A sneak peek at the NEW slot games in store for the coming year

1. lot manufacturers are in the business of
trying to outdo each other in creativity year
after year with new games in all of the
popular slot and video poker genres. But
perhaps the larger task every year at this time, when all the
manufacturers roll out their new games at the annual Global
Gaming Expo in Las Vegas, is trying to outdo themselves.
Every September brings a breathtaking new array of
multiline video slots, high-profile progressive games with
famous brands and uncanny new twists to the classic reel-
spinners. Every year, slot operations officials ask
themselves what the slot-makers could possibly come up
with to top last year’s array of new games. And every year,
no one comes away from the big trade show disappointed.
The slot manufacturer’s first commandment is Thou Shalt
Not Bore, and trust us, they are all observing it with religious
fervor this year as they continue to strive to keep you planted
in your seat with their new slot games.
Strictly Slots is unique in that it is the only
major player publication granted annual access to
all the slot manufacturers’ newest ideas—before
they are announced to players, before they are revealed to
other media, often before they are even placed into cabinets
for prototype display at the trade show. We give you this still-
top-secret information for one reason: to get the playing
public pumped up for the coming year of new game launches.
For the past few years, most of the major manufacturers
have introduced powerful new video formats, radical new
cabinet styles, and generally, game formats that offer
intriguing twists. This year’s lineup of new games will
invariably capitalize on all of these technological advances
and offer a wealth of features and twists that you have not
seen before.
So sit back and enjoy your peek into the future at the
games that will be coming to a casino near you during 2004.
We have arranged them in alphabetical order by
manufacturer, since each and every slot-maker is offering
great innovation, and in our view, all of them deserve equal
emphasis.
The bottom line for all the new slot offerings
is fun—and you’re in for a lot of it within the
coming year. That said, let the games begin!
A sneak peek at the NEW slot games
in store for the coming year
HERE
COME
THE

2. ACCoin&Slot
Pleasantville, NJ-based AC Coin & Slot is
still the exclusive distributor for slot leader
IGT in Atlantic City and the Caribbean, but
for the past few years, the company’s role as a
developer of innovative new bonus slot games
has been just as important.
The most successful bonus concept for AC Coin
has been Slotto, the lottery-style sphere that has served as
the bonus apparatus for several games both by AC Coin itself and
in partnership with IGT. Games using this bonus feature use a base
slot to trigger lotto balls, each bearing a bonus amount, swirling
inside the sphere. One or more of the balls drop into a chamber that,
in a patented electronic sleight-of-hand, registers a bonus amount
for the player.
This year, the company rolls out several great new slots using
the original Slotto sphere, plus a few variations on the bonus
method that are sure to turn many heads on the slot floor.
Among the new games with the traditional Slotto sphere
is I Spy, a reel-spinning slot carrying a theme based on the
popular 1960s hip spy television series starring Bill Cosby
and Robert Culp. On the video side are two new
partnershipgameswithIGT:Bewitched: The Nosey
Neighbor is a sequel to last year’s monster hit based on
the popular 1960s sitcom. The game features an IGT
iGame Plus multiline video base game with hilarious
primary and second-screen bonus features involving
the bits from the show in which neighbor Gladys
Kravitz tries to convince her husband, Abner, of the
strange goings-on next door, where beautiful witch
Samantha Stevens lives. One brand-new iGame
video slot using the Slotto sphere is Laverne &
Shirley, based on the hit 1970s sitcom starring
Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams.
There are some intriguing games, though,
that will use modified versions of the famous
Slotto sphere. Alien Adventure places the
sphere in the middle of the top box as a huge planet,
surrounded by hovering spacecraft. The player stops
the“orbit”toselectoneofthespacecraft,andabonus
award is based on the lotto balls inside the sphere,
which all look like planets bursting forth in sort of a
“Big Bang” theme.
A new Slotto version of a slot based on the 1950s
sitcom “The Honeymooners,” called The
Honeymooners—Baby, You’re the Greatest,
is being released at the G2E show. In this game, the
base reel-spinning slot triggers swirling bonus Slotto
balls inside a beautiful, translucent heart-shaped top-
box display built around the Slotto sphere. The
display vibrates and pulses with light to give the
impression that the heart is actually beating. The slot
game itself features audio clips from the legendary
Honeymooners series, which, along with reel
symbols and the fantastic artwork, wrap a
theme around the undying romance between
Ralph and Alice Kramden, the show’s two main
characters.
Two other new Slotto-style games are
definite must-sees for the coming year. Bingo
Nights wraps a disco-music theme (with
appropriate lighting and sound effects) around a
Slotto sphere molded into a dead-ringer for a bingo
tumbler. When the bonus round is initiated, the tumbler
itself begins rotating just like a real bingo tumbler would. The
triggering symbols on the reels also activate a partially filled bingo
card, displayed on a small color LCD video screen on the front of
the slot. The player presses a button to stop the bingo tumbler and
send one of the balls into a chamber. They light up spots on the
bingo card until a bingo is achieved, triggering a bonus award for
the player. It is a great mix of live action, animation and
sound to replicate the live bingo experience.
The other modified Slotto game is not only a
must-see,it’samust-smell.Popcornturnsthe
Slotto sphere into a popcorn popper. When the
bonus is triggered with a reel symbol, the
chamber starts churning yellow and white Slotto
balls around to the sound of a popcorn popper,
and yes—the smell of buttered popcorn comes out
of the machine. The bonus round flashes lights around
an indicator for a small, medium or large bag of
popcorn—which means one, two or three Slotto
balls,respectively,willfallintothebonuschamber.
The player presses a button to stop the flashing on
his bonus award and the Slotto-ball “kernels” flow
out the top of a mechanism inside the chamber just
like popcorn does inside the popper when it’s
ready. One, two or three Slotto balls then fall into
the chamber to indicate the bonus award.
Finally, one of AC Coin’s most creative bonus
top-box games in years is coming to players
this year in the form of Super Bonus Hot
Dogs Deluxe. The top box of this reel-
spinner is shaped like an old-time hot dog stand,
and behind glass are two rows of mechanical,
smiley-face hot dogs. When the bonus is initiated,
they bob up and down out of their formations to
reveal bonus amounts on their hot-dog bellies to
the tune of “Hot Diggity Dog.” After the song, one
hot dog remains standing with the player’s bonus
amount revealed.
One other fun aspect of this game—another
“smell” feature. When the bonus is initiated and
the song starts playing, the smell of hot dogs
cooking permeates the air around the machine.
(We can’t wait to see if casinos start opening hot
dog stands near banks of these machines to
satisfy hungry players.)
AC Coin & Slot
Service Co.

3. Aristocra
Aristocrat’s U.S.-based research and development team has rolled
out a parade of new slot products, bonusing systems and unique
progressive links during the past few years. In the coming year,
Aristocrat is launching scores of new games for these product groups
and more.
In the now-standard MKVI video platform, one of the best is
King of the Nile. King of the Nile’s Egyptian pharaoh theme is
woven into a nine-line or 20-line video slot featuring sharp 3-D
animation, graphics made up of more than 1.6 million individual
colors, and a remarkably high hit frequency, thanks to a collection of
free-spin bonus events and a multilevel main bonus. The title King of
the Nile symbol is wild, and doubles any winning combination in
which it lands. Pyramid symbols on the first, third and fifth reel (if
two land, the last reel spins an extra long time to heighten the
anticipation) trigger a free-spin round in which all wins are tripled.
At the end of the free spins, a second screen appears to give
the player an option to keep his accumulated bonus, trade it for a
mystery multiplier of the total wager, or replay the free-spin
round for a possible higher or lower bonus. This is an incredibly
lucrative bonus round.
Aristocrat is also re-introducing some of its most popular video
slots from the older MKV platform on its new, enhanced-feature
MKVI platform. In a series dubbed MKVI Classic, new life will be
pumped into games including
Queen of the Nile, Wild
Cougar, K.G. Bird and
Penguin Pays.
Aristocrat is showcasing
nine games in its new Reel
Power series, which offers a
novel wagering setup: Players
activate reels with wagers of five coins each—a minimum of 25 credits
to activate all five reels, and additional bets in multiples of 25 up to
max-coin wagers of 200 or 500 coins. Once the paylines
are active, all jackpots are scatter-pays. Once all five reels
are activated, there are up to 243 possible jackpot
combinations on any given spin.
Three new games are included in the
manufacturer’s September introductions: Snapshot,
which was highlighted in last month’s “Slot Spotlight”
section, carries an amateur photography theme with
compelling graphics, sound and animation of clicking
cameras and developing photos. There are several ways
to win free spins with multiplied jackpots, when
cameras, film and flash symbols appear on certain reels,
causing snapshots to appear. Tthe snapshots
“developed” translate into free spins, and all free-spin
jackpots are doubled if all the snapshots are developed.
Other new Reel Power games include Queen
of Atlantis, a fun penny or two-cent game
featuring a mermaid as the main character; and
Whales of Cash, featuring an ocean scene. As
with the new MKVI games, the new Reel Power
games all include scatter-pays, wild symbols and
free spins as the main features.
Aristocrat’s biggest news for the tourist market this year is the
company’s first major licensed brand in a video slot, Jeff
Foxworthy: You Might Be A Redneck If... This is a 20-line
video slot featuring the popular bits of comedian Jeff Foxworthy.
Players make a five-credit “ante” bet that qualifies them to choose
from five separate bonus events when the bonus is triggered. A tiny
TV monitor in the corner of the screen that serves as a sixth reel
triggers that bonus. If Foxworthy’s image pops up on that screen, the
player chooses from five bonus games: Bug Zapper, Squirrel Pie, Pig
Bonus, Christmas Lights, and the funniest of the five, Pick a TV. In
this latter event, two televisions are shown, each displaying a
Foxworthy joke. The player picks one to choose either a credit
win or free spins. (The joke is the funny part. For
instance: “You might be a redneck if… you met
your wife at a family reunion.”)
Aristocrat’s new entry in the Bonus Bank
series is Lil’ Lucy, a “lucky lady” character that
appears randomly in any of the slots in a linked
bank to award the player one of five bonus
events: a random credit award; a free-spin
bonus round; or one of three second-screen
events including a dice roll, a wheel-spin and an
award inside a Mystery Chest.
Finally, Aristocrat introduces Millioni$er,
a new game for the linked progressive Hyperlink
system. Hyperlink links games in a bank to a
controller, and a set level of coin-in on all the
games sends a random bonus event to one of the
machines. The bonus event results in one of four
levels of guaranteed progressive jackpots. What
distinguishes this version of Hyperlink is the top
jackpot—$1 million on a penny-denominational
game. Various MKVI games form the base slots
for this new link.
Aristocrat
Technologies

4. Last year, Atronic Americas culminated a four-year drive to establish
a global research and development network including U.S.-based
game design for the subsidiary of Germany’s Gauselmann Group. The
push started with the company’s 1998 licensing in Nevada, and came
to fruition last year with the introduction of several new product
groups, headed by Hi(!)bility, a sophisticated new video operating
system housed in the radical “e-motion”
cabinet; and Arizona Magic, the
company’s first wide-area progressive
product and its first game to feature a
mechanical top-box bonus game in its
inaugural game, Sphinx Magic.
This year, Atronic rolls out a parade of new games in these and
its core slot series, Cashline, in one of the most diverse groups of
games to be displayed at this year’s G2E show.
Arizona Magic is the name of Atronic’s wide-area network in the
ArizonaNativeAmericancasinos.Thisyear,thecompanyexpandsits
wide-area business with new Indian casino links in the form of
California Magic, Michigan Magic and New Mexico Magic. It also
expands the product line for these links with games that will also find
their way into commercial casinos as stand-alone games in a new
series called Towerline.
The first two new Towerline (and Magic) games are called Cool
Catch and Xanadu Magic.
Cool Catch reprises the skiing penguin character from the
popular Atronic games I. C. Money and I. C. Cash, with patented
game features such as the “one-way” or “two-way” betting
configuration. One coin per line results in normal left-to-right
multiline play and qualifies the player for the secondary progressive
jackpot; two coins per line, or betting “two ways,” adds right-to-left
pays, increasing scatter wins and hit frequency, and qualifies the
player for the top Magic Jackpot.
The game-specific bonus in Cool Catch is triggered by four or
more scattered “fishing penguin” symbols. The penguin character
appears on the top of the reels to ice-fish for the player’s bonus. Three
or more Bonus symbols trigger the Magic Bonus and a shot at the top
MagicJackpotwhenplayingtwoways.Thetopboxincludesfivedecks
of Magic Bonus Cards, which spin on spindles when the bonus round
is activated, revealing bonus amounts or a Penguin Cool Catch card.
The player presses one of two buttons to activate a Magic Light, which
flashes around the cards until landing on one. If it is a Penguin card,
that card respins to a bonus amount and is awarded to the player. If it
is a credit amount, it is added to the bonus meter and the process
repeats, with the card respinning to either a Collect card or a Magic
Card. The Magic Card lands the progressive jackpot.
Xanadu Magic wraps similar features around a mystical Chinese
theme.
In the Hi(!)bility series, launched last year with the game
Atlantica, Atronic is rolling out several new games—all with the high-
resolution graphics, enhanced game features and dual-screen format
of the series and all housed in the innovative height-adjustable
cabinet. Topping the list is Xanadu, a sister game to Xanadu Magic.
The theme is a mystical Fortune City, played out in a bonus round
inviting the player to enter doors to a 3-D. Here, where he selects
from tiles to enter the Terracotta Treasure Chamber, to select from
warrior statues to reveal bonus credits. From there, the player can
achieve additional credits by selecting the statue that unlocks a third
screen, the Dragon’s Chamber.
Atronic is also releasing several of its most popular Cashline
games in the new Hi(!)bility format, including The Sign of
Zodiac, Babooshka and Sphinx II.
Several new games are being introduced in Atronic’s standard
Cashline series as well. A few samples:
Gold Seekers features a unique, ongoing, accumulating
bonus event. Above each reel are mine
carts. When two or more gunpowder
barrels line up on the reels, the barrels
explode to fill gold nuggets into the
corresponding barrels. When three or
more mine-cart symbols appear on the
reels, the corresponding mine carts are pulled from the top in
animation and dumped into the player’s credit meter.
Mystery Mask features a Phantom of the Opera-style
theme, centered on mysterious characters called the Disguised
Man and Disguised Woman. A scatter-pay feature displays candles
on the reel spaces that reveal hidden bonus amounts. A “mystery
symbol” within those choices opens the door to a second-screen
feature in which the player searches through 3-D catacombs for
one of the two mystery characters.
Running Numbers wraps a storyline around cartoon animals
dressed up like gangsters in a number-running racket. In a unique
primary game feature, all four-of-a-kind wins pay right to left as well as
left to right. In the Spaghetti Bonus, players select a plate of spaghetti to
revealabonusamount.IntheLoanSharkBonus,playerspickbriefcases
to reveal bonus amounts. In the Running Numbers Bonus, players
create their bonus amount by choosing from the “running numbers”
offered and placing them into slots to form a three-digit award.
Atronic
Americas
Atroni

5. Bally is another company capitalizing on great success of product
lines introduced during the past few years, with new games in its
EVO video line, EVO HYBRID reel/video combination line, and
itsCashforLifethousand-dollar-a-weekprogressiveline,
on the Thrillions wide-area network.
However, Bally also is introducing a new reel-spinning
progressive line this year called Quartermillion$. The title
isdrawnfromtwomajorfeaturesofthewide-areaprogressive
link: First, the top jackpot resets at a quarter of a million
dollars. Second, while all denominations in the link qualify for
that $250,000-plus jackpot, max coin in all denominations equals a
three-coin quarter bet—maximum wager is 75 cents, whether it’s in
pennies, nickels or quarters.
Heading up the EVO and EVO HYBRID lines is a collection all
based on characters and bits from the Saturday Night Live television
series. While games like Hans & Franz, Coneheads and
Church Lady were introduced earlier this year, G2E will offer the
first glimpse of two new SNL games:
Wayne’s World is an EVO HYBRID game featuring Wayne
and Garth, the characters created by Mike Meyers and Dana Carvey
who run a public-access cable TV show in their basement. In one
bonus round, the player chooses from three guitars to reveal a two- to
five-time bonus multiplier applied to the jackpot of the winning
combination. The main Wayne’s World Bonus is a pick-a-tile game
giving the player the option to keep or pass on the bonus amount up
to three times. Operaman, another EVO HYBRID game, features
Adam Sandler’s opera-singing news anchor character. All of the new
SNL games feature audio recorded by the actual cast members.
In the new Quartermillion$ series, two new reel-spinners
heading the list of inaugural games are Lucky Wheel
Spin & Win and Quartermillion$ In the
Money. Lucky Wheel features a bonus wheel
mounted in the top box. When the wheel spins,
the amount goes to the indicator, rather than vice
versa in other games of this style. When a spin of
the wheel is triggered, from one to three back-lit
arrows light up randomly around the perimeter, with
a cumulative bonus award of up to three amounts. In the
Money adds the quarter-million-dollar jackpot and the bonus wheel
to one of Bally’s most popular ProSlot 6000 reel-spinners. A spin of
the wheel can result in bonus amounts up to 1,000 credits or a re-spin
feature similar to Roaring 20s, in which the reels re-spin to the same
winning combination up to four times.
Bally is introducing a total of 10 new games to reprise the popular
Bonus Frenzy style of game, in which a fourth reel serves strictly as a
bonus applied to winnings on the three main reels. Heading the list is
Playboy Playmate Frenzy, which places the Frenzy game inside a
bunny cabinet and places the fourth reel in the center of the top box.
Whenawinningcombinationlandsonthereelswithabonussymbolon
the fourth reel, the jackpot is augmented by a multiplier
ranging from two times to 10 times, free spins repeating
the win, or various straight bonus credit awards.
Bally brings a great collection of new licensed
games to the G2E show this year. In the EVO series
of multiline video slots, there is Felix the Cat,
based on the cult-classic cartoon; S&H Green
Stamps, a nostalgic look at the legendary stamp-collecting
merchandise catalogues; L’il Abner, based on the classic
hillbilly cartoon strip; and Iron Chef, based on the popular
TV cooking show.
These licensed brands join new EVO
proprietary themes such as Captain
Jackpot, a game built around a slot
superhero who gives a
10-game free-spin
bonus round “super power” by injecting a two-
to 10-time multiplier into all winning
combinations.
Bally is also introducing two new EVO
HYBRID games for its Cash for Life
progressivelink,whichpaysatopjackpotof
$1,000 a week for life. New Cash for Life
titles include Higher or Lower and
King Tut’s Treasure. Other Cash for
Life games include a ProSlot 6000 reel-
spinner titled Bonus Spin and an EVO
video slot called Triple Spin.
Of course, these just scratch the
surface of what is an amazing collection
of new games from Bally Gaming this
year. There are several other new EVO
video titles. There are new stand-alone
ProSlot 6000 reel-spinners. There are
giant versions of popular Bally games in
a new product line called the Big Series.
In all, Bally is displaying 110 different
game titles at the G2E show. And the
manufacturer is just getting warmed up.
Bally
Gaming
Bally

6. Leading slot manufacturer IGT is set to once again leave G2E
attendees breathless from its variety of new games—an
unprecedented 150 in all. Included in these are many standouts, but
none more so than the first games in the manufacturer’s new AVP
video format. (It stands for Advanced Video Platform. And is it ever.)
You must see this new video format to believe it. It truly
takes the slot machine to levels never before seen. Nowhere
isthismoreevidentthanin Star Wars,oneof
the inaugural games on the AVP platform.
This game is not to be missed. IGT has
captured the grandeur of the original Star
Wars trilogy of films, released beginning in
1977. Primary game icons and bonus
sequences use audio and video clips from the
original movies, along with freshly recorded,
game-specific audio from original cast members
James Earl Jones (Darth Vadar) and Anthony
Daniels (C-3PO). But the real star of this game is the
computer animation in the bonus sequences. IGT used its new HDTV
studio (the only facility of its type in Nevada) to create Hollywood-
quality computer animation using the same “motion capture”
technique used in films such as Lord of the Rings. One bonus
sequence presents a “light sabers” fight between two film characters,
created by layering computer-animated characters over live video
created by martial-arts experts. The effect is simply astounding—
you’ve never seen a slot like this before. Trust us.
The other major AVP release is Wheel of Fortune Special
Edition—Triple Action, a prototype of which was shown at last
year’s G2E. IGT has tweaked and improved the original game to
maximize the benefits of the AVP format and the result is, once again,
astounding. Live-action video of Wheel of Fortune co-hosts Pat Sajak
and Vanna White, along with segments depicting sequences from the
TV show in bonus rounds, present images more sharp and clear than
even your television set can muster.
And these are only two new IGT games. There are 148 more—
amazing new stuff in every slot genre imaginable, from iGame Plus
video slots to S2000 reel-spinners to new licensed brands in the
MegaJackpots progressive line to mechanical top-box bonus slots to an
entirenewseriescalledReelTouch.Thevarietyismind-boggling.Here’s
just a small taste of what’s in store from the master of the slot floor:
Drew Carey Rocks!! If you like to laugh, you’ll love this
game. It is an iGame Plus video slot featuring live-action
video of comedian Drew Carey dispensing
some of his best material. One bonus round is
called My Bonus. IGT recorded Carey doing a
group of one-liners using the phrase “My
bonus is so big…” for this one. Every time the
bonus is triggered, you get a different one-
liner—lines like, “My bonus is so big it takes
longer lunches than I do,” or “My bonus is so
big it was overthrown in a coup. It’s now known
as the Democratic Republic of My Bonus.”
Funny stuff! (Hint: When you’re prompted to press a button to
activate a bonus feature, wait a while. Carey will come on the screen
and remind you. It is hilarious.)
Speaking of classic comedy, don’t miss Reel Respect with
Rodney Dangerfield. It’s an iGame Plus video
slot in the MegaJackpots multisite progressive
line, with a bonus round featuring some of the
best comedy in history—one-liners recorded
by Rodney Dangerfield in IGT’s sound
studio. The jokes
all start out with “I
don’t get no
respect!” and end
up with something
like “My wife told me
Iwasgoingtodrivehertoanearlygrave.
I had the car out in two minutes!”
18 Reeler Cash Convoy is a
sequel to last year’s iGame Plus video slot
based on the long-haul trucker culture. In
this version, sophisticated animation
techniques are used to create a raucous
comedy police pursuit of a long-haul trucker.
In a sequence stacking up to the best Hollywood has to offer, the
truck eventually forces the police car off the highway and picks up a
sleazy female hitchhiker to ride off into the sunset.
Elizabeth Taylor: Dazzling Diamonds is an iGame Plus
video slot with a new twist—jewelry as the top prize. The reel icons all
International Game
Technology
IGT

7. depict Liz’ famously elegant jewelry, and the
top prizes in the game are actual pieces of
jewelry designed or approved by Liz herself.
This only scratches the surface of IGT’s
new video slots carrying licensed brands.
There is Alien, based on the Alien motion
pictures and featuring some of the scariest
animated sequences ever placed in a slot.
There is Animal House, based on the
classic National Lampoon spoof of college
life. There is Steve McQueen,
a new Diamond Cinema
video slot featuring a
bonus round depicting
one of McQueen’s
classic movie race car
chase scenes. There is
American Graffiti, based on
the quintessential late ’50s/early ’60s youth
culture. There are The Dating Game and
The Newlywed Game, both hosted by
Jim Lange. There are sequels to the best
branded games of the past few years,
including Beverly Hillbillies—Bubblin’
Crude, new Diamond Cinema slots featuring
Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe,
Regis’ Money Mixer, and two new “I Love
Lucy” games, Lucy In Hollywood and
Lucy’s Grapestomping. And there is a
new Elvis game, featuring the patented
wagering setup first seen in Multi-Strike
Poker, in which players can win up to four
times the normal paytable amount with
successive winning spins.
But IGT’s game lineup this year also
proves that the slot king does not need a
brandedlicensetocreateanexcellentnewslot.
Great new proprietary iGame Plus themes
include games like Nurse Follies and its
Hospital Charges Bonus. This bonus round
talliestheplayer’sawardaccordingtoitemson
a hospital bill—“extra pillow: 125 credits”;
“laxative: 75 credits.” Or how about Hot
Flashes? This is a game based on—you
guessed it—menopause. Reel symbols include
aspirins and a Buns of Steel exercise
videotape. The main bonus event is
the Mood Swings Bonus.
IGT also is introducing a
complete new suite of
S2000 reel-spinners, many
of which are part of a new
series called Reel Touch.
This series is a combination of the
former Vision Series and subsidiary Anchor
Games’ top-box bonus conversion kits. Where
the Vision Series played out bonus events on a
miniature color LCD video screen, this series
features a giant LCD screen in the top box.
Among the inaugural games is Flip Flop
Deluxe, a new version of a game first
released as an Anchor conversion kit. The
bonus round featuring frogs jumping amid lily
pads to increment a bonus amount is re-
created here in beautiful 3-D animation on a
giant screen.
There is much, much more coming
from IGT in the coming year. Were this a
book rather than a magazine, perhaps we
could present a more thorough picture of the
offerings. But suffice it to say, you will be
amazed.

8. For the past few years, Mikohn Gaming has been
rolling out title after title in its Think Big!
series of video slots—games with the
company’s signature quality animation
and something not found in most slots, a
skill factor involving strategy to complete
a bonus round or even trivia questions.
This year, Mikohn is introducing a
contingent of sequel games to its successful
Think Big! releases, all with the same
quality animation and element of skill of
the previous releases. However, the big
news from Mikohn this year involves two
completely different types of games—a
major branded release packed with
bonus features, and a game that employs
a factor diametrically opposed to skilla
for bonus wins: gravity.
The big branded release is
Garfield: It’s All About Me! Based
on the popular comic strip featuring
single man Jon and his cat, Garfield, this game includes a
collection of hilarious bonus events that capture the spirit of
thetheme.Thebonuseventsareplayedoutbothonthemain
screen and on a mechanical “pie” bonus in the top box. In
Mission: Refrigerator, the player chooses a four-square path
to the refrigerator for Garfield while master Jon sleeps. Each
square the cat touches causes either a credit award or a
noise. If Garfield reaches the refrigerator without waking
Mikohn Gaming
Konami Gaming has only been in the U.S. casino market for two
years, having been created in 2001 as the North American
subsidiary of amusement-game giant Konami of Japan. The U.S.
subsidiary has used those two years to refine its North American
product, gaining a reputation along the way for creating some of the
best video graphics in the business.
That point was driven home last year with games like Mariachi
Madness, with its bonus round featuring flaming peppers and a
dancing mariachi character with an evil grin that are almost spooky
in their visual intensity; and Rocky, the manufacturer’s first
branded license, with a bonus round depicting one of the famous
fight scenes from the series of Sylvester Stallone films.
This year, Konami introduces a suite of new games that
drive home the manufacturer’s prowess in video animation once
again. Scar Fish is a 10-line video slot with a theme built
around animated gangster fish characters with names like
Frankie Flounder and Mack the Mackerel.
The slot features three separate second-screen bonus events.
The first is a simple on-screen shell game, initiated when Frankie the
Flounder symbols land on the reels. The symbols animate and turn
into shells, and the player picks one for the bonus, repeating the
process three times. The other two bonus events are interconnected
into a two-level game. Reel triggers cause the screen to depict the
Mack the Mackerel character throwing knives at several objects. The
player receives a multiplier of his total bet for each object hit, but on
the third throw, if he hits an Advance symbol, it triggers a second-
level game called Carmine the Carp. The screen shows Carmine in a
pawnshop, and the player selects items for additional multipliers
until revealing a Fish Cop symbol, which ends the round.
Floppy Shoes is a great game featuring a
circus clown theme. In one second-screen event,
items are shot into a clown’s pants by cannons
to accumulate a bonus award. In the other, the
player picks clowns to stuff into a miniature
clown car to accumulate the award.
In Buzzin’ Bee Band, the theme is a jazz
band made up of bees that tour the country in a
bus. The main second-screen event displays a
game board, with the Bee Band on a tour bus. A
wheel spin determines the spaces the bus will
travel to reveal bonus awards or a trip to the
Honey Dome for the gig (and high-level
award). In Cash Inferno, the player has
opportunities to put out fires for bonus awards
in two separate events, all played out in
amazing animation.
Konami Gaming
MikohKonami

9. Jon up, the player moves to the higher-level bonus,
played out on the top-box wheel.
The other second-screen bonus event is
called Target Practice. The screen shows
Garfield weighing a pie in his hand, with three
potential targets in the background—Jon, his
girlfriend, Arlene, or Odie the dog. The player is
prompted to “choose a victim,” which reveals a bonus award. A
trivia question then appears on the screen, with two possible
answers. The player chooses an answer, and Garfield flings the
pie. If the answer is correct, the pie hits the victim, and the
second-level wheel game is triggered.
The top-box wheel game, initiated by success in either
of the main bonus rounds, is called Slice of Life. An indicator
spins around all the slices on the pie in the top box, landing
on one for the bonus award.
These bonus events are augmented by two primary-game
events: A popcorn symbol under Garfield’s image above the reels
causes him to animate and sneak down to eat the popcorn. If he
lets out a burp, several reel symbols become “unglued” to reveal
bonus awards. In the Fifth Reel Stuck feature, the fifth reel
randomly keeps spinning after the other four have stopped.
Garfield hits it, and it stops to reveal an additional bonus award.
Mikohn’s other new game style this year is the launch of a
series called Gravity Pays. These are reel-spinning base games
with a tall pachinko-style top box. Reel triggers cause a ball to
shoot to the top and fall through the pegs of the pachinko board.
A video indicator under the physical pegs of the board changes
the bonus amounts around as the ball falls. The slot in which the
ball lands—and the resulting bonus award—is not
predetermined; it depends on gravity. Dumb luck—the opposite
of a skill-based bonus. Inaugural games in this series are
Kazoingo and Liberty Ball.
To these new game styles, Mikohn adds some great sequels to
its previous Think Big! games. There are two new versions of Clue,
based on the famous murder-mystery board game. Clue:
Unusual Suspects features a primary-game bonus in which
characters toss knives at each other from their reel position, and a
second-screen event in which the player is given hints to guess
which suspect in a 3-D mansion scene committed a murder. The
bonus round then progresses to a second-level bonus in which
the player guesses the weapon used. Clue: Most Wanted is a
reel-spinning slot with another pie-style mech-anical top-box
game, triggered by a bonus symbol on a special fourth reel.
Finally, Mikohn is releasing a new version of its hit game
Battleship, based on the legendary sink-the-ship board game. In
Battleship Treasure Quest, the player must determine
whether the enemy sub is directly above or below his sub. The battle
continues with each “hit.” Getting all the way through the board
triggers a higher-level Shore
Leave bonus round.

10. Three years ago, Shuffle Master Gaming launched its
new video platform, a LINUX-based operating system
that pushed the ability to create graphics and multiple
game features to new levels. But it was last year that
the capabilities of the new video system really came to
fruition, with games like The Amazing Spider Man
and Budweiser.
Thisyear,thetalentsoftheirgamedesignersand
the capabilities of its superb video platform once
again come together in a dazzling display of video
animation, remarkable graphics and loads of bonus
features in a new suite of video slot games.
Heading the list of Shuffle Master’s 2003 game
introductionsis Chicago,anamazingreproduction
in a video slot of last year’s Academy Award-winning
motion picture. Shuffle Master has always done
game themes in a masterful way, and trust us, they
got this one right. The game’s music, images and
bonus features capture the dark humor and cynical
wit that were the hallmarks of the film.
There are three main bonus events, each reproducing aspects of
the film. When triggering symbols land on the reels, the player is
shown a menu of the three bonus games, and gets to pick the one he
wants to play.
In Making News, the player is shown the editor of the
fictional Chicago Gazette, framed in photo negatives. The player
is asked to choose a negative of a picture for a sensational lead
story for the next issue. Each selection draws a
reaction from the editor, in a word balloon:
“Another murder! This will sell millions of
copies! I’ll pay you 135 credits for it!”
Jail House Confession re-creates
the production number in the film
that showed tiers of jail cells with
silhouetted beauties each giving her
versions of the crimes that got her
locked up. The player selects cells—
the women slither back and forth
before the choice; the animation is
remarkable—and gets a bonus
amount for each alibi (example: “He
fell into my knife…10 times”) until
one of the convicts owns up with a
“true confession,” ending the bonus
round. Tap Dancing re-creates
Richard Gere’s summation dance as
the defense lawyer before the jury in
the trial of the main character. The
player selects jurors and is paid an
accumulating bonus for each juror
who stands up and shouts “Guilty!”
The bonus round ends when a “Not
guilty!” verdict is shouted. Don’t
miss this game.
Other notable games include
Isn’t It Romantic?
According to New Games
Project Manager Alex Hartl,
his staff polled all the
women who work for Shuffle
Master to create a game for
women, and this is it.
The generic female
theme in the 15-line video slot
is communicated in soft
colors and reel symbols
depicting flowers, boxes of
candy, champagne and the
like. Five wedding bells yield
the top jackpot. In the main
bonus event, Cupid shoots
arrows at reel symbols on the
triggering screen to transform
them into wild Valentine
hearts, and the player is paid
the resulting win—even if it’s
the top jackpot. A secondary
bonus event occurs when three
roses line up on the middle
reels; the player picks one for the bonus award.
Getting Wild is Shuffle Master’s answer to the resurgence of
the traditional reel-spinner. It is a video slot, but it is formatted to
look like a traditional reel-spinning game. There are four reels and a
single payline, with a unique twist—if a bar symbol lands on the
fourth reel, all bar symbols become wild. This jacks the hit frequency
far beyond any traditional single-line slot game.
Also new from Shuffle Master: Men Are from Mars,
Women Are from Venus re-creates the humor from the best-
selling book of the same name. Parlay
Poker is a unique video poker game that
deals two hands at a time
and gives the player the
opportunity to make a
parlay bet. If both hands
are winners, the player
wins the paytable
amounts for those hands
plusapayoffontheparlay
bet. Finally, the company
has used its license to
create games based on
Marvel Comics to create
the ultimate Marvel slot
game: Heroes and
Villains. This game is
loaded with bonus events
andstorylinesinvolvinga
cavalcade of superheroes
and super-villains from
the pages of Marvel
Comics.
Shuffle Master
Gaming
ShuffleMaster

11. Last year, Sigma Game forged new ground by
partnering with Harrah’s Entertainment in the
launch of the Game of LIFE with a six-month
promotion at all Harrah’s casinos. They followed
thatupwithasequelcalledTimesofYourLIFE.Thisyear,
Sigma continues the LIFE franchise with a third game
based on the popular board game about life’s milestones,
called LIFE Around the World.
Like the other versions of LIFE, the main bonus round is
played on a video game board with moves around the board
represented on a giant replica of the spinner used in the board
game. Where LIFE II had several, brief, pick-a-tile bonus games
triggered by reel symbols in the primary game, LIFE III wraps those
smaller games into the main bonus round. That bonus round is
what distinguishes this new version of LIFE. It is triggered by a
“passport” symbol on the reels of the nine-line base game.
The passport symbols designate any of four “destinations”—
North America, the Caribbean, Australia or Africa. Each destination
is the theme of a separate LIFE game board. When the destination is
chosen, the video screen displays the game board opening to that
destination,withiconsofthelocationspreadaroundtheboardalong
with other value squares. Each icon representing the destination
carries a bonus award or multiplier, and the other squares designate
bonuses such as one of the Life’s Little Games from Life II.
Sigma Game has a wealth of brand-new titles to go with this
high-profile sequel, though. Two of Sigma’s new slots this year are
based on recently purchased licenses. The first, called PBR, is the
result of a license the manufacturer secured from
Professional Bull Riders, Inc.
The multiline video slot’s
theme includes the entire culture
that has surrounded the PBR tour
(which, not coincidentally, stages its
finals in Las Vegas every year),
including the most popular riders
and even the most popular bulls.
There are three bonus
events depicting PBR lore. One
of two second-screen bonus
events is called Stars of PBR.
Triggering symbols cause the
screen to display a collection of drum heads bearing the
logos of all the famous bulls from the PBR
tour. The player picks one and a bull
appears on the screen and jumps through the
drum head. After that, the bull begins to buck
as a bonus award number rises. The longer the
bull bucks, the higher the award.
The main bonus replicates the actual PBR bull-
riding contests. The player picks one of the tour’s
riders, and the animated bull-riding session begins.
The number of seconds the rider manages to stay on the bull
constitutesamultiplierofthebonusamount—whichisdeterminedby
a panel of “judges”—two human judges and one “bull judge”—after
the rider falls from the bull. The bonus on the scorecard is multiplied
by a number up to eight, corresponding with the eight seconds a real
rider must remain mounted on a bull in PBR to qualify.
It is all great fun, with the PBR experience replicated in lively
animation. There is even going to be a Tournament Version of the
game, with promotions supported partly by PBR.
Sigma Game’s other new licensed game is based on those
novelty mounted fish that come to life when you approach them,
turning their head toward
you from the mount, lip-
synching songs and
spouting wisecracks. Big
Mouth Billy Bass is a
multiline video slot with
an authentic Billy Bass
animatronic fish perched
on top, mounted inside a
log cabin on the top box.
SigmahaswovenseveralbonusfeaturesaroundBilly,includingLet’s
Go Fishing, in which the player selects one of several fishing lures to
reveal bonus awards. And animation shows a fishing line dropping
into the water to “fish” for Billy Bass (or another game character)
and a multiplier to go with the bonus award.
Sigma’sothermajorgameintroductionsattheshowwillactually
be re-introductions. The manufacturer is applying its 21st
century
technology—including ticket-printing capabilities, cashless play
technology, etc.—to its reel-spinners and specialty
video poker games that were big hits during the 1990s.
Reel-spinners including Treasure Tunnel,
Treasure Wheel and 9-Line
Cherries ’R’ Wild will be rereleased in
the modern format, each with a small
LCD touch-screen monitor allowing the
player to select the denomination, and
displaying win information and a credit
meter. A new line called RetroPokers
will do similar re-introductions, injecting
new technology into Sigma Game classic
video poker offerings such as Sneak
Peek Poker, Add ’Em Up and
Flush Attack. In addition to ticket
printing and other peripheral improve-
ments, the new poker versions feature a
lot better presentation and sharper
graphics of the classic games.
Sigma
Game
Sigm

12. WMS Gaming has a new video platform—
one it has been working on for two years in
partnership with slot system whiz Sierra
Design Group. The result of this effort,
along with the company’s new “Bluebird”
cabinet introduced last year, is a suite of
new WMS games unlike anything you’ve
seen from the manufacturer to date.
Heading the list of new WMS video
slots is Robin Hood—Sherwood
Treasure. This video slot provides
a showcase of the capabilities of
WMS Gaming’s new video
platform. The Archery Bonus
features state-of-the-art 3-
D animation, as the
player is awarded a
random number of arrows
for Robin Hood to shoot at
targets selected by the
player. The farther away
the target, the greater the
volatility—tougher shots
mean higher awards with
less frequency. It is just
one of a collection of
intricate, multilevel events
packed into this game.
The next big news for
WMS is a new, enhanced
version of Jackpot
Party, the classic game of
party horns and the party
“pooper” characters who
end the bonus round—first
released in a reel-spinner
with an LED-screen
bonus game and
subsequently on the
standard WMS platform. This time,
the classic game resides on WMS
Gaming’s new CPU-NXT platform.
The game features will provide a
new hobby for anyone who is a
fan of this original, classic WMS
video slot.
Rakin’ It In features a yard-
work theme, with a clever bonus
round in which the player
searches a backyard for squirrels
using the touch-screen feature.
Each squirrel awards an
accumulating bonus amount. The bonus
round ends if the player uncovers an owl,
but a random occurrence has the owl
removing all the other owls on the screen
to give the player a clear shot at the
maximum bonus.
Rich Little Piggies is a new video
slot based on the old Big Bang Piggy
Bankin’ reel-spinner. In the main bonus
round, dice roll to move a pointer to one of
a group of cartoon pigs. The chosen pig
reveals an accumulating credit amount and
the icon changes to a bomb. The bonus
round continues until the pointer lands on
a bomb, which triggers a free-spin round—
withamultiplierbasedonhowlong
the player lasted in the first round.
Monopoly Grand Hotel
is the first game in the
Monopoly series to be
placed on WMS Gaming’s
new, high-powered video
platform. As a result, it is
loaded with bonus features
displayed in high-resolution
animation. In the main
bonus round, the player
places hotels on various
properties around the
Monopoly board and
collects “guests” for his
hotels by landing on
various spots on the board
(railroads, for instance,
add more guests).
It is definitely a new
day dawning for WMS
Gaming, and the origi-
nator of American-style
multiline video slot games
isembarkingonanewera
of enter-tainment for the
player. ●
WMS
Gaming
WMS