Has Technology Completely Changed Bingo?
Digital technology has done so much for us already, it’s hard to quantify quite how much our lives have been changed for the better. In fact, there has been so much change that we take a lot of it for granted. Traditional games are perhaps most overlooked when it comes to what technology has done. Some have been completely revolutionised and others have been given a new lease of life. Bingo, for example, is a key beneficiary of the latest tech. But how has digital technology changed the face of traditional games such as bingo?
Online Bingo
Technology allows online bingo to take the gameplay from the traditional style and add elements that only digital tech can make practical. For example, bingo jackpots are progressive and grow based on the number of people who have played the game. The longer the game progresses without a win, the higher the jackpot. This uses the latest in digital technology to keep track of the jackpot and give players a real-time estimate of what the jackpot they could expect to win is. Sometimes, multiple games feed into one jackpot, and other times the jackpot resets to a default amount. This wouldn’t be practical in a non-digital forum.
Bongo’s Bingo
Bongo’s Bingo – a popular nightclub event which takes the very broad theme of bingo and turns it into a raucous party – has been a staple of Norwich nightclubs. While it may not seem to have benefitted from technology in its operation, the growth of Bongo’s Bingo is largely down to the word of mouth advertising that social media provides. The event’s popularity rose from their social media following and from videos and images shared from those who have attended. The wacky nature of some of the prizes have even meant that the online national press has picked up stories. The game has even adapted to becoming an outdoor event at the Norfolk Showground.
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Bingo Community
The community element is part of the reason that people began playing bingo. It allowed people to congregate together to play a game with an element of excitement and tension. The group socialising alongside the game was also beneficial for many. Online bingo can take these social interactions and deliver them in the form of online chatrooms, which exist alongside some bingo games and allow players to talk to one another. Digital technology enables people to interact with those who might not be in the same physical vicinity. So, not only does it take the essence of community from traditional bingo, but it extends that to a wider audience and reaches more people who may want to get involved.
Some of the tech advancements are obvious and omnipresent in our lives – such as the internet. Others are subtler and have been so embraced and absorbed into the fabric of our lives that we don’t even remember a time without them, such as our phones and watching things online. When it comes to online bingo, it’s clear quite how far technology has aided us to make changes and create a completely new game that retains the core of the game we know and love.
