Fingers on the Pulse: How Gaming Latches on to Popular Trends

<p><span data-contrast&equals;"auto">The video games industry may be bigger and better than ever&comma; but that doesn’t mean it’s afraid to take inspiration from others&period; Indeed&comma; one of the main reasons gaming has become a <&sol;span><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;marketwatch&period;com&sol;story&sol;videogames-are-a-bigger-industry-than-sports-and-movies-combined-thanks-to-the-pandemic-11608654990"><span data-contrast&equals;"none">&dollar;180 billion<&sol;span><&sol;a><span data-contrast&equals;"auto"> global empire is its ability to capture the zeitgeist&period; The developers at companies like Blizzard&comma; Epic&comma; EA&comma; and Sony like to push the boundaries and dream up new innovations&period;<&sol;span><span data-ccp-props&equals;"&lbrace;&quot&semi;134233117&quot&semi;&colon;true&comma;&quot&semi;134233118&quot&semi;&colon;true&rcub;"> <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span data-contrast&equals;"auto">However&comma; they also know how to put one finger on the pulse&comma; and stick another up to the wind to find out what’s hot&period; This ability to capture the mood and embrace the latest trends is something gaming has done extremely well over the years and&comma; in many ways&comma; it’s the reason the industry has grown significantly&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span data-contrast&equals;"auto">For example&comma; take casino-style gaming&period; This industry has become a much closer ally to video gaming over the last 20 years thanks to the internet&period; When poker&comma; blackjack&comma; bingo&comma; and<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;automatyhazardowegry&period;pl&sol;sloty-za-darmo&sol;"> slots<&sol;a> were digitized&comma; the industry exploded&period;<&sol;span><span data-ccp-props&equals;"&lbrace;&quot&semi;134233117&quot&semi;&colon;true&comma;&quot&semi;134233118&quot&semi;&colon;true&rcub;"> <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span data-contrast&equals;"auto">Today&comma; almost any adult can go online and play thousands of weird and wonderful games&period; <&sol;span><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;buzzbingo&period;com&sol;slots&sol;fishin-frenzy"><span data-contrast&equals;"none">Fishing Frenzy<&sol;span><&sol;a><span data-contrast&equals;"auto"> is just one example of what’s out there&period; This five-reel online slot is packed with features&comma; including an interactive bonus round where players literally go fishing for prizes&period; What’s interesting about this slot is that it’s available via a bingo site&period; The online gambling industry has evolved to the point where verticals have merged and&comma; today&comma; players can move from bingo to slots in less than a second&period;<&sol;span><span data-ccp-props&equals;"&lbrace;&quot&semi;134233117&quot&semi;&colon;true&comma;&quot&semi;134233118&quot&semi;&colon;true&rcub;"> <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;" aria-level&equals;"2"><b><span data-contrast&equals;"auto">Developers Take a Chance on Chance<&sol;span><&sol;b><&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p><span data-contrast&equals;"auto">Video game developers have taken inspiration from this&period; Loot boxes are a prime example of how different verticals and concepts have been merged&period; Much like bingo and slots being combined into a single platform&comma; loot boxes have been added to places you wouldn’t expect to see them&period; Just for clarity&comma; loot boxes are add-ons that allow players to spend a certain amount of money and receive a random prize&period;<&sol;span><span data-ccp-props&equals;"&lbrace;&quot&semi;134233117&quot&semi;&colon;true&comma;&quot&semi;134233118&quot&semi;&colon;true&rcub;"> <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span data-contrast&equals;"auto">The box might contain a valuable in-game asset&comma; it might be something less lucrative&period; The point here is that loot boxes contain an element of chance and they’ve clearly been inspired by the rise of online gambling&period; In fact&comma; further confirmation of this comes from games such as Red Dead Redemption 2&comma; GTA&comma; and Konami’s Japanese offering&comma; Ganbare Goemon Pachisuro&period;<&sol;span><span data-ccp-props&equals;"&lbrace;&quot&semi;134233117&quot&semi;&colon;true&comma;&quot&semi;134233118&quot&semi;&colon;true&rcub;"> <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><span data-ccp-props&equals;"&lbrace;&quot&semi;134233117&quot&semi;&colon;true&comma;&quot&semi;134233118&quot&semi;&colon;true&rcub;"><iframe title&equals;"YouTube video player" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;youtube&period;com&sol;embed&sol;9zyR&lowbar;zPgCHc" width&equals;"1120" height&equals;"630" frameborder&equals;"0" allowfullscreen&equals;"allowfullscreen"><span style&equals;"display&colon; inline-block&semi; width&colon; 0px&semi; overflow&colon; hidden&semi; line-height&colon; 0&semi;" data-mce-type&equals;"bookmark" class&equals;"mce&lowbar;SELRES&lowbar;start"><&sol;span><&sol;iframe>  <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span data-contrast&equals;"auto">All of those games feature some element of gambling&period; Red Dead Redemption 2 has a <&sol;span><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;ign&period;com&sol;wikis&sol;red-dead-redemption-2&sol;How&lowbar;to&lowbar;Win&lowbar;at&lowbar;Poker"><span data-contrast&equals;"none">poker scenario<&sol;span><&sol;a><span data-contrast&equals;"auto">&comma; GTA has an interactive casino&comma; and Ganbare Goemon Pachisuro is an anime-style slot machine&period; Again&comma; these are all examples of how video gaming has spotted a trend and borrowed from another industry&period; Of course&comma; it’s not just casino games that have shaped the industry&period;<&sol;span><span data-ccp-props&equals;"&lbrace;&quot&semi;134233117&quot&semi;&colon;true&comma;&quot&semi;134233118&quot&semi;&colon;true&rcub;"> <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span data-contrast&equals;"auto">Movies remain a major influence on developers&comma; as do books&comma; TV shows&comma; and comics&period; Then&comma; of course&comma; there’s social media&period; Platforms such as Twitch and Twitter have inspired developers to incorporate interactive&comma; social elements into their games&period; However&comma; when it comes to some of the neatest innovations in recent years&comma; casino products have definitely played their part and added an interesting element of chance to the mix&period;  <&sol;span><span data-ccp-props&equals;"&lbrace;&quot&semi;134233117&quot&semi;&colon;true&comma;&quot&semi;134233118&quot&semi;&colon;true&rcub;"> <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;