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Arcades

Luckyscouser45

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Aug 13, 2018
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hi all, I like to go my local arcade a few times a week as it’s close to my home won two £500 jackpots within two days of each other and then a few £100 jackpots all relatively closely together, won these on reel king £500 machine and the £100 on the smaller stake reel king machine been in there a few times this week today I went onto reel king £500 as I enjoy the game not just the wins but its a fun game
manager who is a friendly guy in passing conversation said “you won’t win much on those reel kings for a while” :-0 I asked why and he said they have been rinsed too much. So is he basically telling me that head office or even himself have tighten them cos too many wins, makes a ball out of random I left pretty annoyed. Also does anyone play those community slots? Always have nice little wins of them but that manager sayIng that has put me off that and arcades :( stick to online from now
 
Slots in the Arcades have changed the last 10-15 years, when they made the move from mechanical to digital. And then the RNG is all code. So in the very old mechanical machines, when the hoppers was full. And you heard a dropping sign of the coins entering the machine and it dropped to the over fill, you know it is about to pay. And 9 out of 10 times it did. But on the newer machines. That doesn't work as the RNG's are different, I do not think it takes into account if the hoppers are full or not and base outputs on that aspect.

So I would say it is a old fashioned view nowadays :)
 
So is he basically telling me that head office or even himself have tighten them cos too many wins, makes a ball out of random I left pretty annoyed.
Sounds like bullshit to me!
That is totally illegal in the UK - and I'm not sure it's even possible (?)
The machines HAVE to display the RTP on them - check the "help" screens and see if they have indeed reduced the RTP.

I don't play in arcades very often these days - but I think the RPT's on £500 machine should always be in excess of 90%...
(Usually higher if you bet higher).

KK
 
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Ain't nothing wrong with the arcades wins I've had since July
Top to bottom
£2000
£750
£750
£750
£1000
Gods knows why I'm wasting my time on line ffs
 
Slots in the Arcades have changed the last 10-15 years, when they made the move from mechanical to digital. And then the RNG is all code. So in the very old mechanical machines, when the hoppers was full. And you heard a dropping sign of the coins entering the machine and it dropped to the over fill, you know it is about to pay. And 9 out of 10 times it did. But on the newer machines. That doesn't work as the RNG's are different, I do not think it takes into account if the hoppers are full or not and base outputs on that aspect.

So I would say it is a old fashioned view nowadays :)

Mmmmm......

10-15 years ago, land based fruit machines didn’t have RNG’s. Because they weren’t random. Many of them still arent.
 
Arcade slots can be changed with a key and as long as they are on the legal minimum of 70%+ the operator is within the rules. And as KK said, they inform you of the payouts. Trouble is, you never know exactly and as far as I'm aware they only have to display the fact they are on 70%+ and not the specific setting?
 
Arcade slots can be changed with a key and as long as they are on the legal minimum of 70%+ the operator is within the rules. And as KK said, they inform you of the payouts. Trouble is, you never know exactly and as far as I'm aware they only have to display the fact they are on 70%+ and not the specific setting?
I have NEVER seen a fruit machine in the UK which doesn't display the minimum RTP - and I used to play them a LOT! :oops:
e.g. If one was set to 88%, it would display "Payout at least 88%" and not "Payout is greater than 70%"
Same for the modern £500 machines.

KK
 
The arcade industry is somewhat corrupt, it started off with just 1 manufacturer Barcrest, but now they’re all at it.

@trancemonkey may disagree, but what they do now is a bit naughty...

The most common gaming machines in arcades and bingos are compensated community based games from Barcrest and also Blueprint.

These games RTP are usually 86 - 92%, which is high right? Well don’t be fooled!

Compensated machines often used to be ‘happy’ from a factory reset, so the machines would play fair and be operating at higher % to start with and balance out the more they’re played and bedded in they get.

SG and Blueprint have realised they can install their games very dead for hundreds, even in some cases thousands of pounds from a factory reset. In essence, this basically means the first players on these games will be getting a very low RTP for the first few thousand pounds cycled through EACH game, and often there is 30+ games on these units.

So ok... the operator is happy as in the short term they’re making loads of money right? The manufacturers are happy to do this as they will sell more new games and kit, but now there’s a problem...

Customers (players) are not stupid, they’ve been using these machines for years and know when things change. Go back 5-6 years and you literally couldn’t get on these machines, but now you barely see anyone playing them as they know they won’t get a fair game.

Blueprint gaming have also followed suit, King Kong Cash Community, Peter Pan and all of the games on their terminals which are compensated are installed to play at a low RTP in the short term. All of this is legal as the machine will meet its true RTP over the 500,000+ spins, so they games will pay out good, way down the line, but will EACH game ever get played enough to meet their TRPT? Doubful.

So what are they doing to make even more money for themselves?
Each time blueprint release a new game across their networked terminals, ALL of their games have a factory reset, so all the games are put back to paying in their worst state and the low RTP for the player.

Its not all doom and gloom though, Barcrest used release their games that played happy and fair from their factory reset, but finding these old versions are hard and won’t be in the high street brands such as Cashino and Admiral.

So my advice, if you’re going to play in the UK arcades... stick to RANDOM games, don’t play the compensated games, they’re just not fair for the player anymore.

@trancemonkey and @ChopleyIOM will say it’s legal, and quite rightly it is, but morally it’s wrong and big FU to the players. The compensated community games will meet the TRPT, but not anytime soon in the short term.

Rob :)
 
The arcade industry is somewhat corrupt, it started off with just 1 manufacturer Barcrest, but now they’re all at it.

@trancemonkey may disagree, but what they do now is a bit naughty...

The most common gaming machines in arcades and bingos are compensated community based games from Barcrest and also Blueprint.

These games RTP are usually 86 - 92%, which is high right? Well don’t be fooled!

Compensated machines often used to be ‘happy’ from a factory reset, so the machines would play fair and be operating at higher % to start with and balance out the more they’re played and bedded in they get.

SG and Blueprint have realised they can install their games very dead for hundreds, even in some cases thousands of pounds from a factory reset. In essence, this basically means the first players on these games will be getting a very low RTP for the first few thousand pounds cycled through EACH game, and often there is 30+ games on these units.

So ok... the operator is happy as in the short term they’re making loads of money right? The manufacturers are happy to do this as they will sell more new games and kit, but now there’s a problem...

Customers (players) are not stupid, they’ve been using these machines for years and know when things change. Go back 5-6 years and you literally couldn’t get on these machines, but now you barely see anyone playing them as they know they won’t get a fair game.

Blueprint gaming have also followed suit, King Kong Cash Community, Peter Pan and all of the games on their terminals which are compensated are installed to play at a low RTP in the short term. All of this is legal as the machine will meet its true RTP over the 500,000+ spins, so they games will pay out good, way down the line, but will EACH game ever get played enough to meet their TRPT? Doubful.

So what are they doing to make even more money for themselves?
Each time blueprint release a new game across their networked terminals, ALL of their games have a factory reset, so all the games are put back to paying in their worst state and the low RTP for the player.

Its not all doom and gloom though, Barcrest used release their games that played happy and fair from their factory reset, but finding these old versions are hard and won’t be in the high street brands such as Cashino and Admiral.

So my advice, if you’re going to play in the UK arcades... stick to RANDOM games, don’t play the compensated games, they’re just not fair for the player anymore.

@trancemonkey and @ChopleyIOM will say it’s legal, and quite rightly it is, but morally it’s wrong and big FU to the players. The compensated community games will meet the TRPT, but not anytime soon in the short term.

Rob :)

I never started a compensated game at zero... but you have to be careful about how high you start them, because players could just take the value off the comp and never play again.
If you have 1000 machines each starting 40 quid happy, that's £40,000 you're giving away for free. Operators don't like that...
 
I never started a compensated game at zero... but you have to be careful about how high you start them, because players could just take the value off the comp and never play again.
If you have 1000 machines each starting 40 quid happy, that's £40,000 you're giving away for free. Operators don't like that...


I think the manufacturers are exploiting the compensated games now, surely someone has to step in at some point to govern these games. Like you say if it’s too generous then the operator loses money, but it’s ok for it massively swing the other way? No doubt the UKGC won’t know or care, as it doesn’t involve problem gambling or issuing massive fines.

Every game has been a flop recently for SG on those terminals, serves them right for shafting the players, who quite rightly have lost trust in the brand.

Rob
 
I never started a compensated game at zero... but you have to be careful about how high you start them, because players could just take the value off the comp and never play again.
If you have 1000 machines each starting 40 quid happy, that's £40,000 you're giving away for free. Operators don't like that...

What compensated games have you developed in the past? Not Golden Balls? :D hehehe
 
What compensated games have you developed in the past? Not Golden Balls? :D hehehe

Well, I've worked for JPM, Mazooma, Maygay and Impulse in my time. Longest time was Impulse. And no, not golden balls. I only did compensated video Cat C games when I was at Games Warehouse. All previous companies were reel based.
 
Well, I've worked for JPM, Mazooma, Maygay and Impulse in my time. Longest time was Impulse. And no, not golden balls. I only did compensated video Cat C games when I was at Games Warehouse. All previous companies were reel based.

Oh wow, did you make that really cool video version of Roller Coaster on the games media cab? That was a fun game, there was a cops n robbers too that was fun.

My friend still owns a Flashback to this day, it’s a chipped one though lol.

Rob :)
 
Back in the day it was common for pub fruit machines to be installed by cowboy operators who would display the RTP as 89% but would key it as 60% or whatever they wished.There where local regulators but rarely would an operator be caught,or the operator themselves where in the providers pocket.
The same thing was common in arcades
 
Yeah I do remember the old mechanical machines had a key as well. But that key I think only had a few settings attached to it when you used it though. I also know that the mechanical machines didn't have a digital RNG. But they still had a type of RNG as far as I am aware anyway. Unless someone else who knows wants to say?

Just my guess and opinion mind :) I could do a search to find out some facts, and see if my assumptions are correct or not lol but I am too busy again today :)
 
Yeah I do remember the old mechanical machines had a key as well. But that key I think only had a few settings attached to it when you used it though. I also know that the mechanical machines didn't have a digital RNG. But they still had a type of RNG as far as I am aware anyway. Unless someone else who knows wants to say?

Just my guess and opinion mind :) I could do a search to find out some facts, and see if my assumptions are correct or not lol but I am too busy again today :)

I think you might be referring to a refill key? Possibly. This key, when the machine is closed tells you the hopper balance and things like last win/bank and volume control.

I know on older machines you could, well, on project machines use a refill key to dump single pound coins on their poker machines, which was a little silly.

I think the RNG was separate to the machine when it was Section 16:21 in the UK before going to B3, which is within the program of each game now right?

I think the percentages could be altered using a variable stake and prizes key, from 70% to 98% and also select available jackpot value and stake.

Rob :)
 
Yes, I remember the queue for a new slot whether Electrocoin or Project when it was new, as it would dump a few refills before balancing out. :thumbsup:

Project made some excellent games, simple lo tech style games which could stream for a large amount, back then AWP stood for amusement with prizes, what does it mean now? Nothing lol.

Rob :)
 
Mmmmm......

10-15 years ago, land based fruit machines didn’t have RNG’s. Because they weren’t random. Many of them still arent.

Of course they aren't random. The perfect example is the high low gambles. If you are on a 2 for instance and need to gamble higher to get a feature, say deal or no deal 3 phones, 9 times out of 10(or more) you will lose the high low. It's completely predetermined
 
Of course they aren't random. The perfect example is the high low gambles. If you are on a 2 for instance and need to gamble higher to get a feature, say deal or no deal 3 phones, 9 times out of 10(or more) you will lose the high low. It's completely predetermined

This machine may at times offer the player a chance where there is little or no chance of success :D
 
Oh wow, did you make that really cool video version of Roller Coaster on the games media cab? That was a fun game, there was a cops n robbers too that was fun.

My friend still owns a Flashback to this day, it’s a chipped one though lol.

Rob :)

Yup Rollercoaster was me... another guy did the Caesars Palace version.

I had a RC in my garage for years. That game got me in to fruit machines. So i had to do it...
 
Yup Rollercoaster was me... another guy did the Caesars Palace version.

I had a RC in my garage for years. That game got me in to fruit machines. So i had to do it...

Nice. It was a great game, possibly one of the most fun machines ever, I’m sure on your version the triple red bars paid something like £20, so the test your strength feature came around nicely. Not sure what the best approach was, but always enjoyed playing it.

They even had the cops game on the max terminals in Mecca, but installed dead so it would cost loads for the mega streak :p

Rob
 
Nice. It was a great game, possibly one of the most fun machines ever, I’m sure on your version the triple red bars paid something like £20, so the test your strength feature came around nicely. Not sure what the best approach was, but always enjoyed playing it.

They even had the cops game on the max terminals in Mecca, but installed dead so it would cost loads for the mega streak :p

Rob
Like Rollercoaster but a few others were pretty decent as well. Sphinx, the one with the big pyramid in the middle. Aftershock, Temple of Treasure, Big Bucks, Big Banker had millions of features on it as well. So many to mention
 
Like Rollercoaster but a few others were pretty decent as well. Sphinx, the one with the big pyramid in the middle. Aftershock, Temple of Treasure, Big Bucks, Big Banker had millions of features on it as well. So many to mention

I argue here that Roller Coaster is one of the best fruit machines ever made, and you could certainly make a case for it being THE best.

 
Like Rollercoaster but a few others were pretty decent as well. Sphinx, the one with the big pyramid in the middle. Aftershock, Temple of Treasure, Big Bucks, Big Banker had millions of features on it as well. So many to mention

Yep did a video on these too :)

All available to play for free in Multiple Fruit Machine Emulator!

 
Project made some excellent games, simple lo tech style games which could stream for a large amount, back then AWP stood for amusement with prizes, what does it mean now? Nothing lol.

Rob :)

Projects emptiers made my pockets fat, fat, fat in the early 90's. Couple of quid in 10p's and about £7-£8 of tokens as a 'start' could net me £200+ most days :)
 
Well, I've worked for JPM, Mazooma, Maygay and Impulse in my time. Longest time was Impulse. And no, not golden balls. I only did compensated video Cat C games when I was at Games Warehouse. All previous companies were reel based.

Dont know if you were there when I did a few bingo games for Maygay, did 25 carrot gold, crazy bingo and ozzie, ozzie,ozzie.
They did pretty well at Gala, but Maygay went bust shortly after
 
Dont know if you were there when I did a few bingo games for Maygay, did 25 carrot gold, crazy bingo and ozzie, ozzie,ozzie.
They did pretty well at Gala, but Maygay went bust shortly after

There still have a few 25 Carrot golds sited in Gala's. There's also one left in Torquay sea front I think,
crazy bingo, was that the one with the the scary looking melons? Was there a monkey business one too?
Very strange cabinet those Maygay ones.

That 25 Carrot Gold could be really mean on the features, I had like £2 once? lol

Overall I think Pure Madness was the best game on £70 with the filling of the letters, that could stream for £360.
The 3 player rare Hen Party machine was the same profile and could streak huge also.

Rob :)
 
Projects emptiers made my pockets fat, fat, fat in the early 90's. Couple of quid in 10p's and about £7-£8 of tokens as a 'start' could net me £200+ most days :)

Yes! That also worked on a £35 3 player project machine named Egyption Gold. It was very rare.
You could play for any win, then collect everything out. Put the £1 coin back in, if it offered hold then great!
If not you could collect the £1 back out and keep repeating the process until it went empty.

The machine would also streak off of this also, as it streaked from multiple wins.



Project have had a fair few empties...

Find the Lady Poker on £70 & £500, you could get half price credits and empty it that way.

Bonus Time £500, you could exit the game when you got free spins on £1 a play,
upon entering the game again you could press £2 play and the Free Spins would play out on £2.
I made quite nicely from this little glitch and it lasted for way over a year lol (Thanks Mecca Bingo!)

Overall Project made some cracking games, Jackpot King was by far, my most favourite,
as you could tell when it was worth playing by simply loading the game and looking what the pot was on.


Rob :)
 
There still have a few 25 Carrot golds sited in Gala's. There's also one left in Torquay sea front I think,
crazy bingo, was that the one with the the scary looking melons? Was there a monkey business one too?
Very strange cabinet those Maygay ones.

That 25 Carrot Gold could be really mean on the features, I had like £2 once? lol

Overall I think Pure Madness was the best game on £70 with the filling of the letters, that could stream for £360.
The 3 player rare Hen Party machine was the same profile and could streak huge also.

Rob :)

25 carrot was a clone of madness, we sold the rights for madness to Empire games, I only did up to
30p £25 versions, the higher jackpot versions were done by them.
Monkey business was a reglass of 25 carrot.Yep crazy bingo did have scary melons
Best game by far was ozzie but never got much exposure
 
Yes! That also worked on a £35 3 player project machine named Egyption Gold. It was very rare.
You could play for any win, then collect everything out. Put the £1 coin back in, if it offered hold then great!
If not you could collect the £1 back out and keep repeating the process until it went empty.

The machine would also streak off of this also, as it streaked from multiple wins.



Project have had a fair few empties...

Find the Lady Poker on £70 & £500, you could get half price credits and empty it that way.

Bonus Time £500, you could exit the game when you got free spins on £1 a play,
upon entering the game again you could press £2 play and the Free Spins would play out on £2.
I made quite nicely from this little glitch and it lasted for way over a year lol (Thanks Mecca Bingo!)

Overall Project made some cracking games, Jackpot King was by far, my most favourite,
as you could tell when it was worth playing by simply loading the game and looking what the pot was on.


Rob :)


...and I missed out on all of these :o :(
 
25 carrot was a clone of madness, we sold the rights for madness to Empire games, I only did up to
30p £25 versions, the higher jackpot versions were done by them.
Monkey business was a reglass of 25 carrot.Yep crazy bingo did have scary melons
Best game by far was ozzie but never got much exposure

Sounds like you’re a bit of a lo tech guy. There used to be loads of great lo tech games, look now though what do we have left? Clone upon clone of Bullion Bars.

Project really did make some stunning games like Empire, where the ape climbed up to the top of the machine, pretty impressive for its time.

Did you ever make any 3 player games? I see Monkey Business has make a come back at ACE with a £500 3 player, doesn’t look like they’ve sold many, I’ve seen probably 3.

I can’t remember Ozzie, do you have a picture? Was it like the 3 colour empire game?

Rob
 
Sounds like you’re a bit of a lo tech guy. There used to be loads of great lo tech games, look now though what do we have left? Clone upon clone of Bullion Bars.

Project really did make some stunning games like Empire, where the ape climbed up to the top of the machine, pretty impressive for its time.

Did you ever make any 3 player games? I see Monkey Business has make a come back at ACE with a £500 3 player, doesn’t look like they’ve sold many, I’ve seen probably 3.

I can’t remember Ozzie, do you have a picture? Was it like the 3 colour empire game?

Rob

Player 2.... its funtime haha
Double Decker wasnt my friend yesterday, although the strange looking partytime with mr clock face was :)
 
Did any of you guys who frequented arcades and played pub machines back when they were decent ever get to take advantage of the Up N Over emptier (Barcrest)

One of the easiest and cheapest to do and like a broken ATM :D :D :D

Asking as we traveled the country and the hoppers were 95% of the time full and ready to pour into my pockets so don't think many ever found out the cheat!

Untitled.webp


Never saw a £10 one like in this image, they were all £15 repeaters
 
Did any of you guys who frequented arcades and played pub machines back when they were decent ever get to take advantage of the Up N Over emptier (Barcrest)

One of the easiest and cheapest to do and like a broken ATM :D :D :D

Asking as we traveled the country and the hoppers were 95% of the time full and ready to pour into my pockets so don't think many ever found out the cheat!

View attachment 103709

Never saw a £10 one like in this image, they were all £15 repeaters

Never saw that machine, looks a bit like cash attack
 
Did any of you guys who frequented arcades and played pub machines back when they were decent ever get to take advantage of the Up N Over emptier (Barcrest)

One of the easiest and cheapest to do and like a broken ATM :D :D :D

Asking as we traveled the country and the hoppers were 95% of the time full and ready to pour into my pockets so don't think many ever found out the cheat!

Never saw a £10 one like in this image, they were all £15 repeaters

I remember reversing the hi/lo gamble on that one, is that what you mean?

Then they all got chipped - grrrrrr!
 
I remember reversing the hi/lo gamble on that one, is that what you mean?

Then they all got chipped - grrrrrr!

Yep that's the one, Lower on 6,5,4 and higher on 7,8,9 after a few JP's could start getting 3's to go low and 10's to go high!

EVIL once chipped, how they met their RTP then I will never know.
 
Sounds like you’re a bit of a lo tech guy. There used to be loads of great lo tech games, look now though what do we have left? Clone upon clone of Bullion Bars.

Project really did make some stunning games like Empire, where the ape climbed up to the top of the machine, pretty impressive for its time.

Did you ever make any 3 player games? I see Monkey Business has make a come back at ACE with a £500 3 player, doesn’t look like they’ve sold many, I’ve seen probably 3.

I can’t remember Ozzie, do you have a picture? Was it like the 3 colour empire game?

Rob

Sorry no artwork to show you, all I can say is that it came out after crazy bingo, was in same small cabinet,
had Australian music, bit like skippy.It had vertical columns which you had to fill up during the feature.
Bell fruit did a copy of it and it was dire.
 
I remember Project's Empire with the climbing gorilla. As I recall they were bloody expensive to buy, a lot more than anything else at the time. They did another similar game afterwards but I can't remember the name of it. It was certainly a novel idea and stood out from everything else.

Project did some great games. I suppose 777 Heaven is the game they are most renowned for from the past, and in more recent times Joker Poker and the various spin-offs.
 
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I remember Project's Empire with the climbing gorilla. As I recall they were bloody expensive to buy, a lot more than anything else at the time. They did another similar game afterwards but I can't remember the name of it. It was certainly a novel idea and stood out from everything else.


It was an amazing game. They made a few...

- Empire
- Wheel of Fortune
- Hawaii

They also made a very rare 3 player wheel of fortune, only ever saw 1 of those, so my guess is that it failed test.

Rob :)
 
Sorry no artwork to show you, all I can say is that it came out after crazy bingo, was in same small cabinet,
had Australian music, bit like skippy.It had vertical columns which you had to fill up during the feature.
Bell fruit did a copy of it and it was dire.


Did you make Notex or was that Empire? Fruit Drop I can kind of remember lol.

Rob
 
Arcade slots can be changed with a key and as long as they are on the legal minimum of 70%+ the operator is within the rules. And as KK said, they inform you of the payouts. Trouble is, you never know exactly and as far as I'm aware they only have to display the fact they are on 70%+ and not the specific setting?
:/
 
I still miss some of the very old mechanical slots. My earliest memories on them in my Blackpool trips. Forgot the names of them. Something with Ball in the title was one I loved too. There was also one that had an holiday theme. They do not make them like that anymore. I also loved the cheats you could do on them as well. Like holding down the Collect button Slowed the Bonus feature and other aspects down as well. The holiday slot which I can not think of the name of. Had and did a special weird holiday noise and then a logo would stay fully lit. Then the next spin the feature triggered. That spin before noise and logo lighting up was basically to let you know, the next spin will be a feature and you can not lose in it and you will hit the Jackpot on it lol.

I did used to love and enjoy them soo much :)
 
It was an amazing game. They made a few...

- Empire
- Wheel of Fortune
- Hawaii

They also made a very rare 3 player wheel of fortune, only ever saw 1 of those, so my guess is that it failed test.

Rob :)

You know these were my favourite Rob!!

Had one in my house. Had to take the red and white light off at the top of the cabinet to fit it under the ceiling!!
 
Arcade slots can be changed with a key and as long as they are on the legal minimum of 70%+ the operator is within the rules. And as KK said, they inform you of the payouts. Trouble is, you never know exactly and as far as I'm aware they only have to display the fact they are on 70%+ and not the specific setting?

There is no legal minimum in the UK since the 2005 Gambling Act. But it does have to state the minimum RTP.
 

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