Bret at the event THANKS TO BRET FOR THE PHOTOS

Celebrities lend cachet to slots at World Gaming Expo.

Entertainers promote the latest in gimmicks in gambling at Las Vegas Convention Center.

By SONYA PADGETT
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Pamela Anderson has one. Ed McMahon does, too. So it was only a matter of time before rock icon Kiss got theirs.

Call it their Sin City comeuppance: a video slot machine featuring the band's hit song "Rock and Roll All Nite" and the members' famous mugs in full makeup. The game was unveiled by Progressive Gaming International Corporation Tuesday at the Global Gaming Expo with founding members Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons on hand.

The band was in good company; across the convention center, actress Morgan Fairchild was launching International Game Technology's Penny Megabucks game featuring her likeness. And Don Cornelius was also at the Expo to introduce IGT's Soul Train game.

The celebrity slot machine is nothing new. A slew of famous people have paired their names and likenesses with gaming machines at past expos, including Pamela Anderson, Clint Eastwood and others. It's a formula that apparently works well for gaming companies. And the celebrities.

"Well, we try to get ourselves involved in every aspect of the American culture," Paul Stanley said. "And this is just another way to do that."

Morgan Fairchild thought it would "be a hoot" to have her name and face on Penny Megabucks machines. Surrounded by fans wanting to get a look at her and the machines, Fairchild likened her association with the game to playing a role.

"I'm always looking for great parts, unexpected roles," she said. And the thought that she might make someone a millionaire is fun, she added.

Don Cornelius got involved with IGT's Soul Train slot machine because it was flattering to the show.

"I thought it was a fun idea and I was invited, of course," Cornelius said. "I think it will appeal to fans of the show, fans of soul music crowd that likes to dance."

The celebrities have their reasons for lending their names to the machines. But fans don't really care; they were just glad for the chance to meet their favorite stars.

"It's past due," said Kiss fan Thomas Denison, an expo attendee from Las Vegas.

He was filming Stanley and Simmons as they greeted a long line of fans next to their game. With the giant Kiss sign hanging above the machines, it will stand out in casinos, he said, and even draw players of all ages, just because they're Kiss fans.

"I first saw them in concert in 1976 and I was 5. They kind of bridge the age gap. It's the makeup," he explained.

"I tinkered with the idea of bringing their action figures and having them sign them but that might have been too geeky."

Looking at the line of fans waiting to get their photos taken with the two rock stars told Rachel Duarte, a representative of Cliff Castle Casino in Camp Verde, Arizona, everything she needed to know about the game itself.

"I can tell it's popular," she said. "We really have a market for Kiss machines because we get a lot of rock groups in our (city) and I think machines like that will really appeal to our target market."

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