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Surprise, arcade crane games/ufo catchers are rigged to lose.

J

- J - D -

Member
Considered posting this in off-topic, but crane games are kinda video gaming related, aren't they?

tgs-at-namco-booth.jpg


Looking to bone up on your arcade crane game strategy? (You know the game I'm talking about — the one with the claw and the plush toys crammed all up inside it.) Well, we've got some sad news. It turns out strategy, at least when it comes to crane games, probably isn't as important as you think. Why? Because they're freaking rigged.

Another childhood pastime ruined.

Over on Quora, video game programmer Zack Baker claims that "most crane games are designed so the claw is randomly (and only once in many games) strong enough to let players win."

"Some even weaken in strength after a short time so players get close to victory only to see it slip from their grasp," he explains.
Click to expand...

Here's an example of a crane with more elaborate settings:

There are settings for making the claw use its strong setting on most games, one game in a few, or almost never. There are further controls for the claw to grab in strong mode and then switch to weak mode anywhere from 2-9 seconds after grabbing. Finally, it can even be set to switch to weak mode 10-25 seconds from the start of the game, to put slowpokes at a disadvantage!

Panda Vending crane game manual
Click to expand...

More examples and cabinet manuals that verify this can be found in the articles.

http://io9.com/5941335/the-dark-secret-of-arcade-crane-games-17-times-out-of-18-you-will-lose

http://www.quora.com/Arcade-Games/How-do-the-Claw-crane-arcade-game-machines-work
 
S

Skyzard

Banned
I remember watching a youtube video explaining this about the claw machine.

They run out of prizes too quickly otherwise.

Lame that they work like that though (1/10 times will have the grip required). Basically impossible to pick up without the "extra" strength - unless you claw it in a magic hook..which hardly any toys have.
 
Huevos de Oro

Huevos de Oro

Member
I've never seen anyone win something at those things. Shit's supposed to make money, though. Can't make any money when you're giving away plush toys.
 
F

Forkball

Member
The trick is to find one that's near the edge, and to knock it over. Typically the people who work at these places rearrange them to prevent this, but every now and then you might get lucky.
 
G

Gomu Gomu

Member
I learned this from the Idle Thumbs podcast a couple of weeks ago. It's really funny that some people claim to be 'good' at them.
 
A

Azure Dream

Member
Kokonoe said:
Some are actually solid, but they are extremely rare to find now.
Click to expand...

The ones that used to be at a local Sega Gameworks (R.I.P.) were very strong. Went through a period where I messed with them for a while, sometimes left the toy in the prize bin so a kid had a chance of finding a freebie, if the staff didn't find it and shove it back in the machine first.

I remember messing with a few at Gameworks one day, then going to a nearby theater and trying the one there, and it was laughable how pathetic the claw difference was. There was no conceivable way it could have actually picked up anything in that machine at that point. And the movie theater one cost more.
 
R

Roto13

Member
This has been pretty obvious to me for as long as I can remember. Those claws grab a plush toy and barely make any kind of indentation in them.
 
hikarutilmitt

hikarutilmitt

Member
Yeah, when my wife and I started dating we would be leaving the HEB or Wal-Mart and see something in the claw game she liked. Didn't usually take more than 1 or 2 attempts to get it, regardless of size or shape. Nowadays I'm lucky if anything even moves at all.

Don't get me started on Stacker.
 
T

Trike

Member
Azure Dream said:
The ones that used to be at a local Sega Gameworks (R.I.P.) were very strong. Went through a period where I messed with them for a while, sometimes left the toy in the prize bin so a kid had a chance of finding a freebie, if the staff didn't find it and shove it back in the machine first.

I remember messing with a few at Gameworks one day, then going to a nearby theater and trying the one there, and it was laughable how pathetic the claw difference was. There was no conceivable way it could have actually picked up anything in that machine at that point. And the movie theater one cost more.
Click to expand...

Was that by chance the one in Phoenix? I won like three remote control Mario Karts off one. Gave one to a kid and he went crazy.
 
N

N4Us

Member
My dad was insane at claw machines. One time as when I was a kid he came home with literally 20+ stuffed animals at once from one machine. He'd at least get a handful from each machine.

He had strategies for it but I forgot what they were.
 
C

Community Forum

Member
I worked at an arcade a million years ago... back then we had the old school claw machines where if you didn't want them to pay out a lot, you'd physically pack the plush tighter in the machine. Still see these old ones out and about. The new "smart claws" though... good luck!
 
Y

Yuripaw

Banned
When I was a kid, and my mom worked as a cashier at a grocery store, I remember they had a crane game near the exit that had a really tight grip. We used to win toys and stuffed animals from that thing all the time. Eventually they changed it, and we saw the difference right when it was some limp shitty crane that never grabbed a hold of anything anymore.
 
Zomba13

Zomba13

Member
No shit. I thought this was common knowledge. Like, every carnival/fairground 'game' is rigged in some way.

Wuthering_Heights said:
Next you're going to tell me these are rigged, too.
Click to expand...

I had a friend in uni who could win them every time. He knew how to beat them. Only bad thing was the one in our student union had shit prizes =/
 
Brofist

Brofist

Member
It's obvious they are rigged, but I didn't know to that extent. Weakening after a set time, that's just wrong.
 
T

totowhoa

Banned
thekonamicode said:
As an arcade operator myself, well ... yeah.

Just put a new major prize into my stacker machine!

http://i.imgur.com/koLOb.jpg[IMG][/QUOTE]

Haha, so in your opinion... those stacker machines that offer 360s and the like, do you think any average joe should be able to win one in less money than it would take to just buy one from Gamestop? Aside from speed, what kind of options do they give you to manipulate?
Click to expand...
 
7

7Th

Member
I actually won 3 times in a row in one of these; as I left, kids were lining behind me. Not a single one won a prize.
 
Jawmuncher

Jawmuncher

Member
To this day we have only ever had 1 person win at one of thiose things in my family.
My sister just lucked out I guess.
 
H

Hours Left

Member
Not surprising, thankfully not all machines are like this.

When I was a kid, I was on vacation with my family at a resort that had a crane game by the pool. I won over 20 stuffed animals. My parents had to buy two duffel bags just so we could get them home.

I also really want those Pac-Man ghost plushies.
 
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