Extras: VIRTUAL REALITY SLOTS: OPPORTUNITIES AND THREATS

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by John Todd on June 13, 2020

in Extras

Virtual Reality Slots:
Opportunities and Threats


The entertainment industry has benefited immensely from advances in technology and more so than many other industries. Whether it is computer games with lifelike graphics or special effects that have helped define modern cinema, all have changed the industry beyond recognition. 

Gambling and New Technology

Gambling is usually seen as a form of entertainment that takes place in betting shops and casinos. With a mostly male-dominated clientele that bet on horse racing and other sports. This may have been the case a few years ago but the internet changed all this and brought gambling to the masses. Now even the game choice of punters has been transformed because of technology.

Slots Of Choice

With the technology available to today’s games developers, it comes as no surprise to see just how popular free slot games have become and their popularity does not seem to be waning. Another reason why slots are so popular is that online gambling really took off in the 1990’s thanks to the introduction of the internet into people’s homes.  Online casinos flooded the market and started to offer more than just traditional table games. This is because the first video slot was introduced in 1996, the same year that saw the launch of the first online casino.

Video slots were in high demand and developers reacted by making hundreds of different slots based on films, TV shows, animals, countries and anything else that inspired them.

What Does The Future Hold?

The next logical step for slots to take is to move into the realms of virtual reality. The future of entertainment is all about full immersion and this includes gaming. An early example of this future came in the form of an app called Riftcasino. This software allowed punters to walk through a 3D virtual casino. They could even try out slot games that needed the player to fully interact with it. The slot was controlled by arm and hand actions.

The drawback here was the lack of real cash gambling opportunities, so it felt more like a gaming experience than a gambling one.  SlotsMillion was one of the first casinos to offer players the chance to gamble with real cash in a virtual casino world. Although this is still a niche market along with virtual reality slots, it does offer punters the chance to interact with other punters on the casino floor too.

Final Thoughts

Virtual reality slots have huge potential to take gaming to the next level and introduce slots to a generation that thrives on new technology. If games are developed especially for a virtual world and gamers can adapt and acclimatize to the new sensations this world offers, then virtual reality slots are the future. The major threat here is that gambling addiction, that is already a major problem in society, could sky rocket as individuals lose themselves and their sense of reality in a virtual gambling world that engulfs the senses and leaves players wanting more and more.

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