The invention provides a system to physically dispense an item, including tangible items and/or services or features, on-site from a dispenser whereby the item to be dispensed is selected by the system based on user-specific or item-specific information. In an embodiment, the system selects the dispensed item based on both user-specific and item-specific information. In another embodiment the invention comprises a system that activates gaming features in a gaming device based on user-specific information. In another embodiment, the invention comprises a system incorporated into an interactive amusement system to activate features of a playfield based on user-specific information.