Walking through Westfield Montgomery Mall, the bright colors and flashing lights of a claw machine arcade pull customers in immediately. Inside, machines line the walls and fill the interior of the store, along with racks filled with plushies and toys available for purchase.
As claw machines continue to advance technologically, so do their locations. While each claw machine has its own theme and prizes, the machines are often heavily influenced by the location in which they reside. Machines in Tokyo not only include plushies and a variety of toys as prizes, but also include some of Japan’s most popular snacks, TV shows and movie figurines and action characters. Certain machines feature specific Japanese gadgets, technology and more, according to LeonAmusment.
The neon yellow and pink LED lights welcomed us to Kako Claw at Montgomery Mall before we even stepped inside. The lights on the store and the modern technology on the machines clearly draw people in and are definitely a way to get customers to want to continue playing.
Claw machines originated in the United States and started as an activity at carnivals and fairs. In the 1970s and 1980s, their popularity grew and they began appearing in places such as arcades, bowling alleys, movie theaters and shopping malls. Recently, “Clawcades” have started appearing everywhere. These are arcades filled solely with claw machines. According to Today, the excitement around these arcade machines has had customers lining up outside the doors of stores in Las Vegas and Minnesota
TikTok and social media platforms have played a major role in the rise of this trend. Many videos feature hacks for winning the best prizes and satisfying wins. These videos encourage people to try claw machines out for themselves, attracting more customers to “Clawcades”.
Companies have made significant changes to make these spaces more appealing and to have them fit current-day trends. They now use advanced technology, called smart systems which control the level of difficulty for each machine, they offer memberships and provide higher-end prizes, such as life-size plsuhies that make winning feel special.
In the store, one token was equivalent to one dollar. However, if one bought 55 tokens, they would receive a 10 percent discount, and 120 tokens would give one a 20 percent discount. Although we were not successful in winning any prizes from the 5 machines we played, a handful of other customers were able to win prizes from various machines. The machine’s prizes included varieties of stuffed animals and plushies, relating to the themes of the various machines. Many themes were based on the plushies within them, such as Hello Kitty, bunnies, Sonic the Hedgehog, etc.
Kako Klaw was a unique experience compared to what we are used to when going into arcades, as this was filled with solely claw machines, and no other arcade games.
As we walked out of Kako Klaw, the bright lights continued flashing, drawing in more customers. We enjoyed our time in the store, and it made for a fun and unique experience. We would recommend taking a trip to the Westfield Montgomery Mall to visit Kako Klaw for an entertaining day.
