Basketball Amusement Games

Basketball arcade games with real balls became popular during the late '80s to early 2000s. Basketball arcade games had been around for decades, of course. Play Basketball by Aero-Matic in 1920 used a setup similar to the earliest pinball cabinets. Taito’s Basketball (1974) was one of the first conventional arcade cabinets to feature the sport. It had a black and white display with a blank background that symbolized the court. Players would control on-screen avatars using an arcade joystick.

It wasn’t until games like 1988's Competition Basketball from Intermark Amusements Inc. and 1993's Hot Shot Basketball from Midway Manufacturing Co. launched that the use of actual basketballs became a practice.

Today, Super Shot Basketball from Bay Tek Games — and some of its many variations — is one of the most popular arcade cabinets around. In fact, the company revised the arcade for 2018.

First-Person Shooter and Gun Arcades

Light gun shooters, or arcade games that use a gun-shaped controller, have believe it or not, been around for a long time. Some of the first used mechanical light guns in the 1930s and operated much differently than modern game setups. The mechanical setup gave the impression the player was shooting the gun when they actually were not.

Sega’s electro-mechanical arcade cabinet featuring Periscope launched in 1966. Players targeted cardboard ships moving within the unit.

In the 1970s and 1980s, video shooter games appeared. In 1969, Sega created the original Duck Hunt, which featured moving targets onscreen. After the player finished, they received their score, which was printed out on a paper ticket. The Nintendo Entertainment System later adapted Duck Hunt, which featured a plastic gun-like controller.

In the 1990s, the genre evolved considerably to include much more realistic and immersive experiences. On top of featuring 3D graphics and realistic artwork, such as what you’d see in 1994's Virtua Cop and 1995's Time Crisis, the guns were much improved, too.

In 1996, House of the Dead launched in Japan and was internationally released in 1997. It featured a reactive gun controller that had moving parts, which would provide feedback as you played the game. Eventually, these games gave way to the more modern first-person shooters and gun arcades we know today.

Racing Simulators

In 1973, Atari released Space Race, which allowed players to control spaceships flying around a unique track, avoiding comets and meteors. Taito launched a rival game called Astro Race, which employed the same theme. While these two games aren’t technically the same style of racing simulators we know today, they were a couple of the first to introduce racing to the masses.

Taito’s 1974 Speed Race was one of the first such games to introduce driving. The course became narrow or wide as the player moved along the road. The same year, Gran Trak 10 launched, which featured the first use of a gear-stick, steering wheel and foot pedals.

A number of games were launched from then on into the early '80s that also used racing as a theme. This included titles such as:

• The Driver, 1970
• Super Bug, 1977
• Speed Freak, 1979
• Rally-X, 1980
• Alpine Ski, 1981
• Turbo, 1981

It wasn’t until 1982’s Pole Position where the idea of racing simulators came to fruition. The game was based on a real racing circuit and even featured a qualifying lap, similar to real Grand Prix rules.

Sega’s Hang-On in 1985 was the first to use force feedback, a form of movement that made it seem like the player was really in a car. This later evolved to include enhanced force feedback through vibrations, more immersive experiences, and so on. Other notable games of this era in the genre include:

• Out Run, 1986
• Hard Drivin’, 1989
• Ridge Racer, 1993
• Daytona USA, 1993
• The Need for Speed, 1994
• Gran Turismo, 1997
• Crazy Taxi, 1999

Coin Pushers

A coin pusher does exactly what the name suggests – it is an arcade game that pushes coins (duh). Put in tokens or coins and try to stockpile them as much as you can in order to push them off the edge to win tickets, prizes, more coins, or, in more recent years, cards. You have probably seen them as they are still quite popular machines at local arcades.

While there are many new coin pushers these days with fancy lights and new objectives, the classic arcade coin dozers are what started it all. The fundamental addictive gameplay has not changed.

Let’s dive into the history of coin pushers. I’ll also touch on tips on how to win tickets on modern coin pushers, gambling issues for these arcade machines, and if they are legal where you live.

The First Arcade Coin Pusher Machine

The history of the coin pusher begins around 1963. I say “around” because there is some debate on the definition of a coin pusher and the exact date when the first one was released.

A European company called Cromptons is credited with making the first coin pusher. Cromptons started making coin-operated amusement products in 1947.

The company released a machine called Wheel-a-Win in 1962. This game had a sweeping arm that pushed coins into holes that were spread around the surface of the inside of the cabinet.

This seems to be the first coin pusher, as it pushes coins that the player inserts, but a later arcade machine would more closely resemble coin pushers as they operate today.

Crompton’s Penny Falls Coin Pusher

Released in 1964, Penny Falls is a simple concept that most subsequent coin pushers would copy. Coins were inserted and dropped on a surface with more coins. These coins would be pushed forward and eventually dropped off an edge where the player could collect them.

After Wheel-a-Win and Penny Falls, Cromptons dove headfirst into this new coin pusher idea. They would go on to release many more coin pushers that all operated very similarly but with different themes. The hexagonal variant became the most popular because it didn’t take up as much space on the floor.

Coin pushers became a major success in arcades around the world. These old school, classic coin pushers can still be found in arcades in the UK today. Japan also very quickly jumped on the coin pusher fad and these games are still a staple in arcades there.

Coin pushers are in almost every arcade around the world. I think that is because of how addictive and simple the gameplay is. When the Cromptons company made the first coin pusher they did not patent it. Cromptons did not think that it was going to last more than a year or two. The coin pusher craze definitely persisted and today we can see copies of the coin pusher concept from that first one that was made in the 1960s.

Claw Machines and UFO Catchers

In the 1890s the first claw machines exsisted. They were cranked by hand the old fasion way and featured a candy dispenser and only cost a penny to operate.

In 1920s, it was patented as an arcade game, called "Eerie Digger. The modern arcade was born.

In 1951, Federal laws outlawed cranes and classified them as gambling devices. This made transporting them across state lines illegal. This is what basically put an an end to the crane business as we knew it for at least the next 2 years.

It was only a couple of years later when these laws were modified to allow diggers to be operated at carnivals, as long as they met certain guidelines. The machines had to be strictly mechanical and could not contain prizes higher than $1 in value. No coin slots were not allowed, so the machine had to be turned on by the operator. Cost per play could be no greater than 10 cents.

There were earlier machines, like the Holly Crane and the Lucky Crane, that featured wooden cabinets. These machines were arranged horizontally, with prizes on the floor so that players were forced to look through the large glass panel on top to be able to see what they were aiming for.

Claw strength on the early vertical skill cranes was not adjustable and the claw was limited by a single forward and a single sideways motion before the claw would drop to retrieve the prize.

Enter the computer. This new advanced technology allowed for more sophisticated claw machines to be born into the market. During the late 70's and early 80's, skill cranes and claw machines of all types were sent from over seas countries like Europa and Asia.

Success of crane machines continued and the laws became less harsh in the 70's. The coin slots came back. The cost of play on some cranes was raised to a whopping 25 cents.

During the 80's, the newer vertical claw machines appeared and this gave birth to the style of skill cranes that we see in locations today. These modern machines gave birth to adjustable claw strength, dollar bill acceptors, and even joysticks. This allowed for complete control and the ability to reach every corner of the machine instead of using only 2 buttons, limited only by an on board timer.

In 1995, "The Claw" appeared in Disney's "Toy Story"! About a year later, one of the top suppliers of claw machines, American Coin Merchandising, Inc., signed a contract with a large number of retail corporations, like Walmart, and began to install and operate "Sugarloaf" claw machines in restaurants and stores all over the good old US of A.

Some Walmarts had as many as 10-12 machines per store, set up by the store entrances / exits, as well as in game rooms. Since then, skill cranes have been popping up in many restaurants, grocery stores, and many other commercial locations. New claw machines came standard with advanced features, such as payout ratios, multi-stage claw tension adjustments, and fail limits (to stop operating when too many prizes have been dispensed within a short amount of time).

Older versions, retired from play, started making their way to onto Ebay and into game rooms and man caves nationwide.

An insanley popular Japanese claw machine called the Sega UFO Catcher entered the US market in more recent years. The UFO catcher is more difficult because it has only 2 prong claws, it moves at a slower speed but with a proper grab, items typically don't escape prior to the carriage arriving back to the prize chute.

The claw machine or skill crane gave birth to a new type of arcade game. Enter redemption games.Games like Stacker and Keymaster. These are the types of game that we see in bowling alleys, arcades and movie theaters all over the country.

Games such as Flaming Finger, Stacker and Keymaster allow players to try their luck and apply a little bit of skill in order to win minor or major prizes.The changes to win are based off of the payout ratio and the players skill at winning the game.