I look at it as an evolution of arcade games. Granted, arcades were also meeting/hangout places and they often had games that looked and played better than any

I look at it as an evolution of arcade games. Granted, arcades were also meeting/hangout places and they often had games that looked and played better than anything you could get at home. Still, from the perspective of the companies that made them, it was similar. Look at the earlier games or even the current gen of pachinko games that are still popular in Japan and you can see the sort of overlap between video games and the exploitation of impulses and reactions typically associated with gambling. I remember not understanding why my folks never wanted to give me money to go screw around in the arcade at the mall but looking at microtransactions and "energy games" on mobile, I completely get it now. Sure, to beat an arcade game or beat a high score can take enormous skill but in order to develop that skill, you need to keep feeding an endless stream of quarters. It's the original gaming microtransaction.