FA+
Shop
Despite some rough weeks, my luck just struck gold.
3 years ago
General
I'm still coming down off an amazing high from tonight. And I owe it all to faithful Arcadians whom record it for the world to see over on YouTube.
Because of years worth of viewing, I knew what to look for with the local Key Master arcade machine. It was inside a local pizza gallery. They had this prize in there for well over a year or two. I've seen it hanging there, every time I'd get a pizza. And by seeing years of footage on such machines, I knew it had a payout before it became skill based. The arcade was packed full with unknown amounts of plays racked up throughout the day. Maybe the machine even remembers weeks or months of attempts. (I really do not know.) I was just there for a good dinner and some arcading fun. Looked at the machine and I remembered a song that played on the radio earlier. Went something like 'Tonight may be the night. A night to remember.' when I went in to cash out a small value winning lotto ticket. So, I put in the one dollar price. The key went way too low. But, it felt like the machine wasn't cheating. I knew the failure was on me. Second dollar. My eyes were like eagles with the alignment. The button didn't fail. It was at total skill payout. I just about fainted when that tight fitting bit went right through and pulled out the prize...
...A PlayStation 5!!!
To think, the other year, I literally had one of these impossible to get machines on the counter in front of me w/ my name on it and I informed the clerk that there was a mistake...expecting to only see another one in...ten years. (Maybe.) That one was somebody else's impossible to get reservation. And tonight was indeed a night to remember. I even left the layer of dust on the box, ever so thankful that the place had it ready for delivery...instead of some promise to deliver one in the next five to ten years. Because these things have been scalped to death and Sony can't keep up with the world wide shortages. No way I'm going to cave into that easy grand. This machine is a keeper.
Because of years worth of viewing, I knew what to look for with the local Key Master arcade machine. It was inside a local pizza gallery. They had this prize in there for well over a year or two. I've seen it hanging there, every time I'd get a pizza. And by seeing years of footage on such machines, I knew it had a payout before it became skill based. The arcade was packed full with unknown amounts of plays racked up throughout the day. Maybe the machine even remembers weeks or months of attempts. (I really do not know.) I was just there for a good dinner and some arcading fun. Looked at the machine and I remembered a song that played on the radio earlier. Went something like 'Tonight may be the night. A night to remember.' when I went in to cash out a small value winning lotto ticket. So, I put in the one dollar price. The key went way too low. But, it felt like the machine wasn't cheating. I knew the failure was on me. Second dollar. My eyes were like eagles with the alignment. The button didn't fail. It was at total skill payout. I just about fainted when that tight fitting bit went right through and pulled out the prize...
...A PlayStation 5!!!
To think, the other year, I literally had one of these impossible to get machines on the counter in front of me w/ my name on it and I informed the clerk that there was a mistake...expecting to only see another one in...ten years. (Maybe.) That one was somebody else's impossible to get reservation. And tonight was indeed a night to remember. I even left the layer of dust on the box, ever so thankful that the place had it ready for delivery...instead of some promise to deliver one in the next five to ten years. Because these things have been scalped to death and Sony can't keep up with the world wide shortages. No way I'm going to cave into that easy grand. This machine is a keeper.
At first glance, it's all skill. But, by watching and studying how these games play over on some dedicated YouTube channels, I know this version of Key Master is completely rigged. By seeing where the arm goes on each play, the game's internals click up one value. Basically, if the row isn't set to win, that arm will 'jump' for a split second to always miss the hole. Row one may typically require five or ten attempted plays in a day before it becomes all skill. Row two will buy those $100 gift cards at least three times over. And I swear that row three...in that places case...must have been set to wait until ten grand had been pumped in.
It's a pretty rigged game. But not one of the top offenders. Like a touch screen game, think it's named Flamin' Finger. Typically has really good prizes. And the goal is to trace your way through a simple maze on a timed basis. By recording the play, you get to see that clock go from real seconds to subtracting each second in a heartbeat. Or this one that's a lighthouse and a spinning wheel. Simply earn enough points to win a prize. Yet the wheel will always opt for negative points when it seems possible to win.
But, there are fair games out there, too. Like a newer version to Key Master. Suppose to be 100% skill. Way to tell is that each hole has this tiny half circle in the top-center. So, the "key" must fit perfectly. There truly is no gap to miss into. They also make the operation three buttons. Once you commit to a direction, you can't undo it. Another fair set of machines is any game under the BayTek name. This company seems to have a philosophy of challenge over cheat. E-Claw, however, is purely cheat over challenge.