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Vinnienet Posts: 2,100 Forum Member ✭✭✭
22/11/09 - 12:17 in General Discussion #1
You know, those at the arcade.
How do they work and why don't they shove loads of coins over the top when I play them?
I was watching Gavin and Stacey the other day and Bryn asked Nessa if they were a con but she wouldn't tell him.
Can someone put me out of my misery?!!
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solarflare Posts: 22,444
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22/11/09 - 12:20 #2
I don't know but I've always wonder who really wants to win a pocket-full of coppers. Pound coins, maybe, but 1p's, no ta.
moza Posts: 1,418
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22/11/09 - 12:46 #3
I love these! They make their money because a lot of what you think you've knocked over goes down the sides and to the house.
We keep a jar of coppers at home, and raid that every so often. That way it doesn't feel like it costs you anything. And, really, I don't play to win, just to have fun. Anything I win goes back in, when it's gone, that's it.
Littlemark Posts: 228
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22/11/09 - 12:46 #4
No idea how they work but I loved them as a kid. When I went to the fair I was almost as excited about playing on them as I was the rides! I still get addicted when I see one and I'm 27!
I don't know if this is true or not but a friend once told me that the unit had a weak magnetic pull to keep the 2p's hanging on. Probably not true, but made me feel better when I lost all my money on them!
tanstaafl Posts: 23,114
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22/11/09 - 13:00 #5
Littlemark wrote: »
No idea how they work but I loved them as a kid. When I went to the fair I was almost as excited about playing on them as I was the rides! I still get addicted when I see one and I'm 27!
I don't know if this is true or not but a friend once told me that the unit had a weak magnetic pull to keep the 2p's hanging on. Probably not true, but made me feel better when I lost all my money on them!
A magnet would only work with 2p coins made from steel (since the early 90s). These machines have been around for decades - and I'd rate them high in the list of most-frustrating-machines-of-all-time.
Moany Liza Posts: 22,757
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22/11/09 - 13:04 #6
Try not to let the coins balanced at the sides fall - concentrate instead on the ones in the middle because you're more likely to get them falling into your tray whereas the ones at the sides often go into the machine instead and are collected by the owner.
Timing is also critical - to ensure that you don't just drop your coin onto the pile. Time it so that you land the coin flat in a clear space where it can be pushed into a pile of coins near the middle and where is till help to push others forward and down.
tanstaafl Posts: 23,114
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22/11/09 - 13:24 #7
Moany Liza wrote: »
Try not to let the coins balanced at the sides fall - concentrate instead on the ones in the middle because you're more likely to get them falling into your tray whereas the ones at the sides often go into the machine instead and are collected by the owner.
Timing is also critical - to ensure that you don't just drop your coin onto the pile. Time it so that you land the coin flat in a clear space where it can be pushed into a pile of coins near the middle and where is till help to push others forward and down.
Can I take it that you are now retired and living on the millions that you have won?
Moany Liza Posts: 22,757
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22/11/09 - 13:26 #8
tanstaafl wrote: »
Can I take it that you are now retired and living on the millions that you have won?
Er..... I wish!!
It's one of the few arcade games that I can ever win more than I lose!!! Vinnienet Posts: 2,100
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22/11/09 - 13:31 #9
One thing that has always bothered me though is that the lower shelf, when you successfully knock coins onto it from the higher shelf rarely seems to move even if you've dropped two or three coins onto it.
This leads me to believe that theres a hole in the bottom shelf, in the centre!
afcbfan Posts: 7,239
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22/11/09 - 13:53 #10
Yeah, you sometimes get a pile of coins hanging over the edge that seem to defy all known laws of gravity
[Deleted User] Posts: 229
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22/11/09 - 14:00 #11
I won a glass diamond from one once, that was cool. Try to go for the ones that have enough coins to get pushed of, but not loads, because that means it isn't working properly.
The Snakes Posts: 8,940
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22/11/09 - 14:07 #12
I remember when these machines used to have packets of cigarettes in them as extra prizes, sometimes with a £5 taped to them. No doubt the PC brigade have stopped that.
[Deleted User] Posts: 1,049
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22/11/09 - 17:04 #13
I love these machines, you seem to get less f the 2p ones now though and many more 10p machines... They don't put so many prizes in them any more either.
I hate those crane machines, they are nearly always fixed to hardly ever pick anything up... one time in Bournemouth pier arcade a few years ago the machines seemed to pick up almost every time, we come out with armfulls of cuddly toys.
Moany Liza Posts: 22,757
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22/11/09 - 17:17 #14
rickymallory wrote: »
I love these machines, you seem to get less f the 2p ones now though and many more 10p machines... They don't put so many prizes in them any more either.
I hate those crane machines, they are nearly always fixed to hardly ever pick anything up... one time in Bournemouth pier arcade a few years ago the machines seemed to pick up almost every time, we come out with armfulls of cuddly toys.
Oh these are pathetic - they just vaguely stroke the item on the top of the pile but never have any prospect of actually getting hold of anything!!! :rolleyes:
Simon Cow Posts: 2,903
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22/11/09 - 17:24 #15
They tend to push SIDEWAYS and there are holes at the edges where coins drop into THEIR money box.
As with all gaming machines, the design is tested and tested to make sure that they win in favour of the owner over time.
If they didn't, no one would buy them and you wouldn't have fat wealthy arcade owners.
koantemplation Posts: 101,293
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22/11/09 - 17:30 #16
rickymallory wrote: »
I hate those crane machines, they are nearly always fixed to hardly ever pick anything up... one time in Bournemouth pier arcade a few years ago the machines seemed to pick up almost every time, we come out with armfulls of cuddly toys.
I used to work in an arcade and I can confirm that they are designed to only pick up based on the odds programmed into the machine. Eg 1 in 10 times.
It was embarrassing having upset boyfriends and fathers who were trying to win their girlfriend / child a cuddly toy, coming up to me and telling me it purposely dropped the toy.
I would give them free goes but got told off as that upset the machine's statistics.
It was so obviously the machine was dropping the prize as the arm would open up a little.
Pistol Whip Posts: 9,677
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22/11/09 - 17:38 #17
There would always be some kid booting or shaking the machine so the alarm goes off
And no, it wasn't me (all the time) [Deleted User] Posts: 9,916
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22/11/09 - 17:46 #18
I always make sure I take my extra large magnet with me whn I play them.
koantemplation Posts: 101,293
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22/11/09 - 17:59 #19
The trick is to spin the coin.
[Deleted User] Posts: 51
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22/11/09 - 18:59 #20
afcbfan wrote: »
Yeah, you sometimes get a pile of coins hanging over the edge that seem to defy all known laws of gravity
These ones are called the "mug's eyeful" and best avoided. Your few coins falling down from the top deck have nowhere near the mass or forward speed (Force = mass X acceleration) to move that big heavy pile.
It would be a bit like a hedgehog taking a run up to a mini and hoping to push it.
[Deleted User] Posts: 1,059
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22/11/09 - 19:25 #21
Oh, the memories. The tuppney shoves we call 'em. A few will fall, so you feed them back in and lose the whole lot!
They are balanced very sneakily so that you would need to spend about £5 to win a few 2p's. But it's all the fun of the fair!!
:D:DSorry.
:o:oRose
topcat3 Posts: 3,115
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20/08/13 - 00:47 #22
do you still get these anywhere? I used to love them, its that show tipping point thats made me think of them
Alan1981 Posts: 5,416
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20/08/13 - 00:50 #23
topcat3 wrote: »
do you still get these anywhere? I used to love them, its that show tipping point thats made me think of them
You still get them in the arcades in newquay. They used to put five pound notes on top of the 2p coins, but these days it's just cheap toy cars.
Mustabuster Posts: 5,995
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20/08/13 - 00:56 #24
I wonder how often they open it up to re-stack the layers of coons? I love watching tipping point, just because of the machine.
[Deleted User] Posts: 3,749
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20/08/13 - 01:19 #25
I heard that quite a few coins on the bottom are actually glued on :eek:
Mesostim Posts: 52,864
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20/08/13 - 01:48 #26
The Snakes wrote: »
I remember when these machines used to have packets of cigarettes in them as extra prizes, sometimes with a £5 taped to them. No doubt the PC brigade have stopped that.
Even 4 years on this brings a tear of joy to my eyes
It's one of the few arcade games that I can ever win more than I lose!!! «123»
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