More Interactive Advanced Graphics Are Needed, Say Experts

At a “Future Trends in Gaming” conference recently held in Queensland, Australia where major industry organizations outlined their vision to attract younger players, a plan for more sophisticated, hi-tech 'pokie' machines was canvassed.

The conference also took a glimpse of the way in which poker machines may develop in the future and speculated as to whether the level of interactivity and advanced graphics in online games may be impacting the land sector.

Justin Brown of Aristocrat Leisure Industries told the conference, “I don't think gaming rooms are an environment that Generation Y wants to be in. They get bored easily.” He suggested that a new and futuristic line with Xbox-style graphics and interactivity may have more appeal, and some of the versatility of games played on a PC or laptop. “Group activities and games are the way of the future, as are tournaments and challenges.”

A spokesman for the Australasian Gaming Machine Manufacturers Association, Ross Ferrar, backed the plan, saying gaming machines need to be updated to be more in line with 21st century technology. “At the end of the day this is all headed towards making the equipment more similar to mass IT equipment,” he said. “Gen Y wants the ability to do their own things like change the background color or put in their favorite character.” Ferrar said the shift towards more user-friendly machines was partly because of younger gaming designers. “It may be more appealing to Gen Y but it's also about making the game as entertaining as possible to everyone. There is a 10-step process of gaining approval for new games, which could take up to three years.”

Anti-gambling bodies, canvassed on the idea by local newspapers, were predictably set against any changes and underlined a recent study which apparently found that young men who left school at Year 10 were over-represented among problem gamblers in Australia. A spokeswoman for Gaming Minister Graham West said, “I am concerned that research is showing that problem gamblers are more likely to be 18 to 24-year-old males.”

The government is currently working on a campaign to educate young gamblers that uses SMS and internet technology.

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