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The time has come when the interactivity functions and the superb graphics of online gaming may be influencing land based casinos according to a conference on the Future Trends in Gaming held in Queensland, Australia. At the conference participants were given an interesting glimpse into the way this may be occurring as regards the development of poker machines.
At the conference a look was taken into the more sophisticated, hi-tech 'pokie' machines, and major industry organizations given the opportunity to outline their vision for attracting younger players.
Aristocrat Leisure Industries's Justin Brown suggested to the participants that such things as poker gaming rooms are probably not the kind of environment that Generation Y is seeking. He pointed out that they are easily bored and suggested that a innovative and advanced line of games with Xbox-style graphics and interactivity would be needed to gain their appeal, demonstrating some of the versatility of the games that are currently being played on PCs or laptops. According to Brown, the present trend is toward group activities and games, like with the challenges of tournaments.
Supporting and agreeing with him was Ross Ferrar, of the Australasian Gaming Machine Manufacturers Association. Ferrar backed his plan, and said that gaming machines need to be updated so as to be more aligned to 21st century technology. He sees a trend of making the gaming equipment more analogous to mass IT equipment, maintaining that Gen Y wants to be able to do things like changing the background colors or including their favorite characters.
Ferrar describes the present shift toward more user-friendly machines as being in part because of the involvement of younger gaming designers. In general, he describes the aim as making the game as entertaining as possible for everyone, Generation Y included.
Ferrar mentioned that there is a 10-step process that is involved in acquiring approval for new games, which he said, can take as long as three years to complete.
When the ideas were presented to anti-gambling bodies by local newspapers, they predictably were against any changes in technology that might attract younger players, citing data, which indicate that studies find that in Australia, young men who leave school at Year 10 are significantly over-represented among problem gamblers.
A spokeswoman for Gaming Minister Graham West was reported as voicing concern for the research that indicates that problem gamblers are more likely to be among 18 to 24-year-old males. Currently there is a government project to develop a campaign designed to use Internet and SMS technologies to educate younger gamblers.
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