A Historical Look at Games & Casino Classics: Exploring Retro, Vintage, and Enduring Trends
The world of gambling has changed forever in the past couple decades, with the comfort and accessibility of the internet era making it easier than ever to win big by playing the games you love. As
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with any rapid technological developments, it can be hard to fathom just how much things have changed in a short period of time: if you want a laugh and have kids or younger siblings, for instance, try asking them how a rotary phone works or what a VHS player is.
Casino gaming hasn’t changed quite so much since the 1980s as telephones have—tried and true classics like blackjack, roulette and poker are always going to have a place at the table—but the method of use has changed quite a bit. Here’s a look at the history of the casino gaming industry, from the early days of betting machines and table games to the modern, plugged-in era.
Vintage Slot Machines: You’ve Hit the Lottery
As with many other antique artifacts, there’s a booming market for the earliest slot machines to hit the gaming market. These days, even the machines that aim to give you an authentic style—replete with levers or even spinning dials—are likely nothing more than a placebo, designed to ensure a fair playing experience using random number generators.
That wasn’t always the case, of course, and mechanical slot machines are coming back in style much like jukeboxes and record players. While they’re in demand more for the vintage look more than actual utility—if you want to play the slots these days, you’ll need to use a touch screen at some of the best social casino sites to do so—many of the machines still work. If you’ve got one laying around in your basement or long term storage, a machine in good working order can run anywhere from $5,000 to the low five figures on eBay.
In recent years, El Cortez casino in Las Vegas maintained a number of the analog machines, and it’s a feeling like few others to hear the clatter of quarters landing in the tray after a spin goes your way.
Retro Style: Back Like it Never Left
As I touched on with the cyclical style trends of things like jukeboxes and record players, I could say that retro casino games are back in style… but that wouldn’t be entirely accurate, as the truth is they never left. Just as many video games like to channel a retro style, hearkening back to the early days of the industry in the 1980s, many casino games try to evoke the same emotions.
Sometimes that means intentionally shoddy graphics, with blurry pixels aplenty, blocky polygons and garish neon lighting that looks like it’s something out of the Tron movies. Other times, the devil is in the details, relying on characters with hairstyles and clothing taken straight out of 1983 or background muzak instead of music.
The fact of the matter is that most casino games aren’t predicated on graphic prowess, especially if it’s something like a digital slot machine. The low-fi approach makes for smoother running gameplay, so the intentionally low tech style helps kill two birds with one stone.
Enduring Trends: The Power of In-Person Interactions
While it’s difficult to beat the advantage of being able to place any bet, play any game from any place you like, whether it’s the comfort of your own home, the break room at work or even on vacation—provided the state or country where you’re spending time has legal sportsbooks and mobile casinos to make use of—there are still some elements of gambling that it’s hard to replicate on screen.
I’m far from a purist, but I’ve always enjoyepoked the human element of competition. No matter if I’m playing poker against friends, family, or at a casino, it’s fun to be able to see your opponents, watch their facial expressions for any sign of a bluff, see their reaction if you decide to check or raise the wager.
Some casino apps do their best to replicate a live environment, offering chat boxes for you to communicate with the players you’re playing against, but it still doesn’t perfectly capture the feel of sitting at an actual table. With the way things are advancing, I wouldn’t be too surprised to see the equivalent of poker FaceTime in the coming years, but for now, retail locations are the way to go if you’re looking for a social outing. Similarly, in person locations can make it more difficult to acquire a problem gambling habit: it’s harder to wager if you have to travel to do so.