a particular symbol appeared in an active payline on reels 1, 2, 4 and 5, then the player could spin reel 3 in an attempt to get the symbol in all five reels and win the highest payout for that symbol. However this feature did not come free. The player had to incur an additional wager in order to activate this feature. The amount that the player would have to pay for the Re-Spin of a reel was specified below that reel. If the Re-Spin of a reel offered the possibility of larger payouts the amount to be wagered to Re-Spin that reel would be larger. Hence the player has to take a considered decision based on the costs and expected benefits involved. The Re-Spin feature is optional and the player is not obliged to avail of it. After every spin new values for the bet amounts appear below each reel and hence this feature is fully integrated into the slot game. The Re-Spin feature has been so popular that Microgaming is introducing it in some of the slot games to be released in January.