"It's the thrill of winning," longtime Morey's game operator Mike Horant explains. "The thrill of winning something."
This summer, you can win iPads and Phillies gear and stuffed versions of Jorge, Stewart, and Dave, the "minion" characters from the animated movie Despicable Me.
Their goofy, goggled faces are everywhere in the boisterous carnival of this proudly blue-collar boardwalk.
Amid the pizza stands and taffy counters and shops hawking teeny-weeny tops and even teenier shorts, electronic, mechanical, and physical skill games beckon with state of-the-art flash, old-fashioned come-ons - and the chance to take home your very own Shrek doll.
"It's like going to Atlantic City, except you win," says Jeff Verzella, manager of the arcade at Mariner's Pier.
Those spinning prize wheels of the '60s and '70s that offered winners their choice of a vinyl record album have disappeared (alas).
Cartons of cigarettes are no longer prizes, either. At one time, this would have struck me as a tragic loss; now, not so much.
But the mother of all seaside games is alive and well and racking up points.
You guessed it: Skee-Ball.
Back when sailors were the only tattooed people on boardwalks, before anyone was inspired to deep-fry an Oreo, before there even were Oreos, a Philadelphian named J.D. Estes came up with a clever combination of bowling and pinball.
That was in 1909. Since then, "we've made a few changes, but basically, it's the same game," says Eileen Graham, director of marketing for Skee-Ball Inc. in Chalfont, Bucks County.
At the Mariner's Arcade, where there are 17 Skee-Ball machines, the playing rarely stops.
"He loves it. He's nuts about it," says North Cape May resident Jovita Castner, referring to her 48-year-old son, Steve.
