 The glass cage of a claw vending machine A claw vending machine or toy crane machine is a type of arcade game in the form of a vending machine. They are popular in video arcades (including dedicated claw vending machine arcades), supermarkets, restaurants, movie theaters, and other venues. Claw, by Monolith Productions, is a classic-type platform video game that features a two-dimensional platform world featuring a main character at its focus and enemies roaming around. ...
Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (3072x2048, 3644 KB) Photo of crane machine with Grimace from McDonalds at Rest Stop in Framingham, MA. By Brian Katt. ...
Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (3072x2048, 3644 KB) Photo of crane machine with Grimace from McDonalds at Rest Stop in Framingham, MA. By Brian Katt. ...
Centipede by Atari is a typical example of a 1980s era arcade game. ...
Cigarette vending machine. ...
arcade, see Arcade. ...
Packaged food aisles in a Fred Meyer store in Portland, Oregon A supermarket is a departmentalized self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise. ...
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A typical multiplex (AMC Promenade 16 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, United States). ...
Machine structure A claw vending machine consists of prizes, usually plush toys such as teddy bears, inside a cage made of glass or plexiglas with a claw or crane attached to the ceiling of the cage. The player puts coins into the machine, which then allows the player to manipulate a joystick that controls the claw for 15 to 30 seconds (in some cases, a claw vending machine might offer a minute of time). The player is able to move the claw back, forth and sideways, but not up or down. Plush toys A plush toy or plushie is a soft, often furry, stuffed toy made of plush. ...
For other uses, see Teddy bear (disambiguation). ...
Structure of PMMA: (C5O2H8)n Structure of methyl methacrylate Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) or polymethyl-2-methylpropanoate is the synthetic polymer of methyl methacrylate. ...
For other uses, see Joystick (disambiguation). ...
At the end of that time (or earlier if the player presses a trigger button on the joystick), the claw drops down and makes a gripping attempt. Some machines allow the user to move the claw after it has been partially dropped. After making the gripping attempt, the claw then moves over an opening in the corner of the cage and releases its contents. If the player is successful, then the prize the claw is holding is dropped into the opening and dispensed through a chute into a hatch for pickup.
An alternative version of the machine popular in arcades is the "two button" version: one marked with a forward arrow, one with a right arrow. The crane starts near the front, left side of the machine and the user presses first the forward button to move the crane towards the back of the cabinet. Once the button is released the crane stops moving and the button cannot be used again, thus requiring the user to judge depth accurately in one attempt. After this, the right button becomes active in a similar way and as soon as it is released, the crane drops to a certain depth and then raises, closing its claw on the way and returning to the drop hatch in the front left corner. These versions are generally considered to be more difficult.
Success rate and controversy The success rate of the game is dependent on several factors, including player skill, depth perception, type of machine, and prizes available (size, density, and distribution). A prize may be lost due to player inexperience or player error in manipulating the claw. A popular belief exists that these machines have an apparatus for determining odds, in the manner that the claw would have a strong grasp on objects only after a certain number of failures. Conversely, this belief and similar claims have been denied by claw machine manufacturers, many of whom state that the ability to change the strength of the claw is only in place to adjust the difficulty of the game itself in a fair and challenging way, or to obtain an acceptable ratio of wins for the company. This indicates that machines manufactured by different companies would yield different rates of success, though player ability and the contents of the particular machine would also influence the success rate.
History in the United States These machines became popular in the United States in the late 1980s, with a significant presence at Pizza Hut restaurants. Later on, they would spread to other venues. By the early 1990s, the NFL began to advertise their teams with stuffed footballs of each team placed in some of the machines. Soon after, the MLB, NBA, and NHL also joined, although the NBA no longer uses these machines as a means of advertisement. Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ...
Pizza Hut Inc. ...
For the band, see 1990s (band). ...
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The National Basketball Association of the United States and Canada, commonly known as the NBA, is the premier professional basketball league in North America. ...
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By the middle 1990s, the machines' popularity had made such establishments as Safeway, Fry's Supermarkets, K-Mart, and Wal-Mart a staple of their locations. Some hotels also acquired them to satisfy their younger guests, as did sports venues that would stuff them with collectibles related to their home teams. Year 1990 (MCMXC) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar). ...
This article is about article is about the US-based corporation. ...
Frys Food & Drug Stores is a grocery store chain that has huge presence in the state of Arizona. ...
new Kmart logo Kmart Corporation was a US based corporation until it merged with Sears Holdings in November 2004. ...
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. ...
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In the 1995 Disney/Pixar computer-animated film "Toy Story", Buzz Lightyear and Sheriff Woody climb into a claw vending machine filled with claw-worshipping aliens. Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full 1995 Gregorian calendar). ...
Old logo from 1985-2006 Walt Disney Pictures refers to several different entities associated with The Walt Disney Company: Walt Disney Pictures, the film banner, was established as a designation in 1983, prior to which Disney films since the death of Walt Disney were released under the name of the...
Pixars studio lot in Emeryville Pixar Animation Studios is an American computer animation studio based in Emeryville, California (USA) notable for its seven Academy Awards. ...
Computer-generated imagery (commonly abbreviated as CGI) is the application of the field of computer graphics (or more specifically, 3D computer graphics) to special effects in films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media. ...
Toy Story is an Academy-award-winning CGI animated feature film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Distribution in the United States on November 22, 1995, and Australia on December 7, 1995, as well as in the United Kingdom on 22 March...
Buzz andyandy Lightyear (born Buzz Bundy Lightyear on May 26, 1995) is a fictional character that first appeared in the CGI animated film Toy Story, and its sequel Toy Story 2. ...
Sheriff Woody is a fictional character appearing in several films and cartoons by Disney and Pixar. ...
This is a list of characters from the Disney/Pixar films, Toy Story, Toy Story 2. ...
In 2007, the claw machine became playable over the internet. Visitors to SuperClaw play real-life crane machines, using multiple video feeds and web browser controls to position the claw over a selection of plush prizes.
Claw vending machines in East Asia
 Stuffed Gloomy Bear with "bloody" claws eating another stuffed animal in a Niigata arcade UFO catcher. In East Asia, notably Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, claw vending machines are extremely popular. There are entire video arcades dedicated to hosting these machines. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1154x930, 221 KB) Stuffed bear with bloody claws eating another stuffed animal in a Niigata arcade UFO catcher. ...
Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1154x930, 221 KB) Stuffed bear with bloody claws eating another stuffed animal in a Niigata arcade UFO catcher. ...
Gloomy Bear eating Pitty Mori Chack (森チャック Mori Chakku, born on March 23, 1973) is the artist name of a Japanese graphics designer, who was born in Osaka, Japan. ...
East Asia Geographic East Asia. ...
arcade, see Arcade. ...
Japanese claw vending machines are sometimes called UFO catchers, where "UFO" stands for Unidentified Flying Object. UFO redirects here. ...
In East Asia, live animals are occasionally the prize in the claw game. In Chinese supermarkets, a live crab or lobster can be won, presumably to be eaten by the winner. In Japan, pet turtles can be won. Of course, these prizes are in addition to the standard teddy bears and toys that are offered by claw games in other parts of the world. Superfamilies Dromiacea Homolodromioidea Dromioidea Homoloidea Eubrachyura Raninoidea Cyclodorippoidea Dorippoidea Calappoidea Leucosioidea Majoidea Hymenosomatoidea Parthenopoidea Retroplumoidea Cancroidea Portunoidea Bythograeoidea Xanthoidea Bellioidea Potamoidea Pseudothelphusoidea Gecarcinucoidea Cryptochiroidea Pinnotheroidea * Ocypodoidea * Grapsoidea * An asterisk (*) marks the crabs included in the clade Thoracotremata. ...
Subfamilies and Genera Neophoberinae Acanthacaris Thymopinae Nephropsis Nephropides Thymops Thymopsis Nephropinae Homarus Nephrops Homarinus Metanephrops Eunephrops Thymopides Clawed lobsters comprise a family (Nephropidae, sometimes also Homaridae) of large marine crustaceans. ...
For other uses, see Turtle (disambiguation). ...
In South Korea, prizes are extremely varied and have included a Black & Decker power drill, women's underwear, a beard trimmer, a voucher for an inflatable raft, knee pads, fishing hooks, a radio-controlled toy helicopter, and package of US $2 bills.
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