How Incredible Technologies grew from a couple ’ s basement video game business into an impact player in the U . S . slot market BY FRANK LEGATO
Just Incredible
How Incredible Technologies grew from a couple ’ s basement video game business into an impact player in the U . S . slot market BY FRANK LEGATO
Nearly 40 years ago , Elaine Hodgson and Richard Ditton started a business by programming and designing a video game called Championship Wrestling for Epyx , for the old Commodore 64 home video console . Of course , it was obvious that business would eventually capture significant market share in the casino slot sector .
Well , not really . There was a lot of evolution , from video games to pinball games to hugely successful arcade and tavern games , in creating what is now Incredible Technologies , Inc . ( IT ).
Much about the company , still privately held by Hodgson and Ditton , is unique , especially in the casino slot market . It is a slot supplier owned and run by its founders , amid a sea of publicly traded and hedge-fund-owned competitors . It is the last slot supplier to stay based in the Chicago area , once home to the likes of Bally and WMS Gaming .
But mostly , it is a company that has matured from slot-market startup to a consistent 3-5 percent market share everywhere its games are placed — less than 15 years after designing its first slot machine .
Incredible Technologies began in the home video market of the early 1980s . Hodgson and Ditton , who were married at the time , were contractors for a company called Action Graphics , working on the game Winter Games for the Commodore 64 system . Ultimately , Action Graphics folded .