Seaside claw games will no longer be “rigged” and will be won purely by “the application of skill.”
That’s according to a major industry trade group which is trying to win back player trust following a lawsuit involving a high-profile games manufacturer.
The US-based group will force its members, which include popular brands Sega and Bandai Namco, to sign a “fair play pledge” which promises that all games “meet a standard of performance that allows a player a fair chance of winning with every game played.”
“We want to emphasize that we are not in the business of rigging our games,” an American Amusement Machine Association spokesman said.
It applies to redemption machines, like ticket-and-claw, penny and ball throwing machines.
Several articles and YouTube videos depict how claw machines can be programmed to determine the win-lose ratio have gone viral in recent years.
And reports of how operators can adjust claw strength to affect the outcome of a crane game emerged in 2016.
In 2013, a court case alleged the Sega Keymaster game was “false, deceptive and likely to mislead consumers because the machines are pre-programmed to prevent players from winning a prize even if they have followed the instructions on the game to effectively fit the key into the lock and free up a prize”.
Sega agreed to a settlement of $650,00 but a judge threw it out, claiming it would be too difficult to reimburse anyone who had played the game.
They later suggested creating a free downloadable game, but the judge believed this would be little more than a “marketing” campaign for Sega.
“So we needed a defensible position,” said David Cohen, the American Amusement Machine Association government relations chair.
“Our industry is about family entertainment. We are going to make sure that we manufacture, distribute and operate games that people can win at, with skill.”
AAMA vice president Pete Gustafson added that it didn’t mean games are about to get easier, but that the “hoop will never be smaller than the ball.”
The AAMA say their new pledge will not just protect players, but the companies who stand accused of misleading customers.
But if they offer games by the brands which are members of the trade organization – like Sega and Bandai Namco – it would be trickier to manipulate the outcome.