IGT drops ‘South Park’ slot in Nevada

David Strow

Friday, Sept. 24, 1999 | 10:41 a.m.

Eric Cartman, a character from the animated series "South Park," brought some comic relief to Thursday's meeting of the Nevada Gaming Commission.

"I love Cheezy Poofs, you love Cheezy Poofs..." rang Cartman's sing-song voice through the hearing room, sending ripples of laughter through those in attendance.

But Cartman won't be bringing his strange brand of humor to Las Vegas casinos anytime soon; on Thursday, a top IGT official announced that its South Park-themed slot machine would not be submitted for approval in Nevada, after the Gaming Control Board told the company several months ago that South Park had little chance of being approved.

"They told us that they thought it was a vulgar, obscene and off-color game," said Brian McKay, senior vice president and general counsel of IGT. "We decided not to submit it."

South Park, launched several years ago on cable network "Comedy Central," has stirred controversy before. It has received a "TV-MA" rating, the most restrictive television rating, and a South Park-themed movie released this summer received an R rating. The cartoon is filled with scenes of violence, profanity and off-color sexual humor that repulses many, but makes it a wildly popular cult favorite among many young adults.

But Control Board Chairman Steve DuCharme said that the vulgarity featured in South Park didn't concern him as much as the appeal the game might have for children. He said he warned the company in June that the game had virtually no chance of being approved by the control board.

"South Park could have been painted with the Joe Camel brush," DuCharme said. "That it was risque was less of an issue."

Such concerns led the Control Board to propose further investigation into restricting the use of cartoon characters in slot machines. The commission decided to proceed with those investigations Thursday.

McKay said the company had heeded the board's concerns about vulgarity by "sanitizing" the game's content considerably since initial discussions with the Control Board. The company plans to move ahead with the approval process for South Park in Mississippi and New Jersey, and McKay said officials in those jurisdictions hadn't expressed any concerns about the game yet.

"What you see on TV is a lot more risque than anything you'll see on this machine," he said. "We hope to sell it in Mississippi and New Jersey, and hope one day to sell it here, if (DuCharme) changes his mind."