The way I look at it, by way of analogy:
A really nice Single-Malt Scotch is a few percent better when it's in the right glass than it is if it's in a plastic cup, or even a regular highball glass.
A nice beer is better in a real pint glass than it is drinking it from the bottle.
A shot of espresso is better out of a tulip-shaped heavy ceramic cup than it is out of a shorty Starbuck's paper cup.
An arcade game is a little bit better when you drop in the coin and hear something change, even before you hit "Start". It's also a little bit better when your planning is based on the weight of the coins in your pocket.
On the other hand, coin mechs are a pain in the ass.
One of my early finds was a change machine in which the bill acceptor had been bypassed and a small button had been installed instead, so it would spit tokens at a press.
I spent a few days basically breaking all my (cheap) coin mechs so they'd accept almost anything. At some point in the future, when my remodel is finished and I can actually have an arcade party, I plan to use tokens for any game that has mechs. Anything that is missing them, or for some other reason is finicky will be on freeplay.
A really nice Single-Malt Scotch is a few percent better when it's in the right glass than it is if it's in a plastic cup, or even a regular highball glass.
A nice beer is better in a real pint glass than it is drinking it from the bottle.
A shot of espresso is better out of a tulip-shaped heavy ceramic cup than it is out of a shorty Starbuck's paper cup.
An arcade game is a little bit better when you drop in the coin and hear something change, even before you hit "Start". It's also a little bit better when your planning is based on the weight of the coins in your pocket.
On the other hand, coin mechs are a pain in the ass.
One of my early finds was a change machine in which the bill acceptor had been bypassed and a small button had been installed instead, so it would spit tokens at a press.
I spent a few days basically breaking all my (cheap) coin mechs so they'd accept almost anything. At some point in the future, when my remodel is finished and I can actually have an arcade party, I plan to use tokens for any game that has mechs. Anything that is missing them, or for some other reason is finicky will be on freeplay.



