Im probably in the very very small minority of people who still love and go to arcades. Its such a great place to meet like minded nerds. We are lucky to have 2 really awesome ones in town, one of which has a lot of good old machines, and they repair them too. They have some new ones that are OK too.
Anyway, I dont like that they changed to the dumb card thing. I get it (efficiency, capitalism, it was bound to happen) but it removes another visceral experience in society that was so fun.
Anyway, my old man rant!
They should have never gone to them. Arcades should be something you visit with a pocket full of quarters.
Disagree, tokens are fun! I have one from every arcade I’ve ever been to (and that’s what I thought this post was going to be about, taking tokens from arcades) and they all have unique designs and make for great memorabilia.
Plus, logistically, tokens make sense:
The arcade can offer bulk discounts (4 per dollar vs 50 for ten dollars)
The arcade can offer party packages ( I’d rather give my kids’ friends a pot of tokens than a wad of cash)
Tokens reduce the need for cash-on-hand, reducing the risk of theft
But I’m sure the main reason is it’s what I was used to when I was a kid and teen.
They arrived when arcade machines started charging more than one quarter per play. They are there to make it easier to spend money, I mean once you bought them, why not spend them all?
I’m old though.