Content was written by Johan Larsson, Head of Content for Prime Gaming.
Virtual and augmented realities are set to become the technologies of the future. The difference between the two? The virtual one engulfs you in a complete imaginary world, head to toe, wall to wall, taking you to a meticulously coded fantasy. The augmented one dresses-up the physical world around you with an additional layer of sensory input, visually or audibly or both.
Both technologies bring on a kicking experience. “Taking” a rollercoaster ride with Oculus Rift makes your stomach turn just as the real one in Six Flags does. And from what tidbits Microsoft released, playing an augmented Minecraft on the Hololens looks amazing (MS diverts from the term Augmented Reality in favor of Holograms; well, words were never the folks from Richmond’s strongest suit – pun very much intended!)
The future of gaming lays in the hands of these guys, the Oculus Rift and Hololens teams and for the sake of not offending anyone, we’ll give a shoutout to Project Morpheus, the Sony dudes holed up somewhere in downtown Tokyo, getting buzzed on manga-margaritas. Nintendo Wii was the first stepping stone in the merger of the real and virtual worlds, a stone that’s getting crashed now by the massive bulldozers mentioned above.
Time To Spin Into the Virtual Casino
A segment of online gaming that for now is being snubbed by the virtualists and augmentists is the online casino universe. Your first reaction might be, say what? But let’s roll with this for a second.
Not everything stands to benefit from a virtual 3D, all-encompassing experience, that’s true. Blackjack and poker will remain two dimensional no matter what; a green felt table and flat cards – not much to do there, unless you want to cheat. In this case the virtual reality experience can definitely provide a much more promising platform than mere online poker.
Other casino games though, there is much to gain there. The first that comes to mind is the most popular casino game in the world (no, not getting more free drinks than you can handle or piling 64 jumbo shrimps on a single plate) – the slot machine. The old-time favorite, the light-gambling game that proves popular with all folks from all walks of life. Online slot games are super cool these days. You should give online slots a try. They’ve got awesome graphics, sometimes rockin soundtracks and always a chance to win some cash along the way.
Now think of a virtual slot machine where you insert a coin for every game, pull the handle and feel it turning the reels as you do, this mechanical feeling that’s long gone. So much more engaging than just clicking a button. And imagine a Mega Win, those coins spilling out from machine, piling at your feet – heck, those coins can even be made into gold coins!
Craps can also be totally awesome in a true virtual form. You can ‘physically’ throw the dice, forcefully or lightly, in your favorite arch movement or in a straight-shoot fashion. And don’t forget the smoking-hot babe leaning on your shoulder, blowing on the dice for good luck – just for that it would all be worth it.
Virtually, Everything Is Possible
The whole casino experience can be made virtually. The entire hall can come alive, buzzing with excitement, people playing rows of slots machines, others huddled around the craps and roulette tables, cheering big wins or cringing for stupendous losses. If you feel dressy you can select the James Bond setting and everyone will be dressed in tuxedos and evening gowns. If you wish, you could select the Halloween setting or Mardi Gras setting or even the Mars setting – gambling in zero gravity, that’s what I’m talking about.
If you need a breath of fresh air you can ‘step outside’ of the casino for a while, have a walk and soak in the atmosphere on the streets. If you feel lucky all of a sudden, if you get the feeling that you can win some cash right now, buy a scratch card, pull out of your pocket one of those gold coins you won earlier and use it to scratch and find out if that feeling was right, or wrong.
The possibilities are endless. The future of gaming is an exciting one, and the future of the online casino experience is very promising. Virtual and augmented realities have the power to elevate almost any gaming experience. Whether you guys are First Person Shooters, Fantasy Leaguers or online Slot Spinners, everything will look & feel utterly different for you in a few years.
The coolest thing about it all is that I might be completely wrong about everything I’ve just said. That’s the greatest thing about technology, it’s unpredictable. It can hold and take roots and change everybody’s lives or it can, just like that, be bypassed by a different one and be tossed to the Great Trash Can of old technologies. So yeah, virtual reality gonna rule the world in a few years, or not.