Patent ID: 7641554

Claim:
A gaming machine system, comprising: a remote network having: a display device to display a selection menu listing a plurality of illumination instructions and a plurality of triggering events; an input device to receive input from a user to associate at least one of the plurality of illumination instructions with at least one of the plurality of triggering events; and a first processor to transmit an association signal having the at least one of the illumination instructions associated with at least one of the plurality of triggering events; a plurality of gaming machine, each plurality of gaming machines having: a second processor for controlling selected machine operations, the second processor configured to communicate with the remote network to receive and store the association signal; an external visual indicator mounted on the gaming machine, the external visual indicator having a plurality of colored light emitting diodes (LEDs), the external visual indicator configured to: communicate with the second processor; and display various colors in response to an illumination signal received from the second processor; and the second processor configured to detect a triggering event and transmit the illumination signal to the external visual indicator to trigger one or more of the plurality of colored LEDs in accordance with the illumination signal to provide a selected color illumination pattern in response to the triggering event, whereby triggering one or more of the plurality of colored LEDs provides a color change of the external visual indicator without requiring the use or removal or insertion of a colored plastic insert within the external visual indicator for changing the color that is displayed.