Ripping Off the Arcades

[FrakAttack]

Anyone remember "penny popping" the old Bally/Midway cabs? Or removing the Plexiglas screen from Donkey Kong to reach down into the coin mechanism and trigger free credits? Or (this is probably just me) discovering that a German 10 Pfennig piece made a perfect substitute for an Aladdin's Castle token?

I know I'm not the only former juvenile delinquent/evil bastard here, so fess up! What classic arcade rip-offs do you remember?

[shivers]

i remember scamming oldschool cigarette machines to get money for arcades

[BIGMIKE]

used to be a way to hit a DK machine while I was in college to get a free credit. either that or we had a key. can't remember crap anymore. found a key to a road blasters machine once. that was great. we played the hell outta that one all summer at the local 7-eleven.....may we be forgiven

[otoko]

I remember at the local roller skating rink/arcade/entertainment area place (known as funway) There was a quarter bowling machine that gave out prizes and tickets. At one point it was broken in such a way that if you hit in on the plexiglass, shook it, hit it in a certain spot on the cab, then moved the slot arm for quarters from side to side it would spit out 300 or so tickets, it took a few dozen rolls until the realized what was going on.

[jb143]

Not arcades but similar. A friend of mine(and no it wasn't me) used to stuff napkins up the change returns of soda machines. He'd come back at the end of the day, reach up and pull out the napkin and have quarters, nickels, and dimes come pouring out after.

[Flack]

I wish you had posted this topic a month or so ago, as it reminded me of a story that I could have included in Invading Spaces!

In sixth grade, I bought a master key for a local arcade that a classmate had found under the edge of a machine inside an arcade. I think I paid five bucks for the key. That weekend a friend and I went to the arcade and, with one of us watching for cover, the other (I) tried the key -- it worked!

This particular arcade used tokens, so after opening a machine all we did was take all the tokens and then put them back into different machines throughout the day.

The weird thing is, I only remember doing it once or twice and I don't remember what happened to the key!

[diskoboy]

I used to do the old 'drill-a-hole-in-a-quarter-and-tie-apiece-of-string-through-it-and-yank-it-back-out' routine.

Or we'd use metal slugs from where they were building new houses. Sometimes they'd work, sometimes, they wouldn't.

[Lostdwarf]

never tried this on an arcade game but i know the vending machines where I work you can use cardboard quarters, for some reasons it registers it as the same weight or something like that anywho free candy

[Kitsune Sniper]

I never did this, but I do recall a Mercs cabinet that gave you free credits when you turned it off and on quickly.

[Pete Rittwage]

Oh man, now you are bringing back memories. I didn't really have access to quarters when I was a kid, so I'd roam around town (late 70's, early 80's) to where the arcade games were and saw how the older kids would scam them.

Astro Fighter- this machine could be hit pretty hard and it would register several credits.

Turbo - You could kick the sitdown machine in the right spot and get a credit.

Pac-Man/Galaxian - If you turned the machine on and off and waited until just after the checkerboard pattern, you could hit the machine and get a credit. Not sure why it only worked right then, didn't ask, didn't care.

I heard tales of people modding a butter knife or something and getting that to work. I tried the quarter on a string trick and it never worked for me. It always got stuck where I could not pull it back out.

At the roller skating rink, you had nice heavy skates on, so kicking the machines was easy. I know the pinball machines would give you credits. Some of the pins of that era would give you a credit just for turning the machine on/off.

It's weird, but I remember on different occasions some games would glitch and let you play forever. I know I played a MACH 3 once for hours and never died. Same with Space Firebird. I was pretty good at these games, but even I knew something had to be wrong when I could not be killed.

[otaku]

I usually just begged my family for more quarters :) I was to afraid as a kid to do something like that and by my teens wasn't going to arcades much

[sisko]

One of the arcades here had a redemption game called Earthquake (or something similar). You put a quarter in and the table shook violently as it skidded down to the bottom, while you tilted the playing field left and right to get the quarter to land in various goals with various ticket rewards.

My friend and I and noticed that this one machine was broken, and the violent shaking stopped almost instantly, leaving the quarter on the field. From there we tilted the playing field, manuvering that quarter just on the rim of the maximum payout goal. Then we placed another quarter in the machine thus getting the jackpot, and another quarter to lineup for the next run.

We got hundreds of tickets that way. :D

[COUNT SMRIFNACK]

At the roller skating rink, you had nice heavy skates on, so kicking the machines was easy. I know the pinball machines would give you credits. Some of the pins of that era would give you a credit just for turning the machine on/off.


Man you are going to Hell for kicking video games with roller skates:rockets:

J/K;)

[FrakAttack]

The penny popping thing must have gotten pretty bad cuz they redesigned the coin returns. Some owners started welding plates over the slots and one arcade that I went to in a neighboring town even had wires hooked up to theirs so that you'd get a mild electric shock if you tried it.

Returned from Deutschland in '87 with a big sack full 10 Pfennig coins (worth about a nickel each USD) and actually ran into a German kid at an arcade in Cincinnati who had figured out the same trick.

[shawnbo42]

One of the arcades here had a redemption game called Earthquake (or something similar). You put a quarter in and the table shook violently as it skidded down to the bottom, while you tilted the playing field left and right to get the quarter to land in various goals with various ticket rewards.

My friend and I and noticed that this one machine was broken, and the violent shaking stopped almost instantly, leaving the quarter on the field. From there we tilted the playing field, manuvering that quarter just on the rim of the maximum payout goal. Then we placed another quarter in the machine thus getting the jackpot, and another quarter to lineup for the next run.

We got hundreds of tickets that way. :D

Big purple cabinet, right? Aftershock is the name of the game. Manufactured by Laser-Tron, a company that has since gone out of business, and a pain to repair, or just keep running at all.

[channelmaniac]

What is "penny popping"???

[FrakAttack]

What is "penny popping"???

There were three slots in the top of the coin return of some Midway machines (like Pac-Man) and if you slid a penny into the middle slot, then pushed it against the side so that it would "pop" up into the coin mechanism, it would give you a credit.

So, 25 games for a quarter. :evil:

[Lord_Magus]

Aah yes, I used the penny popping trick quite a bit as a kid - of course, growing up in Greece it was pretty much drachma-popping, but all the same :)

Another trick we used was get some pretty thick fishing line(about the width of a coin, more or less) and slightly heat it up and bend the end of it to create a coin like round shape. It worked on about 90% of arcades we tried it on, but the vendors eventually smartened up and fitted all the newer arcades with unhackable slots. This probably happened because we weren't merely content with just playing our games for free - everytime we left the arcade we'd leave at least 80-90 credits loaded on most of them for the next players to enjoy, something which ticked off the owners quite a bit :P

I also remember having a Pit Fighter arcade that had a button on the back that whenever you pressed it it would give away a free credit - the only regret I have about this is that it wasn't placed on a better game :(

I did manage to get my hands on a key to a pinball machine once as well(I convinced the arcade owner's nephew to get it for me in exchange for a few ice-creams hehe) and to my delight it was coin operated, albeit only with 10 drachma coins (worth about 2-3 cents or something back then). The thing is that it was the only machine that used such small change - all the other arcades used 50 drachmas instead, and I couldn't possibly go to the counter to exchange all those 10s for a few 50s, especially since they has recently "misplaced" their pinball key. So I remember completely filling my pockets with 10s and walking all the way to the supermarket to "launder" them(i.e. buy some soda and exchange them for a larger bill), and then happily going back to the arcade and exchanging their money for some 50s, which I used to play countless rounds of Rygar(I still love that game!) :)

Aaah, good times! :)

[Borman]

One of the arcades here had a redemption game called Earthquake (or something similar). You put a quarter in and the table shook violently as it skidded down to the bottom, while you tilted the playing field left and right to get the quarter to land in various goals with various ticket rewards.

My friend and I and noticed that this one machine was broken, and the violent shaking stopped almost instantly, leaving the quarter on the field. From there we tilted the playing field, manuvering that quarter just on the rim of the maximum payout goal. Then we placed another quarter in the machine thus getting the jackpot, and another quarter to lineup for the next run.

We got hundreds of tickets that way. :D

I was coming here to post one about one of those machines as well. The one I played shook slightly, but the payoffs were set to extremely high or something. I managed to win enough times in an hour to get hundreds of tickets, which meant tons of army paratroopers to drop off our hotel, and laser pointers for everyone haha.

The funny thing is, the next time I went back, they had reduced the ticket payout to almost nothing, and it wasnt worth it. Lucky for me, I managed to figure out their wheel of fortune machine. I managed to get the jackpot thing 4 out of 5 times, and one time, I got 500 tickets, then 300, then 300 for the jackpot. Of course, the machine glitched for the second 300, but in a good way : It paid out 500! I think I got 300 later on even though it was the number next to 300. THey had to replace the tickets in that machine twice when I was there (which is for an hour or so). I think I left 200 waiting to be dispensed too

[Nophix]

I was a little bit devious as a kid....

My favorite ones were:

There were a bunch of games that used those round style keys(similar to Harley Davidsons, and this trick works on them as well...lol). It was usually in the coin drop door. Take apart one of the white bic pens, smack it into the lock, and you have an instant key. Take quarters, tokens, or Harley's.... Rinse, repeat...lol

Another we did quite a bit was wetting the inside of dollar bill slots on vending machines. Blow some Mt Dew in there and short out the mechanism, and they used to just start racking up credits.

[jb143]

Not as devious as the other stuff on here but I used to play pinball for free all the time at the game room in college. About 90% of the time I'd go in there at least 1 machine would have a free game that I guess the last player didn't know they won. Many times more than 1 would. I'd just go in and press start on all the machines untill a ball dropped. I'd play Adams Family, Revenge From Mars, and Junkyard all the time this way.

[boatofcar]

Not as devious as the other stuff on here but I used to play pinball for free all the time at the game room in college. About 90% of the time I'd go in there at least 1 machine would have a free game that I guess the last player didn't know they won. Many times more than 1 would. I'd just go in and press start on all the machines untill a ball dropped. I'd play Adams Family, Revenge From Mars, and Junkyard all the time this way.

This happened to me a lot in college too, enough to make me wonder if the machines didn't just automatically hand out a free credit once a machine sat dormant for awhile!

[otoko]

This happened to me a lot in college too, enough to make me wonder if the machines didn't just automatically hand out a free credit once a machine sat dormant for awhile!

Heh, I know the ones I have used don't. Once again at funway a employee forgot to turn off "Free play mode" on a few systems many times. Then there was the pinball machine that for whatever reason had 999 credits... We played that pinball machine for hours and left near the end of the day with still 23 credits left..

[jb143]

This happened to me a lot in college too, enough to make me wonder if the machines didn't just automatically hand out a free credit once a machine sat dormant for awhile!

Maybe, but I've seen people play before and when they loose they just walk away. Then I'd go over and play their free game. I would "almost" always win one the times that I'd pay. I just figured that most people didn't realise they won one.

[madman77]

I also used to play a lot of people's free pinball games from winning the match a number thing. I guess it was never obvious enough to most people.

[Masco73]

I would also get the free pinball games too. Sometime it would be a match, but there is an attract mode that will leave a credit if the machine hasn't played in a while. It's kind of like a drug dealer, First ones free, second game will cost you.

[Pete Rittwage]

Man you are going to Hell for kicking video games with roller skates:rockets:

J/K;)

Indeed. They did fight back though- you can hurt your toes pretty easily, even in skates.

[Pantechnicon]

I ran the "quarter on a string" idea past my brother one time and was overheard by our mother, who warned that if I ever tried it that the "gears", etc. of the coin mechanism inside would start pulling on the string until the tension of the line tied around my thieving finger eventually sliced all the way through the bone. Ya rly. It happened to a couple of juvenile delinquents back in her day (early 1960's) who tried the same stunt with the Wurlitzer at the old malt shop.

I was just naive enough at the time to believe this :roll:.

[Howie6925]

I used to do the old 'drill-a-hole-in-a-quarter-and-tie-apiece-of-string-through-it-and-yank-it-back-out' routine.

Did That actually work, I remember making one with a friend when I was a kid to play twin cobra but I was to chicken to use itand broke the string off the quarter and and just played the game that way.

[scooterb23]

And we wonder why arcades went out of business...



Ok, so my trick was, there was a hardware store near the arcade that sold washers that were exactly the same size and weight as quarters. He sold them for a nickel, and they would work on about 80% of the machines in the arcade. We would also do the Washer on the string trick at the pizza place's Robotron machine.

[Raedon]

I had a friend who worked keeping arcade machines up.

When Mortal Kombat first came out he installed a car alarm inside the cabinet. The *CHIRP* *CHIRP CHIRP* lines for audio were cut and sent to the coin drop mech. so with our alarm key chains we could get as many coins as needed.

[diskoboy]

Did That actually work, I remember making one with a friend when I was a kid to play twin cobra but I was to chicken to use itand broke the string off the quarter and and just played the game that way.

It depended on the machine, and the type of string you use. I'd drill the smallest hole I could, and use dental floss.

It was always hit-and-miss, though. It usually worked fairly well on the older style Bally/Midway machines.

[Icarus Moonsight]

I loved the places where the maintenance crew were extremely lazy. Instead of having a switch inside to enter the bios, on many machines, you could just switch it off, turn it back on and keep mashing 1player start (or another simple, external method) and then set the machine to freeplay. :D

Got 86'd from two Circus Circus places for this. Even if I didn't want to play the game I'd do it. Share the love, so to speak.

Less cheating, more entertainment, is setting all the diff settings to their maximum levels. So you see, I did net them some money too. LOL

When I was a kid I heard a lot of rumors about being able to get free credits with the spark mechanism of an electronic cigarette lighter. Some said you could just insert the metal sparking tip into the slot and press the button to send a spark into the mechanism and that would (if done properly) earn you a credit. Others said you had to spit salt water into the slot first. I never got method A to work myself. Never tried plan B... was never, desperate enough.

I do know for a fact that my uncle was one of the guys who ice slugged and washered Pong for free games. Nothing but 2 penny hardware and water. :)

[DefaultGen]

.....

[Krepticor]

I remember grabbing dollars out of the Small hut they would use for parties

there was one time I got like 6 bucks from it, I was 8 at the time and thought the blowing money was free game... until they put the block over the hole

[winona2k]

I used to have a little shocker that I bought for a few dollars in France. Dont know exactly how it worked, but it had wires coming out of it and if those wires touched metal on the machine and you pressed the top button most machines would give you a credit.

[Mr.collection]

I found that Necko wafers work as quarters in the gum ball machines where you have to turn the nob.

I bought a broken cab that came from a local vending place and they left a set of keys in it but they have cameras so I haven't tried it yet.

[Sniderman]

At the arcade I used to frequent, there was one obscure game way in the back I used to play all of the time. (I think it was either Bagman or Gladiator...) Anyway, the coin door lock was busted, so anyone could just open it up, give yourself a few free plays and shut the door. And if there were quarters there, they were your too.

However, since there was a Tempest, a Dragon's Lair and other cooler machines up front, no one ever bothered to play, let alone look inside this machine for the loot.

[kedawa]

A convenience store near my house as a kid had a wrestle fest cab with a broken lock on the upper door where the coin mechanism is, so all you had to do to get free credits was swing open the door and press the little lever.
The quarter drawer was still locked, but using a chopstick with a magnet taped to it, I managed to fish out most of the quarters.
A friend of mine stole the marquee and instruction manual from an out of order Mortal Kombat cab after the joystick panel came loose. I didn't get anything, but I reached inside and cranked the volume on the pcb, closed it back up, flicked the power switch, and ran out of the arcade. When the attract audio came on it was so loud that the windows in the convenience store were shaking. I nearly pissed myself laughing.

[kedawa]

I used to have a little shocker that I bought for a few dollars in France. Dont know exactly how it worked, but it had wires coming out of it and if those wires touched metal on the machine and you pressed the top button most machines would give you a credit.
A barbecue ignition button will do that, especially if the machine isn't grounded properly. It can damage the machine, however, so I never really abused that trick.

[InsaneDavid]

The quarter drawer was still locked, but using a chopstick with a magnet taped to it, I managed to fish out most of the quarters.

Quarters can be picked up with a magnet? :?

[Pete Rittwage]

Quarters can be picked up with a magnet? :?

No... So the rest of the story is suspect, eh? :)

[kedawa]

Canadian quarters can be picked up with a magnet, yes.

[emceelokey]

I remember there was this Street Fighter machine at Bay Meadows Horse Race Track and it was some weird conveerted machine where there were two screen and it was bscially two cabinets attached together at an angle with one joystick on each cabinet. The arcade at that place was sort of in this hall way and it wasn't supervised or anything. It was just a bunch of games lined up on the walls and this was in the corner. I just remember at one point the cabinet was kicked and broke open. The coin box was still secured BUT inside the cabinet was that little round key that was used to open the coin collection box. Of course I took all the quarters I could, along with a few other people that were in on the whole thing, and I kept the key. Not only that but we were able to hit the pins that were triggered when you put a coin in so we got free credits from that too. The key was good for two weeks before the game got serviced and had everything replaced.

[MoreEbolaForYou]

I can't be the only one whose BS meter is seriously going off on a lot of these (very grade school esque) anecdotes.

As for me, my most memorable free game moment was during the MK1 craze. At a bowling alley we often played at they forgot to lock down the joystick panel. Those familiar with the dedicated Mk machines will know that the panel flips forward and the service button is located right there. Obviously we put the machine on free play and had quite a great time that night.

[Howie6925]

Canadian quarters can be picked up with a magnet, yes.

Its True, heck even some pennies can be picked up with a magnet up here.

[SegaAges]

Its True, heck even some pennies can be picked up with a magnet up here.


Sorry, you get a QFE cuz I like your avatar

[pewing33ny]

I used to tell the people at the arcade the machine ate my tokens.

the best was when a friend worked at the arcade and would sneak us rolls of tokens. he'd also get us into free laser tag which we'd play for hours.

[Nikademus1969]

A grocery store here used to have a Rally-X game that if you either kicked the coin door or rocked the cabinet just right (don't remember which one did it anymore, it's been almost 3 decades ;) ) you would get a free game. I never used the trick much tho...only if I ran out of quarters well before my mom was done shopping.

[Hitman Tyler]

I remember when I was younger.. Me and my brother would go to SAM'S CLUB in East Brunswick, with my mom shopping. Next door is The Route 18 Flea Market, there used to be a horse where you pay .25 to ride on it.
One day we saw the back door was open, where you put the quarters in, so we looked inside and saw tons of quarters.
We took the quarters, it was like $15.00 worth..

This brings back memories!

With that said always look at the back door where the quarters go in. LOL

[boatofcar]

You all do realize that stealing quarters from an arcade machine is the same as stealing them out of an open register, right? Scooterb's right, no wonder there are no arcades any more...

[InsaneDavid]

You all do realize that stealing quarters from an arcade machine is the same as stealing them out of an open register, right? Scooterb's right, no wonder there are no arcades any more...

Seriously. Make your money in the arcades the way I always used to, hustling people at Final Lap.

[Hitman Tyler]

You all do realize that stealing quarters from an arcade machine is the same as stealing them out of an open register, right? Scooterb's right, no wonder there are no arcades any more...


Mine was a long time ago..... I don't even play arcades anymore.

[Deadman]

I didn't have any game rip-offs, but we did figure out how to reach our arms up into coke machines and flip a lever to get a free coke. You could reach up into the slot and if there were 6 different drinks, you could get one of each, since the machine would put a drink in the "queue".

Of course, this was 1980-81 and we had Bugs Bunny arms, so it was like sticking a coat hanger up there...

[GreatBazunka]

I usually just begged my family for more quarters :) I was to afraid as a kid to do something like that and by my teens wasn't going to arcades much

UGH!! i totally feel the same way. I never went to arcades much (Early 90s) but i was always afraid of doing stuff like this. I didnt want to get in trouble, and i guesse im just someone that gets caught because recently i was palying a claw machine and a quarter got stuck and i was hitting it and a russian rent-a-cop was looming over me to tell me "if it no work, then it no work"

Any way i wouldnt feel so bad doing it now becuase its just an ardcade/quarter.

[Singapura]

Although I never did any of the stuff in this thread I do feel guilty every time I open the box in my own cab to take out the coins :embarrassed:

[SegaAges]

So wait, is this JUST for arcades, or vending machines as well, because I don't do it now (now=today, before=yesterday or sooner), but I have done it before.

I am not going to sit here and tell everybody how to do it unless it is cool, hehehe, if not, turn and look away.

[Tempest]

I used to do two things:

1. At any of those pizza arcade places (Chuck e Cheese, Showbiz, etc.), I used to hang around the quarter dispenser machine and wait for someone to pop a $20 in there and fill a pitcher full of quarters (for a party or whatnot). Usually a few quarters missed the pitcher and dropped onto the floor and they didn't notice due to the large volume of quarters being dispensed. After they left I'd go in and scoop them up. I used to get a ton of quarters this way.

2. Much like other people, I used to kick the machine really hard (usually in a fit of anger, not to get free games). Sometimes the machine would reset itself and give me a credit. I probably broke a few toes over the years doing this though. Oh well, nothing in life is free I suppose...

I remember wanting to try the quarter on a string bit, but I could never get it to work. Usually when I put the quarter in, the machine wouldn't let it come back out once it got past the point where it tripped the mechanism. I suppose this was an anti-theft design put on later machines. I never did try this on an early 80's machine.

I did put a Necco wafer in an arcade machine once. It didn't give me a credit, but it didn't come out either. I'm sure the arcade owner was really thrilled when he went to open up the machine the next day.

As for the pinball thing. I used to leave my free game for the next person all the time. Usually by the time I had earned a free game I was so tired of playing I didn't want to play again. I used to love seeing the looks on kids faces when you gave them your free game (you'd think they had just won the lottery or something).

Tempest

[FrakAttack]

I used to hang around the quarter dispenser machine and wait for someone to pop a $20 in there and fill a pitcher full of quarters (for a party or whatnot). Usually a few quarters missed the pitcher and dropped onto the floor and they didn't notice due to the large volume of quarters being dispensed. After they left I'd go in and scoop them up. I used to get a ton of quarters this way.

Reminds me of one of my first jobs during my army brat days overseas. Worked as a janitor at the officer's club and there was a darkened slot machine room just off the bar. The drunks would leave tons of quarters on the floor, in cups and even entire rolls every night, so I'd come in to clean the next morning and find several bucks easily.

[shiningslade]

I got to know the girl that worked in an arcade in the mall. She used to load up credits on whatever I wanted to play while she was cleaning up & closing down. Needless to say I was grand champ on Ivan Stewarts Off Road for over a year! lol