Do you remember all the fun of the Atari video game system? Many of us had an Atari when we were younger. Now, Atari is preparing to launch a virtual casino where people can play old Atari games for cryptocurrency. The move combines two very popular things in today’s digital world – online gambling and digital currency. The company is looking to capitalize on attracting new fans of online gambling plus old fans of the Atari.
About the Atari Casino
The new Atari virtual online casino is expected to be launched in May. Atari will partner with Decentral Games to offer online gambling for real money in the form or cryptocurrency. Atari is best known for creating classic video games like Pong and PacMan. It also developed the first major gaming console for televisions, and the Atari 2600 is legendary.
The casino will be based in a virtual world known as the Decentraland metaverse in a section of the virtual world which is named Vegas City. The virtual world and the Atari casino will be powered by the Ethereum blockchain. Ethereum is a cryptocurrency similar to Bitcoin.
Today, more and more people are beginning to embrace digital currency as a valid form of exchange. The blockchain technology that underpins cryptocurrencies has many different applications. Ethereum, in particular, has the ability to allows for the creation of so-called Smart Contracts and DAOs, or Digital Autonomous Organizations. These concepts will be used to maintain the Atari casino.
Games at the Atari Casino
Atari states that the games expected to be available in its online casino will be a mixture of luck-based and skill-based games. The games will have a retro theme that appeals to fans of the Atari brand. It will also be designed in such a way that newcomers to online casinos will also find it attractive.
There is no current indication that the Atari online casino will be offering standard casino games like those most people know. This does not mean that the casino might not do a special take on blackjack or craps. It will most certainly try to incorporate slot machine style games. These casino games never go out of style and get more popular with every passing year.
There will be an Atari Special game that will give players the chance to win money with pure video game skills. This is not the first time that Atari has entered the casino game arena. The company developed a Pong-themed slot machine that was placed in select live casinos during the early 2000s. The game never really caught on, but it featured a bonus round in which players had the opportunity to play Pong for bonus money. Skill at the game was rewarded with higher wins.
Cryptocurrency and Online Gambling
Digital currency has become increasingly popular over the last few years. In 2009, Bitcoin was introduced as the world’s first successful digital currency. It’s development and adoption cleared the way for other digital tokens like Ethereum to make their own appearance.
Some feel that cryptocurrency is ideally suited to online casino gaming. It offers a certain amount of anonymity, and it also allows more security. The player can make deposits to their online casino account without needed to reveal their personal banking details.
In the Atari online casino the player will be able to wager and be paid with a number of crypto tokens. These include MANA, DAI, and an Atari token named ATRI. It would then be up to the player to proceed with exchanging their winnings for other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. There are a large number of cryptocurrency exchanges which allow individuals to swap one token for another.
In the case of the Atari casino, the appeal and goal will be to keep players invested in the gaming action by offering them tokens that are mainly designed to remain in the virtual world. In this respect, the casino concept is not that different from the Second Life platform.
Stepping Into Vegas City and the Atari Casino
Players that visit the Atari casino will essentially be stepping into a virtual world. They will navigate that world with an avatar. Players can customize their avatars as they see fit, and they can even use their online casino winnings to purchase upgrades for the avatar.
Some people have expressed concerns that an online casino in a virtual world could encourage people to spend more money gambling than they would in a traditional online casino. The virtual aspect of the world and how it is created might make some people have difficulty separating reality from fantasy. Yet, the tokens that they win or lose in the casino are indeed real.
While you are waiting for the launch of the Atari casino, check out some of the online casinos that we recommend. You can play blackjack (see CountingEdge.com), craps ( See CrapsPit.org), and many other online casino games right now for real money on your computer, phone, or tablet.
