Marshfield Mass, in the US, will consider lifting a 29-year ban on arcade games in public establishments, at a town meeting next week.
Currently, Keno is the only thing permitted in public buildings in the town, following a ban introduced in 1982, which has seen everything from Pac-Man to Donkey Kong to Daytona outlawed within Marshfield’s town limits.
Citing both the outdated intent of the law and the fact that the town is full of coin-op gambling machines, a new vote is to be held in a town meeting seeking to repeal the ban.
Patricia Reilly, chair of Marshfield’s Selectmen has said she is open to change: “I think the whole hysteria back in 1982 was the use of money, that the kids would steal money from parents. It was a whole different mindset of children going wild.”
Reilly is backed by local business owners like Steve Drosopoulus, who owns a bar and restaurant: “People want to have a couple of drinks and play some games and enjoy themselves. If the repeal came through, I would put in bar top screen games, even the old school pinball machines.”
