Scott S.
Yelp
I'm essentially never going back to this place. My first time visiting this arcade was less than a year ago, and I had no expectations going into it. The staff were friendly and polite, and the arcade itself felt very clean and more sizable than I thought it'd be. I purchased a $50 game card to sample most of the games in the arcade, and the credits definitely went a long way. The pinball is what surprised me the most, because I got hooked on it easily (especially the Munsters table!). However, my enjoyment was cut off immediately after winning the jackpot on Crossy Road. This game is at many arcades I've been to in the past, so I'm of course very familiar with it. It took me at least 6 or 7 attempts to earn a high enough score for the jackpot, which was very exciting and also relieving. While my tickets are counting, the owner walks up behind me and gives me this very concerned look. Thinking he was going to congratulate me, I was instead met with a rude, stern, and drawn-out rant regarding "the way I'm playing the game."
This conversation between the owner and I basically consisted of him telling me that I "know what I'm doing" and that the prizes you can redeem have "significant value." He even went as far as telling me how much the machine costs while comparing it to me being able to play it at no cost (which makes no sense because I literally paid for credits to play). Yes, I get it that there are people who exploit these games to earn easy tickets, but the arcade operator can manually set the payouts/rates for these games. To me it totally seems like there's a lack of understanding when it comes to the owner managing these games' jackpots. Maybe if the jackpot for Crossy Road was harder to get, then I wouldn't have even played it to begin with! If that's what the owner wants, then he needs to figure out how to stop people from winning since it's causing him to talk down to customers for simply enjoying these arcade games.
It really sucks because things seemed to be going well at this place up until I won one game's jackpot. I was straight up shamed in front of random people lurking in the arcade because I challenged myself to win at an arcade game, the way it's intended to be played. It's virtually unheard of to get kicked out from an arcade for winning a jackpot, because that's what games that give out tickets are for!
As an added detail to my post-jackpot convo with the owner earlier, he told me that if I wanted to keep winning games that'll payout tickets like this, I'll need to "go downstairs" which is his way of referring to the Round1 that is located downstairs at the Burbank Town Center near the food court. Yes, makes perfect sense to tell your customers to go spend their money at another arcade. P.S. Round1 does offer a much wider game selection, especially in the rhythm game department. However, All Amusement does have a StepManiaX machine if you're into dance games.