The first machine(s) you played?

[Mystery_Plum]

First games I really played were 2p play stuff, like -

Gold Mine
Route 66
Lucky Lady
Aladdins Cave
Crack the Nut (Tuppenny Cracker)
Fruit Cracker
Blue Streak

All very playable games which hold a special place in my heart. I had played other machines before but I can't remember them as they were only brief encounters and came before I started to become interested in fruits.

The first time I became aware of any earning potential in fruits was with Snap Happy by PCP where you could fill the name from every question mark and get 50p. I was probably only 10 or 11 at this point.

I spent my early teens playing Eachway Nudger Mk2 and the like with my paper-round money, but despite learning the reel band layouts (and there were 2 different types on EWN Mk2 - one with loads of melons on the middle reel and other subtle differences, usually with shading on the symbols) there was little earning potential.

What really started me off was when the Barcrest/BWB rebuilds of Road Hog, Viva Las Vegas and so on came along. See how far the exchange comes down when you get a win and take them on if they were ready. Suddenly I now had tokens and could start looking at playing 20p play stuff when I thought the time was right. When you had tokens you didn't have to spend your cash. I used to look out for 2 balloons on the line on Fairgrounds, or 2 pints or swags on Around the Town or Cops n Robbers for an easy feature chance. I started making good money in the arcades that the local players were barred from. Then I began mastering skills and this got me in with a couple of decent players, from whom I learned the Bullseye tricks (20 for bull and 30 roll ins), and various other things, such as flat batteries. From there I was off and running really.

[HornyNick]

Cant remember the name of it but it was a clubber that was in the hallway of my wife's parents house when I was courting her.

Must have cycled literally thousands through it and never got near the jackpot.

It had some kind of cat theme with 5 different cat symbols for the top IIRC

I think I remember this from when I was a little kid in the club. Was the machine blue in colour, with a matrix in the bottom right?
IIRC they weren't actually cats but very cat-looking like bulls, and the machine was called Matador.

[Scott]

Can't actually remember the first machine i played, it would been in the old mans pub at the age of 10/11 for a guess, we definately had a cloud 9 in there, duty free, road hog, andy capp, grand national, brains were done many times, birthday money, babysitting and glass collecting wages all went in them as a youngster, the old man banned me from playing so had to do it on the sly, it all turned out ok in the finish though

[betchrider]

First machine I ever put a coin in was called Golden Shot. 2p a go, £1 jackpot. Had a target in the middle of it. Lucky ladys and fruitswap were favourites of mine, as were Aladdins Caves etc. Everything seemed fun back then. Anyone remember the old 10p tokens?

Yeah they had set grooves in em so you could only play in there arcade

[mr lugsy]

i had a cafe that exchanged 10p tokes for cash

[Scott]

I used to buy £6 worth of tokens for £5 cash, change them up in the till when my dad were'nt looking, nice little earner for me back then.

[blingking]

(Barcrest) Razzle Dazzle!!! (Barcrest) Autoroute, (Barcrest) Line up, (Ace) Poundstretcher, (Jpm) Big Banker, (Jpm) Loot Shoot, Smash n Grab! used to love playing these games, and they still look and sound good today, well i think so anyway. this is when they were actually fun to play!

[Mr Move It]

Thanks for the replies everyone! I hope no one minds if I posted a few pictures of my first machines? I took these photos on an old 35mm point-and-shoot camera, being in year 2001. By no means am I a pro in the slightest. I just have a passion for the machines, hence the photos.

Madness may be of interest to some of you because everyone have seen TIJ2 but I believe that the Madness clone was rare. Only 60 were made apparently. I don't know how common Fort Boyard is either, as I've seen the other ones (Jackpoteers and Codfather) more often.

[PMK]

Pretty sure I saw a madness for sale from advanced leisure a long while back. I'd never seen it before I must admit.

Only 60 made u say?

Bugger wish I would have purchased it. Worth a few bob no doubt.

[mr lugsy]

notice all the ash along the bottom glass on the close up of rolling thunder.

god i miss all that

[Mr Move It]

Only 60 made u say?

Yes, I got the "60" figure from this page:

http://www.freewebs.com/electricdreamz/ ... ection.htm

notice all the ash along the bottom glass on the close up of rolling thunder.

god i miss all that

I didn't notice the ash, so well spotted there. I blame my eyesight! Although I never smoked, I preferred the pub atmosphere back in the pre-ban days.

[logopolis]

All of them machines pictured were in Clacton at some point in the last 10 or so years. Gaiety had a Madness and Fort Boyard. Gameshow also had Fort Boyard. A hotel on the seafront had Rolling Thunder. Also Walton arcade had Fort Boyard.

Felixstowe and Clacton both had A JPM Tomb Raider. Actually I remember somebody getting red board every feature on Tomb Raider in Clacton Gaiety.

[griff50]

I often look back in fondness at some of the early machines I played I started on 2p/£2 machines and gradually progressed as time went by and stakes and jackpots increased, as we all have.

Probably the biggest draw for me in my school days was each way nudger. The jackpot music (If I was a rich man, from fiddler on the roof) was quite appropriate and although I didn't know the name of the music at the time, finding this out later gave me a sense of irony!

Later it was project machines, seventh heaven proceding to give the first opportunity for 'forcing' i.e. 3 nudges, mixed seven there, but nudge for hold on 2 blues/reds to mayby get hold and start the streak.

As for later on, as feature machines got more 'themed' simpsons or italian job were great and after tokens went, suddenly we were in an era of 'all cash'
Wow, no recycling tokens in order to try and turn £18 of tokens from a barx into a tenner, lol

Looking back at machines, how they played and the newer ones now, I often feel that perhaps the jackpots have moved up in value too fast.

Perhaps some of the simplicity of the earlier machines has been lost along the way and perhaps we need to return to basics. Oh well, mayby for another topic.......

Favourite machine has to be impulse/red alert, purely for the differnt way in which the feature could play, unlike these bloody deals, lol

[2 down for the melons]

I often look back in fondness at some of the early machines I played I started on 2p/£2 machines and gradually progressed as time went by and stakes and jackpots increased, as we all have.

Probably the biggest draw for me in my school days was each way nudger. The jackpot music (If I was a rich man, from fiddler on the roof) was quite appropriate and although I didn't know the name of the music at the time, finding this out later gave me a sense of irony!

Later it was project machines, seventh heaven proceding to give the first opportunity for 'forcing' i.e. 3 nudges, mixed seven there, but nudge for hold on 2 blues/reds to mayby get hold and start the streak.

As for later on, as feature machines got more 'themed' simpsons or italian job were great and after tokens went, suddenly we were in an era of 'all cash'
Wow, no recycling tokens in order to try and turn £18 of tokens from a barx into a tenner, lol

Looking back at machines, how they played and the newer ones now, I often feel that perhaps the jackpots have moved up in value too fast.

Perhaps some of the simplicity of the earlier machines has been lost along the way and perhaps we need to return to basics. Oh well, mayby for another topic.......

Favourite machine has to be impulse/red alert, purely for the differnt way in which the feature could play, unlike these bloody deals, lol

Nice post.. had me thinking, of Arcadia and Screen play..they were fun to play.

Those were the ferking days!! duck shoot 2.40...now thats skill..

[logopolis]

Probably the biggest draw for me in my school days was each way nudger. The jackpot music (If I was a rich man, from fiddler on the roof) was quite appropriate and although I didn't know the name of the music at the time, finding this out later gave me a sense of irony!

I remember that music from Jet Set Willy on the ZX Spectrum. It set a scene and made the game a bit spooky.