Fruit Machine Chat

At the risk of posting for the first time in months with nothing more to say than the usual "The End of the World Is Nigh", I thought I should mark the passing of the machine in the King's Arms, Oxford. I mention it because I'm pretty sure this brings to an end an unbroken 30 year run, during which nearly every quiz machine known to man has passed through its doors, always to be found in exactly the same place right opposite the main entrance. When an absolute fixture like that disappears, you can't help thinking that the game really is up.

As a student in Oxford, this was one of the first places I played regularly, with lots of good times, and occasional awkwardnesses (most memorably, this is where I first discovered that you could collect £10 from a BarQuest and have it all paid out in 10p pieces, meaning 100 x BANG CLANK RATTLE, at the end of which the entire pub was silent and staring at me). Anybody know any other candidates for the longest-running machine site in Britain?

P.S. It's been replaced by a Pac-Man, which baffles me. Presumably it's supposed to have retro appeal, but are people really going to pay a quid a pop for something you can literally play for nothing on your phone?

I'm not a quiz machine player, but I share your pain. Everything has a shelf life and most of us have a 'safe banker' that's very long in the tooth. Logic dictates it'll be gone some day, but when that day arrives you always feel a little bit sad.

It is isn't really a quick end but very long goodbye. The pub where I first saw one, a Quizmaster around Nov 1985 has still got a Paragon. But it hasn't had one for the whole 30 years. I can think of a quite a few pubs though that were early adopters that have had them continuously until now.

oh boo whoo

Topical2009 wrote:At the risk of posting for the first time in months with nothing more to say than the usual "The End of the World Is Nigh", I thought I should mark the passing of the machine in the King's Arms, Oxford. I mention it because I'm pretty sure this brings to an end an unbroken 30 year run, during which nearly every quiz machine known to man has passed through its doors, always to be found in exactly the same place right opposite the main entrance. When an absolute fixture like that disappears, you can't help thinking that the game really is up.

As a student in Oxford, this was one of the first places I played regularly, with lots of good times, and occasional awkwardnesses (most memorably, this is where I first discovered that you could collect £10 from a BarQuest and have it all paid out in 10p pieces, meaning 100 x BANG CLANK RATTLE, at the end of which the entire pub was silent and staring at me). Anybody know any other candidates for the longest-running machine site in Britain?

P.S. It's been replaced by a Pac-Man, which baffles me. Presumably it's supposed to have retro appeal, but are people really going to pay a quid a pop for something you can literally play for nothing on your phone?

I've noticed a couple of pacmans recently too sadly

On a somewhat positive note, I went to an alehouse which had a smacker ( thing you punch for points like in a bowling alley kind of thing), an IT BOX!!! 2 good fruits and a paragon 3i (?) . Anyways, IT box dropped the 20 quid box for a raise and I hurt my hand on the smacker. Near Ruislip somewhere, dunno I was drink driving.
Oh I`m on a diet like, and the WII doesnt it nag. Cheeky little cunt thinks im fat!!!

I am not convinced it had a machine all the way through the end of the 90s / start of the 2000s, although it did definitely did have one by around 2003. Are there many machines left in Oxford centre?

Not too many on the walk from the station anymore, Spoons used to have a kudos, other Spoons round the corner had a bog standard Paragon while the Green King pub close by had an I quest, all bitten the dust on my last visit.

The Beefeater I believe still has a gamesnet although can't say I frequent Oxford a huge amount these days....oh yeah the sports bar by the Glee club still has a Paragon. I'd imagine there's still a couple lurking off the beaten track.

Bicester on the other hand 20 minutes up the road has 3-4 alone in the centre so was a goldmine visiting a few months ago. Just like old times....alas...

Oxford is now down to 2 in the centre - the Gamesnet in the Beefeater and the Paragon in Wahoo (the sports bar SoccerHQ mentions), although that one has a duff screen and commonly won't accept pound coins, but other than that it's great!

Bicester is down to 3 in the centre and none at all in the suburbs, where there has been up to 10 at various times over the last few years.

I saw my first example of that Pacman game being a direct replacement for a Paragon last night. As Topical2009 says, why would anyone pay for a simple game like that in a pub setting, when they can get it for free on their phone? Also, do you ever see anyone play those multi-game digital fruits that many pubs now have? I still see the old traditional machines getting play in most locations but it's almost never the case that anyone is playing one of the digital ones.

In the face of this inexorable fading away of something that has been a part of my life for so long, this still makes me smile - the gap between the hype and the reality of what has actually been delivered is just hilarious:

http://gwhl.co.uk/index.php?Company=New ... t=June2015

Topical2009 wrote:At the risk of posting for the first time in months with nothing more to say than the usual "The End of the World Is Nigh", I thought I should mark the passing of the machine in the King's Arms, Oxford. I mention it because I'm pretty sure this brings to an end an unbroken 30 year run, during which nearly every quiz machine known to man has passed through its doors, always to be found in exactly the same place right opposite the main entrance. When an absolute fixture like that disappears, you can't help thinking that the game really is up.

As a student in Oxford, this was one of the first places I played regularly, with lots of good times, and occasional awkwardnesses (most memorably, this is where I first discovered that you could collect £10 from a BarQuest and have it all paid out in 10p pieces, meaning 100 x BANG CLANK RATTLE, at the end of which the entire pub was silent and staring at me). Anybody know any other candidates for the longest-running machine site in Britain?

P.S. It's been replaced by a Pac-Man, which baffles me. Presumably it's supposed to have retro appeal, but are people really going to pay a quid a pop for something you can literally play for nothing on your phone?

Got a message from my mate the other night saying the end of the world is definitely now nigh. Not only has his missus run off with another guy, his new girlfriend is thinking of leaving him and he is fed up with his job, but far far worse... they have finally removed the quizzer from his local (this is nottingham) after 15 plus years. Replaced by..nothing.

Never been in the kings arms but had a google and looks like a lovely pub. also spotted this on one of the pics- guessing this is one of the iterations of the very machine you are talking about?

Not sure how anyone can still have any doubt about the future. If you look back through posts it's clear that quiz machines have been slowly and surely vanishing for 5+ years. Plenty of notice given!

Big one for me is all the new 'spoons opening....and I really don't think I've seen a new one in the last two years have a quiz machine although happy to be corrected. There are also a few 'spoons shutting......and many of them that I've visited had a quizzer last time I visited...

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/your-local-wet ... uk-1560995

Other chain pubs that are getting refurbed are also seeing them as redundant now.

Thank god for plan B....online gambling.

And in Canary Wharf, I was over at West India Quay for the first time for ages last weekend and saw that the Cat and Canary is closed (some other Fullers gastropub looks to be replacing it) and Via (which had the Gamesnet in the backroom) is now Burger and Lobster.

I didn't check the Wetherspoons, although that seems to be the final possibility....

I don't think I would go as far as to say the KA was a nice pub....

messiah wrote:
I didn't check the Wetherspoons, although that seems to be the final possibility....

It's not had one for years.
Sad to hear about the Cat and Canary which was always worth a visit.
The final final possibility is the cinema which had one in the gaming area (when I was last there nearly 3 years ago) although it's past the foyer so you'll have to factor in the cost of the ticket