Fruit Machine Chat

Gamesnet machine DOND is definitely not a skill game, as when you get to the cash game you are faced with taking a pot shot. It should be a gaming machine as the law is a game which contains luck is considered as gaming. Now bring back WWTBAM Gamesnet and play fair so we can have a bit of Christmas cheer.

of course you are quite right but on TV the enigmatic beard draws it out by babbling about strategy. somehow they have managed to circumvent any relevant legislation for TV so in SWPland you are whistling in the wind, we all know which games are bent once you cross the threshhold of adequacy into prodom. this strikes me as morally reprehensible. at (very, very, very, very) least those late night things do have a hazy skill aspect.

it is basically innate human greed, and the swp version preys on the same flaws of mankind. the endgame is not skill but the pre-endgame is.

tonto wrote:Now bring back WWTBAM Gamesnet and play fair so we can have a bit of Christmas cheer.

GamesNet no longer has WWTBAM because JPM, who made the previous version of the game, lost the license to LeisureLink. And LeisureLink clearly want to keep it exclusive to the Itbox.

And are you seriously suggesting that the use of spoiler questions in WWTBAM and other questioners doesn't amount to virtually the same thing? It becomes a random punt at one of four options. Granted they're revealed, while the amounts in DOND aren't, but the sats are on the side of the programmer.

BTW, (curious) what legislation would DOND have to bend for TV?

The new Millionaire doesn't tell you the right answer when you strike orange

Interesting as yes spoiler questions do present a problem, but you know all quaetions have an answer unlike a box with a hidden value. Anyway
the law covering these machines under prize competitions.

It is being reviewed at the moment by the Gambling Commission under the Gambling Act of 2005. Comes into force in September 2007.

Go to Gambling Commission site, is all there in black and white, but a bit grey!!!

The Gambling Commission are a waste of space with regards to quiz machines. They should be able to force manufacturers to remove the luck element from games but wont. In fact when I contacted them there was nobody there who knew anything about swp's. The person assigned to my complaint was an affable enough chap but I was unable to convince him that being asked what the 35th letter of the last question was , breached the spirit of swp's.So basically I gave up. Unfortunately the pub industry in relation to swp management , manufacturers (game designers) , and suppliers are essentially unregulated and thats the way they like it as it maximises profits to the exclusion of people like us. Being a minority we have got a voice but rarely does anybody listen.

borgcontact4 wrote:Anyway the law covering these machines under prize competitions.

I meant the DOND TV show - is it bending the law at all?

Enforcing the regs to the letter would simply mean that all virtually all of today's content (with the possible exception of Word Up ) would get removed. New games would be much rarer as control would be so much harder and results far less predictable. Someone will always be good enough to empty a game every time, which means it'll get taken off. Still, you never know!

not strictly true! in the past the prize structure was altered after a jackpot not the question content , or it was more difficult to land on winning squares . eg (a) fruit machine supernudge quizmaster (b) cleudo ( bonus suspects ) monopoly .It was fairer in the good old days.

Weyland, The TV show DOND deos not comply with the law, but could you imagine the outcry, if the Gambling Commission annouced that it was illegal!!!! Nanny state and all that.
Whilst there are all these TV channels pumping out so called skill games, in reality just a lottery, and nothing is being done it would be pretty absurd to try and ban the great bearded ones show!!!

So the coin skill terminals will continue to pump out so called games, however I am told that the level of income from these terminals is is rapid decline, serves them all right, greedy b*****.


[/b]

cool wrote:not strictly true! in the past the prize structure was altered after a jackpot not the question content , or it was more difficult to land on winning squares . eg (a) fruit machine supernudge quizmaster (b) cleudo ( bonus suspects ) monopoly .It was fairer in the good old days.

Cluedo involves a dice roll, which is either random or controlled, and therefore not skill based. That's the type of thing I mean.

I must admit I didn't realise that TV quiz shows were also subject to the same rules.

borgcontrol could you explain why skill terminals cashflow is in terminal decline cheers ?

Wires, the only information I have is from an industry person. She told me that the income from SWP terminals they own are is in steady decline. It does not matter to any extent which games go on the machines as the overall income declines and the new games only manage to help reduce this decline. I suppose it is familarity breeds contempt and reading most posts woudn't argue. I cannot say I have any first hand knowledge only what was passed on to me.
I am sure some industry people on this site will either confirm or deny this depending on which side they are on. Certainly the operators of the machines are looking at this matter seriously and the smoking ban which comes in later will have an effect. So the terminal biz is not what it was and with less people contributing, less money for us the real players.

borgcontact i never thought about the SMOKING BAN which comes into effect in july but do you think it will affect swp's cashflow wise?

If the machine income from swp's is in decline why are (1) there are more makers of games than ever (2) All the big pub companies have them in their pubs (3) The manufacturers/ suppliers of the machines are constantly trying to improve the look /content of the machine (4) many more pubs have two swp's in them - I understand the point about the smoking ban though , as you have to be pretty stupid to smoke there will be less stupid people in the pubs to fill the machines up!

Hey Cool Nice post.
If you read the Sunday Timer biz section, headlines front page, you will see that Danoptra who own Gamestec, the second biggest company is in financial poo. Big Time. They owe £200 million to banks and they are calling the tune. Leisure link It box people went bust last year for over £200 mill. So does that answer the fact that incomes is in decline and all the manufacturers are chasing the same income, which lets face it is declining. Utility bills and credit cards, morgages, rent you name all going up, so it doesn't take a genius to figure it out.
Less money for us to get out of the machines.
Happy new year to all. maybe we will have to work a little harder at our game.