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The Growing Trend for Faster Gaming

Published

5 years ago

February 29, 2020

Zoltan Tundik

Mobile phones have helped gaming to become portable (photo source: unsplash.com)

Reading Time: 3 minutes

The modern world is growing ever faster and with it is the trend for speedy gaming. Whereas it used to be most gamers’ preference to sit down for a good couple of hours’ session on their favorite console game, with the rise of portable gaming, people are often choosing to play on the fly. This has lead to frequently interrupted gameplay and quick 2-minute sessions between trains being far more commonplace. Why has this occurred and what are gaming companies doing to address this new need?

Warp Speed World

Although it sometimes seems like it, the world isn’t actually speeding up, it’s just that we’re getting rapidly worse at concentrating. Research from the Technical University of Denmark suggests that our attention span is narrowing on a global scale. There are, of course, a myriad of reasons for this, but one of them is our constant bombardment with new information. This idea of constant novelty has lead to a quantifiable decrease in attention span. One of the results of the study showed that in 2013 a global Twitter trend would last on average for 17.5 hours, compared to nowadays when it lasts 11.9. In such a short space of time, this shift is remarkable. In terms of gaming, this means that our want to skip ahead, seek new challenges and move between games is ever increasing.

Making Skipping Ahead Simpler

Everybody remembers skipping through the lengthy dialogue on old Gameboy games. (photo source: unsplash.com)

Poker in the physical realm can often be quite a drawn-out process; players spend a long time trying to work out each other’s cues and tells. In the mobile world, however, several companies have realized that people don’t always want it to be and therefore, it doesn’t have to be. PokerStars recently released its Zoom feature, which allows players to skip through the remainder of the game after seeing their cards. This is a simple fix, that allows players to spend some time figuring out their options if they want to or to skip through quickly when they don’t have the luxury of time.

Increasing Novelty Value

One of the methods that gaming companies are using to keep our attention for longer is increasing the feeling of novelty. As mentioned before, one of the reasons for our desire for quick play games is that we are becoming used to seeing new information more and more frequently. So, if you can provide new content more frequently, then it stands to reason that people will spend longer on your game. Pokémon is one such company who are masters of capturing novelty. Although the main gameplay aspect of all of their games is the Pokémon battle, this feature on its own would quickly become tiresome. Realizing this, the company gave players the ability to collect, initially, 150 different magical creatures, some easy to find, some much harder. As a result, people will happily play through battle after battle, searching for the elusive rare Pokemon. All the time that they are doing this, they are building up what is known as a ‘teddy bear’ effect with the Pokémon used most often, in that players develop a connection with them. This connection, teamed with the promise of novelty, is what keeps us playing a fantastically simple game for such long periods of time. With each release of the game, new Pokémon and new features such as virtual reality are released, keeping that same anticipation of the unknown high.

Breaking the Rules

Another quick play game that is wildly popular is Subway Surfers. This game allows you to ‘surf’ on the top of subway trains, collecting points along the way. This game is the perfect format for quick play fans, as you can pause at any time. However, one thing that is interesting is that, despite its quick play format, many users can spend literally hours on it. But why? One of the great things about gaming is that there’s no punishment for breaking (most of) the rules. If you were to surf the subway trains in real life, you could seriously injure yourself, or risk imprisonment. However, in this game, there’s none of that real-life worry. Players can rebel against authority without any real threat of punishment – that is, of course, unless the in-game policeman happens to catch up with you! This heady mixture of safety and risk comes together to create a game that is endlessly playable. It seems that many of the attributes that make up a quick play game are, in fact, just the things that keep us playing them for longer.

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Springbok Casino’s Wild November Feature ‘Backyard Gangsters’ Offers 25 Free Spins on new Clue Chronicles: Mirror Mansion slot

Published

3 hours ago

November 2, 2024

Peter Tolan

Reading Time: 2 minutes

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Play’n GO celebrates multiple win at 5 Star Media Awards

Published

1 day ago

November 1, 2024

Adrienn Sarkany

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Play’n GO, the world’s leading casino entertainment provider, is today celebrating a five-award sweep in the coveted 5 Star Media Awards of 2024.

The legendary games studio nabbed a second consecutive Slot Supplier of the Year award, as well as being named the RNG Casino Supplier of the Year. The company also secured three of 5 Star Media’s “Top 20” Awards for co-founder and CMO Ebba Arnred, Director of Business Development Stuart Trigwell, and Head of Brand and Communication, Andrew Pink.

Play’n GO has enjoyed a landmark 2024, breaking new ground by entering the South African market, as well as expanding its US presence into what is now five states.

Ebba Arnred, Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer at Play’n GO, commented “We’re always very pleased to have our work recognised at the various awards throughout the year, but to win five in one fell swoop is almost unprecedented. It’s very special to be awarded Slot Supplier of the Year for a second year in a row, and RNG Casino Supplier of the Year is another well-received feather in our cap. We would like to thank 5 Star Media and the entire judging panel, as well as our entire team here at Play’n GO, without whom these award wins simply wouldn’t happen. On a personal level, I’d also like to express gratitude for the individual recognition of a 5 Star “Top 20” Award.”

Stuart Trigwell, Director of Business Development at Play’n GO, added “I’d like to express a sincere thank you to 5 Star Media for being recognised in their “Top 20” Awards. We do our work not for individual accolades but for the success of the entire business, so it’s great to see Play’n GO so well represented across the board.”

Andrew Pink, Head of Brand and Communication at Play’n GO, said “Play’n GO’s driving ambition is to be the best entertainment supplier there is. Aside from producing some of the most played games and best loved characters in the world, that ambition is often realised by things largely unseen by those outside the company. It’s extremely gratifying for everyone at Play’n GO to be recognised as Slot Supplier of the Year. Next year may just be our biggest and best yet.”

eSports

Procedure to be followed by school clubs affiliating for the 2025 season

Published

1 day ago

November 1, 2024

Adrienn Sarkany

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA), founded in 1984, is the national federation for Board games, Card games, Esports, and Wargames.

MSSA promotes all the different disciplines equally, although each school may pick-and-choose which discipline it wishes to promote at its school. Some schools will promote the whole gambit, while others will concentrate on only one discipline, and/or even just concentrate on one specific title.

The choice is ultimately up to the school.

The various games offer unique opportunities to many South African learners. Many learners have been able to earn Regional, Provincial, and National Colours which have allowed them to earn bursaries and obtain first-class educations.

MSSA has sent teams with full Protea Colours to international events since 1991 for wargames, 1996 for Morabaraba, 1997 for Checkers, and 2005 for Esports. Many members of the national teams have been scholars, and all have benefited from their involvement in the national Protea Team.

With the above in mind the MSSA has streamlined the process for schools to affiliate to the MSSA.

There is still the option open for a school to start a full-blown sub-club on its premises, but bearing in mind the tight regulatory conditions under which accredited schools have to operate in the Republic, the MSSA no longer deems it necessary for a school to start a sub-club.

As long as the school club has the approval of the school, and has an Educator-in-Charge, a school may affiliate by merely completing the Application for Affiliation Form and submitting such to MSSA.

In order to affiliate, the completed Application for affiliation Form must be submitted to the MSSA.

Once the Board has approved a school’s affiliation, the school then needs to complete the Google Registration Page allocated to the school for the players and make payment.

All school members may participate in all events for which it qualifies. Such events include meetings, championships, courses, and so forth.

Advantages of having a MSSA affiliated club: There are many advantages of having a MSSA affiliated club, such as:

Being part of a community where your club has a real say in how things are done
Being able to apply for National Lottery Funding – MSSA member clubs can apply for up to R800,000.00 in funding
Being able to get assistance from your local government
Experience increased media exposure of your events and your gamers
Become part of the international community through the MSSA Registered players are able to become internationally recognised umpires, etc.
Enable your gamers to take part in MSSA events, which may qualify them for Regional, Provincial, and National colours, overseas trips, and even sports bursaries at university.

MSSA’s Constitution

The Constitution forms the foundation of the MSSA. It guarantees members rights and governs the way that the MSSA operates. It can only be amended by a two-thirds majority at a Council Meeting. Please remember that Associations only have two (2) votes each, whereas member clubs have a representational vote, being:

Private clubs: one vote per every five registered players, and
School clubs: one vote per every ten registered players.

MSSA’s General Regulations
The General Regulations comprises of decisions made by both Council and Executive Committee Meetings. The General Regulations deals with how sub-committees operate as well as to how teams are selected and development funding is distributed. Please refer to Schedule 10.12 in regard to the rights of clubs in hosting events.

MSSA’s Discipline Specific Regulations
The Discipline Specific Regulations deal with rules concerning the different disciplines. The Disciplines that the MSSA caters for are; Board Gaming, Card gaming, Esports, and Figure Gaming.

Application for Affiliation form
When a club applies for membership, the applicant club must complete such form and return the same to the MSSA.Fee note for 2025
The fee note details the Affiliation Fees and Registration fees that are payable.

Player Registration Form
The Player Registration Form needs to be completed by every player that is a member of a club and intends to participate in MSSA affairs.

MSSA’s Letter of Undertaking
The Letter of Undertaking is for all registered players who sit on any MSSA committee.