Poker Machines in the world of mobile devices

For all the talk about gambling and the sometimes spiteful debate in Australia over poker machine (slot machine) reform legislation, which if successful, a trial of the pre-commitment technology would begin in the ACT – it is fascinating to discover that in 2012 the second highest grossing iPhone App Store is Slotmania.

It’s a Casino style app that gives the user a series of online-style slot machines that you can play directly from your mobile device. And just like the real poker machines, it has all the Sex and Sizzle graphics, sound, multiple machines, etc, etc. The games even look and “feel” like the real deal and have all of the advanced features, including bonus games, which players have come to expect.

As I say what really caught my attention isn’t so much the application, and/or the quality of the games – rather I’m so used to looking at say the top 20 free iPhone apps or the top 10 paid apps that I have never stopped to examine the top grossing apps.

Incidentally the top free iPhone apps in 2012 were:

·     YouTube

·     Instagram

·     Draw Something Free

The top 3 paid iPhone apps in 2012 were:

·     Angry Birds Space

·     WhatsApp Messenger

·     Draw Something

And, the top 3 grossing iPhone apps for 2012

·     Kingdoms of Camelot: Battle for the North

·     Slotmania

·     Pokey

So there you have it, presumably people download the “game” for free and will then use real money to buy credits to use in these slots. Winnings cannot be converted back to real cash. Again, this happens to be the second most grossing app in 2012. It must be a great game.