Anyone who has played a claw machine
玩过夹娃娃机的人
can relate to the experience of having the claw perfectly positioned
都有过这种体验：你明明准确地定位了抓手
only to see it weakly graze the prize before pulling back up.
结果却只能眼睁睁地看着它松松垮垮地夹住了娃娃
No Man!
不要啊
It may seem like the machine isn't even trying.
就好像它根本就不想把它抓起来似的
And well...It is not your imagination, those claw machines are rigged!
好吧……这不是你凭空想象出来的，那些娃娃机确实被做了手脚！
There are a couple of beloved stuffed animals that I have
我有几个可爱的毛绒玩具
that are from a claw machine, a koala and a bear.
都是抓娃娃抓来的，其中有一个考拉，还有一只熊
That is Vox.com writer, Phil Edwards.
这位是Vox.com的编辑Phil Edwards
I looked at the instruction guides for a few of the biggest claw games out there.
我看过几个关于最大的那种娃娃机的说明书
Take for example, the manual for Black Tie Toys advanced crane machine.
就拿《黑色领结》娃娃机的操作指南来说
If you look at page 8, section "Setting up Claw Strength"
翻到第八页“设置抓手力量”一节
you will see a horrifying piece of information.
你就能看到一条令人震惊的内容
Managing profit is made easy.
利润管理简直就是小菜一碟
Simply input the coin value, the average value of the merchandise, and the profit level.
只要输入硬币的面额，商品的平均价格以及收益水平
The machine will automatically calculate when to send full strength to the claw.
机器就能自动计算出输出最大抓力的时间
Alright, so if it cost 50 cents to play the game, and the prize inside cost 7 dollars.
好吧，假设抓一次娃娃需要50美分，里面的奖品值7美元
To make a profit of 50%,
要得到50%的收益的话
full power will be sent to the claw only about once every 21 games or so.
那么差不多每21局才会出现一次最大抓力
That sucks.
太坑人了
They also randomize that winning game within a range
他们还会在一定范围内打乱获奖的顺序
They also randomize that winning game within a range
他们还会在一定范围内打乱获奖的顺序
so that players can't predict when exactly it will happen.
让玩家无法预测什么时候才能赢

And you might notice a subheading that says “dropping skill”
你可能注意到了一个叫“掉落技巧”的小标题
they can program the machine to make you think you almost won.
商家能够通过设置让你感觉你只差一点点就可以赢了
They taunt you with it.
他们就是用这种手法迷惑玩家的
You see the stuffed animal flying in the air.
你看到毛茸茸的娃娃已经被抓起来了
And then it drops it.
但它还是掉了
And that just ruins everything.
你就这样前功尽弃了
So, most of the time claw machines are more like slot machines,
所以，抓娃娃机很大程度上都更像老虎机
than like skeeball or wack-a-mole.
而不是快乐雪球或是打地鼠之类的游戏
Who's in charge here! The claw!
这里谁说了算？爪子说了算
The question of whether claw machines are a game of skill or chance
抓娃娃到底要靠技巧还是靠运气，这个问题
goes back decades.
几十年前就已经被提出来了
The earlier versions back in the 1930s had very little element of skill
二十世纪三十年代的那种早期的娃娃机没什么技术含量
and were marketed as highly profitable for their owners.
那时，娃娃机的推销口号通常是，它能给商家带来十分可观的利润
This was the depression era
这是大萧条时期
and people were desperate for ways to get money moving.
人们挖空心思想要让钱流动起来
During a crackdown on organized crime in the 1950s,
二十世纪五十年代在打击有组织犯罪时，
federal law classified claw machines as gambling devices
联邦政府将娃娃机列为赌博工具
and prohibited the transporation of them across state lines.
禁止将娃娃机运到其他州
After those laws were relaxed in the 1970s,
二十世纪七十年代，相关法律尺度放宽以后
newer claw machines from Europe and Asia spread throughout the United States.
来自欧洲和亚洲的新娃娃机在美国落地生花
They actually started calling them skill cranes
人们开始视娃娃机为技巧型游戏
because the joystick gave players more precise control.
因为操纵杆让玩家们能够更加精准地控制游戏环节
But owners had increasing control over profits as well.
但商家对利润的把控也越来越成熟了
And they've been met with a patchwork of state and local laws and regulations.
他们甚至还钻起了各州、各地方法律法规不一致的空子
If machine operators want to make that claw really really unfair against the players,
商家要是想把娃娃机弄得对消费者特别不公平
there's not a lot stopping them.
法律拿他们也没办法
Most of the regulations focus on the prize size, not the strength of the claw.
大部分法律法规主要针对的都是奖品价值，而不是抓手的抓力
That's a reason that you might see fewer
这就是你很少看到
of the “win a free iPad” claw machines or "Win a free iPhone" claw machines around.
身边有“免费赢iPad”娃娃机或是“免费赢iPhone”娃娃机，
and more of just old fashioned stuffed animals.
更多是看到传统的娃娃式抓娃娃机的原因
It's great if players know what they are up against.
对玩家来说，了解游戏机制很重要
Especially since sites like Youtube have enabled claw machine enthusiast to broadcast their victories.
Youtube之类的网站让抓娃娃爱好者也有机会分享他们的经验，所以了解游戏机制就更为重要了
Like this guy.
就比如这个家伙
I'm Matt Magnone.
我是Matt Magnone
Join me as I venture out and win as much crap as I can from claw machines!
快来看我扫荡娃娃机吧
My best outcome of this is not that all the claw machines go away.
我写这篇文章并不是希望娃娃机都消失
Since I first wrote this article, I've spent a dollar on claw machines...and I've lost.
因为从我开始写这篇文章，我已经给娃娃机贡献了一美元了……而且输了个精光
All I want for people to know is that they are not the problem.
我只是想让大家知道抓不到娃娃并不是你们的问题
The claw machine is the problem.
问题在娃娃机身上
Ah, you piece of crap!
哈哈哈，你弱爆了好吧！