Thursday, October 07, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Slot makers feel celebrities' pull at expo

Companies and stars unveil machines featuring famous faces

Actress Pamela Anderson hugs a slot machine Wednesday at the Global Gaming Expo at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Anderson was promoting a new Bally Gaming and Systems slot featuring her likeness. Clint Eastwood was promoting WMS Gaming's Fistful of Dollars slot. Drew Carey smooches International Game Technology's new Drew Carey slot at the Global Gaming Expo. The machine spins and matches up hot dogs, beer and various photos of the actor. Photos by John Gurzinski.

While hundreds of spectators eagerly waited for the "Man With No Name" to officially open the doors to this year's Global Gaming Expo on Tuesday, cowboys and cowgirls milled around a makeshift corral bearing Western-style posters saying, "Wanted: Looking for a killer slot series," while listening to spaghetti Western music blaring from the convention hall's music system.

When the mysterious gunman -- otherwise known as Clint Eastwood -- finally arrived to "introduce myself to the gaming industry," he had to admit he hadn't even seen the new WMS Industries Fistful of Dollars slot machine he was there to promote.

"I haven't seen the product yet, but I am looking forward to it," he said.

"So when do we see it?" he asked, turning toward several gaming industry executives and Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn, who were attending the G2E's ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

While slot manufacturers and casino executives recognize how people like Eastwood, Drew Carey and Pamela Anderson can draw fans to slot machines on the floors of trade shows or casinos, most celebrities who license their likenesses to gaming companies have little say in the design of the machines.

Pele, the famous Brazilian soccer player, also hadn't seen the latest version of Aristocrat's Golden Goals machine featuring him until he stood in front of it on Tuesday.

"All of the images we used had to be approved by his agency, but he hasn't seen the machine yet," said Kent Young, an Aristocrat spokesman.

Each slot company has different marketing guidelines they use to select which celebrities will be displayed on their new machines.

A representative for International Game Technologies, for instance, said a lot of the time it comes down to how good a deal the company can make with a celebrity. Usually, the company tends to go for the individual that costs the least.

The company doesn't do extensive marketing research on celebrities either, the representative said. The company has general demographics about who the celebrity appeals to, but IGT doesn't use focus groups. After IGT builds a new machine, it is placed in with a bank of popular games and monitored to see how the new game performs compared with already established machines.

Gaming companies hope that when players enter a casino and see the vast number of slots, they will choose a celebrity machine because of the instant recognition or because they have an affinity for the celebrity, the IGT representative said.

Bally Gaming and Systems is using the age-old "sex sells" tactic to attract people to its Playboy Get Lucky Wheel slot featuring Pamela Anderson.

"Playboy is a great brand," said Mickey Roemer, senior vice president of game development for Bally. "In fact more females play it than males."

Anderson, who was signing autographs and promoting Bally's new machine on Wednesday, said she has been approached many times before about appearing on a gaming machine.

"I decided if I was going to do it, I should go big and Bally's was the way to go," Anderson said.

Anderson was particularly excited about designs for the game that are still in the works. "The new versions are really fun, instead of pulling a lever you get to pull my leg, and I am spinning on the wheel," she said.

Drew Carey also made an appearance at G2E.

The actor was on hand Tuesday to try out IGT's new Drew Carey slot, which spins and matches up hot dogs, beer and various photos of Carey, as Carey's voice belts out "sweet balls of cash." While the actor "won" $5,850 playing in front of the crowd, Carey didn't actually make any money in the demonstration since none of the games at the expo are hooked up for real play. IGT wouldn't release how much they paid the actor for his likeness on its machine.

The actor worked with IGT to incorporate video and vocal interludes in the bonus rounds of the game.

Aristocrat selected Pele because of his global recognition and fame.

"Golden Goals is doing very well in Europe right now," Aristocrat President Gavin Isaacs said. "People think we're nuts for introducing a soccer game like this in North America, but Pele is the most recognizable sports person, ever. We think this game will be a huge success," Isaacs said, peering at the hundreds of people in line for Pele's autograph.

The soccer player smiled and signed IGT miniature soccer balls for fans.

"My life has always been a game, so this just makes sense," he said.