NYTimes | STEP into a casino and chances are good that slot machines are filling
much of the space, as far as the eye can see. That dominant presence
reflects the preference of many customers for machine gambling over
human-mediated table games. Not surprisingly, electronic game machines
contribute a clear majority of casino revenue in the states that permit
them.
What may not be so evident is how a shift in casino gambling to
screen-based games contributes to gambling addiction. It’s a story that
would fill a book — and just such a book has arrived: “Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas” by Natasha Dow Schüll,
an associate professor in the Program in Science, Technology and
Society at M.I.T. The book offers a history of digital technology in
casino gambling and shows how it grabs hold of players in ways never
before available to equipment makers.
Professor Schüll, a cultural anthropologist, spent considerable time in
Las Vegas casinos as part of her research. She met players who told her
how they sought to enter a mindless state, a “zone,” in which all else
is obliterated, and to stay there as long as possible.
“You aren’t really there — you’re with the machine and that’s all you’re
with,” one subject said, describing the zone “where nothing else
matters.”
This isn’t the only place where gamblers can reach such a state of mind. It’s also known to occur at table games and at the racetrack. But casino machines arguably supply the most immersive, distraction-free gambling experience.
Speed is one design element of modern gambling machines that helps preserve that zone. When the machines’ gear-driven handles were replaced by electronic push-buttons, the number of games that could be played in an hour doubled. On today’s video slots, played with credit cards instead of coins, players can complete a game in as little as three seconds. There is virtually no pause between plays, and virtually no opportunity to process what has just transpired.
In an interview, Professor Schüll expressed skepticism that players were making careful choices to keep playing each time they pressed the button. “It’s not just those who are vulnerable to addiction,” she said. “I don’t think any human being sitting there, two hours in, playing 1,200 games an hour, can be described as ‘making decisions.”
This isn’t the only place where gamblers can reach such a state of mind. It’s also known to occur at table games and at the racetrack. But casino machines arguably supply the most immersive, distraction-free gambling experience.
Speed is one design element of modern gambling machines that helps preserve that zone. When the machines’ gear-driven handles were replaced by electronic push-buttons, the number of games that could be played in an hour doubled. On today’s video slots, played with credit cards instead of coins, players can complete a game in as little as three seconds. There is virtually no pause between plays, and virtually no opportunity to process what has just transpired.
In an interview, Professor Schüll expressed skepticism that players were making careful choices to keep playing each time they pressed the button. “It’s not just those who are vulnerable to addiction,” she said. “I don’t think any human being sitting there, two hours in, playing 1,200 games an hour, can be described as ‘making decisions.”
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