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I went to an arcade this month for the first time in years and it shocked me just how many games of “luck” they had. It was easily the majority of games there.

by bnycum 5y ago

I went to an arcade this month for the first time in years and it shocked me just how many games of “luck” they had. It was easily the majority of games there. Felt like I was in a kids casino with no regulations. Also felt like a sucker because you had to pre-pay for a card with credits, and there wasn’t any games that took more than a minute to play so I ended up playing them.

542354234235 5y ago
>Felt like I was in a kids casino with no regulations. Exactly. At least casinos are regulated so that, even if the odds are bad, they still have to be “random chance”. If I put my money in a slot machine, there is some percent, no matter how low, that I could win on any play. With this machine, and likely many others, its literally a 0% chance for some ridiculous number of plays. That is the difference between a game of luck and a scam. And that’s not even getting into that the game is pretending to be a game of skill, while actually being a scam of a game of chance.
BrissyCoder 5y ago
I had pretty much the exact same experience recently. What also annoyed me when our child was much younger was how many of the toys people bought him were cheap plastic with flashing lights and sounds and how much these reminded me of slot machines.
- Aeolun 5y ago
  > cheap plastic with flashing lights and sounds To be fair, kids don’t care about cheap plastic, and they love flashing lights and sounds. Expensive plastic toys have the same flashing lights and sounds. Though I’ll admit that even more expensive wooden toys don’t, they generally still try to incorporate play with light and sound into the toy somehow.
  - BrissyCoder 5y ago
    > To be fair, kids don’t care about cheap plastic, and they love flashing lights and sounds. People love all kinds shit that is objectively bad for them... sugar, heroin, gambling, cryptocurrency. > Expensive plastic toys have the same flashing lights and sounds. The cheap adjective was unnecessary.
    - Aeolun 5y ago
      > The cheap adjective was unnecessary. Huh, no it was. I wanted to distinguish between cheap <$5 plastic toys and brand name $10+ (expensive) ones.
      - BrissyCoder 5y ago
        No I meant in my original comment.
    - gruez 5y ago
      Sugar isn't "objectively bad" in moderation. Gambling might be bad if you only look at the expected (monetary) value, but if you factor entertainment value it might be okay.
      - dogorman 5y ago
        > Sugar isn't "objectively bad" in moderation Can't the same be said of heroin, which in the UK is prescribed as a medication under the name diamorphine? Both of these substances can be safe in limited quantities, and both of them exploit vulnerabilities in human physiology or psychology that results in over-consumption being a very common outcome. One of them is strictly regulated when not banned outright, but the other is freely given to any kid who has spare pocket change, no questions asked.
    - TeMPOraL 5y ago
      > People love all kinds shit that is objectively bad for them... sugar, heroin, gambling, cryptocurrency. What's not on this list is... toys with flashing lights :). That is to say, just because casinos use flashing lights and loud sounds too, doesn't mean it's bad per se. And, as I understand it, lights and sounds in casinos are more intense - perhaps they're aiming for light sensory overload. And personally, I prefer my kid play with that one educational sound/lightboard we got (and that I keep repeatedly fixing after she breaks it), rather than do what many parents I know do - give their 1+ y.o.'s smartphones with videos to play with.
  - dclowd9901 5y ago
    Funny, I’ve found the most expensive toys are the wooden ones that are made in Denmark or something.

by bnycum 5y ago

542354234235 5y ago

>Felt like I was in a kids casino with no regulations. Exactly. At least casinos are regulated so that, even if the odds are bad, they still have to be “random chance”. If I put my money in a slot machine, there is some percent, no matter how low, that I could win on any play. With this machine, and likely many others, its literally a 0% chance for some ridiculous number of plays. That is the difference between a game of luck and a scam. And that’s not even getting into that the game is pretending to be a game of skill, while actually being a scam of a game of chance.

BrissyCoder 5y ago

I had pretty much the exact same experience recently. What also annoyed me when our child was much younger was how many of the toys people bought him were cheap plastic with flashing lights and sounds and how much these reminded me of slot machines.

Aeolun 5y ago
> cheap plastic with flashing lights and sounds To be fair, kids don’t care about cheap plastic, and they love flashing lights and sounds. Expensive plastic toys have the same flashing lights and sounds. Though I’ll admit that even more expensive wooden toys don’t, they generally still try to incorporate play with light and sound into the toy somehow.
- BrissyCoder 5y ago
  > To be fair, kids don’t care about cheap plastic, and they love flashing lights and sounds. People love all kinds shit that is objectively bad for them... sugar, heroin, gambling, cryptocurrency. > Expensive plastic toys have the same flashing lights and sounds. The cheap adjective was unnecessary.
  - Aeolun 5y ago
    > The cheap adjective was unnecessary. Huh, no it was. I wanted to distinguish between cheap <$5 plastic toys and brand name $10+ (expensive) ones.
    - BrissyCoder 5y ago
      No I meant in my original comment.
  - gruez 5y ago
    Sugar isn't "objectively bad" in moderation. Gambling might be bad if you only look at the expected (monetary) value, but if you factor entertainment value it might be okay.
    - dogorman 5y ago
      > Sugar isn't "objectively bad" in moderation Can't the same be said of heroin, which in the UK is prescribed as a medication under the name diamorphine? Both of these substances can be safe in limited quantities, and both of them exploit vulnerabilities in human physiology or psychology that results in over-consumption being a very common outcome. One of them is strictly regulated when not banned outright, but the other is freely given to any kid who has spare pocket change, no questions asked.
  - TeMPOraL 5y ago
    > People love all kinds shit that is objectively bad for them... sugar, heroin, gambling, cryptocurrency. What's not on this list is... toys with flashing lights :). That is to say, just because casinos use flashing lights and loud sounds too, doesn't mean it's bad per se. And, as I understand it, lights and sounds in casinos are more intense - perhaps they're aiming for light sensory overload. And personally, I prefer my kid play with that one educational sound/lightboard we got (and that I keep repeatedly fixing after she breaks it), rather than do what many parents I know do - give their 1+ y.o.'s smartphones with videos to play with.
- dclowd9901 5y ago
  Funny, I’ve found the most expensive toys are the wooden ones that are made in Denmark or something.