Tokens or Quarters

[pinballwizard79]

I know many of you have coin buttons on your control panel but for those who use their coin door do you prefer quarters or tokens?

[Blanka]

I prefer the biggest coins. 2 Euro, 2 Dollars, 5 DMark. They give the best sound, and deliver good money from your friends  
You can also hook up an app that allows 10 games from 1 coin.

[Thenasty]

mine mech accpets Pennies, Dimes, Nickle, Quarters, Dollar Coin, Tokens (any size) and  if you are just out of coins or tokens, use a SLUG (yea thats works too)  .

Basically, anything fits in the HOLE, its good 

[DirtyDachshunds]

I prefer quarters.  As a kid, the arcades I went to took quarters not tokens.

[ntk]

I bought this

http://cgi.ebay.com/CH-Top-Entry-CPU-Coin-Acceptor-Selector-Mechanism-/250593764717?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a588d656d

You can change the coin whenever you want, It accepts any type of coin, you just have to put one coin in it and from then on he would only accepts this coin, this fits the HAPP door, but I had to cut a piece of the frame so i can close thr door

[pmc]

I modded my slots to take both. I primarily use tokens, but there are quarters in the bucket too. Kids don't steal the tokens.

[Frigo]

"One thing and one thing only: Quarters! A million allowances worth of quarters! No slugs or tokens."

[Q*Bert_OP]

Quarters! There's enough of them spread between my games and change machine to buy a mid range DMD pin...I could always cash them in if I wanted to...tokens on the other hand...

[Mikezilla]

Quarters for life!!! Tokens are weaksauce.

[romshark]

Quarters for me. I've got over $100 in a small container near my machine. And if I need to, they work in the real arcade at the beach. I can also use them if I need some quick cash.

[pinballwizard79]

My over/under coin door arrived from Happ today (with 2 quarter mechs installed standard). I have to say it sounds so damn good & "real" to hear that coin travel its path & then make a "ting" in the bucket.

[Ginsu Victim]

Quarters, though I did rig up the coin rejects to give credit as well.

[Ed_McCarron]

Tokens.  As a bonus, I can take them to Chuck E. Cheese and use 'em.

[DaveMMR]

Prefer quarters but typically use tokens (my mechs can accommodate either).

[Vigo]

If you plan on having friends come over, get a bill validator installed 

I have to go with quarters. It turns my machine into a piggy bank for a rainy day fund. I might be persuaded to get some tokens from Santoro if I ever get myself set up with more than one machine.

[Gray_Area]

I vote for free play.

[AlienInferno]

I'm not anywhere close to having a cab finished but I am planning on using working coin doors and going with tokens.  All the places I ever remember going to have used tokens.  Plus I really like the look of the BYOAC tokens.  You could always get a change machine that spits out tokens to use as a piggybank.

[Frigo]

I'm not anywhere close to having a cab finished but I am planning on using working coin doors and going with tokens.  All the places I ever remember going to have used tokens.  Plus I really like the look of the BYOAC tokens.  You could always get a change machine that spits out tokens to use as a piggybank.

I guess that makes sense. Plus, your friends can't go to another friend's house and use your tokens there...

[yotsuya]

Speaking of BYOAC tokens, what's the status on the 2011 ones? Anyone heard?

[Vulgar Soul]

I'm not anywhere close to having a cab finished but I am planning on using working coin doors and going with tokens.  All the places I ever remember going to have used tokens.  Plus I really like the look of the BYOAC tokens.  You could always get a change machine that spits out tokens to use as a piggybank.

In the same boat as you. Plan to to use custom tokens and modify my mechs for tokens and quarters. Until a software or MAME add-on is put out there that can limit the amount of credits used at one time, than a "free credit" button is not for me. I'm takin it back, old school. Put in your own physical credit, play with those credits on the line, lose, get the hell off.

Just curious, for all the people who prefer quarters, do y'all have a big collection of quarters that you pass out to people who want to play (must be some real trusty people), or do you restrict play on your cab unless people go up to it and pay the change out their pocket? Cus that's REAL strict, but I gotta respect the purity there.

[pinballwizard79]

Just curious, for all the people who prefer quarters, do y'all have a big collection of quarters that you pass out to people who want to play (must be some real trusty people), or do you restrict play on your cab unless people go up to it and pay the change out their pocket? Cus that's REAL strict, but I gotta respect the purity there.

I previously had glowing poker buttons with fake $0.25 inserts printed on transparents (buttons superglued to my old coin door where the reject buttons previously were).

My plan now is to have a bucket of quarters for all to use

No one would dare steal from me, I am 6ft 2, 250lbs & I smell like gunpowder 

[Frigo]

Just curious, for all the people who prefer quarters, do y'all have a big collection of quarters that you pass out to people who want to play (must be some real trusty people), or do you restrict play on your cab unless people go up to it and pay the change out their pocket? Cus that's REAL strict, but I gotta respect the purity there.

I previously had glowing poker buttons with fake $0.25 inserts printed on transparents (buttons superglued to my old coin door where the reject buttons previously were).

My plan now is to have a bucket of quarters for all to use

No one would dare steal from me, I am 6ft 2, 250lbs & I smell like gunpowder 

Do you do children's parties?

[pinballwizard79]

Children are evil creatures that I do not associate with.

[Ed_McCarron]

Children are evil creatures that I do not associate with.

Stay out of P&R.

[pinballwizard79]

Children are evil creatures that I do not associate with.

Stay out of P&R.

Stop quoting me

[chiLLbiLLy]

I vote for quarters.  I've been in tons of arcades over the years, pretty much since the dawn of time, that have used both quarters and tokens, but for whatever reason I have always preferred quarters...probably has something to do with the fact that I've always liked collecting old coins and currency, since back when I was nothing but a tiny paramecium.   

[pmc]

I vote for free play.

No way. Part of the arcade experience (for me anyway) is when you've got 3 frantic seconds to fetch another quarter to continue your game. Hitting a free-play button changes that dynamic completely.

I also need the sound of the coin traversing the mech and plink-plunking into the coin box.

I had free-play buttons on CP originally, but they came off for the reasons above.

Mozee: I use a plastic casino coin bucket full of quarters and tokens and it sits next to the cabinet. I don't ask guests to pay out of their pocket. Sometimes you have to dive for the bucket when Warrior needs food badly...

[Vulgar Soul]

I vote for free play.

No way. Part of the arcade experience (for me anyway) is when you've got 3 frantic seconds to fetch another quarter to continue your game. Hitting a free-play button changes that dynamic completely.

I also need the sound of the coin traversing the mech and plink-plunking into the coin box.

I had free-play buttons on CP originally, but they came off for the reasons above.

Mozee: I use a plastic casino coin bucket full of quarters and tokens and it sits next to the cabinet. I don't ask guests to pay out of their pocket. Sometimes you have to dive for the bucket when Warrior needs food badly...

Agreed. Not that a cab can't still be fun and amazing with or without currency, but c'mon, the quarters/tokens/credits, "survival" and scoring element was an inseparable part of the arcade experience for me. Letting people play with no sort of limited credits on the line takes away one of the most important parts of the arcades. Where's the fun and challenge if people can just keep continuing with nothing to lose? It's playing Poker with no chips.

Especially if you plan on putting your cab in a guest room environment with house parties and things in mind like I have planned, free credits is just asking for trouble. No doubt some people will abuse it and just won't get up lol. Just the thought of some idiot punchin in 100 credits, playing from start to finish with unlimited lives, and making a complete joke out of some of my favorite and most challenging games makes me cringe.

And hey, of course just the sound of the coin traveling through the mech, clicking the switch, and dropping into the box. Jingling and shuffling your coins waiting for your turn at the cab. The rush you get trying to get as far as you can with just two or four coins in your pocket. Desperately digging in your coat, jacket, jeans for another credit while the continue screen starts counting down. The motivation of doing better next time when you run out of your coins.

Aaaaah the joy of the arcades. You can't recreate that with a free credit button lol. Once again, it's like Poker with a nice deck of chips in front you. Even if its purely aesthetic, there's just no substitute. It doesn't feel right without it.

[JohnEDollar]

Aaaaah the joy of the arcades. You can't recreate that with a free credit button ... there's just no substitute. It doesn't feel right without it.

+1 to that Mozii! 

[SammyWI]

I vote for free play.

No way. Part of the arcade experience (for me anyway) is when you've got 3 frantic seconds to fetch another quarter to continue your game. Hitting a free-play button changes that dynamic completely.
...

Sorry, but this just made me smile.  In my day (I know, I'm old  ), there was no such thing as a 'continue'!

For me, it was always a dream to be able to play arcade games as much as I wanted.  Now with coin buttons, I can live that dream.

I may end up adding a coin door and wiring things in parallel with the free play buttons just to get that nostalgia and nice 'clink' sound.  But coins buttons are the primary for me and I love them.

ETA: For the original question: tokens for me.  Quarters were used in the one or two machines you'd find in a pizza joint or something.  Tokens (to me) always meant that I was in an actual, dedicated arcade.

[nitz]

I vote quarters. It's what I preferred in the arcade because I liked being able to just walk in and play without having to stop at a token machine first. Also, if I had to leave and still had tokens left, then I've got them taking up space in my wallet until next time which I found slightly annoying.

Prefer them with a mame cab also because I can always take them and spend them if I feel I have too many, and I can always easily get more if I feel I don't have enough.

[Fursphere]

I'm surprised nobody has said credit card / check card swipe.... 

I haven't carried cash in years.  Cash is more inconvient than tokens at this point IMO.

[keefyboy]

Right now I'm using the 5-cent-sized pachi-slot tokens. Got a ton of them dirt cheap. I *was* having to use 100-yen coins, but I do not trust people enough to leave 100+ 100-yen coins laying about.

Had a party last night and everyone seemed to love having to insert tokens. It really gave it an authentic feel.

I might modify the coin mech to accept US-sized tokens in the future.

[Silas (son of Silas)]

I specifically went out of my way to build my cab so that it accepted quarters because that's what I grew up with.

The only down side to that is I only have $20 in quarters and getting hold of them in the UK is harder than you would think. Currency exchanges don't carry coins, only notes.

[Hituro]

"One thing and one thing only: Quarters! A million allowances worth of quarters! No slugs or tokens."

lol thank you, this made my day 

[Gray_Area]

No one would dare steal from me, I am 6ft 2, 250lbs & I smell like gunpowder 

You should know better than to show your hand.

[ArcadeNerd]

I'm surprised there aren't more token users in here.  I have all of the custom tokens offered here from Santoro and love them.  Now it's getting to be quite a nice bucket.  Sure, most of the arcades I frequented when I was a kid used quarters but they aren't as cool as tokens.  Tokens have a certain wow factor when people see them in my arcade.

[missioncontrol]

I'm surprised nobody has said credit card / check card swipe....  

I haven't carried cash in years.  Cash is more inconvient than tokens at this point IMO.

An arcade here in town has cards you can buy to swipe for games, these totally blow not only do you miss out on the sound of the token/quarter going through the mechs, it just doesn't feel right. The redemption games don't even spit out tickets as they are now added to your card.


here's my token bucket:

[Vigo]

swipe cards totally kills the pure joy of an arcade, although a good argument can be made that dumping in 6 quarters for 1 play of a modern arcade game is an equal joy kill.

Funny thing is, I noticed the same problem in Casino slot machines as well. I don't gamble much, but without a possible payout of a vast pile of quarters, it makes me want to go to a Casino even less.

I guess I have primitive joys: colorful lights, fun sounds, and shiny objects.

[DirtyDachshunds]

I guess I have primitive joys: colorful lights, fun sounds, and shiny objects.

no boobies?