The new feature, called Prize Machine, is a way of obtaining certain items by directly targeting them. By throwing balls and making "hits" on particular items, one can then obtain the items once enough hits have been made. Two balls are available to hit a selection of six items, and they are replenished after 12 hours, allowing more hits to be made at that point; each ball typically has a hit score of 1, but scores of 2 and even 4 are possible, albeit very rarely. This is important as most items have a hit score of 6 or greater, and getting high hit scores is partly essential. Further, the items change out from day to day when it turns over, and when they change, the scores are reset - so it is necessary to make hits on a single day.
As for how the pay-to-win aspect plays into this, each ball can be made to hit again immediately by paying up Aeos Gems, no matter how one obtains them. And given the fact about item hit scores as above, this is practically necessary for higher-valued items; for example, some Holowear take 10 hits to obtain, which means that assuming there are no special conditions and the two balls are still used twice within 12 hours freely, one would still need to spend some amount of Aeos Gems to make up the difference. Predictably, this gets old real quickly, and it just becomes another outlet to drain Aeos Gems and therefore one's spending... unless one still has not spent anything, like me.
Currently, the anniversary event is a special condition, and one can earn 10 bonus balls each day for 10 days, limited to that day, in addition to the regular two balls. One can also choose from two item sets for something to hit, and a few of the item prizes are attractive... like the Captain Style Cinderace Holowear, which in fact I and a few others have gotten, as it cost only 10 hits. While this is somewhat welcomed, the pay-to-win aspect still lingers, as one of the item prizes - the Band Style Pikachu Holowear - takes a whopping 40 hits, and not even the daily bonus balls can make a significant dent into that, unless one is very lucky. Some amount of spending is still necessary nonetheless - "almost totally dependent", as previously said.
Even so, there is the consolation that replenishing the balls by paying Aeos Gems is limited to a certain number of times each day, and thus there is the sense that they shouldn't all be spent in one place - in this case, this feature. Also, first-time users may likely have been confronted with a bronze Chansey emblem as the first item to obtain, but it's still rather illusionary because of how the system works after that point. One more thing to note is that an animation plays as the balls are made to hit, but can be skipped as it is a bit lengthy. The spectacular animation and the way the system works make it apt to be classified as "gacha", even though specific items can be targeted.
So, it seems that much of the "controversy" of the Prize Machine feature has not been shed, even with recent developments. Yet it does somehow work out to furnish items to be used, including some that have been coveted all this time - and that means it is still part of the current dynamics of Pokémon Unite, especially now with the anniversary event. Issue or non-issue, some things may just have to give, and that's pretty much the case with this feature - hopefully further down the line as well.
One year ago: The Shining Moment: Pokémon Presents, 8/3/2022
Two years ago: Countermeasures for Pokémon Go: Madness in Madness
Three years ago: Countermeasures for Pokémon Go: What's In, What's Out
Four years ago: Cosplay: Utsuru SX
Five years ago: (A New) Local Ex-Raid, 8/4/2018
Six years ago: Pokémon on My Bed
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