I work for one of Australia's biggest games arcades (think games like Daytona, laser tag, bowling), managing the IT side of things. Ask me anything.
[AMA] I Work for One of Australia's Biggest Games Arcades
Marrk on 14/06/2018 - 07:11
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Setting game difficulty falls to the techs, rather than being an IT thing. Though you don't want games to be too difficult - you want customers to see other customers walking around with plushes, to entice them to play the crane games (for example). The payout rate is usually around 30%.
Worse than the pokies!
Crane machines are similar to pokies in the respect that they both pay out every so often. E.g. If you saw someone fail on a crane machine 10 times in a row, and it looked like they were getting the toys on the best angle, it would be a good idea to jump on the machine after them. The claw is only strong enough for you to win every so often, and if that opportunity is wasted on a bad angle, you need to wait for that opportunity again. Some cranes may factor in a toy having not been won that time, as there is a win sensor.
So do the prize machines generally use dependent programming for the win rate rather than a RNG?
@Scrooge McDuck: I don't set up the cranes, though my understanding is that the cost per item is entered, a win % is set and a skill level is set. When the crane is strong enough for the player to win is randomised, it isn't the crane is strong enough to win every x games.
I want to find an old arcade game I played as a kid - Prop Cycle by Namco. Know where I can find it to buy one? Also there was a dinosaur/crocodile game where you had to hit their heads with a mallet. I haven't seen either game for years :-(
Yeah definitely!! I google search now and then in case one comes up again. It was so fun, but I never was able to beat it since that cost $$$
Propcyle one of my all time favs. I actually have one and am open to receiving offers for it. Then I could look to buy a pinball machine!
Not sure about Prop Cycle, though Namco Funky Gators is still in several of our stores. :)
Thanks a lot! That name led me to the version I remember - called Dino Bonk. Now I know why I wasn't sure if they were crocodiles or dinosaurs (they look like crocodiles but the machine had dinosaurs and cave men themed art). Do you know if you have any of these? Where do your old machines go when you're upgrading, like is there an auction company I should look at?
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/dino-bonk-wacky-gator…Have such fond memories of this game. Dad would give my sisters and I 3 or 4 $1 coins each and we would play this game together, each taking one or two dinos and slamming them with our fists (mallet to soft and slow), and share the tickets equally. We would make SOOOO many tickets….
You're lucky you have such a cool place to work…. What sort of work do you have to do each day?
I believe that Dino Bonk and Wacky Gator are what you are thinking of - basically the same game, different themes.
https://9e0fb13b43cade3f4ab3-c3bf81c4b3b13719fae1f331f715492…
https://www.arcade-museum.com/images/130/1303233706.jpgI know a store with Wacky Gators, not in Canberra unfortunately.
We have a bit of an arcade machine graveyard, so I doubt our old machines go anywhere.
My job doesn't involve much game playing unfortunately (apart from when opening new stores and having to test ticket payouts). The main part of my job is maintaining the swiper network, with cards being used instead of cash these days. This involves remotely logging into stores across the country and sorting out issues. I also need to work on setting up servers and computers for new stores, the usual IT support side of things.
NOW I'M ANGRY!
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Good times!
Given you haven't said who with and the majority of arcade places don't, why don't you have new or even older Initial D arcades?
I don't know a lot about these driving games, though the company I work for seems to favour Maximum Tune, which looks similar at a glance? Also getting a lot of the modern Daytona machines, Cruis'n Blast and Mario Kart GP.
Sounds like Timezone Goldcoast? Was there last month with the family, lost 4 hours of my life. The laser tag set up was surprisingly very good! Had a blast! :) Bet the electricity bill is decent though?
Too few arcades for me to confirm or deny, though I wouldn't want to see the electricity bills of some of these venues!
I really want a proper Daytona arcade machine. My bootleg machine just doesn't cut it with a joystick but I'm sure it's really expensive. Speaking of which…. how expensive are the machines to buy?
I love the new Daytona machines, they cost around $14k each.
Not quite retro enough. Stick the hardware in the old rig and I'd be all over it. $14k is crazy expensive. I wonder how long it would take to recoup the costs?
The old Daytona twins aren't much cheaper at around $8k.
https://www.zax.com.au/assets/full/DaytonaTwin.jpg
Not sure off the top of my head, unlimited time packages make this a bit harder to work out compared to $$ only games.
Omg make that an auto and I'd be all over it. You should make a rig like that for your son. You've got access to a heap of cars.
I have daughters and no way I'd manage to do that lol
Know anywhere with Mario Kart GP DX? Everywhere seems to only have super beat up GP 2.
Or how about Taiko no Tatsujin (Drum Master I think it might be called in the west?) or Tsum Tsum?
Basically I love Japanese arcades and am always disappointed by Aus ones (when they exist, sigh).
Not sure about Canberra sorry, most stores in Brisbane have Mario Kart GP DX.
Haven't seen either of those other games - the Tsum Tsum one looks interesting though!
Aw man. Here there's just super beat up GP 2. :(
Tsum Tsum is kinda like a giant version of the mobile game, but I like that the character tokens are also cute keyrings.
I would assume most arcade venues lease machines - do you know the rates?
The main arcades purchase them outright and may have revenue sharing agreements elsewhere. E.g. put their machines at cinemas and split the profits.
How regularly are the ticket payout figures reviewed? I'm trying to reduce my hours so they don't up the difficulty of the redemption games.
Honestly, things are pretty disorganised and store managers should probably be more involved with things like this than they are. :)
How well does your arcade maintain the machines?
I've been turned off by too many unresponsive dance pads, broken fight sticks and miscalibrated light guns.
Reported game issues are generally taken pretty seriously, as a game not working properly is seen as lost income.
In your opinion, is bumping coin pushers without setting off the tilt sensor a legitimate part of the metagame or theft?
And how does management feel about it?
The main game we have in this category is Wizard of Oz - pushing a few extra coins with a bump won't really achieve anything most of the time, as you need to get the green and red tokens / the cards to earn tickets.
Due to the above, I feel a bit indifferent about it. And if this was an issue, it is probably something you would need to factor into the cost per game.
Do you travel for your job?
Get to travel now and again. :)
What is your opinion on Embed and Intercard? Is one better than the other? Are there plans to introduce chip based cards like D & B in the US?
We use another swiper system, I have heard good things about Embed though.
Do you mean NFC? Most of our swipers are already capable of NFC - long term a mobile app could happen, so you would tap your phone to pay / swipe.
Yes NFC. If on mobile it'll drain the battery if I keep playing it. Currently averaging $100 an hour.
If your venues don't use either system, then there aren't that many arcades left…
What is the game with the most money spent?
I am sure this would vary from store to store, though surprisingly, Wizard of Oz tops the list at one store.
Do you ever find counterfeit coins in the machines?
Not that I am aware of - think this would require a lot of effort for little gain.
What usually happens when a machine is 'removed' from a store - and most importantly, how do I then get my paws on it!
And is there a formula for when a machine is removed (I guess a mixture of floor space, revenue, and maintenance cost?).
In our case, it is usually being moved to a new store or because the takings aren't that great at that particular location.
Different locations can lean towards different types of games.
What difficulty do you set the games to?
0 to 8 with 8 normally the super hard, ripoff mode