近幾年來，夾娃娃機越來越風行，後來衍伸，夾娃娃機不只可以夾娃娃，還可以夾零食、飲料或電子產品，其實，在我學生時代，夾娃娃機就曾經流行一段時間，那時候，夾娃娃機不像現在的氾濫，隨處的街邊都有機會，看到夾娃娃機台，那時候，夾娃娃機多設置在百貨商場的遊樂中心內，只能夾娃娃而已，不過，遊樂中心還提供多種遊戲機，從簡單的街機遊戲、大型體感遊戲、賽車模擬器等，常讓我們在那裏消磨一個下午。
在這裡最為人熟知的遊樂中心是湯姆熊歡樂世界，只要是知名商圈都可以看到湯姆熊歡樂世界進駐，我在高雄的夢時代購物中心、台中的中友百貨、林口三井Outlet及板橋大遠百等地都有看到過，對於父母而言，環境相對安全，有冷氣，適合長時間停留，且設有明顯的家長休息區，方便父母照看孩子或休息，所以，每到週末期間，姆熊歡樂世界常常擠滿了小朋友和年輕族群。
某個週末，和朋友打算去西門町看電影，買了電影票後，距離播放電影，還有一大段的時間空檔，於是，某個朋友建議去附近的湯姆熊歡樂世界看看，到了遊樂中心後，我們每個人先換個一百元代幣，然後，看看有甚麼好玩的，玩到時間差不多時，我們再去看電影，雖然我不太想玩，但是不想掃朋友的興，也只好硬著頭皮，換了些代幣。
首先，朋友看上了連線賽車遊戲，我們幾個遊戲肉腳，開的亂七八糟，撞來撞去，明明現實中我們都會開車，看來我們是太久沒玩這類的遊戲了，接著玩投籃機、太鼓達人、體感遊戲等，場內的街機遊戲都是些老遊戲，像是快打旋風、格鬥天王及龍虎之拳等，但是玩的人不少，我駐足觀看很久，因為某機台，有兩位坐在對面的玩家，一直投幣要把對方打敗，我站著看了十來分鐘，兩人互有勝負，年輕時，常看到人們玩這類格鬥遊戲，最後，一言不合，演變成真人鬥毆，我內心隱隱地有些期待，能看到真人鬥毆，我真壞啊！不過，時間其實已經差不多了，我們還要趕著去看電影，無法繼續看下去。
雖然我一開始不太想在遊樂中心玩遊戲，但不知不覺，也融入這邊的歡樂氣氛，和朋友們到處找好玩的遊戲，時間也過得飛快，我想，每個人的內心都住的一個小孩，有時候，成年人的快樂就是這麼簡單。
Claw machines have become increasingly popular in recent years. Nowadays, they’re not just for plush toys—you can find machines that let you grab snacks, drinks, or even electronic gadgets. Actually, when I was a student, claw machines were already popular for a while, but they weren’t as widespread as they are now. Back then, you’d usually only see them inside amusement centers at department stores, and they were just for plush toys. But those amusement centers also had a variety of arcade games, from simple joystick games to large-scale motion games and racing simulators, which often kept us entertained for an entire afternoon.
The most well-known amusement center around here is Tom’s World. You can find Tom’s World at pretty much every major shopping district. I've seen it at Dream Mall in Kaohsiung, Chungyo Department Store in Taichung, Mitsui Outlet Park in Linkou, and Mega City Mall in Banqiao. For parents, it’s a relatively safe place with air conditioning, making it comfortable to stay for a long time. Plus, there’s a designated parent rest area, which makes it easy for parents to keep an eye on their kids or take a break. That’s why Tom’s World is always packed with kids and young people, especially on weekends.
One weekend, my friends and I planned to see a movie in Ximending. After buying the tickets, we still had quite a bit of time to kill before the movie started. So, one of my friends suggested checking out the nearby Tom’s World. When we got there, each of us exchanged NT$100 for tokens and started looking for something fun to play. Even though I wasn’t really in the mood to play, I didn’t want to spoil the mood, so I reluctantly exchanged some tokens too.
First, my friend suggested trying out a linked racing game. We were all terrible at it, crashing into everything despite the fact that we can all drive in real life. Guess it’s been too long since we last played this kind of game. After that, we tried the basketball shooting game, Taiko no Tatsujin, and some motion-based games. Most of the arcade machines were pretty old-school—games like Street Fighter, King of Fighters, and Art of Fighting—but there were still plenty of people playing them. I stood there watching for a while because two players were facing off at one of the machines, constantly feeding tokens to try to beat each other. I watched them go back and forth for about ten minutes. It reminded me of how, back in the day, those intense fighting game battles would sometimes escalate into real-life fistfights. Deep down, I was kind of hoping to see a real fight break out—how terrible of me! But time was running out, and we had to head off to catch our movie, so I didn’t get to see how it ended.
Even though I wasn’t really into the idea of playing arcade games at first, I ended up getting caught up in the fun atmosphere with my friends. Time flew by as we wandered around, looking for interesting games to try. I guess there’s a little kid inside everyone. Sometimes, happiness for adults can be as simple as this.
