I choose really a simply machine to analize. Electronic claw arcade game also known as claw crane. This machine invite people to play with it. Once the coin is inside of it, you have 30 seconds to grab one of the items shown in the showcase with the help of a mechanical claw. If you win you will get a “valuable” object otherwise you will just lose your money.
The components of this arcade are: clear case, time display, button to grab, joystick, claw in a XY car and awards.
The clear cubed case allows users to get a notion of spaciality and use the joystick in order to move the car and the claw to any desire point in the highest plane of the case. Once the user decided it is the correct location, he/she press the button which triggers the claw to get down and close. The claw is always gonna return to its initial position and then open. If you grab something you will have it through a dispenser in the lower part of the machine.
Users tend to see the position of the objects and the claw on the X and Z axes (ground axes) in order to align them and get better chances. Besides, it is really common to try first with the higher objects, which are closer and more free.
It is important to point this sort of machines are well known worldwide which means the learning curve in every play is short no matter how different the design is. However, every configuration differs from each other, which can be make the task easier or not. In order to grab anything there are many variables to consider information about several features from position, weight to torque which this machine is not giving out. This could be seen as an example of a machine that gives a really little feedback to its users which is the whole idea. Let’s imagine a claw crane with extraodinary feedback capabilities. In that case, this machine would deliver information about the position, claw strength and aperture, the motion speed, the pick up strength, object’s size, weight and so on. This task would be as intuitive as grab something with our bare hands, which means everyone will win in a game without difficulty level. Bad deal!
This machine has low interactivity on purpose to challenge their users in order to get money. Almost as a Casino where the variables are many and the users feel more lucky than the faith. Win in those cases is possible, but really difficult.