K-Mart’s Arcade Emporium: Force Another Nickel In.

When our local K-Mart installed an arcade in the early 80s, it didn't realize how industrious the local kids were.

Transcript

00:00Kmart's Arcade Emporium, Force Another Nickel In.

00:03In the early 80s, the manager at our local Kmart saw dollar signs in the form of Pac-Man,

00:09Dig Dug, and the Karate Champ. He converted a little-used backroom into a video game arcade,

00:15allowing parents to follow the blue light and enjoy a sub-sandwich while we saved the universe.

00:20Instead of quarters, the machines only accepted special tokens we had to buy at fair market value.

00:27At one point, it was six tokens for a dollar.

00:30While many of us followed the rules and used the tokens to chop-sock our way through Karate Champ

00:35or blow the space invaders to smithereens, a new crop of petty criminals emerged.

00:42Someone, ahem, discovered that certain machines would also accept nickels with the right amount

00:47of enthusiasm. Instead of spending a dollar on six lousy plays, the going rate became twenty

00:53plays for a buck. Take that, Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde. Eventually, the Kmart employee stationed

01:00closest to the arcade discovered our crime ring after clearing out hundreds of nickels from the

01:05machines one night. Within a few weeks, the entire arcade was gone, along with our high

01:10scores and unused tokens. Crime may not pay, but it can rack up a lot of extra turns.