We’re roughly 25 years into the online gambling revolution now, and a lot has changed during that time.
The first online casino games were simple experiences; they had to be, as bandwidth was extremely limited during the 1990s. Dial-up modems had a maximum speed of just 56kbps – an unimaginably small number when compared with today’s gigabit fiber connections.
For context, a 56k modem can transfer roughly 6,000 bytes of data each second; a gigabit fiber link can move 100 million bytes.
The simple graphics of the earliest slot machines have now given way to high-resolution 4K games that can often look every bit as good as a regular video game.
Those simple implementations of blackjack and roulette with no animation have been replaced with ultra-realistic variants of the games, and this has made online gambling much more attractive for the typical player who may find a game a lot less fun if it seems rudimentary and basic.
Slot Machines
I play a lot of free slots in my spare time – I like to get a feel for the games before spending real money playing them and would never be able to try as many games in the old days as I do today.
The download time would be the most prohibitive factor – if it takes several minutes to download a demo slot, you are probably only going to try a limited number of them.
Today it takes just a few seconds to open up a new game and give it a try; this can be something of a double-edged sword too, however, as the temptation to have a few spins and then just go try another game without ever seeing everything the first one has to offer is a strong one!
At one time, online slots were considered poor cousins to those that could be found on the casino floor. It was a similar situation to arcade games back in the day, which were technically much more advanced than the games that you could play on a home console.
Just as home consoles have caught up with the arcades, online casino games are now every bit as good as anything you might find at a land-based casino.
In some countries, such as the United States, land-based casino owners are worried that online gambling would take away a significant portion of their revenue.
In reality, the opposite seems to be happening – online gambling is attracting new players who have never visited a casino to try these games, who are then much more likely to visit a land-based casino the next time they are away on holiday.
Virtual & Augmented Reality
One of the most recent developments in online casino gaming is the implementation of virtual and augmented reality headsets into the experience.
There aren’t many real-money online casinos offering this technology yet, but many of the big players have stated that they are interested in developing virtual reality casinos, and players definitely seem interested in the prospect.
Some console games have implemented casinos into their virtual worlds, and these have proved very popular with players.
The most obvious example of this is The Diamond Hotel & Resort in the Grand Theft Auto Online component of GTA 5; you can wander around a realistic-looking casino, sit down at a table to play cards, wander around the slot and choose a game to play, or throw dice at the craps table.
When all this is done you can head upstairs to your virtual hotel room and hang out and chat with your friends in real-time.
You can’t win real money in this casino, but you can multiply your in-game money by playing these games, which has no doubt contributed to the popularity of the casino.
There is another interesting angle to this development too – some online casinos that offer live games now have tables where online players can sit down at the same table as patrons who are sitting in a real land-based casino.
The dealer will deal with the online players just as if they were sitting at the same table as the real players, then interpret their wishes using a screen located out of view of the camera above their head.
You can see the players sitting around the table being a little confused by this initially, but it’s a fantastic thing for online players – you can’t get much closer to sitting in actual casino playing cards than this!
Whatever happens, it is going to be fascinating to see what direction the industry takes in the coming years – as computers continue to get ever-faster, who knows what new ideas slots and casino developers may come up with?
There’s never been a better time to be an online gambler, that much is certain!