I've noticed a frustrating trend with "arcades" directed at children these days. Increasingly, there are no games, and instead, there's exploitative traps that might as well be legalized gambling for kids. My latest at @crossplayblog.bsky.social: patrickklepek.substack.com/p/kid-arcade... - ThreadSky

patrickklepek.bsky.social • 275 days ago

I've noticed a frustrating trend with "arcades" directed at children these days. Increasingly, there are no games, and instead, there's exploitative traps that might as well be legalized gambling for kids. My latest at @crossplayblog.bsky.social: https://patrickklepek.substack.com/p/kid-arcades-are-now-the-exploitation

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jgersn.bsky.social•274 days ago

I noticed this when we took her a few weeks ago. There was virtually nothing for us to do together but lots of claw machines!!!

noahm.omg.lol•274 days ago

this seems like a timely thing to have wandered into my feed... https://bsky.app/profile/amandamull.bsky.social/post/3ktnnclbacz2q

bellypurpledgerbil.bsky.social•274 days ago

Always has been

iscored.info•275 days ago

YUP being saying this for years. Chuck E Cheese got rid of video games (and pinball is longggg gone). It’s all just toddler’s first gambling addict training devices now. It’s sooo gross. They’ve been on this path for more than a decade.

iscored.info•275 days ago

Honest retro gaming and pinball arcades do exist still, but often they’re in bars and breweries, and the clientele are adults. Honestly it makes sense to some degree - every kid has a device in their pocket 1000x more powerful than any arcade cab, and the games on it are free.

iscored.info•275 days ago

But parents looking to recreate for their kids the arcade experience they remember from their youth need to specifically seek out retro arcades, unfortunately, because the “modern” ones are scuzzy as hell.

patrickklepek.bsky.social•275 days ago

If you work in or around this industry and understand how it works or how these games are designed, please reach out: [email protected]

noahm.omg.lol•275 days ago

As a lifelong fan of DDR I've spent hundreds of hours in arcades, mostly Dave & Busters recently. There's a whole category of people that find and exploit the few redemption games that actually reward skill. Corporate will eventually notice and adjust payouts or difficulty settings in the games.

dustinquillen.bsky.social•274 days ago

I have my kid’s 10th birthday booked at a bowling alley/arcade where it’s mostly these glorified slot machines. Everyone at the party gets unlimited plays during the event but nobody earns any tickets. I’m wondering how quickly the excitement will fade when there’s zero reward at the end.

iznaut.com•275 days ago

i’d rather just stay home and get exploited by The Coin Game https://store.steampowered.com/app/598980/The_Coin_Game/

wes.readonlymemo.com•275 days ago

I was a sucker for the crappy ticket machine "games" at arcades growing up too, though I'm sure it's worse now. I wasted so much money trying to hit a jackpot for some plastic junk when I could've spent those quarters on Hydro Thunder or Time Crisis instead ;(

gabegraziani.bsky.social•275 days ago

When I worked as a Graphic Designer at GamePro Magazine, we had a Hydro Thunder machine in the break area and, phew, I probably made up for your lost time, lemme tell ya!

wes.readonlymemo.com•275 days ago

Now that's good living

patrickklepek.bsky.social•274 days ago

At least you got a ticket—the different here is the ticket, a minor reward for losing, is now gone

wes.readonlymemo.com•273 days ago

Gross :/ I think the only proper solution is to get your kids way into pinball.

sulik2.bsky.social•274 days ago

"exploitative traps that might as well be legalized gambling" describes every live service game as well.

emilgson.bsky.social•275 days ago

Ah yeah , the Japanese toy machines and stuff have come here now I see.

sentienthominid.bsky.social•274 days ago

Ugh the continuing the "Vegas-ification" of interactive entertainment is a blight.

Most kids are basically exposed to slot machine skinner boxes as soon as they can interact with a screen.

Everyone just went along manipulative gambling shit in game design and
now here we are...

calebbryantmiller.bsky.social•273 days ago

The D&B in Brooklyn has one decent game left in it, and it’s a lone DDR machine. Sad state of affairs. The death of the arcade is really chilling.

sonicbug.bsky.social•274 days ago

I walked into a Dave and busters for the first time in years and was overwhelmed at how much it felt like a casino. I suddenly realized why Marshfield outlawed arcades for so many years.

mysteriousfoxes.bsky.social•275 days ago

While it's true that many of these games are scams, I have amassed a reasonable stack of loot that I have won from Claw Machines. Understanding how each machine works is important; many claw machines (similar to casino machines) gradually tighten their grip as you put more money in, for example.

mysteriousfoxes.bsky.social•275 days ago

The assumption is that these games are to be nailed on the first attempt, but often the way to win is over several attempts where you gradually nudge the prize each time. In Tokyo kids will hang out next to your machine and swoop in to steal your win if you abandon it before securing the prize.

mysteriousfoxes.bsky.social•275 days ago

I'm from the UK and a lot of the video arcade games we had were just as exploitative; the few machines that were available outside bowling alleys or cinemas would often be games like Time Crisis, with punishing difficulty spikes that meant you were only getting a couple of minutes playtime.

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