IGT Banking Heavily on "Sex and the City" Slots

There's good news for "Sex and the City" fans with an itch to gamble: Carrie, Samantha, Miranda, Charlotte, and of course, Mr. Big, will soon be appearing on a new video slot that captures the essence of the TV series.

International Game Technology partnered with HBO to create what it hopes will be a huge casino hit, not only among Sex and the City devotees but also among slot players who are always looking for new technologies that take their gambling experience to the next level.

For openers, the eye-catching multi-level progressive is the first IGT product to incorporate the company's patented MultiPlay format into a MegaJackpots game.

MultiPlay gives people the opportunity to play up to four games simultaneously on the same screen, a feature which comes with a price:

Each game has 30 pay lines plus a 20-credit side wager. It'll take a wager of 200 credits per spin to cover all four games with a 1-X bet multiplier. If you take it to the max of three credits per line on all four games, you're facing a max bet of 600 credits.

Even on a penny game that means forking over $6 per play, but apparently there are enough incentives to make the gamble one that will be appealing.

A big draw will be the fact Sex and the City will feature MegaJackpots, an opportunity for participants to cash in on huge awards for fortuitous spins, even though the odds against hitting a big one are steep.

There are also enhanced and expanded bonus round components, a feature which video slot players pursue with such gusto that the games which have them represent the new "cash cows" of gaming floors nationwide.

Players will have five unique bonus games in nine different variations to chase in Sex and the City. IGT says the "hit frequency" to get into a bonus round is once every 25 plays with all four games on the screen activated.

Finally, the slot comes equipped with what IGT is calling a MEGAfx "Surround Chair", the company's answer to WMS Gaming's Sensory Immersion playing experience. Both technologies feature enhanced audio capabilities.

The mix of video clips, music, and voice-overs make IGT's Surround Chair the perfect fit for Sex and the City.

Now back to the bonus games, which feature the show's characters in exciting and rewarding interactive second screen playing experiences.

The games, which include the Progressive Pick Bonus, Simply Fabulous! Bonus, Perfect Present Bonus, Change of Dress Bonus, and Hello Lover! Bonus with Multi-Way wins, are driven by a virtual wheel on the top box of the units.

In Simply Fabulous! participants select on-screen jewelry boxes, which open to reveal numbers that ultimately will make up a four-digit number representing the amount of bonus credits awarded.

The Perfect Present feature is a free game bonus in which up to 15 "presents" may appear on the screen's reels, which then transform into scatter plays, triggering bonus credit payoffs.

Change of Dress may prove to be the most popular bonus component of the game because players get to select a character from the show and then change her outfit while collecting bonus credits and multipliers. There's a neat matching "mirror" feature.

The attraction of the Hello Lover! Bonus is a "locking" symbol, which holds its position on the reels throughout the duration of the five free spins, increasing the chances of winning big.

Sex and the City slots have already been installed at properties in Las Vegas and Reno. Other gaming jurisdictions will be quick to follow suit as soon as regulatory approvals come through.

If you want to check the status of where the game can be found, visit www.megajackpots.com/wheretoplay/satcmlp.