in our webshop you can find several arcade machines that have a “WIFI enabled” option or “INTERNET enabled” options to control them and add game-credits remotely from anywhere in the world.
With it you can, for instance, accept different forms of payment like credit cards, bitcoin, IDEAL, electronic banking. But it also enables you to capture e-mail addresses and player data , or it can add a unique marketing channel where players first have to visit your website, watch a video or maybe post a review to receive gamecredits. The possibilities are endless.
When we talk about being WIFI enabled we discuss machines that can connect to your local internet access point and from thereon to anywhere in the world. To connect to a local access point we program the machine with your SSID and password, just like you do on your mobile phone when you want to access the internet in a hotel or at a friends house.
WIFI or Internet
When we talk about INTERNET enabled machines we discuss machines that have their own built in data-modem with a mobile data SIM card. These machines can be put anywhere and do not require connections to a local access point. They connect directly to the mobile cell phone network. So if your phone works in a particular place, so will our internet enabled machines.
wifi
+
- for machines that stay in 1 location
- cheaper
- connects to your own service access point
- no need for data SIM cards
–
- return the box for reprogramming if you change access points
internet
+
- for machines that are moved around
- no need for access point
- works everywhere a mobile phone works
- can be moved from place to place without reprogramming
–
- requires a data SIM card plan
The inner workings
Regardless if you choose WIFI or INTERNET enabled machines the working principle is the same. Your machine has a secret URL or internet address. Each time you call or visit this URL (or have it called by another program) you add credits to your machine.
To add credits simply make a call to a website
here is an example:madeforarcade.com/credits/add?id={secret code}&custid={customer ID}&credits={amount of credits}
Simply replace the red parts in the website address with your data and you are all set.
( The secret machine code can be found on a sticker inside your machine.
your customer ID can be found on your invoice.)
example #1 : accepting payments
To accept payments on the internet you need a payment gateway provider like paypal, Mollie, or Stripe. There are many providers (examples) and they all work in a similar fashion. They can accept many different kinds of payment like credit cards, bitcoin, instant bank transfers etc. and send customers to a confirmation page when payment is complete.
#1 : Payment providers can generate a QR code to let your customers pay.
#2 : stick the QR code on your machine and let players scan the code
#3 : players pay through your payment provider
#4 : Let your provider call the machine’s URL as confirmation page and credits are added.
example #2 : collect e-mail addresses
another simple example : You want to collect e-mail addresses from your visitors at a tradeshow or an event. Most online forms can collect information and upon completion can call a new URL (like a “thankyou” or confirmation page)
- just post a QR code on your machine to direct players to your signup form
- the player fills out their name and e-mail address in your online form
- you call the machine’s website address and credits are added to the machine.
example #3 : tradeshow – visit a website for credits
While having a presence on a tradeshow you want 2 things : attract customers, and exchange information. You want visitors to learn about your product, and you want to learn about your visitors. Using a claw machine will surely attract visitors to your stand, and exchanging information has never been easier.
- post a sign somewhere on your stand and let visitors visit your website or information page on their mobile phone (QR code?)
- after visitors learn more about your product ask them some questions online.
- when questions are anwered you automatically call the machine’s website address and credits are added to the machine.
** do not share your machine identifier code or the secret website link to anyone. Anyone with a copy of the secret URL can add credits to your machine.
advanced implementations
It is very simple to have a payment gateway make a call to your secret machine’s URL. It is also easy to visit the secret website address and add credits to your machine, but maybe sometimes you need to automate things even further. No problem ! We can help with that too. Below you find some real-world examples on how to implement your credit system in website programming.
PHP example
PHP is very simple to implement. The most important thing to take into consideration here is that you want to make a call to an external website in the background and NOT display the (secret) URL in a user’s browser.
Here we put a message on the screen while also adding credits to your machine :
- by using the FILE_GET_CONTENTS command we load the secret URL in a variable, thus triggering the release of credits.
- in this example “123” is the machine ID, and “456” is the customer ID — “4” is the number of credits we want to give out.
// php example - adding 4 credits
echo "Adding 4 credits now";
$dummy = file_get_contents('https://madeforarcade.com/credits/add.php?machid=123&custid=456¤tcredits=4');
