Yes, is the simple conclusion drawn by Public Defender David Nankervis on the Adelaide Now website. Nankervis claims that early exposure to poker machine style games that have flashing lights and award prizes based solely on luck actually acclimatise kids to pokies and so makes playing them when they get older easier and feel less like gambling…
Gambling Minister Bernard Finigan is releasing a paper today that will encourage members of the public to feedback on plans to make such kids games illegal… He says that communities have been raising concerns to him for some time about the number of this type of machine that has strung up over the past few years.
An example of the type of machine that could be banned are ones that have phrases that include the term WIN! in the title and offer prizes like Video Game and DVDs which are solely awarded on luck. Games like Air Hockey or pinball would not be banned.
Nick Xenophon the No Pokies Senator with a no-nonense approach to poker machines has welcomed the action saying that arcade machines are little more than training games for kids to later progress on to harder games when they reach 18. Xenophon claims that a study conducted by the University of Adelaide made a clear correlation between video arcade games and later life addiction to Pokies.