Many places won’t sell M rated games to minors without a guardian present. It also allows guardians to make better informed decisions about what they’re about to buy for their children. It may not be a silver bullet, but it might start to put some pressure on studios to think twice about putting gambling in games targeted towards children.
It had nothing to do with being a good idea. It was just the more profitable idea. Tactile controls cost more to install than a cheap touchscreen with a dogshit GUI. Bonus being you have a proprietary part, the consumer can’t easily swap out later if they want. So you’ve baked in some nice obsolescence to boot.
Ain’t capitalism great? Race to the bottom.