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WMS Showcases New Generation of "Price Is Right" Slots

16 December 2009

The popular television game show "The Price is Right" has been a mainstay of daytime programming for 37 years.

Bob Barker was the venerable host for more than three decades of its remarkable run before retiring a few seasons ago and handing the microphone over to Drew Carey.

Themes from the daily TV show and its timeless pricing games, including Plinko and Cliffhanger, were configured into very popular slot machines in 2001. It was a union that seemed unlikely for a program that emphasized family entertainment.

The only reference to S-E-X was Barker's daily admonition to "have your pets spayed or neutered".

The late Rod Roddy's charismatic presence and announcing talents, coupled with his wardrobe of glitzy sports coats that were tailor-made in Hong Kong and his familiar call of "Come on down!" to contestants, became part of American pop culture.

The slot games were reasonable facsimiles of the show's bigger-than-life pricing games, which include dice and card themes.

Now WMS Gaming is about to launch a new generation of The Price is Right slots which combine three of the company's innovative technologies, including Sensory Immersion, Transmissive reels, and Community Gaming, all in one game.

"We are very fortunate and honored to have acquired a license that has so much depth and richness to the brands associated with it," said Rob Bone, vice president of marketing for WMS.

"At this year's Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas we showed two different executions of the game in which we're really starting to 'cross-pollinate' the technologies slot players have become familiar with while taking them to the next level."

Sensory Immersion utilizes cockpit style chairs in which Bose sound technology envelops the player in a unique sensory environment. Transmissive reels combine traditional spinning reels with an overlapping LCD video screen that gives the playing experience three-dimensional qualities.

Blend all of this with community gaming capabilities in which players share in the bonus round components of the games and you have the makings of what could be a gigantic hit on slot floors nationwide in the near future.

The show's affiliation with the casino gambling industry proves that just as in the world of dating marriage, opposites sometimes do attract.

A one-hour special in 2002 celebrating the 30th anniversary of The Price is Right was taped in the old Samba Showroom at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas and aired on CBS-TV in prime time.

It helped launched an agreement between the show and Harrah's Entertainment, Inc., which had exclusive rights for a limited time to the first generation of slots at its properties nationwide.

Just remember that the games on the TV show are all for fun. The contestants have nothing to lose and everything to gain, including "A New Car!" in some fortunate situations, or tens of thousands of dollars playing Plinko.

The games as they have been developed for slots are for real. When you play them, there's always the chance you'll lose money, and not even a few consoling words from Bob Barker or, now, Drew Carey are sufficient to sooth away the slings and arrows of a bad session of gambling.

John G. Brokopp

John G. Brokopp's gaming column appears in Chicago Sun Times (Chicago, Illinois), The Times (Northwest Indiana), The Quad City Times (Davenport, Iowa), The Courier News (Elgin, Illinois), The Gazette (Southwest Suburban Chicago) and Senior Wire (Denver, CO). He's also a regular contributor to The Colorado Gambler, Midwest Gaming & Travel, Casino Player and Strictly Slots. John possesses 28 years of experience as a professional handicapper, publicist, freelance writer, and casino gaming correspondent. He is also the author of two very popular books, The Insider’s Guide to Internet Gambling and Thrifty Gambling.

Books by John G. Brokopp:

> More Books By John G. Brokopp

John G. Brokopp
John G. Brokopp's gaming column appears in Chicago Sun Times (Chicago, Illinois), The Times (Northwest Indiana), The Quad City Times (Davenport, Iowa), The Courier News (Elgin, Illinois), The Gazette (Southwest Suburban Chicago) and Senior Wire (Denver, CO). He's also a regular contributor to The Colorado Gambler, Midwest Gaming & Travel, Casino Player and Strictly Slots. John possesses 28 years of experience as a professional handicapper, publicist, freelance writer, and casino gaming correspondent. He is also the author of two very popular books, The Insider’s Guide to Internet Gambling and Thrifty Gambling.

Books by John G. Brokopp:

> More Books By John G. Brokopp