There’s big business in franchise-based online slots these days; three new deals perpetuate the trend with new games based on Hulk Hogan (!), David Hasselhoff (!!!) and the latest Batman movie trilogy announced for 2012 release.

The “Hulkamania” and “The Hoff” online slots games will be released on the OpenBet platform; as subcontractor MX Gaming has already released a real-life online casinos version of Hulkamania, we can assume this will be the first of the titles to see the light of day.

Currently debuting at the 2012 ICE Totally Gaming Show in England, the Hulkamania online slot is being touted by MX Gaming and OpenBet for its use of original and exclusive video material to be incorporated into gameplay. While Ike McFadden stated that “My personal feeling is that the special appeal of the game has nothing in particular to do with symbols or multipliers,” the video bonus rounds may be of note. The second of two such rounds has Hogan fighting an opponent in fashion similar to Mortal Kombat, via the new footage and subsequent digitization.

Similarly to the Dennis Rodman online slot released by Vegas Technology a few years back, the Hulkamania casino game would appear to be a case of “How the mighty have fallen” after an expensive divorce settlement, countersuits involving allegations of homosexual philandery and a couple of failed TV shows, Hogan clearly needs a few bucks to pump the bank account a bit. (Guess he’s not making as much scratch in his “sport” as he once did…)  

Meanwhile, OpenBet apparently believes it can further cash in on the success of its “Baywatch” slot game with “The Hoff,” which will also get a scratch card version. According to PR, “the main concept of the games will be to help David Hasselhoff’s character along his eternal quest of becoming a millionaire celebrity and will include humorous twists along the way.”

Several different skins and bonus rounds are promised with “The Hoff,” presumably matching Hasselhoff’s character arc from “Knight Rider” to “Baywatch” to “America’s Got Talent.” LiveCasinoDirect, for one, can’t wait to see how the software producer will incorporate this particular star turn. 

Finally, industry leaders Microgaming aren’t messing around with B-listers and those past their primes. The internet casino software giant recently announced its signing of a licensing agreement with the even bigger Warner group to create a series of online slots based on “The Dark Knight” and “The Dark Knight Rises.” First of the games is due out this summer, while the “Dark Knight Rises” online slot will be available for play in early 2013.

Players in two of the world’s biggest gambling cultures – the U.S. and Australia – got some news regarding possible decriminalization of online gaming, with legislation in the former softening to the reality of the average person’s devotion to personal freedom in computer use.

In the U.S., the Department of Justice tweaked the Wire Act of 1961 just before the year turned. In its decision, DoJ officials stated that the Wire Act, often used legally in cases against legal online gambling, actually contains “prohibitions [that] relate solely to sport-related gambling activities in interstate and foreign commerce.”

Most in the industry believe that this reversal will open the floodgates: “Internet gambling is about to explode across the nation, made legal under state law,” said Whittier Law School professor/gambling law expert I. Nelson Rose.

Meanwhile, an Southern Cross University study of over 6,500 people finding that “50% of participants had taken up [online] gambling in the past six years, making it the fastest-growing form of gambling in the country” is making waves in Australian media.

SCU professor Dr. Sally Gainsbury said that Australia’s “existing legislation [does] not discourage people from using overseas gambling sites.” Senator Nick Xenophon, long against legalized gambling, warned that “The next tidal wave of problem gamblers will come from online gambling unless we take urgent action now.”

International Business Times UK, the London-based Daily Mail, CNet and any number of online casino industry publications have been breathlessly reporting this week on the possibility that Facebook will begin hosting internet gambling services on the social networking ‘site – at least for a U.K. test market.

Facebook is reportedly planning for an IPO offering which could value the company at $100 billion plus and would put shares on the New York Stock Exchange as early as April 2012; CNet, among others, speculates that the investigation into gambling site hosting is an attempt to make potential profit look more promising in advance of the IPO.

According to industry publication eGaming Review, Facebook is currently in negotiation/advisory meeting with 20 consultants, experts in the field and some website representatives. ZDNet reported that current plans would have Facebook awarding eight licenses in areas of sportsbook, casinos and other verticals; Gamesys and 888.com are widely reported to have the inside track in acquiring two of these permissions.

In answer to publicly-voiced fears that gambling interests on Facebook could easily prey on the underage, Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes was quoted on CNet as stating that “Our commitment to providing a safe, secure and appropriate experience for teenagers is a fundamental principle of Facebook. The suggestion that we would make any decision that doesn’t carefully consider the impact on this audience is short-sighted and, frankly, offensive to the hundreds of people who work to keep kids safe and the many parents at Facebook.”