Bally has called on some of its best technology to re-create Pawn Stars, the popular History Channel reality show set in a Las Vegas pawn shop. All of the stars of the show—pawn shop owner Rick Harrison, his father Richard “Old Man” Harrison, who opened the shop in 1988, his son Corey, and Corey’s friend, the over-the-top Austin “Chumlee” Russell—recorded exclusive video and audio for the game.
The game is on the Pro Wheel cabinet, which houses two 22-inch video screens with an integral bonus wheel on top. The base game can be changed to reflect the player’s favorite character from the show.
During the base game, an “Item Selection Feature” allows the player to pick one of 20 spots to reveal a credit award and an item to be pawned later. The player stores any items collected in an “inventory” for use in the main bonus event.
Bonus games are awarded through a spin of the central wheel. The slices on the wheel relate to all the various bonus events—Free Games, the Chumlee Video Bonus, the Treasure Bonus, or the core feature of the game, the Negotiation Feature.
The Negotiation Feature re-creates the central feature of the show, in which customers bring items in and haggle over the price with one of the “Pawn Stars.” At the start, one of the characters invites the player to pick one of the items earned during the base game. (If no items have been earned, one appears for the bonus.)
Several outcomes may follow. The Pawn Star will make a straight offer, which is awarded as a bonus, or will say the line with which fans of the show are very familiar: “How much were you looking to get out of it?” In that case, the player is shown several amounts, and picks one. Then, the negotiation begins. “Oh, I can’t pay that. I’ll give you….” The player has the choice to accept the amount, or offer an alternative from several choices on the screen. Eventually, a bonus award somewhere in the middle is reached.
Another possibility drawn directly from the show is verification by an expert of an item’s authenticity. If the Pawn Star says, “I’ll call in an expert,” the player has a choice to accept the previous offer or allow the expert to come in. If the expert decides the item is authentic, the player is awarded double the last offer. In a classic gambling feature, if the item is bogus, the player gets nothing.
Manufacturer: Bally Technologies
Platform: Alpha 2
Format: Five-reel, 25-line video slot
Denomination: .01—1,000
Max Bet: 250
Top Award: 18,400 times bet
Hit Frequency: 44.97%
Theoretical Hold: 3.81%—14.63%
