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Back in the "day" were you ever put off playing some games because they were $0.50 a credit?
#276298 - 02/16/12 10:16 PM
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I didn't think Asteroids Deluxe or Klax were worth $0.50 a game. Now I do occasionally pay $0.75 to play a sit down Hydro Thunder, or a sit down Fast and Furious. I also pay $1.00 for 2 games on the sit down Fast and the furious motorcycle game at a Wal Mart in Meadville, Pa.
I did pay $0.50 a game for Super Street Fighter and Art of Fighting 2 back in the 90s.
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| casm |
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Cinematronics > *
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Re: Back in the "day" were you ever put off playing some games because they were $0.50 a credit?
[Re: greybeard]
#276301 - 02/16/12 10:55 PM
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> I didn't think Asteroids Deluxe or Klax were worth $0.50 a game.
The first game I can remember seeing that cost double the regular price to play was Astron Belt. But this was somewhere in late 1982 or early 1983, it was a laserdisc game, and those (at the time) could legitimately get people to shell out twice the price because the technology was still fresh. By '84 or '85, the remaining laser games out there had mostly been set to regular price since the novelty had worn off.
The first non-laser game I can definitively remember seeing set at a double-price single play was the environmental version of Star Wars, and that was absolutely worth it for the experience alone. Same with Discs of Tron, though that never quite caught my interest the same way the original did.
By the time that was the norm for pricing, I was losing interest in video games in favour of girls anyway, and those are substantially more expensive.
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| yaggy |
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Re: Back in the "day" were you ever put off playing some games because they were $0.50 a credit?
[Re: greybeard]
#276304 - 02/16/12 11:09 PM
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Oh I studied Dragon's Lair quite a bit before I threw down two quarters to play. Punch*Out was .50cents too but I'd just wait til some dummy lost on the second fighter and I bought a rematch for 25 cents. Same thing with Cliff Hanger, continues were only one quarter. Cockpit games (Pole pos, Spy hunter) were also 50cents, so I'd wait til I went somewhere that had the upright.
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Re: Back in the "day" were you ever put off playing some games because they were $0.50 a credit?
[Re: greybeard]
#276309 - 02/16/12 11:34 PM
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Mortal kombat 2 was my first fifty and those booth show things where they would show music videos like New kids On The Block. remember those?
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I’m convinced Mario is a hobo.
He wakes up everyday in the same clothes, runs around in sewers, and collects coins for a living.
At the end of the day, he uses the coins to buy mushrooms
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| Tomu Breidah |
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No Problems, Only Solutions
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Re: Back in the "day" were you ever put off playing some games because they were $0.50 a credit?
[Re: greybeard]
#276310 - 02/16/12 11:38 PM
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> I didn't think Asteroids Deluxe or Klax were worth $0.50 a game. Now I do
> occasionally pay $0.75 to play a sit down Hydro Thunder, or a sit down Fast and
> Furious. I also pay $1.00 for 2 games on the sit down Fast and the furious motorcycle
> game at a Wal Mart in Meadville, Pa.
>
> I did pay $0.50 a game for Super Street Fighter and Art of Fighting 2 back in the
> 90s.
IIRC, The first game that I seen that had .50˘ credits was Street Fighter II Turbo (in the arcade in a mall -used tokens, but the value was essentially the same). But that was just the 1st credit, continues were .25˘. Then it seemed like most of the racing games started being .50˘ per play.
It did put me off most of the time. But I can't say I never did go ahead and pay it.
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LEVEL-4
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| B2K24 |
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MAME @ 15 kHz Sony Trinitron CRT user
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Re: Back in the "day" were you ever put off playing some games because they were $0.50 a credit?
[Re: greybeard]
#276314 - 02/17/12 12:00 AM
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I didn't mind paying 3 credits for T-MEK 
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Re: Back in the "day" were you ever put off playing some games because they were $0.50 a credit?
[Re: jumpmaniac81]
#276316 - 02/17/12 12:04 AM
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When I was at Conneaut Lake Park last fall I payed $0.75 for a game of Mortal Kombat 2, and oddly enough Primal Rage was set to $0.50, so I played a game on there as well.
I guess that's why shelling out ~ $8.50 for the Mortal Kombat trilogy (my 3 favorites in 2D) on Steam didn't phase me. Granted getting it on MAME is "free", but I liked supporting the company that owns the IP and maybe the latest MK will come to the PC?
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| DMala |
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Sleep is overrated
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Re: Back in the "day" were you ever put off playing some games because they were $0.50 a credit?
[Re: yaggy]
#276318 - 02/17/12 12:23 AM
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> Oh I studied Dragon's Lair quite a bit before I threw down two quarters to play.
> Punch*Out was .50cents too but I'd just wait til some dummy lost on the second
> fighter and I bought a rematch for 25 cents. Same thing with Cliff Hanger, continues
> were only one quarter. Cockpit games (Pole pos, Spy hunter) were also 50cents, so I'd
> wait til I went somewhere that had the upright.
I really think this was part of what killed the arcade. 25 cents was nothing, I'd throw a quarter in anything just to try it out. When it's 50, 75 cents or more, though, you start to think about how long you're really going to last and whether it's really worth it. For the fancy new tech like laserdiscs or the big, elaborate sit down cabs it was OK, but when regular games started going up too, that was the beginning of the end.
Pinball was worse than video games in that regard. By the early 90s, it seemed like 50 cents was the standard price for pinball. On a bad day, I can lose at pinball in little more time than it takes the ball to roll unimpeded down the playfield. For me, it totally wasn't worth it.
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Re: Back in the "day" were you ever put off playing some games because they were $0.50 a credit?
[Re: DMala]
#276321 - 02/17/12 12:48 AM
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Worse yet, the "new" Stern pinball machines are so cheaply made they break easily, and many gamers don't want to fork out $2 for 3 games, let alone $0.75 to $1 a game, with only 3 balls.
Also a number of the "newer" games have "Matching" turned off as well as the "Ball saver."
I got "hooked" on the Batman pin at the Cranberry Mall and it was removed, the Shrek machine has a broken mini pinball playfield that makes the game hard to win credits on.
I've watched other "new" Stern tables break and disappear in less than 2 years.
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Re: Back in the "day" were you ever put off playing some games because they were $0.50 a credit?
[Re: yaggy]
#276323 - 02/17/12 12:50 AM
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Yes I paid 50 cents on Dragon's Lair and Space Ace back in the days
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| Gor |
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Giver of truth.
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Yes.
[Re: greybeard]
#276326 - 02/17/12 01:56 AM
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> I didn't think Asteroids Deluxe or Klax were worth $0.50 a game. Now I do
> occasionally pay $0.75 to play a sit down Hydro Thunder, or a sit down Fast and
> Furious. I also pay $1.00 for 2 games on the sit down Fast and the furious motorcycle
> game at a Wal Mart in Meadville, Pa.
>
> I did pay $0.50 a game for Super Street Fighter and Art of Fighting 2 back in the
> 90s.
Yes.
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Oh for Pete's sake.
loser.com
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Absolutely...
[Re: greybeard]
#276333 - 02/17/12 03:07 AM
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...I would avoid giving any game 50 cents.
At the time when some games were starting to ask for that much, just about any game that was 50 cents at one place (Nathan's), I could fine somewhere else for only 25 cents (Neighborhood Pizzeria, Malt shop, etc.)
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| Quantum Leaper |
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OCRer and Monkey Typist for Galaxy Game
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Re: Back in the "day" were you ever put off playing some games because they were $0.50 a credit?
[Re: joey35car]
#276353 - 02/17/12 04:31 AM
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> Yes I paid 50 cents on Dragon's Lair and Space Ace back in the days
I think the first 40 cent game (5 token for a buck or 1 for 25 cents) for me was Dragon's Lair also, what interesting is Dragon's Lair 2 was my first $1 game I saw, and a week or two later they had a driving game that was $1.50 per game, tried it once, and never again.
Edited by Quantum Leaper (02/17/12 04:35 AM)
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Everywhere DL games and cockpits were 50 cents.....
[Re: Quantum Leaper]
#276356 - 02/17/12 04:40 AM
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(Except maybe for Tail Gunner at the skating rink...) Most of the other laser discs games round here were a quarter, though.
Anyways, I wasn't great any vids, and didn't have much money or get that many tokens, so yeah, I didn't frequent those machines.
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Consider it high comedy....sincere tragedy....whatever...don't take it personally.
The Culture
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I didn't think Star Wars cockpit was worth 50 cents - but DOT?? - OH YEAH.
[Re: casm]
#276358 - 02/17/12 04:43 AM
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I (found and) got to play DOT at Magic Mountain, and I was blown away. It was about the only game I played.
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Consider it high comedy....sincere tragedy....whatever...don't take it personally.
The Culture
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Pins by the mid-80s were all 50 cents, round here.....
[Re: greybeard]
#276359 - 02/17/12 04:46 AM
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but they never went above that, and they never turned any special features off. At the local golf castle, as well as the one in the capital, they're still 50 cents, and are still fully featured.
AZ is a conservative state (I mean ideologically; I don't pay much attention to politics an all), but there are some perks, apparently.
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Consider it high comedy....sincere tragedy....whatever...don't take it personally.
The Culture
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Re: I didn't think Star Wars cockpit was worth 50 cents - but DOT?? - OH YEAH.
[Re: mogli]
#276364 - 02/17/12 04:58 AM
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OH yes I remember paying 50 cents on Discs Of Tron Environmental cabinet. Good times. 
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| DMala |
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Sleep is overrated
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Re: Back in the "day" were you ever put off playing some games because they were $0.50 a credit?
[Re: greybeard]
#276367 - 02/17/12 05:15 AM
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> Worse yet, the "new" Stern pinball machines are so cheaply made they break easily,
> and many gamers don't want to fork out $2 for 3 games, let alone $0.75 to $1 a game,
> with only 3 balls.
>
> Also a number of the "newer" games have "Matching" turned off as well as the "Ball
> saver."
>
> I got "hooked" on the Batman pin at the Cranberry Mall and it was removed, the Shrek
> machine has a broken mini pinball playfield that makes the game hard to win credits
> on.
>
> I've watched other "new" Stern tables break and disappear in less than 2 years.
It's not that surprising, really. I mean, kudos to Stern for trying to keep the flame burning, but I think the sad reality is that the market and the culture have moved on and their days are numbered.
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| PokeMAME |
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Gotta catch 'em all!
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Re: Back in the "day" were you ever put off playing some games because they were $0.50 a credit?
[Re: greybeard]
#276377 - 02/17/12 06:46 AM
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>
> I've watched other "new" Stern tables break and disappear in less than 2 years.
I've seen broken Stern tables that were on demo at Sam's Club.
Who would pay $4500.00 for a machine that can't even stand up to being demo'd in a store?
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Re: Back in the "day" were you ever put off playing some games because they were $0.50 a credit?
[Re: DMala]
#276378 - 02/17/12 06:49 AM
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> It's not that surprising, really. I mean, kudos to Stern for trying to keep the flame
> burning, but I think the sad reality is that the market and the culture have moved on
> and their days are numbered.
Well, there have been some surprising retro efforts lately, for example that indie flick, and that chick in L.A. (Pins and Needles). But Stern must do it for the love of it. I can't see them making any money from it.
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Consider it high comedy....sincere tragedy....whatever...don't take it personally.
The Culture
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Re: Back in the "day" were you ever put off playing some games because they were $0.50 a credit?
[Re: greybeard]
#276385 - 02/17/12 07:01 AM
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yeah always support the co. 
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Re: Back in the "day" were you ever put off playing some games because they were $0.50 a credit?
[Re: greybeard]
#276405 - 02/17/12 01:57 PM
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Nope. In Australia, it was actually considered awesome if a game was only 50c play in the 1990s (or, $1 gave you 2 credits as it was, no games actually took 50c coins, however some games took 20c coins and charged 3 coins for 1 credit/5 coins for 2 credits). Just about every game was $1 or $2 per credit in the 1990s, even the claw machines. Even today, Daytona still costs $2 for one credit in most places (for example, the Box Hill train station in Melbourne).
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Re: Back in the "day" were you ever put off playing some games because they were $0.50 a credit?
[Re: greybeard]
#276640 - 02/20/12 01:36 PM
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What was the first arcade game in which it's recommended factory default setting was $0.50 cents? $1.00?
Also, what is the most expensive price you've seen for a single game to play on an arcade game?
I think the cheapest was $0.10 cents for "Galaxy Game".
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I keep on testing.. testing.. testing... into the future!
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Re: Back in the "day" were you ever put off playing some games because they were $0.50 a credit?
[Re: OldSchoolGamer]
#276675 - 02/20/12 06:07 PM
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> What was the first arcade game in which it's recommended factory default setting was
> $0.50 cents? $1.00?
>
> Also, what is the most expensive price you've seen for a single game to play on an
> arcade game?
>
> I think the cheapest was $0.10 cents for "Galaxy Game".
The first one I saw was when Dragon's Lair (and other Laser games) first appeared. As machine costs rose, so did the "buy-in". As for $1.00, I'm not sure - but I'd bet it was one of those games with interactive (moving) cabinet features, such as a driving game with multiple screens.
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Re: Back in the "day" were you ever put off playing some games because they were $0.50 a credit?
[Re: Tafoid]
#276711 - 02/20/12 10:26 PM
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First $.75 I ever saw out there was Galaxy Force 2, which was *entirely worth* it. I'd still pay that for a round on one of those if there were any still operational. I've heard they were prone to frequent breakdowns, and my experience was that there were 50-50 odds on any arcade visit on if the machine was going to be operational that visit.
I've also heard DDR machines require pad repairs about every three months on average.
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Who said 0.50$ a credit was expensive ?
[Re: greybeard]
#276714 - 02/20/12 10:51 PM
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If this hasn't been always the case, let's assume that 1.00$ = 5 Francs ...
Here are the price I remember in France (in Nice and Paris) for most video games (the evolution was different for the pinball machines) :
. from 1980 (and perhaps before) to 1982 : 1 Franc = 0.20$ = 1 credit / 5 Francs = 1.00$ = 6 credits
. from 1983 to 1985 : 2 x 1 Franc = 0.40$ = 1 credit / 5 Francs = 1.00$ = 3 credits
. from 1986 to 1988 : 5 Francs = 1.00$ = 2 credits / 10 Francs = 2.00$ = 5 credits
. from 1989 to 1996 : 5 Francs = 1.00$ = 1 credit / 10 Francs = 2.00$ = 3 credits / sometimes 20 Francs (not 2 x 10 Francs !) = 4.00$ = 7 credits
From 1997 to 2000 (I haven't seen arcade places after that), you could buy tokens (their number wasn't always the same depending on where the arcade place was) :
. 10 Francs = 2.00$ = 1 token / 50 Francs = 10.00$ = 6 tokens / 100 Francs = 10.00$ = 15 tokens or
. 10 Francs = 2.00$ = 1 token / 100 Francs = 20.00$ = 12 tokens / 200 Francs = 40.00$ = 25 tokens
Then one token awarded you 2, 1 or even only 0.5 credit depending on the game (and mainly on the cabinet) ...
 Steph from The Ultimate Patchers 
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| mesk |
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@ the arcade
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Re: Back in the "day" were you ever put off playing some games because they were $0.50 a credit?
[Re: greybeard]
#276726 - 02/21/12 02:42 AM
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Im pretty sure Time Traveler was .75 @ the TILT arcade @ one of the malls around here.Didnt stop me from playing that game.or from buying extra "time reversal cubes"
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Dem was obviously some hard tighmes.... (nt)
[Re: stephh]
#276748 - 02/21/12 05:56 AM
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| yaggy |
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Coin-op fixer
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Re: Back in the "day" were you ever put off playing some games because they were $0.50 a credit?
[Re: Firehawke]
#276788 - 02/21/12 04:58 PM
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> First $.75 I ever saw out there was Galaxy Force 2, which was *entirely worth* it.
> I'd still pay that for a round on one of those if there were any still operational.
> I've heard they were prone to frequent breakdowns, and my experience was that there
> were 50-50 odds on any arcade visit on if the machine was going to be operational
> that visit.
I got a used GF back around 1993 and spent many hours and >$500 in parts making it nice again (game was 5 yrs old at that point). I charged $1.00 per play and it made $250-$450/week. Not enough to justify the space it occupied in my small arcade, so I sold it less than a year later for $2300, and it was already starting to have "Motor Trouble" again. The sad reality is today there are very few arcade techs who can repair this stuff any more and even fewer parts available, since the operational life of coin-op amusements was only five years (at best). The best part was bribing 4 customers with free games so they would help me lift the entire top off the base. That was a sight to see. Thankfully, none of them dropped it or got hurt.
I have some VHS footage of it in operation somewhere. Must locate and rip some day.
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Re: Back in the "day" were you ever put off playing some games because they were $0.50 a credit?
[Re: yaggy]
#276789 - 02/21/12 05:03 PM
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That would be about in line with my experiences.
The arcade that I went to in that time frame was on the second floor of a mall that opened in 1990, but I don't think they got the machine until maybe 1992-1993. That would certainly explain the maintenance issues, though, if they'd gotten the machine used.
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| R. Belmont |
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Re: Back in the "day" were you ever put off playing some games because they were $0.50 a credit?
[Re: greybeard]
#276801 - 02/21/12 06:19 PM
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For my specific definition of "back in the day" (1980-1985), only laserdisc games were 50 cents, and they were broken down so often it was barely able to be an issue. Dragon's Lair I thought was kind of a ripoff at the time, but I quite enjoyed MACH 3 later on and the 50 cent price didn't put me off when it was working.
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| yaggy |
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Coin-op fixer
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Re: Back in the "day" were you ever put off playing some games because they were $0.50 a credit?
[Re: R. Belmont]
#276802 - 02/21/12 06:24 PM
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> I quite enjoyed MACH 3
> later on and the 50 cent price didn't put me off when it was working.
My most prominent memory of MACH 3 is.....
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| R. Belmont |
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Cuckoo for IGAvania
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Re: Back in the "day" were you ever put off playing some games because they were $0.50 a credit?
[Re: yaggy]
#276803 - 02/21/12 06:25 PM
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> > I quite enjoyed MACH 3
> > later on and the 50 cent price didn't put me off when it was working.
>
>
> My most prominent memory of MACH 3 is.....
Yup, 9 times out of 10 that was the state it was in.
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Re: Back in the "day" were you ever put off playing some games because they were $0.50 a credit?
[Re: R. Belmont]
#276804 - 02/21/12 07:03 PM
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Yeah I like Mach 3, and they broke too easily.
I'm glad most of them are in MAME & Daphne.
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Re: Back in the "day" were you ever put off playing some games because they were $0.50 a credit?
[Re: greybeard]
#276805 - 02/21/12 08:23 PM
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.................and Cliff Hanger is a good one.
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Re: Back in the "day" were you ever put off playing some games because they were $0.50 a credit?
[Re: joey35car]
#276811 - 02/21/12 09:11 PM
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Is Cliff Hangar even emulated yet? Daphne refused to emulated it because of licensing issues... Because it was based on an Anime and they didn't want to get into legal trouble. IIRC.
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Back in the "day" were you ever put off playing some games because they were $0.50 a credit?
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