That's interesting, do you work in the industry?

Things have come full circle - slot machines paved the way for gamification techniques and IAP. Flashing lights, the sounds, the 'I almost won' near-misses from the big jackpot...all finely tuned to get that dopamine squirting and keep you on the machine. Very Pavlovian.

Video games (IAP in particular) are just rehashing the psychological tricks that slot machines have used for decades. Its just the games are newer and offer a bit more depth.

I'm sure in good time we'll see more advanced slot machines to entice the smartphone generation.