Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Sega sued for ‘rigged’ arcade machine

polygon.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 238 posts

Re: Sega sued for ‘rigged’ arcade machine

#101

Post by gruez »

rectang wrote: post #46

At this point, I just assume any commercially successful software game is optimized to extract every last cent out of the target audience through subtle psychological brutalization. Surely there are exceptions, but it's like buying from Amazon: it takes too much work to sort through the ripoffs. The fun is spoiled because it requires constant vigilance and active resistance to avoid spending too much money. "A strang…

>At this point, I just assume any commercially successful software game is optimized to extract every last cent out of the target audience through subtle psychological brutalization.

Is your idea of "commercially successful software game" the top charts on app store or something? There are plenty of games on PC/consoles that are successful and not microtransaction laden.

Re: Sega sued for ‘rigged’ arcade machine

#102

Post by Spooky23 »

rubyn00bie wrote: post #63

Oh, I thought this was known. I'm not even joking... A few years ago, I was at a local comic shop, and I watched someone (a kid) play the machine and appear to get a "perfect" shot, key went exactly into the fucking hole... but then it just pulled back. No prize! I was stunned when the kid asked an employee essentially "WTF?" and the employee replied "there's a chance the key may not turn even though it's lined up."…

They loosened up the rules on this stuff awhile back. It’s bullshit — unregulated gambling.

There’s one machine like this I saw on a mass pike rest stop… there’s a 10 year old iPad fading away in there, but people are always playing it.

Re: Sega sued for ‘rigged’ arcade machine

#103

Post by suzumer »

batch12 wrote: post #98
suzumer wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please elucidate me as to how you browse hacker news, and then explain how that differs from the method of browsing Youtube you bemoan.

On youtube- I search for a video, select the result I want, watch it, then leave. I browse hackernews and discover random content.

Exactly, isn't it a little hypocritical to say that twitter users are simply "infinitely scrolling through the bedlam", while posting on a website that requires scrolling for content discovery? I admit that Hacker News has magnitudes better content than twitter, but it's ironic nonetheless.

Re: Sega sued for ‘rigged’ arcade machine

#104

Post by chrismcb »

Karunamon wrote: post #85
cortesoft wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, because if you really suck, you can’t win at all. It is like poker, which is a combination of skill and luck.

Okay, I can accept that. But poker is still considered gambling, and we wouldn't allow arcade owners to target poker games at children. Why should this be allowed?

Poker isn't necessarily considered gambling. It is one reason why some places, like California, have poker rooms.

Re: Sega sued for ‘rigged’ arcade machine

#105

Post by Caylio »

HarryHirsch wrote: post #86
cortesoft wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, because if you really suck, you can’t win at all. It is like poker, which is a combination of skill and luck.

Skill when the machine decides to let you win, no chance when the machine doesn't want you to. It's not at all like poker and very much like the well-known shell game with a pea.

The machine can only "decide to let you win" if you have the skill to get close, otherwise no chance.

Re: Sega sued for ‘rigged’ arcade machine

#106

Post by dragonwriter »

chrismcb wrote: post #104
Karunamon wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Okay, I can accept that. But poker is still considered gambling, and we wouldn't allow arcade owners to target poker games at children. Why should this be allowed?

Poker isn't necessarily considered gambling. It is one reason why some places, like California, have poker rooms.

> Poker isn't necessarily considered gambling

Yes it is.

> It is one reason why some places, like California, have poker rooms.

No, that's because some instances of gambling involving betting against other players are sometimes selectively regulated differently than betting against the house. Its the same reason some places, like, again, California, that prohibit casino gambling allow parimutuel betting on horse races.

Re: Sega sued for ‘rigged’ arcade machine

#107

Post by walrus01 »

koz1000 wrote: post #8
Something1234 wrote: post #3

State gaming boards really need to investigate arcades in general. They are much worse than the casino with the same kinds of games, but a much worse payout. I once calculated it out when I was on a bus trip I would get back 70% of what I put in (n=$100). At the arcade you're lucky to get 5 cents back, and most of the time the games are not even fun. We need to put together a team of experts to audit all of these mac…

I worked on a redemption device a long time ago, one of those "stop the lights" game for a large manufacturer. There were a few jurisdictions, Iowa and New Jersey come to mind, that were already aware of the nature of these machines and required the manufacturers to have their software audited and validated by (state approved) third-party gaming labs identical to what the slot machine companies do when getting code a…

Come on down to chuck e cheese, eat some low grade pizza in our rat themed child casino!

Re: Sega sued for ‘rigged’ arcade machine

#108

Post by viraptor »

dylan604 wrote: post #82
viraptor wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not quite as niche as you describe. He figured out how to fairly consistently hit youtube recommendations / top videos. If you use youtube, there's quite a good chance you've seen one of his videos on the frontpage or seen his name a few times, even if you never watched them or aren't interested in his content.

This may be something you haven't considered, but there are ways of using YT with never seeing the front page. Some people don't just "browse" YT, or watch video after video after video following some algorithmically chosen playlist. It is possible to watch a single specific video and then leave the site. Just like you can also read a single tweet without infinitely scrolling through the bedlam.

I mentioned recommendations and top videos. It doesn't matter if you visit the front page - there's a good chance you've seen Mark Robber's video thumbnail, whether you browse YT for content or not.

Re: Sega sued for ‘rigged’ arcade machine

#110

Post by TedDoesntTalk »

megameter wrote: post #31
Cerealkiller050 wrote: post #2

I remember seeing and playing this on a cruise ship. It was a dollar per try, and I shoved in 5 bucks. By the 4th try it was NOTICEABLE that if you press the button at the "right time", there was a lag before it overshot it and you failed. I pretty much could guess that something like the article discusses was at work, and was simply more a game of luck. Obviously I stopped after that, as a pure luck game is not as f…

Like with gambling devices, redemption games all seem to have operator-adjustable payout. I recall playing "Stacker" for a little while in the 2000's. It used an LED dot display for gameplay, which was a simple timing game where you "built" a tower by stacking up the blocks, with it getting faster at each level. What it did was exactly as you describe: it had a minor reward level that you could always win, and then a…

> pinball

At least there is skill involved with pinball

Post reply on HN