Coin-operated in the context of "Counterfeit"

An arcade video game is an arcade game that takes player input from its controls, processes it through electrical or computerized components, and displays output to an electronic monitor or similar display. All arcade video games are coin-operated or accept other means of payment, housed in an arcade cabinet, and located in amusement arcades alongside other kinds of arcade games. Until the early 2000s, arcade video games were the largest and most technologically advanced segment of the video game industry.

Early prototypical entries Galaxy Game and Computer Space in 1971 established the principle operations for arcade games, and Atari's Pong in 1972 is recognized as the first successful commercial arcade video game. Improvements in computer technology and gameplay design led to a golden age of arcade video games, the exact dates of which are debated but range from the late 1970s to the early 1980s. This golden age includes Space Invaders, Pac-Man, and Donkey Kong. The arcade industry had a resurgence from the early 1990s to mid-2000s, including Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat, and Dance Dance Revolution, but ultimately declined in the Western world as competing home video game consoles such as the Sony PlayStation and Microsoft Xbox increased in their graphics and gameplay capability and decreased in cost. Nevertheless, Japan, China, and South Korea continue to maintain a robust arcade industry in contemporary times.

Galaxy Game is a space combat arcade game developed in 1971 during the early era of video games. Galaxy Game is an expanded version of the 1962 Spacewar!, potentially the first video game to spread to multiple computer installations. It features two spaceships, "the needle" and "the wedge", engaged in a dogfight while maneuvering in the gravity well of a star. Both ships are controlled by human players.

Created by Bill Pitts and Hugh Tuck, the initial prototype cost US$20,000 (equivalent to about $155,000 in 2024) to build. It consisted of a Digital Equipment Corporation PDP-11 minicomputer attached by a cable to a wooden console with a monitor, controls, and seats. It charged players 10 cents per game or 25 cents for three, and drew crowds "ten-deep". This was one of the first coin-operated video games; the prototype was installed in November 1971 at the Tresidder student union building at Stanford University, only a few months after a similar display of a prototype of Computer Space, making it the second known video game to charge money to play.