Claw (video game)

Claw (also known as Captain Claw) by Monolith Productions, is a classic-type platform video game that features a two-dimensional platform world featuring a main character at its focus and enemies roaming around. There are traps, secret areas and treasure. It is the developer's second release, after Blood which was released the previous May.

Plot

A famous cat pirate, Captain Nathaniel Joseph Claw, is imprisoned by the Cocker-Spaniards (a dog species, a pun on Cocker Spaniel) after they attack and sink his ship. In the prison cell, waiting for his execution, he finds a note and a piece of a map hidden in the wall. The note tells of the Amulet of Nine Lives—a mystical artifact that grants its wearer near-immortality. Breaking out of his cell, Claw sets out to collect all 9 gems of the amulet and retrieve it for himself.

The game begins with Claw outside his cell. As he progresses through the prison, he eventually gets to the outer wall and escapes to the forest after defeating the warden, Le Rauxe. In the forest, he encounters a gang of thieves, headed by his former love interest, Katherine. He manages to defeat them and finds his way out of the forest, and into the nearby port town of El Puerto del Lobo, where he is hunted down by the magistrate, Wolvington, and the city guards.

Claw crane

A claw crane (also called a variety of other names, such as claw machine) is a type of arcade game known as a merchandiser, commonly found in video arcades, supermarkets, restaurants, movie theaters, shopping malls, and bowling alleys.

Machine components & structure

A claw crane consists of many parts, but the basic components are a printed circuit board (PCB), power supply, currency detector, credit/timer display, joystick, wiring harness, bridge assembly, and claw. The claw has two or more fingers, although most claws have three.

The cabinet is usually constructed of medium-density fiberboard (MDF). Some cabinets are made of aluminum alloy, which makes it easier to relocate as well as cheaper to produce.

The window at the front of the machine is normally made of glass or a cheaper-to-manufacture substitute, such as acrylic. The marquee is a branded graphic (sometimes created specifically for restaurants or an operator's business name) behind a Plexiglass front.

Gameplay

A claw vending machine consists of prizes, usually plush toys or alternatives such as jewelry, capsuled toys, hats, balls, dolls, shirts, candy and electronics. More expensive prizes are sometimes placed in a plastic bag so the toy is harder to pick up. The player inserts money or tokens into the machine, which then allows the player to manipulate a joystick that controls the claw for a variable amount of time, (controlled by the operator) usually ranging from 15 to 30 seconds, and rarely even a minute. The player is able to move the claw back, forth, and sideways. Some machines allow the user to move the claw after it has partially descended.