Make a Wish
Anchor Games releases the new and improved version of IGT's "I Dream of Jeannie," complete with wheel - by Frank Legato

From September of 1965 through May of 1970, she was a household name: a drop-dead gorgeous blonde in a harem outfit who brought a playful sexiness to her role as a genie found in a bottle on a beach by an astronaut.

I Dream of Jeannie was one of the most popular network sitcoms of the '60s. Through 139 episodes and two movies, Barbara Eden's "Jeannie" character became as ingrained in the popular culture as the show's bouncy theme song. The combination of Eden's sex appeal and the theme itself-a beautiful woman living under the same roof (always sleeping in her bottle, we were assured) with a single man, at that man's beck and call for anything-brought a certain naughtiness to a television culture that still required married couples to be depicted in twin beds.

Eden's costume had to be altered so her navel would not show-a restriction the censors maintained for the show's entire run. For millions of young, male Baby Boomers, though, it only added to her mystique.

Despite the multitude of subsequent roles she has played in television, movies and on stage, Eden is still, and probably always will be, most associated with the role of Jeannie. Thirty years after it was cancelled, I Dream of Jeannie is still popular. The show has lived on in reruns, and Jeannie fan clubs and websites abound.

This is why IGT bought the rights to use the sights and sounds of the show in a slot game released a year ago. It is also why the manufacturer employed Eden to do voice-overs for the game and appear at functions to promote it.

The original "I Dream of Jeannie" slot game, however, was not to be the definitive version. The company's product development team decided to rework and improve the game using the full capabilities of its new "i-Game Plus" video format.

To complete the transformation, IGT brought in Anchor Games, which incorporated its patented bonus wheel-made famous in the wildly popular "Wheel of Fortune"-into the game.

Meet the new "I Dream of Jeannie" slot machine.

It is a slant-top multiline video slot with multiple bonus features, including the wheel, which makes it look similar to the new video Wheel of Fortune games. The graphics, colors and sound have been improved, and the new bonus features created by IGT are terrific.

"We're very excited about this product," says Julie Mottes, marketing manager for Anchor Games (Anchor is handling all promotion, sales and distribution of the slot). "We believe it will be a huge hit. The choreography of the sound and graphics are better than any of the other wheel games; we feel it is, by far, the best incarnation of the wheel we have seen to date."

IGT Product Development Director Jean Brossard, who headed the development team for "Jeannie," says the graphics, artwork and sound of the new version are vastly improved over the original. "We're excited about how the physical product turned out," she says. "From an aesthetic sense, it is probably one of the most attractive machines we've ever done."

According to Brossard, the team at IGT created totally new graphics for the new version of the game, which originally used graphics provided by an outside company. "We decided to take a very colorful, cartoon approach," she says, "using two-dimensional images with lots of color. We think it is very true to the spirit of the '60s show." (The animation simulates the cartoon sequence that appeared during the theme song at the beginning of the TV show.)

The bonus features, also, are new. "The game you saw last year was a different game," says Brossard. "This version is more like 'Wheel of Fortune' in its play. The reason we married it with the wheel is that it was such a strong title, we thought it would have strong appeal with the players our demographics show us." Those demographic studies show, surprisingly, that the game is most popular with women. "When we took our [research] tours, we noticed that women absolutely love the game."

Meet Jeannie
The game itself is hosted by Eden in her Jeannie role. IGT enlisted the star to record new voice-overs for the game, phrases as the Jeannie character reacting to a wealth of different game results.

Thus, "Jeannie" serves as hostess for primary game events, bonus rounds-everything from feeding the bill acceptor to cashing out.

Initial versions of the game are in either a nine-line nickel or five-line quarter setup. There are two main bonus features. Three or more "SPIN" symbols on an active pay line trigger the main wheel bonus feature. The video screen transforms to depict five bottles, and Jeannie prompts the player to pick one to reveal the number of times the player gets to spin the wheel. The bottle uncorks, and smoke comes out to reveal the number, to the backdrop of the show's theme music.

The number of spins varies according to how many triggering symbols appeared to activate the bonus round. Three or four triggering symbols get the player from two to four spins of the wheel. If five symbols trigger the bonus round, the player gets to choose two bottles, for a potential maximum of eight spins on the wheel. The wheel is divided into colorful spots displaying multiplier amounts ranging from 2X to 1,000X. The number on which the wheel stops is multiplied by the player's per-line bet for the bonus award.

The other bonus screen is triggered by three "Wish" symbols scattered on the second, third and fourth reels. The screen transforms into the "Three Wishes Bonus," which depicts Jeannie dancing beside six "wishes." The computer selects the wishes at random from more than a hundred in the program-all humorous phrases like "I wish my mattress was stuffed with money" or "I wish my car washed itself."

The player is prompted to pick three wishes, each of which reveals either a bonus coin amount, a "Bonus Wish" symbol that adds an extra wish chance, or the "Bonus Double" symbol, which doubles the total accumulated bonus amount.

According to Mottes, Anchor Games is selling the Jeannie slot in stand-alone configuration with a top primary game jackpot of 50,000 coins everywhere but New Jersey and Detroit, where she says IGT will sell a "MegaJackpots" multi-site progressive version. "The IGT team did a fantastic job creating the symbols, game screen and background art," Mottes says. "It's extremely easy to navigate through the game, and the bonus screens are great fun. "Video Wheel of Fortune is a huge success in this format, and we have high hopes that 'Jeannie' will be just as exciting for players."