As much as we love what technology has brought into our lives, it’s also nearly impossible not to sometimes get mad at the frustrations it brings. Few choices leading us to buggy and slow performance with the software we use is common, and that’s if we can manage to get things working at all. If you’ve ever found the perfect program or game from one Windows version ago that refuses to load then you know exactly what we’re talking about.
On the other side of the spectrum are those rare standouts, the experiences and pieces of software that don’t just keep up, but actually lead the pack. As perhaps the best example of this in the modern day, we want to explore how online casinos and their games represent the positive side of this equation. Sure, we wish other industries would follow, but for now, at least we have someone willing to set an example.
An Abundance of Choice
Whether you’re looking at buying a gaming console like a PlayStation or just trying to find the right media player for PC, you’re always facing a limited selection. There are only a few gaming consoles, and there are only a few decent media players (shout-outs to MPC and VLC), but this isn’t true in the world of online casinos.
Consider the raw selection available for players searching for the top online casino bonuses. Heading down this route reveals a huge number of services like Caesars Palace, PlayStar, Hard Rock Bet, and many more. On top of the casino selection, players claim a wide range of special welcome features like deposit matches and free spins, all of which make the first steps enjoyable. Of course, this continues within the casinos, with websites commonly offering hundreds of slots, table games, and live experiences.
Short Load Times
There was a time in video gaming where you could insert a cartridge and a game would load right up (god we’re old). Today, a more typical experience is inserting a disk, waiting several hours or even overnight for installation and patches, and then actually playing much later. It’s annoying, and it’s a problem with video games that’s only getting worse.
Then, we have online casino games. Unlike video games, casino games still work within reasonable bounds of user bandwidth. Assuming a game like a slot is around 30 megabytes in size, this will take a matter of seconds to load on a modern 100 Mbps connection. As a comparison, the digital version of Destiny 2 weighs in at around 140 gigabytes. According to our good old friend Download Time, this download would take at least 3.5 hours on a 100 Mbps connection, and that’s not including installation.
High Performance
Performance concerns for interactive experiences affect players differently. Some players are okay with chugging along at 15 FPS like in old Nintendo 64 games, but for most of us, smooth gameplay is a necessary part of the experience. As modern games like Dragon’s Dogma 2 continue to lower the bar with frankly insulting levels of optimisation, casino games again show how it should be done.
Titles like slots and table games are built not with expensive gaming PCs in mind, but with humble mobiles as a baseline. This means they run extremely well even on older and less powerful devices, in a way that video game company executives should but apparently don’t find completely humiliating.
Accessibility and Flexibility
The final standout component of online casino games we have to credit is their ability to run so well over such a wide range of devices. This is possible because they utilise HTML5 as a basis, which means they’re essentially tailor-made for almost anything that can run a modern browser.
Instead of being locked to specific consoles or operating systems, you can access and play casino games on desktops, laptops, smartphones, tablets, and even some less-suited devices like smart fridges. Yes, this is a thing, and no, it’s not the best way to play. Still, this ease of play makes online casino games a rarity that perfectly suits the needs of players. From the big screen to a strangely aspect-ratioed flip phone, with casinos you’re set.
Whether or not this article has been driven by recent frustrations towards PC gaming or not, the forward-thinking elements of the online casino industry remain valid. This is a case where a positive precedent is set in so many ways, and in our opinion, it’s not followed closely enough by others. We’re not saying we expect the same from the likes of the database management world, but there are lessons to learn here, and we wish other industries would listen more often.
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