Simple gambling or sophisticated gaming? : applying game analysis methods to modern video slot machine games
Year: 2017
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Slot machine games have become the most popular form of gambling worldwide. In Finland, their pervasiveness in public spaces and popularity makes them one of the most common form of gaming. \n \nHowever, in game studies, gambling games are often regarded as borderline games due to the player’s lack of control. In this thesis I ask whether modern video slot machine games can be considered as games and if so, what similarities there are between them and contemporary video games. To find out if modern video slot machine games are in fact games, I compare their features with influential definitions of game and play. After this, I utilize an analysis framework derived from the method of close reading to analyze a popular Finnish video slot machine game Emma. \n \nThe comparison between modern video slot machine games and the various definitions of game and play reveals that modern video slot machine games fit very well into these definitions, and thus they can be considered as games. This notion enables them to be analyzed with game analysis methods. The analysis showed that modern video slot machine games feature many elements that are commonly found in traditional video games, such as contextual aesthetics, narratives, interaction, as well as some form of player control via choices. \n \nResearch regarding slot machine games as games is scarce despite their many intriguing elements that cross disciplinary borders. Modern video slot machine games have evolved into a form of complex digital entertainment, which calls for open-minded collaboration of game studies and gambling studies in particular, but many other disciplines as well.
Author: Tero Leppäsalko
Language: English
Topic: Digital Games and Media
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2777620774