Talk:Stacker (game)
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[edit] Old comments
Cannot post response form LAI due to confidentiality notice in email :( —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.197.163.59 (talk) 21:26, 19 October 2007 (UTC)
Have just emailed LAI and asked them to go to the talk page for this article and weigh in. I see they have a response below but thought more detail might be good and that they could be helpful in forming this article as they designed the game. I will place the in need of expert template on page if i can find it, otherwise could someone else please place this? Thanks! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.197.163.59 (talk) 04:04, 19 October 2007 (UTC)
[edit] 100% Skill Based
I work with a bunch of arcade machines at my job, and yes you CAN change the DIFFICULTY on these machines, however they are not RIGGABLE, in other words, they do not just give out prizes automatically after 800 attempts. The manual states that the difficulty rates increase the movement of the blocks. LAI games estimates that on the hardest difficulty, about 1 in 800 players will win the prize. This is an estimate, it is not hard coded into the machines. If this were the case, there would be chance involved and they might be illegal in any number of states.
Excerpt from the owner's manual that can be found here.
Concerning the difficulty level setting:
"This option sets the Skill level for players to reach the Major Prize level, as listed in the table below. As this is a skill game the win rate is only the approximate rate for each difficulty setting."
I would like to know where the author of the "Probability of Winning" section even got their information from, it's probably just someone's assumption after losing generous wads of cash to a Stacker machine.
24.177.57.146 23:37, 17 September 2007 (UTC)
- We won two prizes worth $350 US in 16 tries on two different machines. We tried a third machine, no luck after 60 tries. The person who played was awesome, playing the last line at least 18 times in those 60. I swear, it jumps. I wish we could video tape it at 60-120 fps, the input and the blocks, and see how accurate and fair the machine is. I can deal with it cheating, if it didn't say it was a 100% skill game.
There has to be someone out there who could build a robotic response that would hit the button exactly at the right time. Never ever could someone win a major prize no matter how accurate they are. I saw the machine in action 76 times, and it would seem that its NOT skill based. And it did not take me for wads of cash, I walked out with $350 worth of prizes playing $90.00 into it. --Cngodles (talk) 06:58, 26 May 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Has anyone...
Has anyone actually won a major prize? What are the reflex response time skill requirements? 69.84.127.200 10:10, 3 May 2006 (UTC)
My Theatre just got it in, and I blew 15 bucks on it. I got to the -last- block about twice every three times I've played it. Someone -has- won a major prize off it, and he won it first time playing. My best bet is that, 799 out of 800 times, you have to get it -exactly- on the computer clock's cycle in order to win. that one time allows for some leeway. They do this so the game's not considered "rigged" (Hah, it's rigged all right!) and that it's considered "winnable", assuming you have the proper (albeit impossible for a human) reflexes. -VgWizard14@yahooNOSPAM.com
In 8 tries, I won a Nintendo DS off of one of these. I may have just been lucky, but I consider myself to have fairly good reflexes...
I did notice on the last row, though, that it did seem to "cheat" a little bit. I stopped the block earlier than I normally would have, though, and I won. So I don't know. -ChewyLSB 20:51, 26 June 2006 (UTC)
just too add, recently i saw somebody win the major prize after 2 tries, and fails again on the 2rd. maybe try hitting it "before" the sweet spot instead on at that moment. 125.212.52.10 03:55, 19 January 2007 (UTC)
I try that all the time, it never works. Lesser Shadow 04:34, 7 October 2007 (UTC)
[edit] This article has become full of POV and needs to be edited
I saw a product brochure for Stacker online on the website for LAI Games that said that operators can change the skill level to be from very easy (approx. 1 in 20 tries), to easy (app. 1 in 50 tries), to medium (approx. 1 in 100 tries) etc all the way up to 1 in 800. BUT it said those amounts of plays per win are approximate because it is a game of skill. I think when the odds are 1 out of 800 (approximately) it probably isn't much of a game of skill anymore.
I am itching to play this game but there aren't any around me locally! I suspect that if you play one with cheap prizes a few tries of stopping the block ahead of time should work. I've seen a lot of people online talking about winning them.
Imerson 23:05, 6 August 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Stacker Online
Well since it's a game of 'skill'; I'd like to find an online version so I can get all practiced then rock up to the arcade and clean up!... reckon I've got a chance?
Actually does anyone know of an online version?
thanks
It would be better to get a rom dump of the game and run it on some thing like mame Joe The Dragon 00:43, 3 December 2006 (UTC)
^^^^^ Dude i was just thining about that. Ive played it six time and got all the way to the last one. Its freaking fun, so dont bring to much $$$.
For anyone who wants to practice stacker go to www.addictinggames.com and search "skill stack" the game is similar to actual stacker.
Im just here to say that you can also play stacker on www.stupidgames.com —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.187.190.164 (talk) 01:39, 13 March 2008 (UTC)
[edit] YouTube Video of Someone winning a Wii on a Stacker game
I saw this on Digg a few minutes ago. The video starts just after the guy won while he's picking out his prize.
I figured it may be of use for this Wiki.
WARNING: The video contains profanity as the winner's friends are pretty excited over the win.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puT64gjbgmc —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.77.71.81 (talk) 00:08, 3 April 2007 (UTC).
- Saw it like five minutes ago...came to this page to read more. =) Jumping cheese Cont@ct 04:42, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
[edit] I won a DVD player
I played at a machine and managed to win a £90 (I'm in the UK) Logik portable DVD player. I was with all my friends, who had all together spent quite a lot of money on the machines individually (over time). Apart from the look on their faces, I did notice that the light moved too fast for reflexes afterwards. I agree with many posters above - it seemed to be on a very high difficulty level and was almost impossible (maybe it was impossible) to catch that last light. I don't believe I could have got that light as it was too quick, so I think it went easy on me when I won for some reason. It was just too difficult to repeat, so I wouldn't be sure if it's a game of skill.
I'd say it's more a game of waiting for 800 players to lose first, and then getting one chance to win, but that's my own opinion. Anyway, just in case it helps this page, someone posted a Youtube video with a slow-motion camera on the final light. You can see it jump. Also, it shows that another game called the 'Flaming Finger' is fixed too - with the countdown speeding up towards the end.
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djloVB22r5Y
Its all skill and using the flaws of the game to your advantage. I won an Xbox 360 wireless controller and a quick charge battery kit. I took me about 8 tries so spent $8 to get an $80 prize which is not to bad. I drew a crowd because I kept getting so close after I won the prize. It takes alot of concentration because the levels vary in speed the major prize row is way easier than the row right before it which is really fast. On each play I got past the minor prize level. The biggest key is not to miss early on and try not to play down the center when you get to just one block but just off center by one or two blocks. This will allow you to have enough extra time to respond and hit your mark. I didnt see a time limit so be patient between each level. I plan on hitting up the machine when they refill it and then I am gonna clean it out. Im also really good at the game with the drill and the circle tubes.
- "the major prize row is way easier than the row right before it which is really fast"... What? The top row is way faster in all the ones I've played. (But, then, I also seem to remember a time limit...) Caswin 16:46, 23 July 2007 (UTC)
- There is a time limit. It appears in the 4-digit display while the game is running. It resets with each row, and the default is 30 seconds, so you have a lot of time to wait. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.200.75.213 (talk) 07:29, August 20, 2007 (UTC)
[edit] It is indeed rigged
I work in an arcade that has 4 of these games (and a similar game, Lighthouse). It is most definitely rigged. The operator can set the game to not let anyone win anywhere from 10-800 games (after 30 or so, it jumps up by 10, so you can't have it set to, say, 798). The company states that you still can win without this bonus (albeit not very easily), but it has never happened to our machines in 3 years. If this is true, it is likely as someone above stated, and only possible on 1 clock cycle. Operators can buy upgrade chips to let them set it to up to 1200 games. Once the limit hits and someone wins, it resets. This allows operators to gain more than 1200-games worth of money by (when it nears the limit) resetting it to 10 games, playing via free service credits until they win, then resetting back to 1200. So basically this lets the machine gain $2400 (assuming 1 credit = $1) before letting someone win. This is not stated anywhere in the manual, but it is true as we constantly do it.
Just to note, it is the top row that will either jump or stay at the preceding block, depending on the timing of your hit. On some newer machines (the blue ones, not the white/red ones), the minor prize row is also rigged, but it's hardcoded to win 1 out of every 2-4 times.
There is also a giant stacker which I is programmable up to 1600 (and 2400 by upgrade, I think) games.
If you can ever get access to inside the coin door, push the red test button until the display has all "P"s on the display, then use the green service button to scroll to "P 13". Wait a second and you'll see the display change to the minimum game limit. Pushing the start/stop button will increase this value (resetting to 10 when you reach the maximum). —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.200.75.213 (talk)
[edit] Not a game of Skill
If you notice, nowhere on the unit, ANYWHERE, does it say that it is a game of skill. There is a reason for that if you think about it.
Twice yesterday I got to the top and the last block clearly hesitated, then jumped to the side, right when I had the feel the timing was spot on. Even the folks watching saw it.
It should say on the unit what the minimum payout/chance of win is, just like a standard arcade machine. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Alistairgd (talk • contribs) 21:35, 30 September 2007 (UTC)
[edit] It IS a game of skill - Official Reply
I e-mail laigames and they actually replied. I asked if Stacker was a game of skill.
"Thanks for your e-mail.
We are the manufacturer of the game but not the Operator.
Stacker is a game of skill were every game played can be a winning game, however the Operator of the game has 10 difficulty adjustments available to make the game harder or easier depending on the value of the Prize he is using.
Hope this helps.
Regards
Alan Freimuth
General Manager "
Personally I would dispute the "every game played can be a winning game" statement from my own experience, but kind of hard to prove. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Alistairgd (talk • contribs) 16:09, 1 October 2007 (UTC)
- I am the author of the above segment, "It is indeed rigged". We have all our machines on the easiest setting, and as I said before, never in 3 years has any of them ever given it out before the time is up (we consistently make ~$2400 or ~$3600 on each machine before we "let it hit" and it has never failed). If it is indeed possible to win, it is far more difficult than the difficulty setting suggests. The difficulty setting seems to only affect the speed at which the blocks move, and does nothing to affect the chances of winning the major prize.12.202.178.66 (talk) 05:32, 11 April 2008 (UTC)
[edit] We need emulation of this game or a lot of time with real one with you being able to change the setting to do some real testing to see if it is true skill.
This game seam to act a lot like a fruit machines that do employ fraudulent techniques to hit there payout targets and they do have stop the light modes that are said to be skill but they some times skip the light a round when or stop it later then when you hit the button to stop it other redemption games seem to work in the same way and very few have had there roms dumped and even less have some emulation of them done.
http://www.fairplay-campaign.co.uk/fruit/index.htm
http://www.excellentcontent.com/emuzone/ez132.htm
[edit] A System
I won a Wii today playing on a Stacker machine in Clacton, England. It cost me £30, but that has to be set against the cost of a £180 console! During my many attempts, I came up with a strategy to maximise the chances of winning as follows:
1) Find a machine in a quiet arcade (such as during the daytime), that has sound effects (you'll see how important this is in a second).
2) Stack up your boxes up against the far left-hand or right-hand side of the screen.
3) You'll notice that there is a distinctive sound effect whenever the box reaches the end of a row, similar to a drum kit cymbal crash.
4) Now this is the important bit: once you're down to one box only, time your button presses to when you're EXPECTING the sound effect, as opposed to just using the visual cue of seeing the box in the correct position. If you're a musician/instrument player, this should come instinctively; it's almost analogous to playing on the correct 'beat'.
You'll find that by using the above strategy, you'll reach the penultimate row far more often than you would do otherwise. Whether you complete the last row will of course depend on the machine's difficulty settings (there are at least 10 of them), depending on the payout ratio the arcade owner wants. However, by again using the strategy for this row, you'll maximise your chances of striking it 'lucky' far more often than the arcade might want you to otherwise.
Hope this helps. Good luck everybody.... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.31.72.217 (talk) 01:21, 9 February 2008 (UTC)
