Whacking Machines for Free Credits

[Jorpho]

Something NoahsMyBro mentioned in this thread (http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=59511) reminded me of something: Were there really arcade cabinets built in such a way that giving them a good whack would give you extra credits?

Naturally, arcade operators would try to discourage that kind of thing, so only once I have only heard someone making that claim in person. Legends of whacking soda machines seem to be slightly more prevalent.

Was there ever any truth to this, or did so many cabinets suffer pain in vain?

[The-Bavis]

I don't recall whacking, but I recall finding a secret button underneath many a pinball machine in the mid '80s. I would assume this was normally disabled, but not on the military bases I grew up on.

[goatdan]

I don't recall whacking, but I recall finding a secret button underneath many a pinball machine in the mid '80s. I would assume this was normally disabled, but not on the military bases I grew up on.

That was probably the on / off switch. A number of pinballs were made so that when turned on, they would give the operator a free game so they could test it to make sure everything was working. They weren't expecting people to figure out how to use it for free coins though ;)

I've never seen or heard of the wacking thing, and I know a LOT of arcade people. I know that they built some things where if you wacked a pinball machine in the right place at the right time, it would give you bonus points, but companies built this in on purpose so people would spend a lot of money tilting the game before they figured out where these "bonus" spots were.

[Pantechnicon]

I think it depends on the machine. There were lots of machines that you could perform a soft reset on if you kneed it really hard in the coin box door. I used to do this a lot, but I never got any free games out of it (to say nothing about limping home from the arcade :shameful:).

I think Joust, based on the way my ROM loads up, is set to load up 2 credits after a hard reset, but maybe not a soft one. Is anybody out there with a Joust machine willing to risk a kneecap in the interest of science ? :hmm:

[Cauterize]

IIRC there was a method you could use by giving an electrical charge to the coin mech that would complete the circuit or something, giving credits...

Or have i been dreaming again?

[Immutable]

I too have never heard of the whacking method, but I have pressed the coin release a few times to get a quarter or two. :)

[goatdan]

IIRC there was a method you could use by giving an electrical charge to the coin mech that would complete the circuit or something, giving credits...

Or have i been dreaming again?

There was some game where supposedly this worked, and I think that all that came from it was a bunch of kids walking around scuffing their feet on a carpet and trying to zap the machines.

Some ingenius kids used ice frozen to the size of quarters to play games with at one point.

[Cauterize]

Some ingenius kids used ice frozen to the size of quarters to play games with at one point.

These guys, IMO, are pure evil geniuses, the ones that then start money schemes later on in life, or anything for quick cash! heh!

But still an awesome idea!


As for the free credits thing, when i was young and on holiday, in the arcades i would usually find a random game with a credit or two left in.. where some kid had been dragged away by his mum or something along those lines...

Free games! Woohoo!

[NE146]

Oh yes!!! Actually my first experience on this was on a Taito Space Invaders Part II cabinet (the one with the bright red background and blue moon (http://images.webmagic.com/klov.com/images/S/cSpace_Invaders_Part_II.jpg)). We'd wack it and wack it and then a credit would come up. And to a 10 year old kid like me in the 70's who still thought a quarter was still a lot of money.. it was like manna from heaven! LOL

We had other game stealing ideas too. Often times on the standard jap cocktails (http://images.webmagic.com/klov.com/images/S/kSpace_Invaders_Part_II.jpg) at the time, if you pressed in the coin return button.. and put a penny in the return slot then shot it up with a sharp flick of your finger.. it would give you a credit! This only worked though on the real early ones, like the ones with Space Chaser or the first Space Invaders on it. aaaahh the days of trying to get free games. :P

[davidbrit2]

I actually have seen this work with defective coin mechs. There was a Pump it Up machine in a mall arcade near me, and I guess the actuator wire was bent down or something. It must have been bent such that the actual microswitch had a hair trigger, because you could flick the coin return lever just right to make it trip all the way and give you free credits. Some idiots also took the far less subtle method of just slamming the coin door. Ha ha.

[SoulBlazer]

Which classic arcade game had a bug in the code where if you got a right ammount of score it gave you a ton of credits? It had to do with the security protection feature of the machine. Was it Tempest?

[Graham Mitchell]

Some ingenius kids used ice frozen to the size of quarters to play games with at one point.


I think I've read this somewhere...was this a Nolan Bushnell or Atari story of some kind? I remember something about somebody being called to the arcade because machines were shorting or something and they'd find the coin boxes full of water.

[Ed Oscuro]

If MAME can be trusted, if it's possible to get the coin switch for Beastie Feastie stuck, you should be able to keep racking up credits...that said, it's uncertain why you'd want to play this game even for free....

[Gapporin]

Some ingenius kids used ice frozen to the size of quarters to play games with at one point.


I think I've read this somewhere...was this a Nolan Bushnell or Atari story of some kind? I remember something about somebody being called to the arcade because machines were shorting or something and they'd find the coin boxes full of water.

Right, it was with Pong. Same thing with the static electricity charge, if you touched the Pong machine after getting a static charge, it would give you free games. Another story I heard involving Pong, is that if you whacked the machine in a certain area with a pool-ball sized object (gee, I wonder where you're gonna find one of those in a bar?), it would give you free credits.

I think all of these bugs were fixed in later revisions, however.

[Atarian75]

I remember doing the static charge trick with a local Asteroids machine when I was a kid. Got a free game and it reset the high score everytime too if I remember right.

[stuffedmonkey]

In the late 80s you could bs some machines with the right sized washers.... we used to play for free at the local Putt-Putt till we got caught and had to run out.

[Yago]

Back in the days I remember we used candy. They were hard like sweet tarts, but the exact size of quarters. I forgot what they were called. We used them in the toll booths too. Worked like a charm. Then, of course, it was becoming a huge problem so they stopped making the candy.

[syd]

I remember back in the day there was a switch on the bottom of a bowling type machine (the one where you bowl the balls up the ramp into the rings) that let you get free balls all the time. That is, until they nailed a board on the bottom of the machine! LOL

[Graham Mitchell]

I remember back in the day there was a switch on the bottom of a bowling type machine (the one where you bowl the balls up the ramp into the rings) that let you get free balls all the time. That is, until they nailed a board on the bottom of the machine! LOL

Skee ball!!

We used to just full-on cheat at skee ball. One of us would climb up under the net and the other would hand them the ball. They'd then just deposit it in the 100-point ring. Maximum tickets! I'm surprised we're not all diabetic from all the pixie sticks we got from doing that.

[downfall]

Back in the days I remember we used candy. They were hard like sweet tarts, but the exact size of quarters. I forgot what they were called. We used them in the toll booths too. Worked like a charm. Then, of course, it was becoming a huge problem so they stopped making the candy.

Necco Wafers? LOL

If so, then that is the best use for them that I've ever heard, especially since Necco Wafers are quite possibly the most disgusting candy ever created. I mean seriously, if I really wanted to eat chalk, I would. But since I don't, I avoid the Necco like the plague.

Anyway, on topic - my friend worked at a local Husson's Pizza - they figured out how to load up the Pac-Man machine with credits one day, so they would put as many as they could on there, and then they'd go out and play when business was slow. I think it involved a screwdriver or something similar to trip the switch, though I couldn't say for sure.

Pop machines on the other hand - let's just say that I've received my fair share of free Cokes over the years.. that is until Coke changed their machines. They used to have a little switch right on the inside of the trap door where the can comes out - all you'd have to do was open that door and stick your hand up there to hit that switch and you were good to go for as many cans as you wanted. Only drawback is that you didn't get to choose what you got - but for free, you learned to like whatever it was.

[supaevil]

As a young lad living next to a putt putt as that guy says called castle park i envisioned a wicked scheme. The tokens they used were a little bigger than nickels not as thick. Out came my silver hammer and away i went bashing Mr. Jefferson in the face and back side. Actually it was just the edges of the nickel so it was thinner and bigger i tested one out in a supersprint machine with a flick so the coine would go in fast and that magical sound came the dong of a credit. After that i went home and there was not a nickel in my house for quite awhile. Fifty cents for mortal kombat 2 i think i will pay ten cents muahahahah. This still might work compare you local tokens to nickels and see.

[Bluteg]

How about coin-ops with the jammed up coin slots.

At the local pizza place they got a Sunset Riders coin-op when it first came out. It never worked from the beginning and the coin slot jammed up frequently if the tokens were put in too fast. Anyway I would always get a buck or two worth of tokens from my dad and usually they would get stuck in the damn machine after a few credits. After a few months it got WAY jammed up and my dad got pissed because I kept asking for more money. So he went to the machine pressed the coin return, turned to me with an evil look and kicked the machine hard enough for it to reset and a seemingly endless supply of tokens poured out onto the floor.

It must have been at least 300 tokens, well a friend of mine was there and we played through Sunset Riders probably 3 times. Since then a personal grail of mine is too find a working Sunset Riders coin-op. As soon as I have room for one I will get one. AHHH nostalgia...

[BIGMIKE]

ahhhhhhh, the memories........ used to whack away at donkey kong if i remember correctly. i haven't played in an arcade in so long. what happened to the good ol days -_-

[Ed Oscuro]

Out came my silver hammer and away i went bashing Mr. Jefferson in the face and back side.
Just so you know, mutilating U.S. currency or coins for fraudulent purposes is a federal offense...

[o2william]

While on this subject, does anybody else remember arcade games that awarded you free credits for high scores? I clearly remember pinball machines doing this, and I thought some arcade games did too, but now I'm not sure if I imagined it. I have heard rumors this used to be common practice until it was outlawed because it violated gambling laws.


I avoid the Necco like the plague.
Yay, more Necco Wafers for me then! I love you, sweet coin-shaped chalky candy discus. :-P

[Ed Oscuro]

They still make Necco Wafers, right? Sounds old-school to me - Necco should stand for an old candy company's name that's been bought out or hidden away/rebranded LOL

Oh yeah, I'm aware of the unintended hillarity of my last post, just in case anybody else noticed ;)

[davidbrit2]

All hail the all-chocolate packs of Necco. Fun fact: if you remove one of the 'C's from 'Necco', it becomes the Latin word meaning "I kill".

[downfall]

All hail the all-chocolate packs of Necco. Fun fact: if you remove one of the 'C's from 'Necco', it becomes the Latin word meaning "I kill".

Well that makes it more clear.

Obviously, that variation in the spelling of the original Latin is because they taste like death.

Now I understand.

[o2william]

Well, I hate to derail this thread any further, but since we're on the subject of names, Necco actually stands for New England Confectionery Company. In addition to the wafers, they also make Clark Bars and the Conversation Hearts you see around Valentine's Day.

Here's their web site (http://www.necco.com/). I urge you to accept Necco into your life.

Now back to your regularly-scheduled thread.

[LocalH]

There was a local VSSMB machine that would give you *one* credit by whacking the coin door. Never could get a second credit out of it until a full game was played (and continue not chosen).

[RetroYoungen]

I've heard of the whacking method (::beavis laugh::Whacking, hehhehheh), and I found out about the static electricity method when I was bored one day and playing DDR. Apparently I was dragging my feet a little, because when I went to put my token in I touched the metal, I jerked back, and heard the coin inserted sound. I didn't get any full free games (I don't like getting shocked, for ANY reason), but I haven gotten free tokens.

[Yago]

they also make Clark Bars and the Conversation Hearts you see around Valentine's Day.

Here's their web site (http://www.necco.com/). I urge you to accept Necco into your life.

Now back to your regularly-scheduled thread.

Don't forget they used to make those awesome candy ciggerettes. Back then it was kids pretending to light up, now they actually do, how sad. Oh yeah, back on topic...

[SuperNES]

hmm never heard about thae whacking thing, but there was this one soda machine at a college where i went to camp, and if you went there first thing in the morning and pushed one of the soda buttons you could get a free soda. i wonder if you could use a 9-volt battery instead of the static electricity thing? that would rule.

[Tony Montana]

I dont remember the whacking method working but on the later pinball machines after you got done with your game if your number, on the end of your score I think, matched the random number that popped up you got a free game. I remember hearing that if you hit the start button over and over real fast while your game was ending you had a lot better chance of hiiting the number, sounds crazy but it seems like we got more free games from doing this.

[c2000]

I only know about the NBA JAM sub game for free credits. Anyone got pics?

[Daft Punk]

The only machine I ever wacked was a ddr machine for gettting my coinage stuck.

The pump it up machine is realy easy to get free credits at the local arcade , just punch the coin slot a few times and your ready to go .