On 1986 Capcom arcade policies...

[shellshock]

Reading thru Capcom's arcade Legendary Wings' owner manual, under the Dip Switches section, I found this perturbing line I wanted to share with you guys:
"Thorough research shows that two and a half minute games both satisfy players and also keep the quarters flowing."
Followed by instructions on how to modify the dip switches to make the game harder if players spend more time at it.
Now keep in mind it was 1986, but 2:30 minutes a game?? Fuck that, man.

www.arcadedocs.com/vidmanuals/L/legendary-wings.pdf

[savagepencil]

You know why original Pac-Man is so slow? The developers were aiming at 90 seconds per quarter.

[recap]

Actually, that only was (US) propaganda for the arcade operators. Self-adjusting difficulty is there since the early years, and it's still present (Cave arcade games, for instance). If the game is well designed, no matter how hard it gets, a good player should be able to beat it with one credit. Of course, after lot of practice.

[Sac (a.k.a Icaras)]

If a game was that short and ultra hard, only a fool would be pumping in the cash constantly, and fools generally don't tend to have money.

[ed]

Sac, there's something about a challenge that makes it interesting. I'm lucky to stay alive for more than 2:30 in most any of the arcade games I play regularly (save maybe the intro to many Toaplan shooters), because I'm hard.

But I suppose I fit the rest of the bill. Fool, yeah; no money (on account of using it to buy classic games), yes.

Recap: What self-adjusting difficulty? Back in 1986 limited continues were still the standard in non-puzzle arcade games, for one. Everything was hard-wired with a few options that could be diddled with via DIP switches.