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

121–130 of 238 posts

Re: Sega sued for ‘rigged’ arcade machine

#121

Post by numlock86 »

abaracadab wrote: post #72
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."…

So it sounds like skill + luck: key in the hole gives random chance of winning. Honestly, these kind of lawsuits are ridiculous. People need to sue General Mills for false advertising instead because sugary cereals causing diabetes; or any other big-food company brainwashing children on YouTube kids.

> something is "ridiculous" because there are much worse cases to be taken care of

Yeah, same can be said about "brainwashing kids on YouTube" (whatever that's supposed to mean anyway) or "false advertising" of cereals ... what is your point?

Re: Sega sued for ‘rigged’ arcade machine

#122

Post by dylan604 »

suzumer wrote: post #103
batch12 wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Not exactly exactly though is it? HN isn't infinite scroll. It's scroll to the bottom, mental decision to click More or not.

Re: Sega sued for ‘rigged’ arcade machine

#123

Post by kriskrunch »

sethammons wrote: post #4

Reminds me of this one: https://youtu.be/vXBfwgwT1nQ Guy builds a robot to time pressing the button to get the light to land on the winning sections and demonstrates it is not skill but a random number generator.

Yes. Came here to share this same video. Turns out the odds are programmed in by the operator (arcade owner).

Similar situation with pinball machines awarding free games.

The give the illusion of a fair, 1 in 10, chance of getting a free game. But the odds are programmed in by the operator as well.

Re: Sega sued for ‘rigged’ arcade machine

#124

Post by MiddleEndian »

danans wrote: post #20

As an aside, I had no idea Sega were still making "old fashioned" mechanical games, which is how they started with slot machines and jukeboxes in the 1940s. I thought they had long since become a mobile game and IP licensing company (i.e. Sonic the Hedgehog)

Sega makes all sorts of arcade games, not just PC and console compatible ones but those ones at arcades (or barcades, bowling alleys, etc.) where you sit on a plastic motorbike or fake skis or rumbling carseats with steering wheels, those are usually Sega.

Re: Sega sued for ‘rigged’ arcade machine

#125

Post by krisoft »

viraptor wrote: post #108
dylan604 wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I have a bad news for you: youtube tailors their recommendations to each person. I know! It is difficult to belive.

Sarcasm aside I don’t know who this Mark person is. Never heard of him, never seen a video from him. And I’m quite okay with that. If you were to ask me what is trending on youtube I would tell you it is woodworking videos, zany snippets from musicals, and people discussing how a windpowered car can travel faster than the wind. But I also know that that tells more about my media habbits than youtube itself so I don’t generalise from this to everyone.

Re: Sega sued for ‘rigged’ arcade machine

#126

Post by 29athrowaway »

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."…

Gambling is illegal in Japan so there are many forms of gambling disguised as other stuff.

Notably pachinko parlors, gashapon, trading card games, loot boxes in video games.

https://www.serkantoto.com/2012/05/05/japan-social-games-reg...

And other than gambling, there are auctions... for the weirdest stuff... koi fish, mango, etc.

https://www.kodamakoifarm.com/shop/live-koi/auction/

Re: Sega sued for ‘rigged’ arcade machine

#127

Post by TeMPOraL »

pfundstein wrote: post #75
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."…

It is simply gambling for kids. These 'games' are much more profitable than traditional arcade games (street fighter/mario kart/pacman/etc/etc), and when you boil them down it's because they're essentially slot machines.

I wonder why class action lawsuit then. Shouldn't this be prosecuted as a crime?

Re: Sega sued for ‘rigged’ arcade machine

#129

Post by quickthrower2 »

boring_twenties wrote: post #120
hellbannedguy wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't mind if all gambling was illegial in the USA, including the lottery.

Sounds great, then we can all gamble in underground rooms, with not only dramatically worse odds but for extra excitement, a risk of armed robbery!

This is where crypto helps: you can be robbed in a safe and comfortable way.

Re: Sega sued for ‘rigged’ arcade machine

#130

Post by seanhunter »

umvi wrote: post #90

Is it even possible for a "game of skill" arcade machine that dispenses high value prizes to be profitable? Seems like any such game would just breed expert players that clean house and win all the iPads with their skill. If not, surely it would invite some hacker or tinkerer to invent a device to augment their skill and (again) clean house and get a bunch of cheap iPads. Maybe you could have arcade machines where yo…

Unless you're Jonathan Schrantz, who famously beat stockfish on the hardest difficulty as black by playing the Stafford gambit. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27829913 That being said it doesn't work with Stockfish 12.

But yeah dressing what is essentially a pure con (I don't think these even count as games of luck given the payout is not fair from game to game) as a game o skill is terrible.

Post reply on HN