Virtual Reality Meet Gambling: Perspectives From Both Sides Of The Casino Industry

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Who audits the software, so they can't rig the game to make winning extremely unlikely?

Their gaming box looks like a low-poly render. This thing may not exist.
 


It does exist. Gamblit and Phosphor are showing it to casino reps from around the world this week in Las Vegas at the G2E trade show.

The software would be audited by the same companies that audit lotto terminals.
Gamblit is a recent company, but the VRC isn't its first product. The VP I spoke with from the lottery corporation recognized Gamblit and said they make a great product.
 
As a Manitoban I nearly fell out of my chair when my city was brought up in this article. This technology is great but it will never work as it's skill based. One time , I walked into a casino here and played this new game they had up. You would take a rifle and shoot targets on a screen. After a couple rounds my aim was down and I was winning lots of money. I had a crowd around me. The next day I came back and some of the regulars approached me to play for them so I did and I won quite a bit of cash and split it with the those that were paying me. I just stood there as people handed me cash to play for them. So I went back for day three ready to make some more money off the casino only to notice that the game had been removed from the floor. I never saw the game again.
 


I agree this will be a problem, unless the games get harder if the player is better, which really wouldn't be fair, but casinos are not looking to be fair.

At first Brookhaven was a challenge, and the realism would freak me out. Now I just calmly slaughter zombies and spiders with no health loss. I'd also expect people to use performance enhancing drugs like amphetamines and beta blockers to win more easily.

 


Yeah for sure. I think these companies underestimate how good gamers are. I'm slightly above average but there is a big difference between someone like me and a Pro Gamer that does nothing but practice their reaction and snap to target times. I don't think there is a level that they could increase the game to that a pro gamer wouldn't be able to match. And once they can then what ? He is just going to walk in every day and clean house until the game is taken away.

I really do think the future is VR and online gambling. Imagine a VR Casino filled with other VR players playing traditional games like slots and poker. I would play that.
 


Calm, and very steady hands, which could be a big advantage in a VR FPS.
Some people use them to be able to speak in front of a crowd without being nervous.

 
The closest casino floor to me is a 4 hour 1 way drive, which I'm not going to make just to lose $200 in a few minutes and then have to make another 4 hour but depressed drive back home. If I were to "spend the night" that's another $150+ depending on when exactly the room is booked. And Vegas, that's $1000+ bucks just fly cross country and have a cheap bed to sleep in, not counting food money or any money to throw away at the tables.

That's why people aren't going to casino's any more. There are other forms of entertainment that are cheaper and much easier to access. Virtual Reality on a casino floor will not change that.

For a $2,000 one week Vegas vacation a person could build a VR gaming rig that will entertain them for a couple years.
 


That remains to be seen.
There are plenty of young people that actually do make significant livings and could easily afford to do so. Young people tend to enjoy experiences rather than things, so it's definitely on the right track. Dan Sanscartier brought up a couple of good points, though.
If gambling isn't the draw, but playing the game is, then going to an arcade would be a better value for many people.

I'd certainly like to see these show up in my city's casinos. I also think that having these booths in a place like a vegas club, where gambling is permitted but not the primary goal, will be a big hit.
 


I live in Winnipeg 😉

There used to be a horse racing game at Club Regent (when I was 18).
My friends and I used to love playing that game, but some old asian guys figured out how to game the system. After a couple months of that, the game was gone forever.
I've never seen the gun game you mentioned.
Gamblit and Phosphor said they made sure you can't do that, but I'm skeptical too.
 


I agree with you to some extent, but VR games are more about physical ability than reaction time like a traditional game.
The home-based version of the game is far too easy to ever be a viable gambling option, but the developer did say that difficulty ramps up considerably as you progress (its in the interview).

As for a VR casino, that somewhat exists now. There's a casino poker game that lets you play poker at a virtual table with others online.
 


Other cities don't have the same appeal, but Vegas is not just about gambling. There's nothing quite like experience Las Vegas. Its mesmerizing.
I'm of the opinion that most people go to Vegas for the other entertainment and just gamble while they are there because its everywhere.
 


That would definitely be considered single event sports betting, which is not legal in Canada.
It could work in Vegas, but if Gamblit wants to set these up internationally, they have to work around that.
 
I'm 29 and if I go to a casino I only play craps. I only tend to go to a casino maybe once every 3-4 years. With the evolution of E-sports I have 0 interest in this. I'd much rather train to potentially make money playing E-sports. Otherwise I'm cool just kicking back playing with friends and no stress of money on the line. Good luck trying to get a new clientele, but I can guarantee that new games does nothing to change my perception of casinos being anything but a sleazy place.
 
First, I'm glad to see you used the term "gambling". It bugs me whenever people use the euphemism of "gaming", which obviously would have created a lot of confusion, in this context.

Second, given how often people feel cheated by game, think of what it'd be like with a significant amount of real money at stake? Whether or not the game is rigged becomes a pretty big issue, and something difficult to prove with VR. I think there might be legal requirements or liabilities around this, too. Even if it is thoroughly audited, I think some players will be very skeptical.

Finally, there's the issue of wear & tear on the equipment, which might start to take a toll on the playability, fairness, and general enjoyment of the game.

P.S. I do sort of like the idea of gladiatorial combat, using VR. Seems more humane than locking people in a box with real zombies.
 


Lol. I LOVE the idea of one-on-one fighting in VR. But there needs to be, like, zero latency.

To wit, our EIC beat me in this game: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/ccp-games-disc-arena-vr,29307.html

But things moved so slowly in it, that my (relatively) youthful (sort of) quickness was of no advantage. Despite his (relatively) old slowness, he edged me out. (I'm still kinda salty about that. Next time...next time...)
 
The idea of 1v1 is quite hard to make, especially if you want to avoid one of those losing on purpose.
If one of them is a Casino employee (a Pro Gamer), it would be different, but at the same time it would make it less attractive for the public.

The 'magic' of gambling is the 'chance' of winning balanced with the 'rigged' part of it that makes the casino win a majority of the time. If it's skill based, it's either unfair, too hard for the public, or too easy for pros. If it's pure random, there's no place for VR.
 
It's true that unless ones life is at stake, there's a significant chance of rigging (and even in a fight to the death, someone might throw the fight for the sake of their family).

But sports betting always has that problem. I guess you just need pro players who have a track record and a reputation to uphold (plus, significant monetary prizes to help overcome the temptation of bribes).
 
But if you have pro player, then it is automatically no longer accessible to the common public, which apparently was the point of this movement, according to the interview. That's why I can't see how this will develop in the end.
 
Well, they're trying to do two things:

    ■ Let people play a game of skill, with cash rewards.
    ■ Let people bet on a player.

You could still do them separately, rather than trying to combine them into the same game. I think that would be more tractable.

Another approach they could take is to use biometrics to remember players between sessions. That way, the difficulty can be calibrated to the player based on all their past games. I think retinal scans are pretty hard to defeat, with current tech.
 
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