Lewis Pek Editor
Comment
June 2020
Is it weird to miss standing in a queue for immigration control? To reminisce about the territorial ‘elbows-out’ jostle for space while you wait for a performance to begin? I remember queuing on a terrace, in the stalls of a theatre, or those moments trying catch an itinerant bar-tender’s eye, with real nostalgia. I don’t just miss being in a casino - I miss being in a casino with people.
Every memory I have within casinos is social. Ask a casino manager what their most important asset is - and they’ll tell you it’s their staff. Whenever I’ve asked the question - so why do people visit a land-based location as opposed to playing the same game online? I’m greeted with the same response: people want to be social - to meet and socialise with other people.
So how will land-based cope with social distancing when the message from casinos has always been - why play online when you can be social? What does this new level of human interaction mean for such social environments? In this issue we feature many of the clever solutions that enable the public to visit casinos safely, but when you utilise remote check-in, sit separately at tables, hide behind exclusion screens at slot machines, watch sports without crowds and play roulette looking through plexi-glass goldfish bowls - I wonder what this means for the future?
QUESTION: WHY DO PEOPLE VISIT A CASINO AS OPPOSED TO PLAYING ONLINE? ANSWER: BECAUSE WE’RE SOCIAL ANIMALS
I was thinking about this while checking numerous LinkedIn updates from casino managers opening up their locations, when a marketing advert for a sports writing service popped up. The service uses AI to fill websites with computer generated sports articles “as if written by a human.” It described the articles it creates as semi- unique. Okay, so while there’s no such thing as kind-of-unique, very unique or anything inbetween, the idea that people are consuming news generated by an AI is about as Orwellian dystopian a concept as I can imagine. It’s the writing equivalent of Soylent Green.
Human interaction, personal contact and being social - I know these all have to be tempered right now and I one hundred per cent back the imposed restrictions. I’m just concerned about whether a precedent is being set. Having not seen friends, family and colleagues for months, I’m balking at the idea of consuming drivel written by a software programme, checking into hotels without a meet-n-greet, watching a football match in silence, eating in an echoing restaurant and only ever visiting conferences via Zoom. I understand the push towards contactless environments and why it’s a term that’s being banded about as a goal to aim for right now, but personally, that’s not the gaming experience I’m looking for.
EDITORIAL
G3 Magazine Editor Lewis Pek
lewis@gamingpublishing.co.uk +44 (0) 1942 879291
G3Newswire Editor Phil Martin
phil@gamingpublishing.co.uk +44 (0)7801 967714
Features Editor Karen Southall
karensouthall@gmail.com
International Reporter James Marrison Staff Reporter William Bolton
william@gamingpublishing.com Contributors
Alejandro Landaluce, Eduardo Antoja, Pedro Cortes, Alex
Igelman, Otto Wulferding, Ramiro Atucha, Dmitry Starostenkov
P4 NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / MARKET DATA ADVERTISING
Commercial Director John Slattery
john@gamingpublishing.co.uk +44 (0)7917 166471
Business Development Manager James Slattery
james@gamingpublishing.co.uk +44 (0)7814227219
Advertising Executive Alison Dronfield
alison@gamingpublishing.co.uk +44 (0)1204 410771
PRODUCTION
Senior Designer Gareth Irwin
Production Manager Paul Jolleys
Subscriptions Manager Jennifer Pek
Commercial Administrator Lisa Nichols
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