As many visitors to the recent coin-op show in Las Vegas probably found out first hand, a big reason people play the gaming machines is the “sizzle on the steak” that comes when they score a bonus and all hell breaks loose on the playing field.
I’m not talking about cash winnings here… I mean the pure fun that comes when the game you’re playing hits a special combination and goes into the unit’s bonus mode. More money? Yeah, of course, but whether it’s a choo-choo train puffing out numbers or a bunch of cute animals dancing or tossing firecrackers (pigs are popular on these games), it’s the same kind of fun which gets players to come back and play again, even if the winnings were slim.
Did you ever watch a youngster playing a crane game? Everybody watching him maneuver the claw over what looks like an easy prize to grab wants him to nail it (except maybe for the operator who owns that crane, and I mean maybe, because plenty of operators subscribe to the dictum “winners make players”). A crane is a game, after all. Few kids really need another stuffed bunny. The thrill is catching and dropping the bunny all at just the right time, and winning that comes with a trophy. It may look like a rabbit but it’s really a trophy they can show their friends.
Some readers may be thinking I’m out of my mind to talk about gaming machines and cranes in the same article, but I’m willing to take the steam to make my point. This time of year used to be the start of the “arcade season” which runs until Labor Day. There are still plenty of arcades out there that do their best collections during this period. As such, let me once again tick off the rules of operating a money-making game room: keep it clean (that includes the bathroom); keep the machines clean and working; keep an eye out for the snarky kid who’s thinking about defacing one of your costly, new games; and make sure your floor people know to give a cheerful reminder to the other kid, whose language is full of F-bombs, that there are mothers present with little ones.
As sure as winners make players, violating the above rules makes “former players.” Keep it clean. Keep it running. Keep it the place a teenager takes his date, rather than his anger at the world. Have a great season!