Daytona USA is one of the most recognisable arcade games of all time, and has been a success all over the world – but a cabinet in Australia has been gaining attention for a slightly different reason than normal.
As reported by Kotaku, Western Australia police carried out a bust of a gang member on July 28th in Lansdale near Perth, stumbling across a host of arcade machines – one of which, the aforementioned Daytona USA, contained $400,000 and a Colt handgun, as well as ammo.
"Whether the firearms are used to commit offences, or used to cause fear to victims who may be targeted, the risk of a person being seriously injured or killed in a confrontation increases when a firearm is present," said WA Police Commander of State Crime Gordon Fairman. "We have seen the reckless disregard for community safety shown by outlaw motorcycle gang members, so we know the removal of these firearms from the hands of gang members has made our community safer."
Daytona USA was ported to the Sega Saturn soon after release and would go head-to-head with Namco's Ridge Racer in both arcades and the home. Arcade sequels followed, and the game was also ported to PS3 and Xbox 360 as a digital download.
[source kotaku.com]
Comments 10
Personally, "$400,000 and Gun Found in Australian Daytona Machine" makes for a way better and more honest headline. I would love to know if the machine was still operational.
That was some blue blue skies thinking right there 🌽
I thought this was going to be about something like the metal parts of the cab not being earthed and someone getting an electric shock! 😅
Removed - unconstructive
Hey I live in Landsdale WA, this is no real surprise. There are a lot of bikies in the suburb, so drugs is often traded for cash. I wonder if my wife would let me take this off their hands, without the cash inside, presumably. We had a few murders as well, this is what you get when society deterioriates.
Guns, ammo, AND stacks of cash?? Just when I thought this game couldn't possibly be more American than it already was
Honestly, I would have expected this sort of thing to happen in the ACTUAL Daytona, Florida. But Australia??
@ShawnsterOZ I've spent some time in AUS over the years, and I had a local in Brisbane give me a little food for thought on my last trip. More or less, he said that Australians love to make fun of all the silly things we do here in the US, but two weeks later, they're doing the same thing down under, too. Like, they love to laugh at Americans, but also can't help acting just like them. I know this isn't universal to everyone, but it did give me something to think about.
Yes, I'm American, but I also feel like I'm one of the rare ones that can actually take a step back and laugh at ourselves, these days...
@notreallyhere We got a healthy black market economy in WA, plenty of tradies doing well, and like to buy some drugs on the side. The mining of Iron Ore and Natural Gas, Gold, makes WA quite a bit better off than the east coast. Anyone coping the Yanks would likely be the younger Tik-Tok generation, the rest of us oldies barely can understand what they are talking about...
@ShawnsterOZ "...the younger Tik-Tok generation, the rest of us oldies barely can understand what they are talking about..."
A feeling I know all too well ^_^
I haven't made it out to WA - yet. Alice Springs was as far West as I got. I had a nice time there (on a research trip, monitoring air quality) though some of my colleagues were a bit sketched-out by the rowdy after-dark crowd and the poor hanging around the street corners. Me, it just reminded me of life here on the West Coast of the US!
I had a gentleman at a cassowary sanctuary in Mission Beach say some kind things about Oregon, where I currently live. In his own words, he told me that, if he ever visited the US - which was "looking less and less likely with each passing day," he would like to see the forests we have here on the coast. I told him I couldn't blame him for staying away - I barely wanted to go back home, as it were!
Nice chatting with you! I'd say more, but I think I'd just be getting more and more off-topic. I never thought I'd be having this sort of chat following an article related to Daytona USA, of all things...
@notreallyhere TRUE. Plenty of bad stuff going down In Alice. We have some nice old forests down south towards Albany, the timber has been exploited for decades, but still some big trees exist. I think I tried Daytona USA a few times, those types of games don't really interest me now. The Retro Arcade games, like Galaga, Pacman, Joust, Robotron and Tetris keep me enthralled for my fun, spend more time reading about games now than playing them.
Sounds like a cabinet for GTA, not Daytona. I'll show myself out . . .
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