I suppose it also helps having your machines play in the same key to reduce dissonance overlap as well.
This was one of the reasons the early "all digital done on video screens" machines didn't do very well. The designers (and casinos) decided to take a risk (or "gamble," if you will) on straying from the C-key tradition and letting the machines use more varied sounds and music (unique compositions, not just "licensed" music as is more common now).
"Dissonance overlap" is a fantastic term to describe exactly what happened as a result. The banks of video slots that strayed from the old pattern saw less use than the traditional slots (thus generating less revenue) and so did the traditional slots
near those banks because the overall "harmonious" sounds of the casino were disrupted by these machines playing out-of-key. Besides being "calming," C-key sounds and tones are soothing and almost hypnotic, which lulls a player into a bit of a trance where they want to keep doing whatever's making the machine sing to them. These new machines didn't do that. They just "felt" weird, so they drove people away.
The sound balance and volume was goofy at first too. At first they just cranked the volume of everything up really high so that the new machines absolutely dominated the area, especially when they were being played. Music, sound effects, dings and beeps, everything. That annoyed people too, so it didn't take long to prompt change.
What they eventually figured out through trial and error is that the various melodies produced by a video slot machine should still be in the key of C and weird/jolting sound effects should be used sparingly (like a cat meowing if a cat symbol appears on a reel, or a frog croaking if one appears on a reel, etc.) and at a lower volume so they don't drown out the more soothing "regular" sounds the machine makes. Even those "dramatic build-up cues" that hype a potential bonus round (i.e. if three "gold bag" symbols appearing on any played line on the three leftmost reels triggers a bonus round, the machine might play an "orchestra hit" kind of sound that fits the regular music as each one appears) should stay in C unless the bonus round uses licensed music, then it's okay to use sounds that lead into that music.
Only the bonus round stuff strays from the usual C melodies and tones. That's where original compositions (in different keys) go and where special sound effects run wild. For machines using licensed themes, this is also where they'll start blasting the licensed music. The volume also goes up. It works out better because scoring a bonus round is basically like hitting a "mini jackpot" and is to be treated as a special moment for the player. The volume and music ramping up along with the screen going nuts showing fast-spinning reels racking up bonuses makes the player feel great because they've just won a decent chunk of change. It also attracts attention from others nearby. It disturbs the "harmony" of the casino, but for a good reason -- somebody's winning.
the more i read about this shit the more i am convinced that banning gambling is the right position
these psych manipulation tactics are just as ruthless and exploitative as drug pushers taking advantage of junkies
Meh. The same can be said for pretty much anything. If we banned everything that could conceivably be manipulated to take advantage of potentially vulnerable people, there wouldn't be much left. I'd personally love to see advertising in all forms go the way of the dodo, because it's just as ruthlessly manipulative and exploits far more people than gambling halls do, but I know that ain't happening.
Bars (dispensers of the world's other favorite vice -- alcohol) do the same sorts of things on a smaller scale. They're warmly (but dimly) lit so beer goggles can do their work, there's usually loud music playing so people work up a thirst faster by having to raise their voices constantly, they run happy hour specials to bring people in and get them tipsy so they'll stick around longer (and buy more drinks) and they run specials to lure in patrons who will also lure in more patrons (i.e. ladies' nights bring in women, and that brings in men who want to take them home).
Every vice is like this. Hell, even prostitutes run "specials" to attract new clients or offer occasional discounts to their regulars to score a visit they might not otherwise get. You have to admit a woman texting one of her regulars (who usually pays $200 for an hour once a month) to say "hey, I can give you an hour tonight for $150" is pretty manipulative. Shrewd, too. I suspect Russ is never offered such "promotions" though.
I think if we're going to go gunning for manipulative and predatory stuff, we ought to start with payday loans. That shit is seriously nasty and it traps people
really fast into a vicious cycle they can't reasonably escape from (if you're in a position where you think you need a payday loan, you're
not in a position to be able to pay your way out of it soon enough to avoid needing
another payday loan to pay off the first one).
For all their manipulative behavior, casinos only "work you" while you're in the building. They mail out promotions sometimes, but you don't leave a casino indebted to them at an effective 1,000% interest rate.
