Summary
Arcades might quickly be becoming a thing of the past, but that doesn’t mean the games we play in them, in the way that they were intended to be played, need to be lost to history. Arcade1Up has been recreating arcade cabinets you can have in your own homes for years, and now it’s branching out into another corner of the arcade business by creating its very first claw machine.
Claw machines are as synonymous with arcades as arcade machines -there’s an arcade in Japan that has 477 of them. Arcade1Up appears to have realized that and has shifted its focus momentarily to give claw machine aficionados the chance to buy a full-size claw machine they can have in their own home. The claw machine is 66 inches high, costs $499, andpre-sales for it will begin on July 22, 2025.
As was the case with arcade machines during the arcade era’s heyday, the biggest problem with claw machines is how much money you need to use them. That’s naturally not a problem with Arcade1Up’s claw machine. After paying for it, you won’t have to insert a coin ever again. You can replicate what feels like the impossible difficulty of actually getting something out of a claw machine, though.Arcade1Up’s claw machines have three difficulties - easy, normal, or scam. I’m unsure if it’s even possible to win a prize when playing on scam mode, we’ll have to wait and see.
A Claw Machine That Doesn’t Need Another Coin Every Time You Fail
Crank It Up To Scam Mode And Go Nuts
As for what you can win in your very own claw machine, that’s up to you.It comes with 12 colored capsules, kind of like the ones inAstro Bot’s gacha machine, that you can fill with whatever you like. Maybe the prizes can be Astro-related so you can replicatethe gacha machine PlayStation is taking to Tokyo Game Showwithout having to travel halfway across the world.The machine has a numeric lockmaking it easy to reload, but that also ensures others can’t cheat.
As for some things you could put inside the capsules, maybe sweets, toys, or the car keys of people visiting your house. These are by no means official recommendations, but it would be pretty amusing to watch someone who has been annoying you try to get their keys out of a claw machine that’s on scam mode. If you’re looking to create a home arcade that needs more than just a claw machine,Arcade1Up’s NBA Jam Deluxe cabinet is also available now.
