The Truth (Fruit Machines)

Member Name: hitlife

Product:	Fruit Machines
Date:	06/07/02 (2068 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: 'Risky' Fun, Immediacy

Disadvantages: Highly Addictive, Poor Value For Money, Very Costly

I've been playing fruit machines for a few years now, and if Mastermind catered for the socially inadequate - this would be my choice subject.

I wrote this article to try and provide a balanced opinion of why you should or should not play fruit machines, and to give an insight into exactly how these machines operate and just why they are so popular. How could such a machine provide entertainment, and capture the heart and mind of a player in addicted bliss. I've kept it to the point and free from the mass of misleading information you can find elsewhere on the internet.

Fruit machines are common the world over, and have become increasingly popular (especially in the U.K) and can be found everywhere - pubs, railway stations, ships, kebab shops ... you name it, the suppliers and operators of gaming machines are keen to cash in, which has lead to their profliferation in any and every location where it's legal (and in some cases, where it's not ...). Desipte this, it's still a relatively small industry in terms of the number of companies involved. There are only a small number of manufacturers, and it won't take you a lifetime to learn the key players - JPM, BFG, Barcrest, Vivid, Impulse, Red Gaming, QPS, Mazooma. A few large distributors and operators supply machines from these manufactuers to the high street.

The basic fruit machine consists of spinning reels (yes, with the fruits on), a huge lamp matrix (providing a hypnotic flashing effect), a coin mechanism (accepts and validates coins), control unit (the heart of any machine which runs the program to provide the whole playing experience!), buttons (to interface with the player), and a payout mechanism. All the kit is usually enclosed in a garish multicoloured cabinet which will eat up a large chunk of space wherever it's placed. It's not really the kind of thing Carol Vorderman would consider placing in one of her 'Better Homes'.

But
simply owning a fruit machine isn't a licence to print money due to a degree of regulation. The most important thing to note is that they run on a system of percentages, this means that 70% of what is played into the machine must be paid back to the player. On the face of it, it seems very reasonable - but compared to the percentages witnessed in other forms of gambling, the basic 70% is dire. Luckily any machine can be set to a percentage from this 70%, right up to 98/99%. Sadly the greedy nature of the industry means that 70% is common place, in the effort to screw the the player in every possible way. The percentage must be met over many 1000's of spins, eg. a machine set to 70% that has taken £1000, must have paid £700 out.

The first myth to be easily dispelled therefore is that the fruit machine is a random piece of machinery. In fact, it's a carefully controlled device that must meet a percentage and cannot be 'tricked' into paying out any more money than necessary. In fact, there is very little in the way of 'player advantage' that can be gained over a machine. If a problem is found in the machines programming then it's a simple matter for the manufacturer to 're-chip' machines with the new fixed code. Playing experience counts for little, with even the casual punter being a highly experienced player - knowing how to play a machine these days is almost worthless knowledge as most machines are highly random in their behaviour and will quite happily hand over the big wins to anyone capable of pressing the 'start' button repeatedly. There is almost no skill required or that would be beneficial in playing a modern machine. It really is pot luck most of the time, and a case of being in the right place at the right time.

As time marches on the 'Jackpot' value that can be awarded to a player has increased - from £2 or £3 in the 70's to the new £25 machines introduced in 2002. This means
that winning the Jackpot is less common place and that modern day machines can be extremely costly to play. It's perfectly possible to play £15 through a £25 Jackpot machine and not receive a penny back ... in fact machine can take £100+ to award a Jackpot and can hold out for long periods without meeting their percentage. There are some benefits in that machines can streak (offer a large amount of wins in a small period of time) for a large amount of money (£50+) when the time is right. But is the chance of winning such a sum worth the huge investment? Most experienced players such as myself will tell you not!

But why these machines that offer little in the way of 'value for money' so addictive? Fruit machines are considered to be one of the most dangerous and involved forms of gambling. It's very attractive being able to win a comparatively huge amount of money (a few Jackpots and high wins could add up to £75+) for a small £1 stake in such a small amount of time. Immediacy is the key, a few seconds is the key to both ritches and having no money at all. This is why so many players will spend a huge amount of money playing fruit machines, and totally reject other forms of gambling - such as betting on horses or playing the National Lottery. A spin of the reels will cost you 25/30p, which means a lot of money can be lost in a small amount of time - it's a risky buisness where the danger element gives the player a huge 'buzz' and makes dropping the Jackpot even more rewarding. Manufacturers also deliberately try and make these machines as addictive and possible (there is very little compassion within this industry ...), using small techniques known as 'heart stoppers' to tempt the player into feeding in more money. A good example is programming a machine to leave the reels in a promising position once the last credit has been spent.

There were days in the past where a fruit machine could be played for hours on on
ly a few pounds. These days it's an expensive and worthless investment that can totally ruin your life as you subconciously fall into an addictive abyss. Entertainment is almost non-existent if you can spend £20-30 playing a machine for ten minutes. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise, and go and spend your money on something more worthwhile.

If you want to play these machines for their pure entertainment value, and without the cash requirement then luckily you can - on your PC! Many of the older machines, which were popular in their day have been emulated (reproduce the exact playing experience as they use the same code as the real machine) by MPU3/4 which mainly caters for Barcrest machines, and JPEMU which emulates JPM and ACE games. There is some entertainment value to be had here, and it's good to demonstrate the contrast between machine on various percentages and with different JP prizes.

There is a frequently asked questions guide on Maroneys Web Hovel which should help get you started, and is essential reading for the beginner.

See the following sites ...

JPEMU - www.jpemu.com
Fruit Machine World - www.fruitmachineworld.co.uk
MPU World - www.mpuworld.co.uk
DX Cellent - www.dxcellent.com
Maroneys Web Hovel - http://maroneyswebhovel.emuunlim.com
MPU Forums - www.mpuforums.com

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