Ludde Nordenskjöld
Insert Coin: The Rise and Fall of Arcade Games in Sweden is the story of the foundation of the Swedish computer wonder. About entrepreneurship, gaming culture and moral panic. Around the turn of the millennium, arcade and pinball games began to disappear from billiard halls, cafes and restaurants around the country. At the same time, Svenska Spel's Jack Vegas slot machines became an increasingly common sight. A common perception is that the console games had caught up technically and that the arcade games thus played their role. But could it really have been that simple?
Insert Coin is both a nostalgic flashback and an interesting contemporary story. Here we meet the exhibitors, general agents, players and authorities, and experience the games and places again. Key people in the industry share experiences that stretch from the 1940s to the present day. Before the first screened slot machines were introduced in the early 1970s, the market consisted mainly of jukeboxes, slot machines and pinball games. But soon the arcade games were basically everywhere: in shopping malls, fast food restaurants and tobacconists. During the golden age, cash flow was so large that it was not uncommon for banks to call vending machine companies when they needed a change. Here is the story of how a Swedish company in practice saved the American gaming giant Atari during their first, trembling year. Players and collectors remember the games and the halls where they met. The infamous gaming hall Alexander Lucas in Stockholm is under scrutiny. The place was accused of everything from getting young people to drop out of school and break into department stores, to provoking child prostitution. The result was a new law in the early 1980s that would have a devastating effect on the industry, a law that still lives on today.
From being one of the world-leading countries in arcade games, Sweden became one of the leading computer game-producing countries. The seed was sown in dark rooms behind levers and buttons. For the first time, here is the story of the rise and fall of arcade games in Sweden. What are the motives behind the maintenance of the relatively strict rules, despite the fact that society's view of computer and video games has changed markedly over the past thirty-five years? up an authentic picture of an era that lasted for just over a quarter of a century.
PUBLICATION DETAILS
SWEDISH (PAPERBACK) ISBN: 9789188369017 Year: 2017 Pages: 204