Game Room

As gambling hall , toy library , casino , Switzerland Spielsalon - intentionally approaching licensed casinos as Casino (. Eg Big Cash casino , slot casino ) - are referred to facilities where the adult clients with different types of slot machines and video games offered become. In the past, customers paid for several attempts to play individually by inserting one or more coins into the appropriate device. In the meantime, banknotes have become a common means of payment in current slot machines , so that you can deposit a larger balance straight away. In 2014 amusement arcades made a turnover of almost 5 billion euros across Germany.

history

The first arcades were built in the late 19th century, see Penny Arcade (playhouse) .

statistics

In 2016 there were 9,102 arcade locations in Germany with 14,877 licensed arcades and 155,075 gaming machines, which represents a decrease of around 2% compared to 2014. In 2018, the range was reduced again to 8,836 locations, 13,666 concessions and 143,525 gaming machines.

Games

Some games are only played for fun (entertainment device), while others have an outstanding amount of money to be won (gaming device). Those games that are only used to pass the time are accordingly more complex, more exciting, more time-consuming and / or more interesting than those that are played because of the profit. These pure games of skill are on the decline in favor of gaming machines.

Arcade games

Well-known video games have their origins in the arcade, e.g. B. Night Driver , Space Invaders , Pac-Man , Dig Dug , Frogger , Jungle Hunt , Donkey Kong , Out Run , After Burner , Asteroids . Well-known manufacturers of video games were or are Namco , Sega , Atari , Taito and Nintendo .

Today's arcade video games usually come from the Japanese arcades and appear, if at all in Germany, only as implementations for game consoles such as Sony's PS2 , Microsoft's Xbox or Nintendo's GameCube . The SEGA Dreamcast in particular was known for its many arcade implementations, as the identical hardware was also installed in the arcade machines.

Mechanical games

Electro-mechanical game Championship Fast Draw (1964)

Before the arcade machines , there were mostly pinball machines and other electromechanical slot machines that are still around today. Many games also allow the player to measure their skill and responsiveness against others. Examples of electromechanical games are:

Whac-A-Mole (moles that come out of holes hit with a hammer)
MotoPolo (ball game with two motorcycles)
Toy vending machine (so-called gripper)
mechanical lightgun games such as Twin Skeet Shoot
Coin pusher a slot machine in which coins are pushed

More games

In addition, other games are also often offered, in particular

billiards

Air hockey

Table football ( table football )

electronic darts and

electronic roulette and video poker .

Gambling addiction

Gaming devices with the possibility of winning, which are the predominant offer in German gaming halls, have repeatedly been heavily criticized on the basis of field studies on pathological gaming behavior.

As a result, the legal regulations in Germany have been tightened significantly since 2013, both at the state and federal level. In addition, the amusement tax levied on gaming machines was increased sharply in most municipalities , also for the purpose of steering , that is, to achieve a restriction of the supply.

Legal bases

In Germany, a gaming hall is defined according to Section 33i of the Industrial Code (GewO) as a company that exclusively or predominantly serves to set up gaming devices with the possibility of profit (according to Section 33c GewO). Game duration, maximum stake and winnings of these slot machines are regulated by law in the Gaming Ordinance (SpielV). Requirements for the operation of amusement arcades are regulated in the trade regulations, the gaming regulations as well as country-specific amusement arcade and implementation laws for the State Treaty on Gambling Amendments (GlüÄndStV).

Anyone may operate gaming machines commercially who have been granted permission in accordance with Section 33c GewO. This only attaches certain reliability requirements to the person making the application, so commercial activity is basically permitted (resulting from the freedom of trade and occupation , Art. 12 of the Basic Law (GG)). The admissibility requirements represent a preventive prohibition with reservation of permission.

It is not to be confused with gambling within the meaning of Section 284 of the Criminal Code (StGB). Permits are granted according to state law. Here the legislature assumes in the system that these offers are generally harmful to society and should therefore be prohibited in principle. The granting of permits is therefore an exception. Consequently, this is a repressive ban with a reservation of exemption.

In the federal states , the licenses are awarded according to the following laws:

state	Legal basis
Baden-Württemberg	State Gambling Act
Bavaria	Law on the implementation of the State Treaty on Gambling in Germany
Berlin	Law regulating the law of gambling halls in the state of Berlin
Brandenburg	Brandenburg Gaming Hall Act
Bremen	Bremen amusement arcade law
Hamburg	Law regulating the law of gambling halls in the state of Hamburg
Hesse	Hessian gambling hall law
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania	Law for the implementation of the State Treaty on Gambling
Lower Saxony	Lower Saxony Gambling Act
North Rhine-Westphalia	Law for the implementation of the State Treaty on Gambling
Rhineland-Palatinate	State law on the First State Treaty Amending Gaming and the State Treaty establishing the GKL Joint Class Lottery of the States
Saarland	Saarland Gaming Hall Act
Saxony	Saxon implementation law for the State Treaty on Gambling
Saxony-Anhalt	Law regulating the law of gambling halls in the state of Saxony-Anhalt
Schleswig-Holstein	Law on the establishment and operation of amusement arcades
Thuringia	Thuringian law regulating commercial gaming

Situation abroad

Pachinko hall

Sega arcade in Tokyo

The games offered in arcades depend heavily on the respective gambling law.

Japan

In Japan, the offer in gambling halls, of which there are over 1,200 in Tokyo alone , is dominated by the pachinko game.

Others

According to the trade association regulations (formerly accident prevention regulations, UVV), gambling halls in Germany must a. be equipped with optical room surveillance systems (" video surveillance "), a hold-up alarm system and a money exchange machine. Further regulations concern the maximum limit for cash holdings and their protection.

Web links

Wiktionary: Amusement arcade - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Wiktionary: Gaming room - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

↑ Information from statista.com , accessed on August 8, 2016

↑ Jürgen Trümper, Christiane Heimann, Working Group Against Gambling Addiction e. V., Structure of the offer of amusement arcades and gaming machines in Germany, status 1.1.2016 , Unna 2016, p. 13 . For 2014 see also (with regard to cities with at least 10,000 inhabitants) YellowPaper Gambling and Consumer Protection ( Memento from February 26, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), EurActiv.de, 2015, p. 12 f.

↑ Jürgen Trümper, Christiane Heimann, Working Group Against Gambling Addiction e. V., Structure of the offer of amusement arcades and gaming machines in Germany, status 1.1.2018 , Unna 2018, p. 21 .

^ Report on the evaluation of the fifth amendment to the Gaming Ordinance, particularly with regard to the problem of pathological gambling , Federal Council printed paper 881/10, December 8, 2010