Welcome to the Feature Creep Season Finale! On this episode, we take a look at gambling in video games, the why and how it ends up in the games we love, and how that might affect some of us- or at least how it affected me. From Dead Rising to Pokemon. From New Vegas to Red Dead Redemption. Here's How The Gaming Industry Made Me A Gambling Addict.
Nowadays gambling is an industry estimated to be worth over 700 billion US dollars. It’s a global market built around finding ways to sucker people out of their money with the false promise they might be the lucky few to win it big. This means a ton of money goes into advertising the joy of gambling…including making it seem mega-cool and awesome to do. And so far it’s working pretty well. Tons of movies give gambling this debonair aesthetic with a dash of danger. We have books on the art of gambling. Professionals with the ins and outs of moving the odds in your favor do seminars on gambling. Heck, we got gambling tournaments, hosted in cities dedicated to gambling. And…Video games…! Are full of references to casinos and have been shoveling gambling mini-games and mechanics into the hands of players since, at the very least, the 80s.
Ever since, gambling mini-games have evolved from simple slot machines your typical first-year Computer Science student can program, to complex card games and even cheating mechanics to outsmart your opponents in a different way. Have you ever wondered why though, why adding gambling to games is so popular? Well, there’s plenty of reasons; Simplest one: art imitates life! People put entertainment they enjoy in the entertainment they create. Yuji Horii, the creator of Dragon Quest, is a well-known gambler and loves recreating his favorite casinos in his games. Dragon Quest XI’s casinos, for example, strongly resemble Caesar’s Palace and the Venetian, respectively. But the series has had gambling since Dragon Quest III, where players could bet on monster fights. Yeah I know: I try to shoehorn Dragon Quest into everything. I’m sorry! At least it’s relevant this time!
Another great reason: realism! In the early 19th century, poker exploded in popularity here in the United States on gambling boats along the Mississippi River and in Louisiana. It kept growing from there, and many other variants of Poker, including Texas Hold ‘Em, were born from it. It’s become a center stage attraction at casinos, and the World Series of Poker is a huge event every year now. Any game set in the 19th and 20th century, especially in the United States, would lack authenticity without a poker mini-game- or a table and a bunch of dusty old folks hunched over some cards. Games aiming for historical accuracy like Red Dead Redemption, without poker, are like a cowboy without their horse; missing a vital piece of the whole historic ensemble. Likewise, games like Dead Rising 2 are literally on a casino strip. It’d be strange if there weren’t slot machines and poker matches at all!
In video games? No one can stop me, and nobody cares how far I go. After all, the currency I’m using, traditionally, is entirely virtual. Fable 2’s pub games weren’t going to drive me into debt in real-life, and neither would playing Blackjack in Fallout New Vegas. And I’m old enough to separate fact from fiction. I know the excessive gambling I’m doing is a terrible habit to commit to outside of this fantasy experience I’m indulging in. One theoretically without consequences. One where I can turn the game off without wondering where my money went. But I’m speaking with hindsight. With wisdom learned from my personal past with gambling. I also know the line between fantasy and reality, when it comes to gambling, can blur for many people. In other words: Just because you aren’t actually losing money, doesn’t mean you aren’t still developing the habit.
#gamblinggames #videogamegambling #gacha #gambling #addiction
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#Questrospective #GCVazquez #GC_Vazquez #The_Gaming_Industry_Made_Me_A_Gambling_Addict #How_The_Gaming_Industry_Made_Me_A_Gambling_Addict #Gambling_in_video_games #video_game_gambling #gambling_laws_video_games #pokemon_slot_machine #gambling_in_pokemon #gambling_in_games #sonic_the_hedgehog_casino_level #video_game_gambling_addiction #gambling_addiction_stories #gacha_games_are_gambling #gacha_game_addiction #gacha_game_gambling #The_Gaming_Industry_And_My_Gambling_Addiction