The Best Video Game Gambling Tie-Ins

Casinos love a tie-in. That’s how you end up with the Big Bang Theory slot machine. But sometimes they go deeper than just slapping a face on a wheel. And often that is most obvious with video game gambling adaptations.

Today we’re going to take a quick glimpse through some of the most famous video game adaptions for gambling. It’s not surprising that popular franchises try to cross into other forms of media. Nobody would be surprised if a Call of Duty film, comic, novel or concert series was announced tomorrow. But people rarely think about gambling. Perhaps that’s why it happens so often. It doesn’t need to be canon, and people just accept it as a machine with a certain branding. But accept it they do, and the familiar logos help make certain games more attractive.

Mario’s Gold

Nintendo are more than happy to licence out a slot machine game, but we still can’t officially play a Mario game on PC. Work that one out. But as far of slots influenced by video games go, this is the gold standard.

Combining the classic Mario games with a slot machine mechanic, you’re not going to win big from this one, but you will have a good time. Combining a lot of your favourite features from the NES Mario era, you’ll be able to save Princess Peach in a whole new way.

Whether there’s any particular value to hunting this one out if you’re a Mario fan, I’m unsure. It’ll depend on the level of your obsession. But at the very least, it’s something very different.

Metal Gear Solid Pachinko

This is one that many people know exists, but perhaps never looked at beyond the obvious memes.

After the upheaval with series creator Hideo Kojima and the positive but muted reaction to Metal Gear Solid V, publish Konami showed just how committed they were to the franchise by… remaking Metal Gear Solid 3 as a Pachinko machine.

They recreated moments of the game and cutscenes in the Fox Engine, then loudly and proudly shared some of that content online. Only for fans everywhere to slap their hands against their heads.

It’s okay though, Konami eventually listened to the reaction – seven years later – by announcing a proper remake of Metal Gear Solid 3.

Final Fantasy: Record Keeper

Record Keeper isn’t the punchline that Metal Gear Solid Pachinko ended up being, but it’s hardly the highlight of the series either.

Relying on Gacha mechanics, you could spend a huge amount on the chance to unlock content. And people spent a huge amount on it.

Meanwhile, discussion of whether Gacha is “technically” gambling was often controversial in and of itself, and probably still is as the genre has continued to increase in popularity.

Record Keeper shut down last year, but those who still want a Final Fantasy themed gambling experience can jump into Final Fantasy 7: Ever Crisis.

Resident Evil 6 Slot

I’m including this one because it came out in 2019 – seven years after Resident Evil 6. And because it’s based on Resident Evil 6 for some reason.

Personally, it wouldn’t surprise me if this branding turned people away more than helped them try it out, but who knows? I’d have thought a game based on the original Resident Evil or on Resident Evil 7 would have been more successful, but likely also more pricey. Plus those games wouldn’t have the famous giraffe logo, so swings and roundabouts.

The games takes place across two screens, with one showing videos and the other showing the slots. Most popular characters from the game are included, and also Jake.

To the guy that still loves Resident Evil 6, it may be worth hunting this down. But get medical help first.

Conclusion

We have barely even scratched the surface on how big games have been used for gambling. Some of them are unusual, some still noteworthy for one reason or another.

But for whatever reason, we love to see familiar characters in other mediums – even in slot machine form. And the popularity of some of the above prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt.