We all love our vids and pins.  And for those of us that repair and/or restore older games, most of us are proud in what we have done to return them working again and bring them back to their former glory.  And we might like the idea of sharing them with others at an event like Free Play Florida (FPF) where we can proudly display our games to others and let them enjoy them as much we we do.  But if you are gonna contribute games to a Free Play event, there are some things to keep in mind.

(Note: I am strictly speaking for myself here, and not as anyone that is affiliated with FPF.  These are my own opinions and experiences.)

First and foremost — Free Play events are just that: Free Play events.   And people buy tickets, passes, etc. for these events so that they can actually play the games.  So how about making sure that your game is playable without needing to open the door and manually coin up the game or press the service switch (more on why I think that is a really bad idea below).  So if you bring a game to an event, please make sure that either:

1. It really is in Free Play mode, and if it is a game that has dynamic configuration (via a menu) that is normally saved by a battery or in NVRAM, make sure that the Free Play setting persists even after the game is turned off overnight and turned back on in the morning.
2. It has an obvious, external way to credit the game (and make sure it really is pretty damn obvious) if your game does not actually have a free play mode.  Go and double-check the manual, just to be sure, or maybe take the time to install some free play ROMs  if they are available.

If your game does need a credit switch, note that this might require drilling a hole, putting a switch behind the coin return, or even dangling a microswitch inside the coin return.  But please DO SOMETHING!  And no, simply dropping by the event twice a day to open the game up and throw some credits into it does not count as we still end up with things like this:

That second point needs to be repeated, because there was once a beautiful Gorf game at a FPF event a few years ago that was in perfect condition.  Screen was nice and bright, controls were not sloppy, lights in the joystick and player ranking table looked like they were all working correctly, sound was crystal clear… but the credit button was the underside of the control panel where it was completely out of sight, and there were no signs or labels on the game indicating the location of the button:

So the game just sat there taunting players  to battle the Gorfian Empire, but was unplayable for most of the event, and that is not what customers are paying for.

For the majority of the games that were brought, not being able to credit and play some of them was the biggest issue.  But that was not the only problem.  Some other ones included games that, IMHO, had no business being on the floor in the first place.  So with that in mind, a few more things.

Only bring fully working games!  This is not a place to try to dump and sell your trash.  At the most recent FPF I went to, there was a Dig Dug on the floor that was missing its monitor chassis (as well as its back door)!  It was inoperable for the entire event.

There was also a Robotron that not only had to be credited manually by opening the door, but the start buttons did not respond – yielding another unplayable game!  A House of the Dead 2 game badly needed recalibration.

Please take the time to play the game both before you transport it and after it is placed on the floor.  Oh, and that Robotron?  The next day its start buttons worked, but it would not fire to the right!  C’mon, people… at least do a basic play test.

There was a Bally Rapid Fire “pinball” game there, which is a really fun game to play, but often had no credits on it (see above), and would not allow the player to easily aim the guns to the right.  The displays were also having trouble and were scanning at a slow enough rate that you could see each digit light up one at a time.

Please keep your game safe and secure.  This brings me to why I do not like unsecured coin doors or worse yet, unsecured or open backs.  While it is kinda fun for the civvies to be able to open a coin door and credit a game themselves (remember the first time you did it?), imagine a scenario where a curious child has their hands inside the coin door and is just fascinated with everything and is touching all the metal parts when their parent shouts out: “Cindy!  Get outta there!” and the child snatches their hand out and cuts or scrapes themselves on some exposed metal part.  Now the event organizers have to deal with blood, a hurt kid, and possibly angry parents.  Yeah, great idea leaving your coin door unsecured!

With pinball machines, the lever that secures the lockdown bar is just one more thing someone can cut themselves on, and on older ones that do not have the safety switches on them, you only have to go about half of an arm’s length into the machine to be exposed to (flipper) solenoid voltages that can give someone a pretty painful bite.

Or how about an exposed back door where some kid might go behind when no one is watching and start touching wires, boards, power supplies, AC line filters, a neck board, anode cup, etc.  Or someone decides to place their half-finished drink or food in your game because they cannot be bothered to find a nearby trash can.  (Yes, I have actually seen that happen.)

If you have a more modern game that has a power switch on the inside of the door, what if someone just turns the game off and walks away, leaving other patrons to believe that your game is just out of order?

If you do wire up a credit button, be sure to wire it to the Service Switch if your game has one.   This will help ensure any games that time coin signals (some Taito games, Burgertime, etc.) will coin-up correctly and be playable.

Lastly, PLEASE leave a working copy of all game keys with the staff and give the staff permission to reconfigure and/or service your game if necessary.  Like if it lost its free play configuration on the second day of the event.  Or a gun game needs recalibration.  Or a button/switch becomes disconnected in the control panel.  Please allow them to do what they need to do to make a Free Play event an actual Free Play event!