Why did they remove the slots but still left catching Pokémon up to luck?

[SeanWheeler]

The European Platinum version made the slots unplayable. HeartGold and SoulSilver replaced the Game Corners with Voltorb Flip. And the Game Corner stopped appearing in later games. Apparently this has something to do with gambling. But then why is catching Pokémon still luck based? Seriously, you could get the 7's in the slots if you got good hand-eye coordination. The slots are totally skill-based. But catching Pokémon is really gambling. The games say you have to weaken them to catch them. Well, I've caught a lot of full-health Pokémon and had trouble with some low-health Pokémon. I know about catch rates. Legendaries are a pain to catch. But for every failed capture, you waste a Poké Ball. And these Poké Balls cost money at the Poké Mart. I'm wasting Poké Dollars for every failed capture. Losing money in a luck based game, what does that remind you of? Oh that's right, GAMBLING! Loot Crates have been suspected of gambling just for being random. Catching Pokémon is worse because of the bigger chance of getting nothing. The game corner has more skill than this. So why remove the Game Corner without changing the capture mechanics?

 

[Warrior of Fire]

It's simple: Within the confines of the game world, Pokémon are living creatures, and we're basically trying to shove them into something the size of a baseball. Naturally, they will resist the capture process to various levels of success. Thus, aside from the Master Ball and certain situations like on Alola Route 1 before the Iki Town festival, catching a Pokémon is never guaranteed, and the current capture mechanics get this across in a simple way that is easy for young children - the target audience of Pokémon - to understand.

 

[TechSkylander1518]

Apparently this has something to do with gambling.

The "something" is the fact that slot machines are literally exactly what you would find in casinos.

Seriously, you could get the 7's in the slots if you got good hand-eye coordination. The slots are totally skill-based.

The games say you have to weaken them to catch them. Well, I've caught a lot of full-health Pokémon and had trouble with some low-health Pokémon.

You're listing only one factor of many in catching a Pokemon. Which Pokemon were these? What Poke Balls were you using? Did you inflict any status conditions? What's your definition of "low-health"?

But for every failed capture, you waste a Poké Ball. And these Poké Balls cost money at the Poké Mart. I'm wasting Poké Dollars for every failed capture.

Sorry for that awful loss......

Catching Pokémon is worse because of the bigger chance of getting nothing.

The bigger chance of getting nothing? Even if a Pokemon breaks out of its ball, you still have plenty more chances to try again.

The game corner has more skill than this.

Even if the slot machines are purely about eye-hand coordination, that's still only one factor that people can use to influence the outcome. Pokemon capturing can be affected with HP, status conditions, and varieties of Poke Balls-it's still less luck-based than slot machines.

Loot Crates have been suspected of gambling just for being random.

The issue with Loot Crates is not the randomness of it-it's the fact that they cost real-life money. Just about every game out there involves some form of chance. The issue people have with gambling isn't the existence of chance, but how people exploit it to get money from gamblers. That's why the slot machines were removed-because slot machines have a real life counterpart that costs real life money. Nobody has an issue with chance in Pokemon captures because there's nobody in real life trying to make money off of gamblers with a chance to catch a Pokemon.

 

[Silktree]

Nobody has an issue with chance in Pokemon captures because there's nobody in real life trying to make money off of gamblers with a chance to catch a Pokemon.

Give it time.

 

[RileyXY1]

Give it time.

Are you suggesting that GF will put microtransactions in the games? They will never do that.

 

[Silktree]

It was a joke (third time I've had to point that out lately) and I didn't have anything specific in mind. But you never know.

 

[Stratelier]

That's why the slot machines were removed-because slot machines have a real life counterpart that costs real life money.

Yes, this. The Game Corner got removed because it was an in-game simulation of actual casinos and gambling, which usually mandates a higher rating than the "everyone" or "kids" ratings that they want the Pokemon games to have. (In some regions, the VC releases of Pokemon gens 1 and 2 have higher age ratings than the originals for this reason alone.)

Plus, in the 4th gen (the last Gen to have it) GF had to differentiate what the Game Corner was between different releases of the same game:
- DP has a functional Game Corner except in Korean releases (where they are called "game machines" and the player cannot actually interact with them, beyond finding loose coins). This expanded to include Platinum's European release as well.
- HGSS has slot machines only in the Japanese version (image). Everyone else got the Voltorb Flip game instead. I don't know about you, but I found Voltorb Flip a lot more interesting than slot machines (and even more interesting than cards/roulette) once you developed some skill at it.

Because Pokemon is an international franchise, it's probably easier work for the devs to pre-emptively avoid elements that would obviously need to be censored out of certain regions later.


PS: Keep in mind that in addition to Pokemon catching, accuracy/evasion calculation is also luck-based.

 

[Nicolas721]

Give it time.

I agree. Who knows when they'll go to their offices and study the situation.

 

[CadanceXShiningArmor4Ever]

I find the censorship of slot machines to be just as bad as censorship of classic theatrical cartoons (like Looney Tunes) for television release (in one extreme instance, they cut out the ending of the 1957 Bugs and Daffy cartoon Show Biz Bugs, ending after the exploding xylophone gag, though now they usually show this one uncut)

 

[Incinerawr]

The slots were removed because of simulated gambling, which... was never an issue before. References of gambling have been prevalent in Nintendo's infant days.

LET'S PLAY MONEY-MAKING GAME.

Ring a bell? Sure, you might lose all your Rupees, but it's not like you hit a real-life casino and lost all your life's savings. Same with slot machines... which by the way, you can buy tokens with enough of your own money.

Voltorb Flip did little to remedy this problem, and instead added frustration and aggravation to many. totally scored 30,000 coins in two hours tho To me, game gambling has always been fun, because I know I can risk it all and take a chance without having to worry about what happens.

 

[TechSkylander1518]

Voltorb Flip did little to remedy this problem, and instead added frustration and aggravation to many.

Voltorb Flip is a puzzle with solutions solid enough that there's websites out there that calculate the most likely solutions. ( VoltorbFlip.com - The Best Calculator and Solver ) Even though there's still some chance involved, it's quite a step up from a game where the slots don't even stop when you press A.

 

[Incinerawr]

Voltorb Flip is a puzzle with solutions solid enough that there's websites out there that calculate the most likely solutions. ( VoltorbFlip.com - The Best Calculator and Solver ) Even though there's still some chance involved, it's quite a step up from a game where the slots don't even stop when you press A.

I'm good at Voltorb Flip, but Game Corner is more loose, and getting the Clefaries and Clefables to come is good fun.

Slots > Puzzles.

 

[Atomic Kote]

The slots were removed because of simulated gambling, which... was never an issue before. References of gambling have been prevalent in Nintendo's infant days.

LET'S PLAY MONEY-MAKING GAME.

Ring a bell? Sure, you might lose all your Rupees, but it's not like you hit a real-life casino and lost all your life's savings. Same with slot machines... which by the way, you can buy tokens with enough of your own money.

Voltorb Flip did little to remedy this problem, and instead added frustration and aggravation to many. totally scored 30,000 coins in two hours tho To me, game gambling has always been fun, because I know I can risk it all and take a chance without having to worry about what happens.

References to gambling means that the game gets pushed from a '3' rating in Europe (as in, anyone above the age of 3 can play it) to either a '12' or a '15'. Voltorb Flip remedied the problem perfectly because it solved the intended issue. Frustrations aside, it had to happen. Not because of censorship, but purely because the game's rating would take a hit in an unfavourable direction were they to keep including it. It's not about 'fun', unfortunately.

 

[Incinerawr]

References to gambling means that the game gets pushed from a '3' rating in Europe (as in, anyone above the age of 3 can play it) to either a '12' or a '15'. Voltorb Flip remedied the problem perfectly because it solved the intended issue. Frustrations aside, it had to happen. Not because of censorship, but purely because the game's rating would take a hit in an unfavourable direction were they to keep including it. It's not about 'fun', unfortunately.

I do remember Europe having a big problem, because the ESRB in America is otherwise unaffected.

 

[Midorikawa]

In general the main difference was parents complained about there being literal gambling, which is why we haven't had a casino period since gen IV, and they aren't going to complain about the chance and luck rates of capture because those are not considered gambling. There is a difference between actual gambling, and chance base. You have an X% chance of walking out of your home and getting hit by a bus, but that does not mean you're gambling. That's just a percentage of an event happening. That is what pokemon catching is.

 

[DoctorWhy]

Pokemon capture chances have nothing to do with gambling at all. It's not a representation of gambling nor does it share any significant features with it.

Since Voltorb Flip is making rounds - I absolutely loved it. I wish Voltorb Flip would return. So much better than slots. It's actually a strategic puzzle that's fun and rewarding.

 

[Dieter]

So for years, as a European, I was confused why my game allowed me to play the slot machines, if PEGI laws dictated the European release couldn't have them if they wanted an E rating. This thread finally prompted me to check to case, which to my surprise said it was an American copy. While this explains why I have access to the slot machines, it begs the question "why was there a shipment of Platinum copies meant for America in Europe?"

Of course, you could just order a copy online, but this was nearly a decade ago and my fifteen year old self definitely never even considered that the slot machines might not be available in the European release.

Bottomline, despite European legislation, I can still play a simulated gambling game by pure coincidence