Patent ID: 7594848

Claim:
A method of conducting a wagering game on a gaming machine, the gaming machine including a display configured to display an array of randomly selected symbols, a mechanical input device, and a physically movable display mechanism separate from said display, the method comprising: displaying on said display an array of randomly selected symbols representing a wagering game outcome responsive to an input wager; allowing the player to manually operate the mechanical input device to indicate a first plurality of different directions during a special game feature triggered by the wagering game outcome; associating a movement of the mechanical input device and the physically movable display mechanism during a first time period of the special game feature so that the movement of the mechanical input device by the player in any player-selected direction in any of the first plurality of different directions causes an associated and contemporaneous movement of the physically movable display during the first time period of the special game feature; in response to the movement of the mechanical input device by the player in any player-selected direction in any of the first plurality of different directions during the first time period of the special game feature, moving the physically movable display mechanism, contemporaneously during the first time period with the movement of the mechanical input device by the player, in a second plurality of different directions having a predetermined association with the first plurality of different directions; disassociating the mechanical input device from said physically movable display mechanism during a second time period of the special game feature after the first time period of the special game feature; displaying an outcome of the special game feature with the physically movable display mechanism, the outcome being unaffected by the movement of the physically movable display mechanism during the first time period of the special game feature; and awarding an award in accord with the wagering game outcome and the special game feature outcome.