21st Century Bingo

From manufacturing to leisure, sports to economics, modernisation is the hallmark of the digital age. Even sectors traditionally resistant to change have conceded that the advantages of utilising new technology often far outweigh the disadvantages. Thus, eager players browsing their regular bingo news forums are increasingly faced with new methods by which their beloved game is set to be updated. However, as the video game industry is, through necessity, a market leader in innovation, the marriage of these two industries is one that can only benefit bingo for the better. Traditionally bingo halls have utilised cards and daubers to play the game, but now providers have taken the lead from the video game industry to provide players with individual electronic bingo machines. Usually available for a nominal extra fee, these bingo machines are akin to hand-held consoles that have been commonplace within the gaming industry since as far back as the 1970s. While, for a player accustomed to the common version of the game, these personal consoles may take a little time to which to adapt, the benefits are clear as they mark the called numbers off all the cards purchased by the player. In fact, players of the younger generation that are new to the game often take instantly to the electronic machines, not having been limited by immersion in the historic methods of play. Similarly, those players visiting a bricks and mortar bingo hall for the first time having discovered the game online are also more likely to adapt to the machines immediately, and will already be used to the notion of the machine monitoring several cards simultaneously. The numbers of ancillary games that now proliferate across online bingo providers as an added draw to players looking for more than mere bingo will also prepare new players for the modern game. Although a relatively new phenomenon, these electronic machines are not the first innovation inspired by the video game industry. The now widespread use of random number generators (RNGs) has all but replaced the conventional ball-blower system that has been employed in bingo halls across the globe since the mid 20th century. As we live through the historic transformation of not just bingo but wider society as a whole, we can be sure that this evolution will not stop here. As was boldly proclaimed in a well-loved Hollywood picture of the late 20th century, the future is now.