Oh yes, I’m the great pretender
Adrift in a world of my own
I play the game but to my real shame
You’ve left me to dream all alone

They may have recorded this over fifty years ago but The Platters knew what they were talking about. Why bother actually learning how to do something, when you can simply pretend? There’s no point in making an effort when you might not turn out to be any good... so fake it instead. Who’s going to know?

Welcome to the Age of Pretence, a world where simulation is cooler than reality. Pretending is a billion-dollar industry these days; nowhere more so than the gaming industry. Early flight simulators may have been the domain of the military, but since then there’s been no looking back. From the comfort of our lounge rooms we can hurtle around a race track, or pilot a jet fighter, or blow holes in a succession of enemy soldiers. All in the name of good clean fun.

But it’s gone further than that; the cult of simulation has moved into every area of our lives. Where once our teenagers would spend years mastering the guitar so they could emulate their rock-star heroes, now they spend days mastering Guitar Hero on their Playstations and Xboxes. Where once kids were mad about sport, training and playing and dreaming of being the next international superstar, now we can command teams of modern-day sports-stars in any sport in any country around the world.

Not that this is all bad. I’m not going to point a curmudgeonly finger at the gaming industry and cuss at them for corrupting our youth; there have always been games and we’ve always played them. It’s just that the nature of these games is changing.

Still, there is a darker side to this; isn’t there always? Crime simulation games have become big business, games where we can steal cars and gun down innocent bystanders to score points. Graphic, realistic violence has become an issue, more so as technology has advanced and realism has improved. The reaction to these developments has been to create a rating system for games, with the intention of keeping the most graphic and adult-oriented games away from kids. Mind you, the lack of a 17+ video game category in this country means such games are either downgraded to suit a “tamer” category, or are banned altogether. Not necessarily the best compromise.

But at least there is a recognition of the need for an “adult-only” classification for games of this nature. And none of these simulation games, whether they be about sport, music, warfare or crime, can be seen as training programs for the real thing. I mean, no matter what your intentions are, you’re not going to be able to steal a car in the real world by making rapid pressing motions with your thumbs! They’re all about pretending to do something today that you wouldn’t be able to do tomorrow anyway.

Almost all.

Gambling simulation games are the exception. I’m not talking about online poker machines and internet casinos, which involve real money and are still illegal in Australia. I’m talking about “entertainment-only” games where the stakes are virtual and the winnings irrelevant. I’m talking about the only class of simulator-games that are designed to train people how to play the real thing.

I’m talking about apps.

Forget gaming consoles; the big market for poker machine simulators is smartphones. You may think it’s pointless to play a poker machine simulator if you’re not playing for money, but go to the Australian iTunes store and you’ll find over 500 iPhone apps listed under “slots”. There’s even a couple of hundred for the iPad as well. None of these apps are expensive, and many are free.

It’s a growth industry, with one very simple objective: to get people used to playing poker machines. Because unlike all the other simulated games, gambling simulators teach you exactly what to do in the real world. Pressing buttons is easy.

More than that; they normalise the concept of playing the pokies. This is a big one for the gambling industry; with advertising banned, they’re desperate to reach the youth, to get them used to the idea of gambling before they’re old enough to do so... so that when they do come of age, they’re ready-made poker machine players.

And this is made possible by one incredible failing of Apple’s ratings system. Gambling simulators are not restricted to adults; instead, “simulated gambling” only attracts a 12+ rating.

Think this through for a moment. There is nothing stopping today’s teenagers, armed with their smartphones, from downloading poker machines for free, or at most a couple of dollars. There is nothing to stop them from playing these games over and over again, chasing virtual wins just like adult players do in the real world.

What’s more, they’ll have these games with them wherever they go. Boring train trip? Ten minutes to kill? Doctor’s waiting room? Play some pokies. Don’t laugh, it’s already happening. Hundreds of thousands of these simulated gambling apps have already been downloaded in Australia.

And when they’re old enough to drive, and go to pubs and clubs... they’ll be old enough to play poker machines for real. Only this time there’ll be money involved. And we all know that in the real world, it’s the poker machines that always win in the end.

This kind of grooming is a standard business tactic, but that doesn’t make it an ethical one. By making these apps available to anyone over the age of twelve, by making them fun and affordable and seemingly harmless, Apple and every other company involved in the development and distribution of these apps is preparing our youth for a life where gambling is an every day activity.

I’m not proposing that these apps be banned, not at all. Banning anything outright is rarely a viable solution. But they, like their real-world cousins, should be restricted to those who are old enough to gamble legally. Because with poker machines, the addiction is rarely about the money... and exposing our youth to this kind of behaviour is begging for trouble in the years to come.

We can’t just pretend it won’t happen.

—

Thomas Cummings is a former problem gambler, wannabe writer and advocate for gambling reform. He blogs about gambling stuff at www.cyenne.com Thomas is quite proud that he discovered Twitter before his kids did, follow him @cyenne40

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